KANLI DIVANE
Cilicia Aspera, Turkey.
About 5 km W of Lamas and 3 km inland from the
Mediterranean by a paved Roman (?) road. Apparently
unrecorded by ancient geographers, the town belonged in
the 2d c. B.C. to the priestly dynasty at Olba (Uzuncaburç/Ura?), as proved by the inscription of a king
Teucer, built into a lofty tower of polygonal masonry
and dedicated to Olbian Zeus. The ancient town was built
round a limestone depression, ca. 60 m deep, and measuring ca. 200 m from E to W by ca. 170 m from N to S.
Since the sides of the cavern are almost sheer, except at
the SW corner where one Bias paid for the engineering
of a path to the bottom, retaining walls were built at
dangerous points near the brink. Architectural fragments,
including column drums, on the floor of the cavern suggest a possible shrine, as does the relief of a seated man
and woman, attended by four children (possibly a votive)
carved on the S face. Two well-preserved heroa, sarcophagi, and arcosolia with scenes in high relief along the
Via Sacra leading W from the town also suggest religious
associations, as do four basilican churches of the 5th (?)
c. which are poised on the very lip of the cavern.
Inscriptions refer to “the people,” but not to “the
Council,” so that Kanli Divane was not a city. One refers
to the “people of Kanytel(l)a.” In the mid 19th c., the
name had been rationalized to Kanideli (Kannidali), but
by 1891 was already known as Kanli Divane.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
J. T. Bent, “A Journey in Cilicia Trachea,”
JHS 12 (1892) 208-10; M. Gough, “A Temple
and Church at Ayaş,”
AnatSt 4 (1954) 54 n. 1; P. Verzone, “Hieropolis Castabala, Tarso, Soli-Pompeiopolis,
Kanytelleis,”
Palladio 1 (1957) 54-68.
M. GOUGH
