SÖĞLE
(“Podalia”) Lycia, Turkey.
Almost
certainly at Söğle, 13 km SE of Elmali. First mentioned
by Pliny (
HN 5.101), then by Ptolemy, who places it in
Milyas, and Hierokles. A bishop of Podalia is recorded
in the Byzantine lists. In the 2d c. A.D. the city was among
those which received benefits from Opramoas of Rhodiapolis (
TAM II 905), and was one of those which honored Jason of Kyaneai (
IGRR III 704). The very rare coins of Podalia are of the time of Gordian III.
The site is not determined with absolute certainty.
Early locations at Eskihisar and at Armutlu are unsupported by evidence and are to be rejected. A more satisfactory suggestion was a site on a hill at the NW corner of the lake Avlan Gölü, 16 km S of Elmali; this is surrounded by a ring wall of ashlar masonry well preserved
on the W side, enclosing a small tower and quantities of
uncut building stones. There are also two small rock-cut
tombs. Pottery on the hill is Hellenistic and later; on the
plain below some Early Bronze pieces have been found.
These remains are not in themselves suggestive of a city
site so much as a military fortress; but the place was
known locally as “Podalia,” with a variant “Podamia.”
The site at Söğle is of quite different character. At the
edge of the village is a hill, lower on the N side than on
the S, strewn with abundant sherds ranging in date from
the Early Bronze Age to Byzantine times. In the village
are numerous evidences of urban occupation—altars, ex-votos, and many other carved blocks, and inscriptions of
Roman and Byzantine date. Here is undoubtedly a city
site, which can hardly be other than Podalia. In this
part of Lycia only two cities are known, Podalia and
Choma, and Choma is now located with certainty at
Hacimusalar to the SW of Elmali. The plain of Elmali
falls into two distinct parts, to the S and to the NE, both
good fertile land; in the former is Choma, with Comba
a little farther to the SW; if Podalia be placed at Avlan
Gölü there are three cities in this region, while the NE
plain remains blank. It seems that for Avlan Gölü the
alternative name Podamia (Potamia) should be accepted;
this is eminently suitable for a site close beside the spot
where the river Akçay, the ancient Aedesa, runs into the lake.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
E. Petersen & F. von Luschan,
Reisen
in Lykien (1889) II 161-62; G. E. Bean in
AnzWien 8
(1968) 157-63; id.,
Journeys in Northern Lycia 1965-1967 (
DenkschrWien No. 104, 1971) 28-32.
G. E. BEAN
