A Persian Paradeisos in Byzantion?

Ayrıbasım/Offprint

Suna – İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma EnstitüsüSuna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations

Armağan Dizisi / Festschrift Series: 2

ÖZSAİT ARMAĞANIMehmet ve Nesrin Özsait Onuruna Sunulan Makaleler

Studies Presented to Mehmet and Nesrin Özsait

Yayına Hazırlayanlar / EditorsHamdi ŞAHİN

Erkan KONYARGürkan ERGİN

ISBN 978-605-4018-09-3

© Suna – İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Enstitüsü, Antalya 2011

Tüm metin ve fotoğrafların yayım hakkı saklıdır. Tanıtım için yapılacak kısa alıntılar dışında yazarların ve yayımcının yazılı izni olmaksızın hiçbir yolla çoğaltılamaz.

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author and the publisher except in the context of reviews.

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Yazışma Adresi / Mailing AddressBarbaros Mah. Kocatepe Sok. No. 25

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SUNA – İNAN KIRAÇ AKDENİZ MEDENİYETLERİ ARAŞTIRMA ENSTİTÜSÜSUNA & İNAN KIRAÇ RESEARCH INSTITUTE ON MEDITERRANEAN CIVILIZATIONS

İçindekiler

Sunuş ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... IX

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Özsait’in Özgeçmişi .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... XI

Arkeolog Nesrin Özsait’in Özgeçmişi ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... XV

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Özsait’in Yayınları ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... XVII

Songül Alpaslan RoodenbergHarmanören - Göndürle Höyük Mezarlığı İskeletlerinin Antropolojik Analizi .............................................................................................. 1

Murat ArslanAlkibiades’in Kalkhedon ve Byzantion Kuşatması: Nedenleri ve Sonuçları .......................................................................................................... 9

Neşe AtikAnadolu’nun Hellenistik-Roma Devri Kurşun Sırlı Kapları ....................................................................................................................................................... 23

Hasan BaharAntik Anadolu Madenciliği İçerisinde Orta Toros Bölgesinin Yeri ................................................................................................................................ 31

Sait BaşaranEnez (Ainos) 2007 Yılı Kazısı ve Onarım-Koruma Çalışmaları ............................................................................................................................................ 51

Ferit BazNeue Interpretationsversuche zu Einigen Fragmentarischen Meilensteinen in Kappadokien ............................................. 67

Akın BingölUrartu Devletinin Kuruluş Dönemi Dış Politikası ................................................................................................................................................................................... 73

Alpaslan CeylanÇıldır Akçakale Kazıları ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 85

Filiz CluzeauYunanlara Özgü Politik Bir Kurum: Proksenia ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 97

A. Vedat ÇelginTermessos’un Görkemli Kome’si (Peripolion ?) Anydros (Nea Kome ?) ve Ondan Doğan Geç Antikçağ/Erken Bizans Kenti Eudokias, Sorunlar - Öneriler ................................................................................................................................ 109

Yaşar ÇoruhluBezeklik XIX. Tapınak’da Bulunan Ejderha Figürlü Uygur Duvar Resmi .......................................................................................................... 127

İnci DelemenDioskurlar ve Tanrıça - Sadberk Hanım Müzesi’ndeki bir Gümüş Aplik .......................................................................................................... 143

Bedia DemirişAntik Çağ’da Tarih Yazmak .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 149

Armağan Dizisi / Festschrift Series: 2

ÖZSAİT ARMAĞANIMehmet ve Nesrin Özsait Onuruna Sunulan Makaleler

Studies Presented to Mehmet and Nesrin Özsait

Yayına Hazırlayanlar / EditorsHamdi ŞAHİN

Erkan KONYARGürkan ERGİN

ISBN 978-605-4018-09-3

© Suna – İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Enstitüsü, Antalya 2011

Tüm metin ve fotoğrafların yayım hakkı saklıdır. Tanıtım için yapılacak kısa alıntılar dışında yazarların ve yayımcının yazılı izni olmaksızın hiçbir yolla çoğaltılamaz.

Bu eser ile ilgili tüm sorumluluklar yazarlarına aittir.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author and the publisher except in the context of reviews.

Responsibility of the essays in this work rests on its author(s).

Yazışma Adresi / Mailing AddressBarbaros Mah. Kocatepe Sok. No. 25

Kaleiçi 07100 ANTALYA - TÜRKİYETel: 0 (242) 243 42 74 • Fax: 0 (242) 243 80 13

[email protected]

Baskı / Printed byParagraf Basım Sanayi A.Ş.

Tel: +90 (212) 629 06 07 Faks: +90 (212) 629 03 85Sertifika No: 18469

Yapım ve Dağıtım / Production and DistributionZero Prodüksiyon Kitap-Yayın-Dağıtım Ltd. Şti.

Tel: +90 (212) 244 7521 Fax: +90 (212) 244 3209e.mail: [email protected]/eng

SUNA – İNAN KIRAÇ AKDENİZ MEDENİYETLERİ ARAŞTIRMA ENSTİTÜSÜSUNA & İNAN KIRAÇ RESEARCH INSTITUTE ON MEDITERRANEAN CIVILIZATIONS

IV

Güneş DuruGöller Bölgesi Neolitik Yerleşmeleri Üzerine Bir Deneme ...................................................................................................................................................... 157

Turan Efe – Deniz Ş.M. Ay EfeEskişehir Bölgesinin İlk Tunç Çağı’na Özgü Geriye Yatık Boyunlu Gaga Ağızlı Testileri ......................................................... 177

H. Ali EkinciDostluklar Bir Gün Değildir ! .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 187

Emre ErtenHierapolis-Kastabala’da Helios Tapınımına Dair Bazı Gözlemler ................................................................................................................................ 189

Fahri Işık“Hilal” ya da “Yalınlaştırılmış Boğa Boynuzu”, Pinara Mezarları Işığında Kybele Anıtları Tepe Akroterinin Yorumu Üzerine ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 213

Mücteba İlgürelDeğerli Arkadaşım Mehmet Özsait ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 221

Turhan KaçarDoğu Roma Başkentinde Patrik Seçimi: Ioannes Chrysostomus Örneği (MS 398) ........................................................................... 225

İshak KeskinMezopotamya ve Çevresinde Arşiv Uygulamaları ............................................................................................................................................................................... 233

Ufuk KocabaşÇamaltı Burnu I Batığı Demir Çapaları ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 243

Özdemir KoçakBazı Örnekler Işığında Afyonkarahisar Orta Tunç Çağ Mezarlıkları ve Bunların Yerleşmeler ile İlişkileri ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 261

R. Eser Kortanoğlu“koimãomai” (Dormir) .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 277

Hüseyin KökerKüçük Bir Keraeitai Definesi ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 287

Guy LabarreLes fleuves d’Asie Mineure dans la Géographie de Strabon ................................................................................................................................................... 293

E. Emine Naza-DönmezTürk Sanatında Mezartaşları ve Çeşmeler Üzerinde Yer Alan Mimari Ögeler Üzerine Bir Deneme ...................... 307

Erendiz Özbayoğlu“Roma Yurttaşı” Ailius Aristeides’ten Roma’ya Övgü ..................................................................................................................................................................... 319

Mehmet ÖzdoğanAnadolu’da Neolitik Dönem Yerleşme Yerlerinin Dağılımı İle İlgili Bazı Gözlemler ....................................................................... 329

Bilge Özsait-SelçukBir Çocuğun Gözünden Arkeoloji ve Tarih ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 341

Işıl Özsait KocabaşAkdeniz Yapım Geleneğinde Bir Ortaçağ Teknesi: Yenikapı 12 Batığı .................................................................................................................. 345

Hüseyin Sami ÖztürkLykia ve Pisidia’daki Haydut Avcıları - Lestodeioktes (λῃστοδειώκτης) ............................................................................................................ 351

V

İlhame ÖztürkSilifke Camikebir Mahallesi Mozaikli Alan Kurtarma Kazısı .............................................................................................................................................. 357

M. Taner Tarhanİstanbul Üzerine Tarihle Sohbet ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 373

Oğuz Tekin – Aliye Erol ÖzdizbayTwo Numismatic Examples for a certain Agathoclea / Agathopolis ........................................................................................................................ 393

Yasin TopaloğluIğdır Bölgesinde Tunç Çağı Yerleşmeleri ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 397

Mehmet Fatih YavuzA Persian Paradeisos in Byzantion? ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 411

Hatice Yılmazer ÇorbacıSoloi / Pompeiopolis Kazılarından Bir Homerik Kâse Parçası .......................................................................................................................................... 423

MEHMET

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MEHMET

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A PersiAn Paradeisos in ByzAntion?

Mehmet Fatih yAVUz*

the Persians were fond of gardens and game parks.1 not only did the Persian kings pursue a policy of constructing paradeisoi “full of all the good and beautiful things that the earth will produce” (Xenophon oikonomikos 4.13) but also they encouraged their subordinates to grow trees and establish gardens.2 Kyros the Great, for example, is said to have ordered his satraps to “have parks and keep wild animals in them” (Xenophon Kyropaidia 8.6.12). Darius also encouraged his officials to grow trees in their provinces.3 their subordinates willingly followed the orders of their kings. As Pharnabazos told spartan king Agesilaos, the Persian grandees took delight in “beautiful dwellings and parks, full of trees and wild animals” (Xenophon Hellenika 4.1.33).

Ancient sources often refer to the paradeisoi in the Persian empire. the Persian aristocrats built palaces and created game parks at sardis. Kyros the younger had a paradeisos at sardis. it was worth of admiration for “the beauty of the trees in it, the accuracy of the spacing, the straightness of the rows, the regularity of the angles and the multitude of the sweet scents” (Xenophon oikonomikos 4.21). the Persian satrap tissaphernes also had a pa-radeisos at sardis. Plutarch reports that it was famous “both for its refreshing waters and grateful lawns, with re-sorts and retreats decked out in regal and extravagant fashion” (Plutarch alkibiades 24). tissaphernes’ paradeisos which had been “artistically laid out at great expense with plants and all other things that contribute to luxury and the enjoyment in peace of the good things of life” was ravaged by the spartan armies led by Agesilaos (Diodoros 14.80.2). An inscription suggests the existence of another paradeisos in the same satrapy near Magnesia on the Maiandros (siG i3, no. 22).

in the northwestern Asia Minor, at Hellespontine Phrygia, there were large paradeisoi with splendid wild ani-mals. Xenophon, an eyewitness, speaks of enclosed paradeisoi “full of trees and wild animals” near Daskyleion (Xenophon Hellenika 4.1.15-16, 33). strabo also mentions royal hunting grounds (basilike thera) near zeleia (strabo 13.1.7). these were most likely paradeisoi for the enjoyment of the hyparchs living in and near zeleia. re-cently (november 1998), a spectacular Graeco-Persian sarcophagus of the early fourth century BCe was unearthed in the central troad. the front of the sarcophagus features two different hunting scenes, two riders hunting stags at the left and a Persian grandee hunting a boar at the right (Figs. 1, 2). the scenes may represent Persians hunting in a satrapal hunting paradeisos near the sources of Granikos (Körpe et. al. 2001: 185; sevinç et al. 2001: 388).

At Kelainai, the capital of Greater Phrygia, “Kyros [the younger] had a palace and a large park full of wild ani-mals, which he used to hunt on horseback whenever he wished to give himself and his horses exercise. through the middle of the paradeisos flows the Maiandros river; its sources are beneath the palace, and it flows through

* yrd. Doç. Dr.; Çanakkale onsekiz Mart University, Department of History. e.mail: [email protected] i would like to thank Brendan D. nagle and reyhan Körpe for their helpful criticism and comments. needless to say, any remaining errors are

mine alone.2 As Allsen (Allsen 2006:35) points out, paradeisos was a “key institution” in the Achaemenid Empire. For the Persian paradeisoi see Tuplin 1996.

See also Briant 1982: 451-456; Tuplin 1987: 143-144; Brown 1995: 121-7; Miller 1997: 92-7; Bremmer 1999: 1-20; Briant 2002: 297-299, 442-444; Dusinberre 2003: 70-2; Allsen (2006:34-51) summarizes well the development of hunting reserves in Eurasia.

3 Darius famous letter to Gadatas in western Asia Minor: SIG I3, no. 22 (Meiggs – Lewis 1988).

Mehmet Fatih yavuz412

the city of Kelainai also . . . there is likewise a palace of the Great King in Kelainai, strongly fortified and situated at the foot of the Acropolis over the sources of the Marsyas river . . . it was here also, report has it, that Xerxes, when he was on his retreat from Greece after losing the famous battle, built the palace just mentioned and likewise the citadel of Kelainai. Here Kyros remained thirty days. . . . [and] held a review and made an enumeration of the Greeks in the paradeisos, and they amounted all told to eleven thousand hoplites and about two thousand peltasts” (Xenophon anabasis 1.2.7-9).

At Karia, tissaphernes had an oikos located near tralles (Xenophon Hellenika 3.2.12). recent researches suggest that tissaphernes had a paradeisos near his oikos in Karia (Descat 1992; cf. i. Tralles 250.19).

in the satrapy of “Beyond the river”, i.e. syria and Palestine, near the sources of Dardas river “there was the palace of Belesys, the former governor of syria, and a very large and beautiful paradeisos containing all the prod-ucts of the seasons” (Xenophon anabasis 1.4.10). Diodoros mentions a royal paradeisos at sidon “in which the Persian Kings were wont to take their recreation” (Diodoros 16.41.5; Clermont-Ganneau 1921). Nehemiah refers to a paradeisos situated somewhere in the same satrapy, probably in Lebanon. nehemiah, a prominent Jewish leader and cupbearer to Artaxerxes (i or ii), asks “for a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest [pardes], so he will give me timber” to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2.8; cf. theophrastus Hist. Plant. 5.8.1; Brown 1995: 122-123). strabo and Pliny refer to a place called “Paradise” at the source of orontes (strabo 16.2.9; Pliny NH 5.82). the name may have been a relic of a paradeisos located in the region, perhaps triparadeisos mentioned by Diodoros (18.39.1; Brown 1995: 126).

in Mesopotamia, there was a large and beautiful paradeisos in sittake, Babylonia which was “thickly covered with all sorts of trees” (Xenophon anabasis 2.4.14). in addition, Babylonian documents reveal the presence of paradeisoi near sippar in the reign of Cyrus the Great, near Uruk in the reign of Cambyses and near nippur in 464 BCe (Dandamayev 1984: 113-117). Finally, there were paradeisoi in Babylon, in one of which Alexander the Great spent his final days (Arrian anabasis 7.25; ephippus FGrH 126 F 4=Athenaeus 12.537d; strabo 16.1.11)

the greatest and the best paradeisoi must have been at the heart of the empire (Cf. Briant 2002: 443; Diodoros 19.21.2-3). But unfortunately we do not know much about them. Ktesias mentions a royal paradeisos near susa (FGrH 688 F 34 = Plutarch Moralia 974d, Aelian Na 7.1; cf. esther 1.5, 7.7). Between susa and Persepolis there were “glens heavily overgrown and shady, cultivated trees of various kinds in parks, also natural converging glades full of trees of every sort and streams of water, so that travelers lingered with delight in places pleasantly inviting repose. Also there was an abundance of cattle of every kind . . .” (Diodoros 19.21.3). Arrian records the existence of paradeisoi around Pasargadae: “the country is grassy and has lush meadows and many vines and all other fruits except the olive; it is rich with all sorts of gardens, has pure rivers running through, and also lakes, and is good both for all sorts of birds which frequent rivers and lakes, and for horses, and also pastures the other domestic animals, and is well wooded, and has plenty of game” (Arrian indica 40.3-4). the most important pa-radeisos around Pasargadae contained the tomb of Kyros the Great (Aristobulos FGrH 139 F 51 = strabo 15.3.7; Arrian anabasis 6.29.4; stronach 1989). At ecbatana there were paradeisoi “attractively planted with trees, a special source of pleasure for kings and satraps”. (Quintus Curtius 7.2.22).4 Plutarch adds that the paradeisoi in Media were artificial since they were “in the midst of a region naked and without trees” (Plutarch artaxerxes 25).

in the eastern part of the empire, beyond the oxus there were splendid paradeisoi: “there are no greater indica-tions of the wealth of the barbarians in those regions than their herds of noble wild beasts, confined in great woods and parks. For this purpose they choose extensive forests made attractive by perennial springs; they surround the woods with walls and have towers as stands for the hunters” (Quintus Curtius 8.1.11-12; cf. Arrian anaba-sis 4.6.1). Alexander and his army slaughtered about 4000 animals in one of these paradeisoi in Bazaira near Maracanda at sogdiana (Quintus Curtius 8.1.19).5

4 Alexander’s general Parmenio was killed in one of the paradeisoi at Ecbatana while he was strolling there (Quintus Curtius 7.2.23-28).5 Diodoros calls Bazaira Basista in his summary of Book 17.

A Persian Paradeisos in Byzantion? 413

the list above suggests first, the Persians planted gardens and parks throughout the empire (Briant 1982: 451). From sardis in the west to sogdiana in the east every satrapy had one or more paradeisos (ibid.). second, there were a wide variety of paradeisoi ranging from small satrapal parks to huge royal parks which could host armies. Moreover, some parks were simply timber reserves, while others were both timber and hunting reserves, well watered and filled with wild games. third, some of the paradeisoi were artificial, that is, they were planted with variety of trees and stocked with wild animals, as in sardis. on the other hand in many cases, the Persians simply enclosed an area rich in vegetation and wildlife, as in Daskyleion. such lush green landscapes, it is safe to assume, attracted Persians to create parks. Fourth, ancient sources are clear about the characteristic features of the locations and components of the paradeisoi and as tuplin points out they often refer to water (springs, irrigation systems, rivers and streams), trees, pleasure buildings (pavilions, palaces), and of course huntable animals (tuplin 1996: 102-109; cf. Briant 2002: 443). Fifth, the Persian grandees spent much time in their parks, whether as garden-ers or as hunters. in both roles they were active agents shaping or defeating nature: “Paradise is not raw nature, but nature under rational and the untiring labors of human beings”6 And finally, the Persian paradeisoi served ideological purposes since they were visible reminders of Achaemenid imperial presence, planted to impress the subject population (Miller 1997: 124; Dusinberre 2003: 72).7 As a consequence, it comes as no surprise that when the Phoenicians revolted against the Persians in 351 BCe their first act was to cut down the trees in the paradeisos of the Persian governor at sidon (Diodoros 16.41.5).

in short, paradeisoi played a significant role in Persian court and aristocratic life and had political and ideologi-cal significance, and since they were found everywhere from india to the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean, it is proper to ask whether there is any evidence of a paradeisos in the Persian europe (skudra)?

Byzantion under the Persian rule (514-478 BCe)Byzantion came under the Persian suzerainty when the Persian King Darius on his way to scythia crossed to eu-rope over the Bosporos and conquered thrace in 514 BCe (Herodotos 4.85, 87-9; Polybios 4.32.2; Dionysios of Byzantion 57 Güngerich). Byzantion and the other Greek city-states of the Hellespont participated in the scythian expedition of the Persians. the Byzantine fleet, led by its tyrant Ariston, joined the Persian naval forces and sailed up to the Danube to support the Persians (Herodotos 4.138). When, however, the Persian expedition ended in fail-ure, the Greeks in thrace including the Byzantines revolted against the Persians and threw off the Persian yoke. since Byzantion was in revolt, Darius had to cross back to Asia through the Hellespont (Herodotos 4.143).

After leaving europe, the Persian King appointed Megabazos to subdue thrace including Byzantion, again. the Persian general carried on military operations on the european shores of the Propontis (Herodotos 4.144). When he was recalled by Darius, another Persian general otanes continued operations. in 510 BCe otanes reconquered Byzantion, Khalkedon, and other rebels in the region (Herodotos 5.26; cf. Polyainos strategemata 7.11.15; Dionysios of Byzantion 14 Güngerich).

the Byzantines, however, rose up again when the ionian revolt broke out in 499 BCe. the ionian rebels operated in the Byzantine waters around the Bosporos. Histiaios, the former tyrant of Miletos, sailed to the Bosporos and established a custom house there (Herodotos 6.5, 26). After the naval battle of Lade in 493 BCe, the Persian fleet sailed up to the Hellespont and Byzantion to punish the rebels on the Propontis. the Byzantines and the Khalkedo-nians did not wait the arrival of the Persians and fled to Mesembria, a polis on the western coast of the Black sea (Herodotos 6.33; strabo 7.139; eustathius 803). the Persians arrived and conquered Byzantion for the third time. thereafter, Byzantion remained under Persian control until the end of the Persian Wars and “it ranked second to

6 Quotation from Harold Weiss 2003: 63. Cf. Michael Psellus’ description (Chron. 6.73-5) of Constantine IX Monomachos’ creating a grove or a park “by the miracles of improvisation he performed, so wonderful that most people could not believe their own eyes when they saw a field today, where yesterday they had seen a flat plain, and two days ago a hill”.

7 Cf. Briant 1982: 455, who calls the paradeisoi “vitrines idéologiques”. For the ideological aspect of the paradeisoi see also Fauth 1979; Stronach 1990.


the garrison at sestos on the Hellespont as an Achaemenid port from europe to Asian coast” (Balcer 1988: 11; cf. Miller 1997: 10).8

in 479 BCe after defeating the Persian fleet at Mykale off the coast of western Asia Minor, the victorious Greek fleet sailed up to the Hellespont, seized sestos and another Greek fleet set sail for Byzantion in the late spring of 478 BCe. the Greek allies, under the command of the spartan Pausanias, captured Byzantion and a number of Persian grandees they found in the city and thus ended Persian rule in Byzantion that had began in 514 BCe (thukydides 1.94).

the Persian rule lasted for more than a generation. sources do not give much information on the Achaemenid presence in Byzantion and no archaeological evidence of Persian occupation has yet been unearthed. But given the length of the Persian occupation and the importance of the site, there must have been Persian officials, i.e., hy-parchs and a garrison in the city (cf. Diodoros 11.44). in fact some reports suggest the presence of Persian aristo-crats in the city. thucydides writes that Byzantion “was at that time [478 BCe] held by the Persians and by certain relatives and kinsmen of the King, who were taken prisoners” (thukydides 1.128.5. Cf. thukydides 1.94; Diodor-os 11.44.3; nepos Pausanias 2.2). Further evidence suggests that some Persian nobles returned to or remained in Byzantion under the protection of Pausanias until 471 BCe (Plutarch Kimon 9; Badian 1993: 86-87, 211; cf. Bri-ant 2002: 561).9 thucydides reports that Pausanias adopted Persian manners and dress while he was in Byzantion (thukydides 1.130.1-2; cf. Diodoros 11.46; nepos Pausanias 3.1-3). As Miller points out “the ease with which Pausanias assumed ‘Persian’ customs in Byzantion reflects the extent to which the city was acculturated, having been under direct Persian control for only a generation” (Miller 1997: 10). this observation is substantiated by epigraphic evidence: a Byzantine who died fighting in 465/4 bore the Persian name zopyros (ibid.; iG3 1144.125).

A Paradeisos in Byzantion?As we have just seen, the Persians remained in Byzantion for more than three decades and left their mark on the city. More than six centuries later, Dionysios of Byzantion (fl. 2nd century Ce) in his short geographic treatise titled anaplous tou Bosporou (sailing up the Bosphoros), which describes the coastline of Byzantion and neighboring territories along the Golden Horn and the Bosphoros, mysteriously referred to parasēmon (insignia, distinguishing mark or characteristic sign)10 of Persian history in the valley of Keizon stream (present-day Kasımpaşa Deresi) on the northern shore of the Golden Horn.11 it is interesting that he locates “the characteristic sign of the Persian his-tory” in an area that is full of trees and wild game, plus rich in sources of water. Could it be that Dionysios refers to a Persian paradeisos on the other side of the Golden Horn, just across Byzantion?

Dionysios’ report on the northern side of the Golden Horn from the head of the inlet as far as Galata provides important information on the history of ancient Byzantion (Fig. 4). the Byzantine author dwells mostly on the two river valleys on the other side of the Golden Horn: the river valley of Kydaros (Alibey Deresi) and Barbyses (Kağıthane Deresi), the Sweet Waters of Europe at the upper end of the Golden Horn and the river valley of Keizon (Kasımpaşa Deresi) on the western slopes of present-day Beyoğlu.12 Dionysios records that the mouth

8 A Persian general, Megabazos, is said to have been impressed by the site of Byzantion: Herodotos 4.144. 9 Pausanias ruled Byzantion with a brief interval until he was expelled by the Athenians in 471 BCE: see Badian 1993: 86-88. For a detailed study

on this subject see, Charles W. Fornara, “Some Aspects of the Career of Pausanias of Sparta”, Historia 15 (1966): 257-271.10 H.G. Liddle, H.S. Jones, R. Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, s.v. “parasēmon”: distinguishing mark, in various senses. Petrus Gyllius (De Bosporo

Thracio 2.4) translated Persikes parasēmon historias as insignia Persicae historiae. 11 We do not know much about Dionysios of Byzantion. All we have is a brief entrance in Suda (sv. Dionysios): “Of Byzantion, epic poet. [He

wrote] Description of the Sailing Route through the Bosporus, [and] On Dirges (it is a poem full of funereal laments)”. We also know that Stepha-nus of Byzantion used him (s.v. Chrysopolis). Since Dionysios does not mention the destruction of the city by Septimius Severus (in 196 BCE), most scholars think that he lived before 196 BCE. Foss 2000: 785, map 53 describes Dionysios’ Anaplous tou Bosporou as “one of the most remarkable and detailed of ancient geographic texts”.

12 This valley was called Pegai, “Valley of the Springs” during the Byzantine period. See Millingen 1899: 210-211.


of the first valley was an area “where whelps [i.e. the streams] lap at the hoary sea and where fish and deer graze at the very same pasture” (Dionysios of Byzantion 23 Güngerich; Hesykhios FGrH 390 F 3).13 then, Dionysios moves east along the coast and arrives at the second river valley of Keizon. He describes a district here called Aktine, between present-day Hasköy and Kasımpaşa (Dionysios of Byzantion 29 Güngerich; Barrington atlas of the Greek and roman World 53 A2): “At Aktine . . . are situated the so-called Kanopos, Kyboi (=“dices”) and Kre-nides (=“springs”). All these places take their name from the springs that water the region for it is richly watered. At Kyboi there is a distinguishing sign of Persian history (Persikes parasēmon historias). For the inhabitants of the city used to come here for recreation. Kanopos is named after the egyptian Kanopos on account of the simi-larities between the entertainments [taking place on both sites]. Keizon (Kasımpaşa Deresi) empties its water in the Keras (the Golden Horn) and thus divides the shore. . . it is a perennial stream but it is not navigable”. then, moving further east along the northern coast of the Golden Horn, Dionysios comes to a region called Khoiragria, where he adds, hunters trapped and killed wild boars, hence the name of the region, Khoiragria “wild-boar hunt” (Dionysios of Byzantion 31 Güngerich).14 Dionysios concludes that the northern side of the Golden Horn was covered with forest (ibid.).

the northern side of the Golden Horn, as is evidenced, presents an ideal setting for a paradeisos: it abounded, that is, in streams, springs, woods and wild game. First, as Dionysios makes clear, the region is excellently wa-tered, with numerous streams and springs. there were three perennial streams (Kydaros and Barbyses at its head and Keizon with its tributaries in Aktine) and several springs in Krenides, a district in Aktine on the northern side of the Golden Horn. second, the northern side of the Golden Horn was well wooded (Dionysios Byzantion 31 Güngerich). Dionysios’ report on Philip’s siege of Byzantion corroborates this information. According to Di-onysios, when Philip of Macedon besieged Byzantion (340 BCe), he bridged the Golden Horn to transport sup-plies (Dionysios of Byzantion 27 Güngerich). Dionysios does not say here what the supplies were. But elsewhere in the same work (Dionysios of Byzantion 14 Güngerich) he reports that Philip demolished the extramural temple of Pluto at Byzantion since he was in need of timber (chreia tēs hulēs). therefore, i suggest that Philip built the bridge to move the timbers he obtained on the northern side of the Golden Horn. third, the forests on the northern side of the Golden Horn were infested with stags and wild boars which were the favorite game animals for the Persian hunters (Figs. 1, 2, 3; sevinç 2001: 410 n. 21). Finally, the fact that shore of the Keizon valley was named after egyptian Kanopos, a proverbial pleasure resort near Alexandria in egypt (Juvenal satires 1.26; 6.83f.; Am-mianus Marcellinus 22.16.14), shows that the mouth of the Keizon stream at northern side of the Golden Horn was a pleasure ground in antiquity.

Clearly the northern part of the Golden Horn had natural beauties and attracted the inhabitants of the city form the earliest times. in fact, in Byzantine and especially in ottoman times, the northern side of the Golden Horn was a place of recreation as well. Leisure activities, not surprisingly, focused on the two river valleys that Dionysios described in detail: i.e., the meadows and groves of Barbyses and Kydaros streams at the upper end of the Golden Horn (Kağıthane), and Pegai “the Valley of Springs” (Kasımpaşa). In Byzantines times, Empress Theodora had a palace near the bridge over the Barbyzes at the upper end of the Golden Horn (Janin 1964: 145). Basil i built a palace complex at Pegai (Janin 1964: 142-3, 463-4). the northern side of the Golden Horn enjoyed a golden age during the ottoman times. Petrus Gyllius who visited Constantinople in the middle of the 16th century remarked that the Valley of the springs was a popular place of relaxation and that the sultan had a palace at there (Petrus Gyllius, de Bosporo Thracio 2.4).15 the ottoman sultans and dignitaries had palaces, pavilions, gardens, hunting

13 The description shows that the region was rich in schools of fish and herds of deer. According to Dionysios and Hesykhios the Pythia, the priestess of Apollo in Delphi, ordered the Greek colonists to settle at the head of the Golden Horn.

14 According to Xenophon (On Hunting 10.6), well wooded areas were typical boar habitats since they were warm in winter and cool in summer.15 “Nunc in hoc loco . . . aquis abundans, quo Constantinopolitani frequentes secedere solent, ut maris et terrae deliciis fruantur. . . .

Constantinopolitanos frequentes eo secedere solitos ob loci amoinitatem. . . . Ejus media pars posita in maritima planitie, altera in collic-ulis et valliculis silva cupressorum arborumque fructiferarum adumbratur, ut regia domus arboribus eircumsita a praeternavigantibus non perspiciatur.”


lodges on the northern side of the Golden Horn at Karaağaç, Piri Paşa, Kasımpaşa, Kağıthane (encyclopaedia of islam iV, s.v. “istanbul” 224a).16 The palace complexes of Sa‘dabad (“Place of Happiness”) in Kağıthane and of Aynalıkavak in Hasköy, above Kasımpaşa Deresi were symbols of the Tulip Period.17 one should also mention Okmeydanı, the imperial archery field on the upper slopes of the hills rising above the Valley of Springs. The Ot-toman sultans often came here for practicing archery or hunting excursions.

it is highly likely, therefore, that when the Persians controlled Byzantion, they were attracted by the natural beau-ties of the northern side of the Golden Horn. And considering their policy of constructing paradeisoi throughout the empire, it is likely that they established a paradeisos at Aktine, the Valley of springs of the Byzantine times, by throwing a wall or some kind of fence around the area to mark off its boundaries. if so, they must have constructed a building associated with paradeisoi such as a palace, a pavilion or a hunting lodge. if my interpretation is cor-rect, Persikes parasēmon historias may have been either the ruins of a building located in the Persian paradeisos across Byzantion or the traces of the walls that enclosed it.18

16 On Kağıthane and its proverbial gardens see Çalış 2007; On Ottoman gardens see Atasoy 2007.17 Hasköy, as a travel guide (Dominic Whiting, Turkey Handbook , 117 tam künyesi?) aptly describes, was once an “idyllic Royal Park favored for

its tranquility by members of the Ottoman court.” 18 Reyhan Körpe suggests that parasēmon may well have been a burial site such as a tumulus (personal communication).


APPenDiX

Achaemenid Paradeisoi Attested in Ancient sourcessparda Xenophon oikonomikos 4.20-5 (sardis)

Plutarch alkibiades 24.7; Diodoros 14.80.2 (sardis)

siG i3, no. 22 (Magnesia on the Maiandros)

Hellespontine Phrygia Xenophon Hellenika 4.1.15-16, 33 (Daskyleion)

strabo 13.1.17 (zeleia)

Greater Phrygia Xenophon anabasis 1.2.7-9 (Kelainai)

Karia Xenophon Hellenika 3.2.12 (oikos of tissaphernes)

Beyond the river Xenophon anabasis 1.4.10 (syria)

Nehemiah 2.8 (Lebanon)

Diodoros 16.41.5 (sidon)

Diodoros 18.39.1 (triparadeisos)

Babylonia Xenophon anabasis 2.4.14 (sittake)

Arrian anabasis 7.25; ephippus FGrH 126 F4 [= Athenaeus 12.537d] (Babylon)

(see Dandamayev, “royal Paradeisoi” for nippur, sippar and Uruk)

Media Plutarch artaxerxes 25 (Paradeisoi: exact location unknown)

Quintus Curtius 7.2.22 (ecbatana)

susiana Dio Chrysostom 79.6; Ktesias FGrH 688 F34 [= Plutarch Moralia 974d; Aelian de Natura animalium 7.1]. esther 1.5, 7.7 (susa)

Parsa (Persis) Arrian anabasis 6.29.4; Aristobulos FGrH 139 F 51 [=strabo 15.3.7] (Pasargadae)

Diodoros 19.21.3 (Ladder “Climax Megale”)

sogdiana Arrian anabasis 4.6.1 (Polytimetus)

Quintus Curtius 8.1.11-12 (Bazaira)

skudra Dionysios of Byzantion 23 Güngerich (Byzantion)


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Fig. 1 Front of the Can sarchophagus, featuring boar and stag hunt. Çanakkale Museum

Fig. 2 Can sarcophagus. Detail of the Boar Hunt. Çanakkale Museum


Fig. 4 Golden Horn. source. re sv. Keras

Fig. 3Boar and stag Hunt from Çavuşköy. Source. e. Akurgal Die Kunst Anatoliens von Homer bis Alexander. Berlin 1961, 172, fig. 119

Documents

A Persian Paradeisos in Byzantion?