An Underground Chamber Tomb with Serpent Relief in Ula, Muğla

Year 2024, Issue: 27, 117 - 144, 15.12.2024

Özlem Vapur , Abdulkadir Baran

https://doi.org/10.47589/adalya.1608915

Abstract

This paper deals with an underground chamber tomb found at the Kızılkuyu area of Armutçuk Mahallesi in the Ula district of the province of Muğla and excavated in 2021. The rural area between today’s Çiçekli Mahallesi and the Ula district center was in antiquity part of the koinon of the Ola[i]es (Ολα[ι]ες), first attested in 453 / 452 BC. It gave its name to modern Ula. The grave is carved entirely into the bedrock and contains an entrance room, a two-room chamber with five sarcophagusshaped burials, and four niches for cremation urns or grave goods. The Kızılkuyu tomb is one of the important and unique examples in the region for several surprising and impressive reasons: the benches for ritual use in the entrance room, a relief with serpent and egg, the clockwise symposium-like arrangement of pillows on the burial beds, and the creation of the impression of a chamber tomb built of ashlar blocks in the first room. The grave seems to have belonged to a wealthy local family and was used for around 200 years between the late fourth / third century BC and the beginning of the first century BC. This dating is based on ceramic finds. During this time, the region was part of the mainland territory of Rhodes (Rhodian peraia).

Keywords

Caria, Chamber tomb, hellenistic, pottery, Rhodian Peraia, Serpent relief

Thanks

The rescue excavations were carried out under the supervision of the Muğla Museum. We are grateful to its director Gülnaz Savran for permission to work on the grave and its finds and to the museum experts for their help. The Ula Municipality provided workers and logistical support. The fieldwork was conducted by A. Baran in collaboration with archaeologists Kutalmış Kara and Sude Bayraktaroğlu and archaeology student Deniz Ece Kahveci. The drawing of the tomb was made by Gürol Aytepe; photographs were edited by Su Güner. Mehmet Gürbüzer contributed to the architectural evaluation of the tomb. Canan Özbil corrected the Turkish text. Alexander Herda shared his valuable insights on the architectural evaluation of the tomb and helped with editing of the article and its translation. We would like to thank everyone for their support.

References

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