Phrygian Traces in Bi̇leci̇k and Vezirhan Stele

Abstract

This article investigates the Bilecik region, which is located between Mysia, Bithynia and Phrygia in north-western Anatolia, during the pre-Hellenistic period, in the 1st millennium BC. The paper aims at understanding the cultural identities of people who inhabited the region by interpreting ancient sources, archaeological evidence and epigraphic data together. Moreover, it analyses the Vezirhan stele stylistically, which was found in the region during the early 1970s. Analogies have shown that the reliefs include both eastern and western elements and the stele has been proposed to be dated to the end of the 5th century BC. The Vezirhan stele with the Old Phrygian and Greek inscriptions and the Fıranlar stele, another Old Phrygian inscription, prove the Phrygian presence in the region. In addition to these, recent archaeological data, including the Iron Age settlements represented by the so-called "Phrygian Grey", imported wares and tumuli, is evaluated to shed light on the spread of the Phrygian culture, the settlement patterns and land use in the region. When all the data from the Bilecik region is evaluated, it can be understood that the southern half of the region was a part of the Phrygian core land. Despite the lacking consistent data from the northern part, the Phrygians might have inhabited small rural settlements or might have lived as nomadic tribes in the region.

A Trade Route From the Propontis to Phrygia: Assessing the Economic Status of Kios Between the Archaic and the Early Hellenistic Periods

“…Some of these minor sites were extensively surveyed during the 1940s, 1960s and 1980s, with others being discovered and investigated in recent decades by Efe and Sarı during their research on the Bilecik region (cf. Erpehlivan 2021b).…”

“…Bilecik is a region located to the east of the İznik and Yenişehir plains and between ancient Hellespontine Phrygia and Phrygia Major. There are several sites located in this region that were settled during the relevant period, such as Tataion/Arıcaklar and Yeniköy Höyük, and some earlier Phrygian settlements (Erpehlivan 2021b). Both of the former yielded imported wares and both are situated along Roman roads that followed more ancient routes: Tataion/Arıcaklar, which according to its finds must have been an important Iron Age centre (Bilgin 2020), was a stop along the Pilgrim’s Road (Şahin 1981, 59–60); Yeniköy Höyük was also on a Roman road (French 2013, A5), one that was in use during the Byzantine (Belke 2020), Ottoman (Taeschner 2010) and modern periods.…”

“…Both of the former yielded imported wares and both are situated along Roman roads that followed more ancient routes: Tataion/Arıcaklar, which according to its finds must have been an important Iron Age centre (Bilgin 2020), was a stop along the Pilgrim’s Road (Şahin 1981, 59–60); Yeniköy Höyük was also on a Roman road (French 2013, A5), one that was in use during the Byzantine (Belke 2020), Ottoman (Taeschner 2010) and modern periods. Persianization can be inferred by some stelae found in the Bilecik region (Erpehlivan 2021a), but there are also traces of Hellenization, exemplified by a Greek inscription (Erpehlivan 2021b), and the increasing frequency of Greek goods found at rural sites, especially during the fourth century BC. The Bilecik region would therefore have been an important route eastward, from the area around Kios to Dorylaeum and then to Gordion (cf.…”