Onur ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 ISSN 2159-3159 Article copyright held by the author(s) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Rhodian Funerary Epigrams at Gagai (Lycia) Fatih Onur N THE LATE 1990s and early 2000s, a team of researchers (including the author) led by the late Prof. Sencer Şahin be- gan to survey western Pamphylia and eastern Lycia. During the 2001–2003 excursions in the southeastern part of Lycia, the team was informed of some rock-cut tombs about 3.5 km north- east of Gagai, on the slopes of Andızlıtaş Hill, which is believed to have been in ancient times a military outpost with a tower.1 Three rock-cut tombs were recorded at this site, two of which have inscriptions. Unfortunately, their texts could not be pub- lished, although they were photographed and recorded in the survey notes and mentioned in several publications.2 After studying these old records in the archives, the site was revisited to make up-to-date observations. 1 M. Adak and C. Güzelyürek, Olympos, Çıralı, Adrasan Gezi Rehberi (Istanbul 2003) 111–112; N. Çevik and S. Bulut, “The Rediscovery of GAGAE / ‘GAXE’ in the South-east Corner of Lycia. New Finds from the Τotal Surface Surveys,” Adalya 11 (2008) 63–98, at 5 and 13. 2 M. Adak and N. Tüner, “Neue Inschriften aus Olympos und seinem Ter- ritorium I,” Gephyra 1 (2004) 53–65, at 54–55; M. Adak, “Die dorische und äolische Kolonisation des lykisch-pamphylischen Grenzraumes im Lichte der Epigraphik und der historischen Geographie,” in Ch. Schuler (ed.), Griechische Epigraphik in Lykien. Eine Zwischenblanz (Munich 2007) 42; M. Adak, “Die rho- dische Herrschaft in Lykien und die rechtliche Stellung der Städte Xanthos, Phaselis und Melanippion,” Historia 56 (2007) 251–279, at 268; M. Adak, “Names, Ethnicity and Acculturation in the Pamphylian-Lycian Border- land,” in R. Parker (ed.), Personal Names in Ancient Anatolia (Oxford 2013) 63– 78, at 65–66. I 2 RHODIAN FUNERARY EPIGRAMS ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 Figure 1: Location of Andızlıtaş Hill in southeastern Lycia Base Map: Google Terrain Figure 2: The rock-cut tombs The tombs are carved into a large rock outcrop on the western side of the hill. The site appears to have been a necropolis (see n.1 above), the extent of which cannot be determined as the land was used for agricultural purposes, and there are several piles of stones that have been collected or removed from the land. These piles may have belonged to other tombs, such as the one in which inscription no. 3 was found. FATIH ONUR 3 ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 Figure 3: Tomb to the north, inscr. no. 1 Figure 4: The tombs to the south, inscr. no. 2 on the right Figure 5: Inscription no. 1 Figure 6: Inscription no. 1 4 RHODIAN FUNERARY EPIGRAMS ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 The inscriptions 1. Timodamos’ funerary inscription It is in an inaccessible location at a high altitude. It was there- fore impossible to take the necessary measurements. ΤimodamOΤodem 4 NamapaΤhRdeΞh NYlosaYΤO ΞhNY 4 4leXaiReiaReYTeo ideΤoiolΒiaedOk� aN Τιµοδάµω τόδ̣ε̣ µ̣- νᾶµα, πατὴρ δὲ Ξή- νυλος αὐτῶ· v Ξήνυ- λε χαῖρε ἱαρεῦ, θεο- ὶ δέ τοι ὄλβια ἔδωκ- αν. In hexametric verses: Τιµοδάµω τόδ̣ε̣ µ̣νᾶµα, πατὴρ δὲ Ξήνυλος αὐτῶ· Ξήνυλε χαῖρε ἱαρεῦ, θεοὶ δέ τοι ὄλβια ἔδωκαν. This monument belongs to Timodamos, and Xenylos is his father; oh, priest Xenylos, rejoice! The gods have given you rich gifts. 1: Τιµοδάµω: -ω for Ιonic-Αttic -ου- to indicate the long closed o-sound -οο-/-͞ο-. Τιµόδαµος was a common name throughout the Mediterranean, but it is not otherwise known in inscriptions from Lycia and Pamphylia, although a Lycian with the name Τιµόδαµος is recorded in an inscription from Cos.3 The name is known from several regions of Asia Minor, mostly in its Attic/ Ionic form Τιµόδηµος (see LGPN Va-b s.v. Τιµόδαµος/Τιµόδηµος). The name does not fit the metre since the alpha is long. µνᾶµα = µνῆµα; αὐτῶ = αὐτοῦ. 2–4: Ξήνυλος is a transformation of the name Ξένυλλος with its rare variants Ξενύλος, Ξείνυλλα, etc., which can be found in many places in the Mediterranean except Asia Minor (see LGPN s.v.). The poet seems to have artificially changed the normal form Ξένυλλος and suggests a metrical elongation of the first syllable -ε- > -η- (here written -η- for a long closed e-sound -εε- /- - , which in Attic is written -ει- (analogous to Att. -oυ- here - ω-) and removes the lengthening by position by omitting a lambda. 3 IG XII.4 2313: Κτήσων | Τιµοδάµου | Λύκιος. FATIH ONUR 5 ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 4: ἱαρεῦ = ἱερεῦ; τοι = σοι. 4–6: A very similar version is found in the words of Penelope’s slave Dolios to Odysseus when he returned to Ithaca: θεοὶ δέ τοι ὄλβια δοῖεν (Hom. Od. 24.402). Unusually, it is not the deceased who is greeted, but the bereaved father, whose happiness is praised in his own son’s funerary inscription. 2. Hagesagathos’? funerary inscription Located a few metres south of no. 1, next to the uninscribed tomb to the south on the same rock. It was possible to measure only the letters, which average 5 cm. Figure 7: Inscription 2 mhYiOiΤodesamae mOikaloNallepi leΞaiYioYaghsagaT 4 oYka iXaiReΤeΤoi paRio nΤe s Μὴ υ̣ἱ̣ῶ̣ι̣ τόδε σᾶµα ἐ- μ̣ῶι καλὸν ἀλλ’ ἐπί- λεξαι υἱοῦ Ἁγησαγάθ- ου καvὶ ̣ χαίρετε τοὶ παριόvντεvvς In hexametric verses: µὴ υ̣ἱ̣ῶ̣ι̣ τόδε σᾶµα ἐµ̣ῶι καλὸν ἀλλ’ ἐπίλεξαι υἱοῦ Ἁγησαγάθου καὶ̣ χαίρετε τοὶ παριόντες. Do not attribute this beautiful tomb to my son, but to the son of Hagesagathos! Farewell, you who pass by. The interpretation of the epigram is highly uncertain. If it is related to the first poem, then Xenyllos would have erected 6 RHODIAN FUNERARY EPIGRAMS ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 another commemorative inscription for the biological son of Hagesagathos, for a reason we can only speculate about. 1–2 µὴ υἱῶι: hiatus; for the metrical license cf. Od. 22.159 ἦ υἱός. σᾶµα = σῆµα. σᾶµα ἐµῶι: for hiatus before ἐµ- cf. Il. 19.194 δῶρα ἐµῆς and passim in Od. 3–4 υἱοῦ Ἁγησαγάθου: The genitive is a grammatical ambi- guity, unless υἱοῦ was intentionally written here instead of the dative υἱῶι due to dialect. Feminine Ἁγησαγάθα is known from Rhodian Peraia (see LGPN s.v.); here Ἁγησάγαθος is the first evi- dence of the masculine form. The first letter of the fourth line may appear to be theta, but not only does this not make sense in the context, but theta is carved in the form of a circle with a dot in it (T; see the last letter of 3), not in the form of a circle with a line in the middle (Θ). It is remarkable that this long name was perfectly integrated into the metre. 3. Philodora’s funerary inscription Found in 2024 during a return visit to the site, in the rubble of the later terrace walls on the plain in front of the rock with the tombs mentioned above. Lower left part of a funerary stele. H. 23 cm, w. 26, d. 12; line h. 1.5; dowel thickness 11.5. Figure 8: Inscription 3, fragmentary funerary stele FATIH ONUR 7 ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 . . . . . Α – – – – – – – Φιλόδωρα – – – – – – [ο]ὐκ ἐτέλεσ[σεν – – –] .................................................... Philodora ................................... did not complete (her life etc.) ... 3: ο]ὐκ ἐτέλεσ[σεν, examples of which can be found in Attica and Asia Minor from several periods,4 shows that this text was also an epigram. The letter forms of the first two epitaphs, which exhibit the characteristics of the late Classical and early Hellenistic periods, after the long vowels were introduced in the fourth century B.C., point to a date in the late-fourth/third century: thus the open- bar sigma (s), theta with a dot in the centre of the circle (T), wide pi with a short right arm (p), mu with diagonal hastas (m), nu with a slightly higher right hasta (N), simple omega with flat feet (O). The similar characteristics of the sigma (s) and omega (O) of the third inscription also point to a similar date; it may well have been in Doric dialect, like the other two. One metre south of the stele is a broken round stone in which is a dowel hole. The size of the hole is 18 x 12 with a depth of 9 cm. The stele was obviously erected on top of this dowel hole, for the dimensions match well, in addition to their find-spots next to each other. The stone is among many others that seem to have once formed Philodora’s tomb. On the Rhodian traces in the region The nature of the Rhodian expeditions to southeastern Lycia, now the area from Kumluca to Beldibi, sometime in the seventh century B.C. has long been discussed. Although ancient literary sources give us a general picture with some details, inscriptions in the Doric dialect found in several places in this region are evi- dence of this historical event.5 The earliest inscriptions directly 4 IG II² 13532.5; Milet VI.2 756.5; I.Smyrna 513.8; MAMA I 301.6, 382.16; Haspels, Highlands of Phrygia 15.3; SEG XXVIII 799.5. 5 On the places in the region that were subjected to Rhodian colonization see B. İplikçioğlu, Die Inschriften von Korydalla (TAM II2.1: Vienna 2021) 2–3 n. 16. For a detailed description of the evidence for the Rhodian influence and 8 RHODIAN FUNERARY EPIGRAMS ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 attesting to Rhodian settlers in this region are the funerary in- scriptions published here, though two Doric votive offerings to Athena Polias from Phaselis (n.9 below) seem earlier. There are several literary references to the Rhodian colonists, who are said to have sailed to this part of Lycia and founded several cities. The foundation of Phaselis by the Lindians, which is considered the earliest example of Rhodian colonisation in the eastern part of the peninsula, is generally dated to the early seventh century,6 i.e. the first phase of the ‘Second Colonisation Period’. The Lindian Chronicle records that this invasion led to a clash with the Solymi:7 it appears that the Phaselitans dedi- cated the arms of the Solymians, who were evidently vanquished by the Lindian settlers during a confrontation that took place upon their arrival in the area.8 This implies that the territory upon which Phaselis was founded was originally inhabited by the Solymians before it came under the control of the Lindians. Two votive inscriptions found in Phaselis and dating from the Classi- cal period bear witness to the cult of Athena Polias, which would have been established immediately after the conquest, which Doric dialect in the region see Adak in Griechische Epigraphik in Lykien 41–46 and a in Personal Names in Ancient Anatolia 65–66; see also D. A. Baranov, “‘Greeks in the Land of Apollo: Displaying the Process of the Dorian and Aeolian Colonization of Lycia in the Epigraphy, Archeology and Narrative Sources,” Via in tempore. History and Political Science 49 (2022) 29–43 (in Russian). 6 For references see N. Tüner Önen, “Ideas concerning the Historical Identity and the Connections of the City of Phaselis an Eastern Mediter- ranean Port,” Mediterranean Journal of Humanities 1 (2012) 205–212, at 206– 207; cf. Adak, in Griechische Epigraphik in Lykien 41 and Personal Names in Ancient Anatolia 65. 7 I.Lindos 2 col. C.6–10 (XXIV): Φασηλῖται κράνη καὶ δρέπανα, ἐφ’ ὧν ἐπεγέ- γραπτο· “Φασηλῖται ἀπὸ Σολύµων τᾶι Ἀθαναίαι τᾶι Λινδίαι, Λακίου τοῦ οἰκιστᾶ ἁγευµένου,” ⟨ὡ⟩ς ἀποφαίνεται Ξεναγόρας ἐν τᾶι αʹ τᾶς χρονικᾶς συντάξιος (“Phaselitans, helmets and sickle-swords, on which was inscribed ‘Phaselitans, from the Solymoi, to Athena Lindia, when the colonizer Lakios was the leader’, as Xenagoras shows in Book 1 of his Chronical Compilation). 8 Cf. C. Higbie, The Lindian Chronicle and the Greek Creation of their Past (Oxford 2003) 104 and 228. FATIH ONUR 9 ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 was judged to have been achieved with the help of the goddess.9 The Lindian Chronicle also records that Kleoboulos, the tyrant of Lindos in the early sixth century, organised a successful cam- paign against the Lycians, after which the soldiers dedicated eight shields and a golden crown to Athena Lindia.10 Bresson suggests that since the Lindians had founded Phaselis in the previous century, then the results of this second expedition were the foundations of Gagai, Korydalla, and Rhodia Polis.11 The new funerary inscriptions can be associated with the later aftermath of this expedition. There is no doubt that there were already settled people when the Rhodians arrived in this area in the sixth century, for several pottery finds in Gagai and Rhodia Polis attest to the circulation of Early Bronze Age vases similar to those from Karataş Semahöyük and Badem Ağacı Höyük,12 but it is not known whether these were small, dispersed fishing and farming communities or people living under an organised administrative system. 9 The first has been known for a long time: TAM II 1184; D. J. Blackman, “The Inscriptions,” in J. Schäfer (ed.), Phaselis. Beiträge zur Topographie und Ge- schichte der Stadt und ihrer Häfen (IstMitt Beih. 24 [1981]) 139; N. Tüner, Phaselis Antik Kenti ve Teritoryumu (diss. Antalya 2008) 304–305. The second has been found recently: N. Tüner Önen and F. Yılmaz, “A New Athena Polias Votive Inscription from the Phaselis Acropolis,” Adalya 18 (2015) 121–131. 10 I.Lindos 2 col. C.1–5 (XXIII): τοὶ µετὰ Κλευβούλου στρατεύσαντες εἰς Λυκίαν ἀσπίδας ὀκτὼ καὶ τῶι ἀγάλµατι στεφάναν χρυσέαν, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Τιµόκρι- τος ἐν τᾶ⟨ι⟩ αʹ τᾶς χρονικᾶς συντάξιος, Πολύζαλος ἐν τᾶι δʹ τᾶν ἱστοριᾶν (“As Timokritos mentions in Book 1 of his Chronical Compilation and Polyzalos in Book 4 of his Historiae, those who marched with Kleoboulos into Lycia: eight shields and a golden crown for the statue”). For comments see Higbie, Lindian Chronicle 102–104. 11 A. Bresson, “Rhodes and Lycia in Hellenistic Times,” in V. Gabrielsen et al. (eds.), Hellenistic Rhodes. Politics, Culture, and Society (Aarhus 1999) 98–131, at 102. 12 Çevik and Bulut, Adalya 11 (2008) 82; N. Çevik et al., “Rhodiapolis Kazıları 2007 / Excavations at Rhodiapolis in 2007,” ANMED 6 (2008) 63– 69, at 65–66; Çevik et al., “Rhodiapolis, as a Unique Example of Lycian Urbanism,” Adalya 13 (2010) 29–63, at 30. 10 RHODIAN FUNERARY EPIGRAMS ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 According to traditions, the place where the Rhodians went ashore took the name of Gagai. The Etymologicum Magnum, com- piled in twelfth century, contains this account of the foundation of Gagai by the Rhodians: Gagai. A city of Lycia. It is said that when the Rhodians de- manded as much land from the Lycians as they could settle, they called out “ga, ga!” (“land, land!”) in their ancestral Doric dialect. This is why the city was given this name. Or Nemios, one of the generals of Rhodes, after defeating pirates consisting of Lycians and Cilicians, came near the land one night in winter. When the ship was in danger, the people on board shouted “ga, ga!” (“land, land!”) in their own Doric dialect and pulled the ship to the shore and they were saved. After sunrise, they built a city in this place and named it Gagai after the aforementioned call.13 According to Stephanos of Byzantion, Hekataios of Miletos stated that Korydalla, immediately adjacent to Rhodia Polis, was a Rhodian city,14 suggesting that Rhodian interaction in the region predates the sixth century. On the other hand, Photios quotes Theopompos of Chios as writing about how Rhodia in Lycia was named after the daughter of Mopsos and how Pam- phylia was colonised.15 The place Theopompos gives as Rhodia 13 Etym.Magn. 219.6–16: Γάγαι· Πόλις Λυκίας. Εἴρηται ὅτι Ῥόδιοι, Λυκίους αἰτοῦντες τόπον ἐν ᾧ κατοικήσουσιν, ἐβόων Γᾶ γᾶ, τῇ πατρῴᾳ φωνῇ δωρίζοντες· καὶ ἐντεῦθεν τὸ ὄνοµα ἐτέθη τῇ πόλει. ῍Η ὅτι Νέµιος στρατηγῶν Ῥοδίων, καὶ τοὺς Λυκίων καὶ Κιλίκων λῃστεύοντας κατὰ θάλασσαν νικήσας, νυκτὸς χειµῶνι περι- έπεσε· καὶ κινδυνευούσης τῆς νεώς, τῶν ἐµπλεόντων ἀναβοησάντων τῇ Δωρίδι φωνῇ Γᾶ γᾶ, ἐκ τοῦ ἐπιφθέγµατος προσέσχον καὶ ἐσώθησαν. Ἡµέρας δὲ γενοµέ- νης, κατὰ τὸν τόπον ἔκτισε πόλιν, καὶ ὠνόµασεν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ τῆς λεχθείσης φωνῆς, Γάγαι. 14 Steph. Byz. 376.15–16 (100–101 Billerbeck; FGrHist 1 F 246): Κορύ- δαλλα· πόλις Ῥοδίων. Ἑκαταῖος Ἀσίᾳ. τὸ ἐθνικὸν Κορυδαλλεῖς (“Korydalla, city of the Rhodians. Hekataios Asia. Ethnic form: Korydalleis”). 15 Phot. Bibl. cod. 176, 120b.8–12 (FGrHist 115 F 103.15–16): καὶ περὶ Μόψου τοῦ µάντεως καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων Ῥόδης καὶ Μηλιάδος καὶ Παµφυλίας, ἐξ ὧν ἥ τε Μοψουεστία καὶ ἡ ἐν Λυκίᾳ Ῥοδία καὶ ἡ Παµφυλία χώρα τὰς ἐπωνυµίας ἔλαβον· τίνα τε τρόπον ὑφ᾽ Ἑλλήνων ἡ Παµφυλία κατῳκίσθη (“He also the oracle Mopsos and his daughters Rhode, Melias and Pamphylia, after whom Mopsuestia, Rhodia in Lycia, and the region of Pamphylia were named; he how Pamphylia was colonised by the Hellenes”). 16 F. Kolb and W. Tietz, “Zagaba: Münzprägung und politische Geogra- phie in Zentrallykien,” Chiron 31 (2001) 347–416, at 394. Bresson, in Hellenistic Rhodes 102, also states that the Rhodians may have played a role in the Hel- lenic influence in the region. 17 On the name of Korydalla see L. Zgusta, Kleinasiatische Ortsnamen (Heidel- berg 1984) 292 §591; İplikçioğlu, Inschriften von Korydalla 2–3 and n.17. 18 G. Huber, “Rhodiapolis. Beziehungen zwischen Bauforschung und Epi- graphik,” AAWW 141 (2006) 5–24, at 6–7. 19 For the coins see W. Müseler, Lykische Münzen in europäischen Privatsamm- lungen. Gephyra Monografi Serisi (Istanbul 2016) 174–175 viii, 9–18, and 182 (pl.). 20 O. Mørkholm and G. Neumann, Die lykischen Münzlegenden (Göttingen 12 RHODIAN FUNERARY EPIGRAMS ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 cannot be certain.21 On the other hand, the fact that the main goddess of Rhodia Polis was Athena Polias, just as in the cities like Phaselis and Melanippion with Rhodian connections, points to a Rhodian connection in religious terms, and the goddess ex- pressions malijahi wedrẽñnehi, mali wedrẽñni, malija wedrẽñni in Lycian inscriptions in the city mean “urban Maliya” and appear as a literal translation of the Hellenic “Athena Polias.”22 Adak sug- gests that Melanippion may also have been of Rhodian origin, basing this possibility on the testimony of Hekataios, who pre- sented it as Pamphylian, and on the Greek name of the city and the fact of Athena as its chief goddess.23 It is accepted that the period of Lycian domination of the region is related to the expansion policy of Pericles of Limyra in the first half of the fourth century,24 and none of the Lycian 1978) 21; J. Borchhardt, “Dynasten und Beamte in Lykien während der persischen und attischen Herrschaft,” in R. Dittmann et al. (eds.), Variatio delectat. Iran und der Westen. Gedenkschrift für Peter Calmeyer (Münster 2000) 73– 140, at 119; Kolb and Tietz, Chiron 31 (2001) 392–395; G. Neumann and J. Tischler, Glossar des Lykischen (Wiesbaden 2007) 421. 21 Müseler, Lykische Münzen 5–6. 22 For discussions and references on Athena Polias as the chief goddess of Rhodia Polis see B. İplikçioğlu, “Ein neues Ehrendekret der Rhodiapoliten aus dem Jahr 194 v. Chr.,” AAWW 147 (2012) 39–57, at 46 nn.27 and 29. On the location of the temple see İ. Kızgut, “Rhodiapolis Kazıları ve Çevresi Araştırmaları 2010,” ANMED 9 (2011) 94–99, at 97, and “Rhodiapolis Kazı- ları ve Çevresi Yüzey Araştırmaları 2011,” ANMED 10 (2012) 93–98, at 93. See also the recent discoveries of Helios and Athena cult altars: E. Akalın, “Rhodiapolis Kazıları 2015 / Rhodiapolis Excavations 2015,” ANMED 14 (2016) 362–365, at 364–365. 23 Adak, in Griechische Epigraphik in Lykien 42–43. That the chief goddess of the city was Athena is attested by a Hellenistic inscription found in Melanip- pion, published by Adak, Historia 56 (2007) 251–279. 24 M. Zimmermann, Untersuchungen zur historischen Landeskunde Zentrallykiens (Bonn 1992) 29; F. Kolb,“Geschichte Lykiens im Altertum,” in Lykien (Mainz 1992) 9–31, at 15; J. Borchhardt, “Zur Politik der Dynasten Trbbênimi und Perikle von Zemuri,” Lykia 3 (1997) 1–23, at 2; M. Seyer and R. Tekoğlu, “Das Felsgrab des Stamaha in Ostlykien – ein Zeugnis für die Ostpolitik des FATIH ONUR 13 ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 inscriptions in this region25 date to an earlier period. However, according to Carruba and Vismara, a coin of Gagai from 430– 420 B.C. with the Lycian inscription Gaχe shows that the use of Lycian began before Pericles and that the term gagai is derived from the ancient Anatolian word hahha. 26 However, it is also curious that Athena was depicted on the obverse of the same coin. It is clear from Lycian inscriptions both at Rhodia Polis and near Korydalla, Gagai, and Olympos that Rhodian col- Perikle von Limyra?” Die Sprache 48 (2009) 217–226, at 223–224; S. Şahin, Stadiasmus Patarensis. Itinera Romana Provinciae Lyciae. Lykia Eyaleti Roma Yolları (Istanbul 2014) 390. 25 For Lycian inscriptions at Rhodia Polis see TAM I 149–150. For the Lycian-Old Greek bilingual inscription found at Korydalla see F. J. Tritsch and A. Dönmez, “Finding a Colossal Head of Apollo and Other Discoveries in the Ancient Cities of Lycia,” The Illustrated London News (21 March 1953) 448–449; F. J. Tritsch, “The Lycian Bilingual in Stoichedon from Kory- dalla,” Kadmos 15 (1976) 158–167; G. E. Bean, Lycian Turkey: An Archaeological Guide (London 1978) 146; G. Neumann, Neufunde lykischer Inschriften seit 1901 (Vienna 1979) 14–15; İplikçioğlu, Inschriften von Korydalla 30 no. 1.13. For the Lycian inscription found at Asartaş, about 6 km west of Olympos, see Ş. R. Tekoğlu, “Three New Lycian Inscriptions from Tlos and Asartaş,” Die Sprache 43 (2002) 104–114, at 107–108, figs. 7–8. For a Lycian funerary inscription found in the near northwest of the ruins of Gagai, within the Beykonak (for- mer Gagaz) neighbourhood of Kumluca, see Seyer and Tekoğlu, Die Sprache 48 (2009) 220–222; see also Kolb and Tietz, Chiron 31 (2001) 394, and B. İşler and Ş. R. Tekoğlu, “Rock-Cut Tombs and Two Lycian Inscriptions from Karabel-Çamdağı,” Adalya 24 (2021) 43–59, at 48–49. Bresson, in Hellenistic Rhodes 102, states that the Rhodian presence here does not reflect a real colonization; see also Çevik et al., Adalya 13 (2010) 31. 26 O. Carruba and N. Vismara, “Una emissione arcaica della città die Gagae,” Athenaeum 90 (2002) 75–88, at 76–78, state that the term ‘Gagai’ traces its roots back to the ancient Anatolian language, specifically from the word hahha. In Greek script, it was likely transcribed as gaχe due to the con- straints of the script. The Lycian language does not feature words beginning with g, except for those indicating influence from Persian titles. The meaning of gaχe possibly translates to ‘wither’, and similar terms are found in Akkadian and Hittite as city names. In the Pala language, it signifies ‘cook’ or ‘fire’. The relationship between syllables starting with g and χ suggests that ‘Gagai’ may have evolved from gaχe, originating from the ancient Anatolian hahha. 14 RHODIAN FUNERARY EPIGRAMS ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 65 (2025) 1–14 onists or their influence did not stay in power in this part of the region (present-day Kumluca) for long, though the latest known inscriptions in Doric dialect are probably the treaty between Phaselis and Tenedos found in Beldibi-Hayıtlıgöl (ancient Tenedos), which can be dated to the second-first century B.C., or the Artemis Kitaneurissa votive found on Mount Musa in Olympus.27 It is known that Rhodian administration in Lycia was never long-lasting or successful, but cultural and economic influences were always active through the centuries. Although it appears to have been a short-lived rule, these new funerary epigrams shed a little more light on the lives of the Rhodian settlers here, which could be only partially revealed by the data known prior to this new evidence. These new inscrip- tions not only provide information about their own period, but also indicate that there must have been several generations of settlers before them, since these tombs seem to be the stable products of an enduring tradition—probably learned from the Lycians, although they are much simpler in appearance than the traditional Lycian rock-cut tombs—and, with the presence of a priest and the use of literary poetic language, they bear the traces of a community that had already augmented its civil and re- ligious structures with an intellectual cast.28 December, 2024 Akdeniz University Department of Ancient Languages & Cultures Antalya, Türkiye fatihonur@akdeniz.edu.tr 27 For the most recent publication on the Tenedos inscription see F. Onur, “The Western Shores of the Pamphylian Gulf: Tenedos, ‘Olbia and others’ Revisited,” Phaselis 9 (2023) 15–40, at 18–23. For the dedication to Artemis Kitaneurissa on Mount Musa see Adak and Tüner, Gephyra 1 (2004) 53–55. 28 I am very grateful to Prof. Dr. Gregor Staab for kindly sharing his ideas on the inscriptions, especially for no. 2 in particular, and for his comments in general, and I thank Duygu İleri Onur, who found inscription no. 3, and helped with the work on the site and took the photographs used in this article.