Kommagene Civilization And The Ancient City Of Perge

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - The ancient city of Perge was one of the centers of the Kommagene civilization.

Ruins of the ancienty city Perge. AA Photos

Located in the southern province of Antalya, between the capital of the Kommagene Kingdom, Samosata (today Samsat), and Melitene (today Malatya), Perge is mentioned in several Roman resources for its beautiful water and served as a resting place for travelers, caravans, and armies passing through the region.
Perge is home to some 200 stone tombs and a still-functional fountain.

Archaeological excavations have continued for the last three years in the area and revealed 13 rare sculptures, including the Roman emperor Caracalla and several Greek gods and goddesses.
One of them is moon goddess Selene, a horse sculpture, and goddess Tykhe ('Fortuna' in Latin), the main goddess of Perge, who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city.

Ruins of Perge city. AA photos

Kings of the Kommagene Dynasty ruled Adiyaman Province and its vicinity from 80 BC to 72 AD. This Kingdom, whose capital was Samosata, was founded around 80 BC by Mithridates 1, the father of Antiochos 1.

The Kingdom's independence ended with its defeat by Roman legions in the last Kommagene wars, and it became part of the Roman Province of Syria.

The city of Perge - the focus of excavation - was a resting place for travelers, caravans, and armies. It is home to some 200 stone tombs and a still-functional fountain.
The sculpture symbolized recovery from illness for the ancient Greeks and was first unearthed in 1981 in one of the oldest excavation areas, the ancient city of Perge.

Sculptures unearthed in three years - Perge. AA photos

After more than 30 years, the head of Telesphoros, dated to the 2nd century AD, was finally found.
The sculpture, made up of one foot, two pieces of a body (symbolizing Asclepius), and a child's body (representing Telesphoros), is now at the Antalya Museum.

Perge was an important city for Christians of Perge who had worshipped the mother goddess Artemis. St. Paul and Barnabas visited the city, and wealthy benefactors like Magna Plancia had several memorials built here.
The ancient city of Perge has already revealed more than 363 historical and cultural artifacts and stone tombs.
Future excavations will contribute with other traces of the Kommagene civilization, described by Strabo as a small but fertile country between the southeastern Taurus and the Euphrates in Anatolia.

Traces of ancient civilization to be searched in the region. AA photos

Until the coming of the Romans, Commagene was the most prosperous kingdom in the arid southeast region. Its capital, Samosata (Samsat), near Adiyaman, named after Samos I (3rd c. BC.), commanded a strategic crossing over the Euphrates.

It enabled Ptolemaeus, the local ruler, to take advantage in 163 BC of the power struggle between Alexander's successors to make himself king of a small dominion, gradually becoming an independent state.

Written by A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com Staff Writer

Updated on January 6, 2024

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