XANTHUS (mod. Gunuk)

This article appears in Volume V28, Page 882 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: WIL-YAK

XANTHUS (mod. Gunuk) , an ancient city of

Lycia

LYCIA

, on the river Xanthus (Eshen Chai) about 8 m. above its mouth. It was besieged by the Persian general Harpagus (546 B.C.), when the

acropolis

ACROPOLIS (Gr. aKpos, top, a6)Xts, city)

was burned and all the inhabitants perished (

Herod

HEROD
HEROD (surnamed THE GREAT)

. i. 176). The city was afterwards rebuilt; and in 42 B.C. it was besieged by the Romans under M. Junius Brutus. It was taken by

storm

and set on fire, and the inhabitants perished in the flames. The ruins lie on a

plateau

PLATEAU (a French term, older platel, for a flat piece of wood, metal, &c., from plat, flat)
PLATEAU, JOSEPH
ANTOINE
- ANTOINE, ANDRE (1858- )
FERDINAND (1801-1883)

, high above the left bank of the river. The nearest port is Kalamaki, whence a tedious ride of three to four hours round the edge of the

great

GREAT

marsh of the Eshen Chai brings the traveller to Xanthus. The whole plan of the city with its walls and gates can be discerned. The well-preserved theatre is remarkable for a break in the curve of its auditorium, which has been constructed so as not to interfere with a sarcophagus on a pedestal and with the " Harpy

Monument

MONUMENT (Lat. monumentum or monumentum; from monere, to advise, bring to mind, remind; the German equivalent is Denkmal)

" which still stands to its full height, robbed of the reliefs of its

parapet

PARAPET (Ital. parapetto, Fr. parapet, from para, imperative of Ital. porare, to cover, defend, and petto, breast, Lat. pectus; the German word is Brustwehr)

(now in the British Museum). In front of the theatre stands the famous stele of Xanthus inscribed on all four sides in Lycian and Greek. Be-hind the theatre is a terrace on which probably the temple of either the Xanthian Apollo or Sarpedon stood. The best of the tombsthe " Payava Tomb," the " Nereid

Monument

MONUMENT (Lat. monumentum or monumentum; from monere, to advise, bring to mind, remind; the German equivalent is Denkmal)

," the " Ionic Monument " and the " Lion Tomb "are in the British Museum, as the result of Sir Chas. Fellows's expedition; only their bases can be seen on the site. A fine triple gateway, much polygonal masonry, and the walls of the

acropolis

ACROPOLIS (Gr. aKpos, top, a6)Xts, city)

are the other objects of most

interest

INTEREST

.
See O. Benndorf and G. Niemann, Reisen in Lykien uud Karien (1884). (D. G. H.)

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