Dascylium

{{Short description|Ancient site of a town in Anatolia}} {{other places}} [[File:Hellespontine Phrygia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The location of [[Hellespontine Phrygia]], and the provincial capital of Dascylium, in the [[Achaemenid Empire]], c. 500 BC.]] '''Dascylium''', '''Dascyleium''', or '''Daskyleion''' ({{langx|grc|Δασκύλιον, Δασκυλεῖον}}), also known as '''Dascylus''',<ref>{{Cite Mela|1.19}}</ref> was a town in [[Anatolia]] some {{convert|30|km}} inland from the coast of the [[Propontis]], at modern [[Ergili, Bandırma|Ergili]], [[Turkey]]. Its site was rediscovered in 1952 and has since been excavated.<ref name=livius>[https://www.livius.org/articles/place/dascylium-ergili/ Dascylium (Ergili)]</ref>

== History == Excavations have shown that the site was inhabited in the [[Bronze Age]].

===Iron Age=== ====Phrygian period==== [[Phrygians]] settled there before 750 BC. It came under the control of [[Lydia]]. It was then said to be named after [[Dascylus]], the father of [[Gyges of Lydia|Gyges]].<ref name=livius/>

====Persian period==== After the [[Cyrus the Great#Lydian Empire and Asia Minor|Conquests of Cyrus the Great]] in 547 BC, Dascylium was chosen as the seat of the Persian [[satrapy]] of [[Hellespontine Phrygia]],<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/152055/Dascylium Donald Fyfe Easton, "Anatolia in the Achaemenian and Hellenistic periods"] in ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''</ref> comprising lands of the [[Troad]], [[Mysia]] and [[Bithynia]].<ref>Sparta and Persia: Lectures Delivered at the University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati Classical Studies) (Hardcover) by D. M. Lewis [https://books.google.com/books?id=3YEeAAAAIAAJ&dq=Hellespontine++Phrygia+satrapy&pg=PA51 Page 51] {{ISBN|90-04-05427-8}} (1977)</ref>

====Hellenistic period==== [[Pharnabazus, son of Artabazus|Pharnabazus]] was satrap of [[Darius III]] there, until [[Alexander the Great]] appointed [[Calas (general)|Calas]], who was replaced by [[Arrhidaeus]] in the [[Treaty of Triparadisus]]. According to [[Strabo]], Hellespontine Phrygia and [[Phrygia Epictetus]] comprised [[Lesser Phrygia]] ([[Mysia]]). Others geographers arranged it differently.<ref>[[Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke]] et al., ''[[Athenian Letters]], or the epistolary correspondence of an agent of the king of Persia, residing at Athens during the Peloponnesian war'', Geographical Index [https://books.google.com/books?id=RHhkAAAAMAAJ&dq=Hellespontien+lesser+Phrygia\&pg=PR25 Asia Minor]</ref>

It was a member of the [[Delian League]].<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/32#259 Athenian Tribute Lists]</ref>

When [[Alexander the Great|Alexander of Macedon]] invaded Asia in 334 BC, the first of the major battles by which he overthrew the Achaemenid Empire was fought at the [[Battle of the Granicus|Granicus river]] on his way to Dascylium from [[Abydos (Hellespont)|Abydos]] on the coast.

=== Bishopric === Dascylium appears as a [[Christianity|Christian]] [[bishopric]] in the mid-7th-century ''[[Notitia Episcopatuum]]'' of [[Pseudo-Epiphanius]]. It was a [[suffragan]] of the [[metropolitan see]] of [[Nicomedia]], capital of the [[Roman province]] of Bithynia.

The first bishop of Dascylium whose name appears in an extant document is Ioannes, who took part in the [[Third Council of Constantinople]] in 680 and in the [[Trullan Council]] of 692. The priest Basilius acted as representative of an unnamed bishop of the see at the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787. Georgius was at the [[Council of Constantinople (869)]] and Germanus at the [[Photius|Photian]] [[Council of Constantinople (879)]].<ref>Michel Lequien, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0agp0mJFG_sC ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus''], Paris 1740, Vol. I, coll. 629-630</ref><ref>Raymond Janin, v. ''Dascylion'', in [http://booksnow.scholarsportal.info/ebooks/oca2/4/dictionnairedhis14bauduoft/dictionnairedhis14bauduoft.pdf ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques''], vol. XIV, Paris 1960, coll. 91-92</ref>

== Archaeology ==

In 2020, archaeologists found a 4th century BC [[terracotta]] mask, representing the god [[Dionysus]], in the city’s acropolis.<ref>[https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/2-400-year-old-mask-unearthed-in-ancient-city-158021 2,400-year-old mask unearthed in ancient city]</ref> From 1988 to 2010 the excavations were directed by [[Tomris Bakır]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prof. Dr. Tomris Bakır´ı kaybettik|url=http://yenierdekgazetesi.com/haber/prof-dr-tomris-bakiri-kaybettik-40564.html|access-date=2020-12-22|website=yenierdekgazetesi.com}}</ref> In August 2021, archaeologists led by Kaan Iren have announced the discovery of Ancient relief described Greek-Persian wars at Dascylium. Explorer Kaan Iren said: "there are Greek soldiers fighting and Persians on horseback fighting them. Greek soldiers are depicted under the hoofs of Persian horses. There is a propaganda scene here under the pretext of war".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient relief discovered in northwestern Turkey|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture/ancient-relief-discovered-in-northwestern-turkey/2336764|access-date=2021-08-31|website=www.aa.com.tr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=AA|first=DAILY SABAH WITH|date=2021-08-17|title=Reliefs from 5th century BC found in western Turkey's Daskyleion|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/reliefs-from-5th-century-bc-found-in-western-turkeys-daskyleion/news|access-date=2021-08-31|website=Daily Sabah|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient relief discovered in Balıkesir excavations|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-relief-discovered-in-balikesir-excavations-167143|access-date=2021-08-31|website=Hürriyet Daily News|language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Balıkesir Province#Ancient sites|Ancient sites of Balıkesir]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite encyclopaedia|last1=Blackman|first1=David John|last2=Mitchell|first2=Stephen|editor-last1=Hornblower|editor-first1=Simon|editor-last2=Spawforth|editor-first2=Antony|editor-last3=Eidinow|editor-first3=Esther|title=Dascylium|encyclopaedia=The Oxford Classical Dictionary|edition=4|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-954556-8 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-2032?rskey=ZRGoTi&result=17}} * {{cite journal |last1=Köker |first1=Hüseyin |title=The Coins from the 1954 Excavation at Daskyleion |journal= The Numismatic Chronicle |date=2016 |volume=176 |pages=431–435|jstor=26637338 }} * {{Encyclopaedia Iranica | article = DASCYLIUM | last = Weiskopf | first = Michael | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dascylium | volume = 7| fascicle =1 | pages = 85-90 }}

[[Category:Populated places established in the 8th century BC]] [[Category:1952 archaeological discoveries]] [[Category:Populated places in ancient Mysia]] [[Category:Populated places in Bithynia]] [[Category:Catholic titular sees in Asia]] [[Category:Achaemenid cities]] [[Category:Hellespontine Phrygia]] [[Category:Former populated places in Turkey]] [[Category:Members of the Delian League]]