# Scepsis > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Scepsis > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Scepsis.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scepsis > Source revision: 1349283183 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Ancient settlement in the Troad, Asia Minor}} {{Redirect|Skepsis}} {{For|the genus of flies|Scepsis (fly)}} {{Infobox ancient site | name = Scepsis | native_name = Σκῆψις or Σκέψις | alternate_name = | image = Scepsis 2009.jpg | alt = | caption = View of the village of Kurşuntepe from the highest point of the site of ancient Scepsis. | map_type = Turkey | map_alt = | map_size = 275 | relief = | coordinates = {{coord|39|48|40|N|26|42|23|E|display=inline,title}} | location = Kurşuntepe, [Çanakkale Province](/source/%C3%87anakkale_Province), [Turkey](/source/Turkey) | region = [Troad](/source/Troad) | type = Settlement | part_of = | length = | width = | area = | height = | builder = | material = | built = | abandoned = | epochs = | cultures = | dependency_of = | occupants = | event = | excavations = | archaeologists = | condition = | ownership = | management = | public_access = | website = | notes = }} '''Scepsis''' or '''Skepsis''' ({{langx|grc|Σκῆψις or Σκέψις}}) was an ancient settlement in the [Troad](/source/Troad), [Asia Minor](/source/Asia_Minor) that is at the present site of the village of Kurşunlutepe, near the town of [Bayramiç](/source/Bayrami%C3%A7) in [Turkey](/source/Turkey). The settlement is notable for being the location where the famous library of [Aristotle](/source/Aristotle) was kept before being moved to [Pergamum](/source/Pergamum) and [Alexandria](/source/Alexandria).{{cite book | last =Brockmann | first =Heike |author2=A. Uler |author3=N. Tavlas |author4=L. Stump |author5=J. Steinhardt |author6=W. Schuster |author7=E. Goltz |author8=T. Kelsey | title =Turkey | publisher =Hunter Publishing | date =2000 | pages =82 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=8_6-1Lr1u0cC&q=skepsis&pg=PA82 |isbn=3-88618-911-2}} It was also home to [Metrodorus of Scepsis](/source/Metrodorus_of_Scepsis) and [Demetrius of Scepsis](/source/Demetrius_of_Scepsis). ==History== The city of Scepsis was situated in two different, non-contemporary sites on [Mount Ida](/source/Mount_Ida_(Turkey)), Palea-Scepsis, and the settlement of Scepsis proper. [Strabo](/source/Strabo) writes that Anaximenes of Lampsacus said that [Miletus](/source/Miletus) colonized the place.[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:14.1.6 Strabo, Geography, § 14.1.6] ===Palea-Scepsis=== Palea-Scepsis (Old Scepsis) is notable for the native tradition that it was once the "capital of [Aeneas](/source/Aeneas)'s dominions."{{cite book | last =Vaux | first =William Sandys Wright | title =Ancient history from the monuments: Greek cities & islands of Asia Minor | publisher =Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge | date =1877 | location =[London](/source/London) | pages =[https://archive.org/details/ancienthistoryf01vauxgoog/page/n16 8]–9 | url =https://archive.org/details/ancienthistoryf01vauxgoog| quote =scepsis. }} It was situated near the source of the [Aesepus](/source/Aesepus), high up on Mount Ida. William Vaux was able to note in 1877 that a village in the neighborhood still bore the name of ''Eski Skisepje'', which in [Turkish](/source/Turkish_language) corresponds to "Palea-Scepsis." Dr. Andreas David Mordtmann, the discoverer of the settlement, is quoted on his discovery by Dr. Archibald Ross Colquhoun in a reference by Vaux.
{{cquote|I did discover a most ancient city with its [acropolis](/source/acropolis), towers and walls built of hewn stone, and furnished with four gates. The antiquity of the place was manifested by an [oak](/source/oak) having fixed its roots in the wall, and by its trunk having grown to a girth of 530 centimeters (about 17 feet). On reference to [Strabo](/source/Strabo), I first became aware that I had discovered, probably, the most ancient ruin in [Asia Minor](/source/Asia_Minor), for I hold this can be no other than Palae-Scepsis.}}
The city was given to [Themistocles](/source/Themistocles) by [Artaxerxes I](/source/Artaxerxes_I) of Persia in order to provide him with clothes.{{cite web|first1=na|last1=Plutarch|title=Themistocles, Part II|url=http://plutarch.classicauthors.net/PlutarchsLives/PlutarchsLives3.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001032753/http://plutarch.classicauthors.net/PlutarchsLives/PlutarchsLives3.html|archive-date=2015-10-01}} ===Scepsis=== thumb|right|Location of the later Scepsis (just above center) The later Scepsis was about sixty [stadia](/source/stadia_(length)) (7.5 miles) lower down [Mount Ida](/source/Mount_Ida_(Turkey)) from Palae-Scepsis. Its acropolis occupied the hill north of the modern village of Kurşuntepe. This later town of Scepsis is memorable for the discovery there, during the time of [Sulla](/source/Lucius_Cornelius_Sulla), of the works of [Aristotle](/source/Aristotle) and [Theophrastus](/source/Theophrastus), which had been buried by the illiterate relations of one [Neleus](/source/Neleus_of_Scepsis) (a pupil of Aristotle and friend of Theophrastus), so that they would not be carried off by [Attalus I](/source/Attalus_I), who was then founding the [Library of Pergamum](/source/Library_of_Pergamum). Several times in its history, the citizens of Scepsis were forced to move elsewhere. When citizens of surrounding cities were forced to migrate to [Troy](/source/Troy), citizens of Scepsis were also forced to relocate. The city was again evacuated while the residents of surrounding cities were made to move to [Alexandria Troas](/source/Alexandria_Troas).{{cite web | title =On Kazdağ: Bayramiç | publisher =Governorship of Çanakkale | url =http://www.canakkale.gov.tr/eng_bayramic.htm | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070124060636/http://www.canakkale.gov.tr/eng_bayramic.htm | url-status =dead | archive-date =2007-01-24 | access-date =2007-03-19 }} Certain traditions hold that [Saint Cornelius the Centurion](/source/Cornelius_the_Centurion), the first [Pagan convert](/source/proselyte) to [Christianity](/source/Christianity), became the first [bishop](/source/bishop) of Scepsis in the [early days of Christianity](/source/Early_Church). Scepsis remains a [titular see](/source/titular_see) in the [Roman Catholic Church](/source/Roman_Catholic_Church).[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2s45.html Catholic Hierarchy] ===Notable people=== * [Demetrius of Scepsis](/source/Demetrius_of_Scepsis), a Greek grammarian * [Metrodorus of Scepsis](/source/Metrodorus_of_Scepsis), he was famous for the excellence of his memory. * [Neleus of Scepsis](/source/Neleus_of_Scepsis), a disciple of [Aristotle](/source/Aristotle) and [Theophrastus](/source/Theophrastus) * Midias, tyrant of Scepsis[http://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg0616/tlg001/1st1K-grc1/2.6 Polyaenus, Strategems, 2.6.1] ==Notes and references== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{commonscat-inline}} {{Former settlements in Turkey}} {{Authority control}} Category:Archaeological sites in the Marmara region Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Category:Cities in ancient Troad Category:Former populated places in Turkey Category:Populated places in ancient Troad Category:Populated places in ancient Mysia Category:Geography of Çanakkale Province Category:History of Çanakkale Province Category:Tourist attractions in Çanakkale Province Category:Catholic titular sees in Asia --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Scepsis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scepsis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scepsis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.