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Modern Description: City in Caria, a member of the Delian Confederacy when governed by a dynast Pigres (Pikres, Pitres), with a tribute of one talent. It is recorded by Strabo (611), following Kallisthenes, as one of the two Lelegian towns preserved by Mausolos--;not incorporated by him in Halikarnassos. It is now agreed that Mausolos in fact refounded and greatly enlarged Syangela under the name of Theangela. The new city stood on the lofty hill directly above the village of Etrim, 14 km E-NE of Bodrum, and substantial ruins remain. On the question whether this was also the site of Syangela opinions have differed. It has been proposed to recognize Syangela in the ruins of the Lelegian town at AIazeytin, some 5 km to the SW; but a more recent view prefers a newly discovered site on Kaplan Dag about half this distance to the W. It is suggested that this site was destroyed by the Persians, whereupon its inhabitants moved to the hill above Etrim and stayed there until Mausolos' reconstruction.
The two sites are of similar size. At Alazeytin the circuit consists partly of a fortification wall, partly of the outer walls of 60-70 houses; an agora, several sanctuaries and public buildings, and the seats of a theaterlike building are recognizable. The main occupation seems to have lasted from the 7th to the 4th c.; a tower on the summit is in regular masonry of later date than the rest. A short distance to the S is a group of six building complexes of the kind now called Compound-Anlage; buildings of this kind were formerly supposed to be tombs, but are now generally understood to be pens for the protection of herds. On Kaplan Dag the ruined remnants of a once considerable settlement with a massive fortification wall lie on top of the mountain, and on a neighboring summit is a fort which evidently served as a refuge; here stood at least six grave tumuli with dromos, one of which is still 4 m high. There are traces of other buildings in the hollow between the two summits.
The site of Theangela at Etrim is long and narrow, occupying three hilltops; it is 1300 m long from E to W, with an average width of 250 m. The city wall is traceable for its entire length, and the three summits are separately fortified. The masonry is variable and only in some places Lelegian in character. At a point somewhat E of the middle the city is divided in two by a cross-wall running N-S, with a gate in its S half. Almost all the buildings are E of this wall; evidently the same trouble was experienced here as at Halikarnassos and Myndos in manning the new city, and it was found expedient to reduce its size by more than half. The main city gate, on the other hand, is in the S wall near its W end; a road runs E from it. In two places in the N wall a gate may have stood, but nothing tangible remains. At the extreme W end the walls run up to a powerful fort on the summit of the W hill; it has a tower at each corner and was evidently designed to resist artillery. The entrance to it from the city makes a double right-angled bend. Just below this fort on W and S are two remnants of curved wall, in dry rubble masonry, which appear to have belonged to an earlier fortification surrounding the summit; if Kaplan Dag is in fact the site of the early Syangela, this wall may have been erected by the refugees from the Persian sack. In the S wall beside the fort is a postern gate; at the E end and on the S the walls run out to other forts of more modest proportions.
The E summit is separately enclosed as a citadel by a ring wall and joined to the city circuit by a slender wall on N and S. At the top is a rectangular tower; on the E slope, which is terraced, are two fine cisterns and a mosaic floor. A little below the citadel on the W is a remarkable and well-preserved tomb. It is built in the hillside, running parallel to it; it is ca. 7 m long, with a corbeled roof, and contained bones and fragments of 5th c. vases. The roof is exceedingly solid, with several layers of stone blocks, and on it were found ca. 40 round stone balls which seem to show that the roof was at some time used as an artillery emplacement. It has been suggested that this may be the tomb of the dynast Pigres.
The principal public buildings stood between the E citadel and the central cross-wall, but little survives of them above ground. Several statues have been found here, including an archaic kore, and the Temple of Athena attested by inscriptions must have stood in this area. There is also a stadiumlike building surrounded by a wall 1.1 m thick; it is only 50 by 10 m, and no rows of seats are to be seen. There are also two more cisterns, one of which is still used by the fire guardian stationed on the W summit.
Apart from the vases found in the royal tomb the pottery is in the main Hellenistic, with some sherds and tiles apparently of the middle and late 4th c. There seems to have been no occupation in Classical Roman times, but there is some evidence of a later resettlement.
No necropolis has been discovered, but on the mountainside below the city on the NE is a group of tomb chambers carefully built of squared blocks, with vaulted roofs and paving slabs above. These also appear to be of Hellenistic date. (G. E. BEAN)
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syangela
Wikidata ID: Q11950409
Trismegistos Geo: 58967

Info: Princeton Encyclopedia

(Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, from Perseus Project)

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