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Modern Description: Akpinar village lies some hundreds of metres west of the circuit here, with its satellite Zeytin Oba to the south of it. From the little valley the wall ascends to a ridge, and then turns up it to climb to the citadel. There are foundations of a tower on the corner, and there seems to have been a gate on its north-west side; The wall is relatively well preserved on this stretch. But further to the north-east it becomes faint and then disappears altogether. Somewhere on the slope we noted a wall stretch of rather irregular plan, whose south angle may perhaps have covered a gate. Beyond that we saw no clear trace of the wall in our traverses up and down the hillside. To the north-east the slope becomes increasingly steep, and finally, towards the summit, precipitous. Where preserved, the wall shows sturdy outer and inner faces. There are hardly ever more than two courses of masonry visible above ground; but Calvert noted that earth has accumulated against the wall, and records at one point a pit dug to a depth of ten feet without reaching its foot. For the most part the masonry is more or less regular ashlar and trapezoidal, with courses that occasionally dip, though we saw some much rougher work at γ on the plan. Fabricius compared the walls to the later work at Neandria, while noting that with a circuit of three English miles Cebren was a substantially larger city. Calvert thought that the regular masonry on the north-east and in the valley belonged to a later epoch than the rougher parts, and Judeich surmised that the north-west corner belonged to an extension of the circuit. It is difficult now to judge on these opinions. But plentiful archaic grey ware could be picked up alongside house foundations in a pit at α on the plan, we noted classical and grey wares on Fugla Tepe and its western flank, and the occupation of the citadel on the mountain top goes back to archaic times at least. These areas must have been contained in the circuit that protected the population of Cebren at the time of Dercylidas' campaign in 399 B.C.; and therefore the fifth-century circuit cannot have been much less extensive than that which we have traced. The coursed masonry of which the greater part of the circuit consists does not look archaic; but on the historical evidence it is not likely to be subsequent to the late fifth century when Cebren was one of the cities garrisoned by the local dynasts Zenis and Mania. The apparent absence of towers on the long stretches of curtain would suit a date before the fourth century for the trace. (Cook, Troad 1973, p. 330)
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebrene
Wikidata ID: Q3566306
Trismegistos Geo: 16161

Info: Cook 1973

J.M. Cook, The Troad : An Archaeological and Topographical Study (OUP 1973)

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