Abstract:

In this contribution, the content of the below mentioned article by C. Schuler is criticized. The inscription published by Schuler comes from the ancient settlement of Köybaşı, which lies on the Claudian road to Neisa from Xanthos, on a mountain pass. The contents of the article concerning this inscription are unfortunately built upon what the author believes to be erroneous assumptions. Between the readable left and highly worn right sides, there is approximately 0,005 m height difference that makes the survival of a single letter on the right side impossible. On the surface of the stone there are random thin cracks, from which one can, if one so wishes, form letterforms at will. Schuler claims that he “definitely” read letters in this area, on which he bases both his restorations and explanations. His considerations concerning the route from Xanthos to Phellos also fail. The site of the inscription is connected, primarily in the Claudian period, not with Patara, but with Xanthos. Therefore it could not have been in the territory of Patara, but in the territory of Xanthos. Then, the route 6 of the Stadiasmos passed directly through the cemetery of this place to Norhern Lycia. These epigraphic, historical and geographical inconsistencies in the article disprove almost everything that Schuler expressed about both the content of the inscription and the topography of the site. The two-part title of the article “Priester πρὸ πόλεως in Lykien: Eine neue Inschrift aus dem Territorium von Patara” finds not the slightest confirmation either in the inscription or in the historical geography of the region.

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