Asardibi (Casara), a classical, hellenistic and early Roman harbor in the Rhodian Peraea
Author
Devrim Atauz, Ayşe
Advisor
Gates, Marie-Henriette
Date
1997Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
Casara is an ancient town on the Bozbumn peninsula, the ancient Loryma peninsula on the southwestern
coast of Turkey. The site has been visited by modem scholars for general epigraphic surveys since
the end of the nineteenth century, and the inscriptions have been published. The last scholarly visit to the
site was by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology survey team, in 1982, who surveyed the underwater
remains on the northern harbor of the city: Asardibi.
The pottery remains found at Asardibi, in accordance with the underwater material found at Serçe
Limanı, the southern harbor of the city of Casara, and the inscriptions studied from the site yielded the
period of occupation of the site, between the fourth century B.C. and the second century A.D.. The research
about the political and administrative status of the region, known as the Rhodian Peraea, demonstrates the
importance and the historical context of Casara, being a Peraean deme center during its period of
occupation. Considering the general maritime traffic of the^period, Casara was on the main trade routes and
functioned as a Rhodian harbor on the mainland. In addition, due to its strategic position on the isthmus of
the Loryma peninsula it was a local harbor serving the local traffic of the Incorporated Peraea. The
investigation of the natural and human resources of the Casaran territory in antiquity completes the general
picture and demonstrates that Casara and other towns in the Incorporated Rhodian Peraea served as places
to provide manpower for the operation of the Rhodian navy.