Gods and cults of Tlos

The subject of this thesis entitled as "Gods and Cults of Tlos" is deific cults that existed from Prehistoric Ages to the end of the Roman Era. With this work, all the gods whose existence in the city have been identified were studied for the first time and their origins, reasons of pray, ritual practices and relations with the sacred sites – if exists – was explained. Within this scope, existences of 23 deific cults have been proven in the sites with the help of archaeological and epigraphic finds. The names of the beliefs that had existed in different time periods are Apollo, Dionysus, Dioskouroi and Goddess, Heracles, Hermes, Cabeiri, Cronus, Sabazios, Trrqas, Theoi Agrioi, Theoi Katakithonioi/Theoi, Uranoi, Zeus, Mother Goddess, Eni Mahanahi/Qlahi Ebiyehi, Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Isis, Maliya, Tyche, Rider Gods, Hero Cults and Ruler Cults (King and Imperial cults). Displaying a rich religious structure, the cult history of the city starts in the prehistoric times. Finds gathered from the surroundings of the city proves the existence of mother oddess cult that is quite widespread in Neolithic Period Anatolia. After the traces of religion in early periods, the first data gathered is from Bronze Age inscriptions. Important for the city and the Lycian region, these resources mention that one of the two statues of God sent from Lycia to Hattusha was taken from Tlos. According to the content of the inscription, the god stands on an animal and holds a spear and a shield. Considering the fact that excavations run within the center of Tlos unearthed Bronze Age layers, it is possible that the religious history of this period will be revealed within a short time. The information on post Bronze Age religious life in Tlos dates back to Classical Period. Within this period that is important for the religious life in the region, the cults of the town consists of local gods and goddesses like Trqqas, Eni Mahanahi, Maliya that are in close relation to Bronze Age Anatolian cults. By the end of the Classical Period, some gods and goddesses of Greek characters starts to take place in the religious life of the town for the first time. This change that starts by the end of the Classical Period comes to an irrevocable point in Hellenistic Period and Greek gods replace the local ones of the Classical Period. Within this period in which gods like Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Zeus and Theoi Agrioi are seen among the religious life of the city, hero and king cults are also added for the first time. Roman Period compromises the richest religious life in the city. Only in this period, information on seventeen different cults has been proven. While imperial cult that developed with the effect of Roman Empire rule and Cronus Cult that seems to be special only for Tlos lead the way, mystic cults like Dionysus, Sabazios and Cabeiri have an important place within these cults. Within this scope, while intense existence of mystic cults seems to be a special choice for the city, it has been proven that the status of Cronus in the city is related with its past connections. Practices like canonry, cult organisations and, limited though they are, religious rituals make the conspicuous factors that are related with the religious content of the gods of the city. In this context, it is known that priests of gods like Cronus, Zeus, Dionysus, Cabeiri and Sabazios and that Dionysus related cult organizations existed in the city. Besides all these, sacrifice of bull in the name of Classical Period local god Trqqas, Dionysus cult rituals in which men cannot take part even if dressed as a woman, agnostic activities raised for the honour of Cronus and festivals organized in the name of imperial cults are seen as the conspicuous factors within the religious rituals and practices of the city. There are two temples that can be directly linked with deific cults in the city centre. It is believed that the temple located just beside Basilica is dedicated to Cronus, and the one sitting above the cavea of the theatre is to imperial cult. Besides, there are some other temples that cannot be linked with deific cults in the Meşedibi Vicinity that falls within the borders of the town centre and in Zindan settlement that is located within the territory of the city. In addition to these temples, it is known that there is a Theoi Agrioi sanctuary that is mentioned in ancient sources but not yet found, an Artemis Temple that is mentioned in an inscription found outside the town but not yet localised and many open air sanctuaries that is very hard to link with a specific god. In conclusion, in the light of information gathered on Tlos that was briefly mentioned above, religious cults of a Lycian city was studied for the first time as a whole in a chronological order and a new light was shed on the religious life in Lycian Region. Keyword: Tlos, Cult, Lycia, Religion, Ancient Religion