The Asclepius Cult and the Asclepions in Anatolia

Since the Prehistoric Age, human beings have encountered many diseases and epidemics. People who managed to find treatment methods for visible diseases have been quite incapable of not finding the causes and diseases that they did not clarify. Ancient clergy and sorcerers believed that the epidemic diseases they could not cure were punishments sent by the gods. They expected God's help to cure these diseases because gods were once again those who would destroy diseases. Many gods and goddesses were especially authorized to distribute illness and healing. After the God Apollo, Asklepios was the best health god of the period. Asklepios gained a great reputation in a short time with his success in diagnosing and healing patients and he was accepted as the god of health by taking the title of son of Apollo. The cult of Asclepius, the god of healing, became one of the most popular cults of antiquity. The Asclepius cult emerged in Epidauros in the 5th century BC and continued until the end of the 4th century AD. The Asclepius cult was brought to Anatolia in 370 BC and to Rome in 291 BC due to epidemics. More than 300 cult sites were built for the Asclepius Cult, which was spreading rapidly in the Greco-Roman world. However, many of those Asclepions have not yet been discovered. The most remarkable temples involve Epidauros, Trikka, Kos, Rhodes, Knidos, Troizeni, Athens, Delphi and Pergamon. It is understood that the Asklepios cult spread over a wide area in Anatolia. As a result of the studies, new healing centers belonging to the Ancient World have been discovered, except the Pergamon Asclepion. The most important of these centers are Alliaoni, located 18 km northeast of Pergamon, and Heraion Teichos, located 15 km from Tekirdağ. In addition, there are some architectural structures in Symrna (İzmir), Ephesos (Selçuk), Nikaia (İznik), Aigeai (in Adana/Yumurtalık) and Eirenopolis (Haruniye Düziçi) that have not been proven to be Asclepion. It is said that there is some evidence that these places are healing centers. In addition, the famous architect Vitruvius (90-20 BC) mentioned that there is an Asklepion Temple in the Troia Region (Çanakkale) and Tralles (Aydın). In the cities of Hadrianoutherai (Balıkesir), Hadrianoi (Orhaneli) and Hadrianeia (Dursunbey), which have some claims about their localization, there are other god cults as well as the cult of Asklepios. In this study, it was tried to gather important information about the Asklepios Cult in Anatolia in the light of ancient sources, numerous epigraphic finds, plastic artifacts, medical tools, architectural remains and numismatic finds.