Carians are among the Western Anatolia’s indigenous people, whom Sumerian once called ”Carians: People living in the garden of the Sun”. Carieans lived in an area which includes the whole of Mugla city and parts of Aydın and Denizli cities of today’s Turkey.
The Carians, whose existence is known in Western Anatolia since the 2nd millennium BC and whose names are mentioned in the Hittite texts, the Torah and the Egyptian Hieroglyphs, are considered to be the continuation of the Luwians who were the native people of Anatolia. Caria means “Land of the Peaks”. Their indigenous Carian language has not been fully translated yet.
The Labrys and the Sanctuaries of Caria
The labrys, a double-bladed axe, marks the holy places of Caria. At Labraunda, in the mountains nearby Milas, the Carians prayed to Zeus, who was shown with the axe in his hand. The name Labraunda itself is believed to mean the place of the labrys, and a sacred road joined it to the city of Mylasa.
Another great sanctuary was Lagina, with the temple of Hecate you see below. Some say Hecate herself came from the Carians. The ruling family of Mausolus kept Labraunda as its own shrine, and it put the labrys on its coins too.
One of the claims about labrys (double-edged axe), which is the symbol of the Carians, is that labrys was one of the sacred signs of the kings of Lydia, and that once a labrys was gifted to Carian Zeus in the time of the Lydian king Giges.
The labrys is much older than the Carians. On Crete the Minoans used the double axe in their religion, and some people link the word labyrinth to it, meaning the house of the double axe. That is only a guess. In Ephesus you can find small Carian labrys signs carved in the stones too, and I wrote about them in Carian Labrys Symbols in Ephesus.
The Carians who fought alongside the Trojans like other Anatolian peoples during the Trojan War, retreated to the inner parts of the region after the Greek immigrants came to the west Anatolian shores in the 12th century BC.
Cities of the Carians near Ephesus and Halicarnassus
Caria lay in southwest Turkey, from Mount Mycale, a little south of Ephesus, down the coast to Lycia, and inland as far as Aphrodisias. Its best known cities were Halicarnassus, today’s Bodrum, and Mylasa, today’s Milas, the first Carian capital.
Let’s have a look at the neighbors. Ephesus and Priene were Ionian Greek cities, and the Carians lived next door to the south. The old story says Androclos, the founder of Ephesus, was killed in a fight with the Carians while helping Priene. Miletus, in the Trojan War story, was Carian city before the Ionians took it. By the way, the historian Herodotus was born in Halicarnassus around 485 BC, and his family probably had Carian roots.
Carian cities, which preserved their independence until 545 BC, lost their independence when whole Anatolia went under Persian rule in 545 BC and became one of the administrative units of the Persian Empire.
During their stay under Persian rule, although they occasionally rebelled against Persian domination together with the Greek city states and Ionian cities led by Athens, the Carians stayed away from rebellion in the future.
In Caria, just as in Egypt, brothers and sisters married each other. Like the king Mausolos with Artemisia, Queen Ada is married to her brother Idrius.
Mausolus and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
Mausolus, also written Mausolos, ruled Caria for the Persians from 377 to 353 BC and made Halicarnassus his capital. After his death his wife and sister Artemisia carried on building his tomb, which became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The word mausoleum comes from his name.
Earthquakes ruined the tomb over the centuries. In 1494 the Knights of St John used its stones to strengthen Bodrum Castle, and you can still spot some marble blocks in the castle walls. Today only the foundation and a small museum are left at the site, it stands in the middle of Bodrum. My post on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus tells more.
Carians resisted the armies of Alexander the Great but could not regain their old power after the invasion and began to shrink. After the Roman and Byzantine rule, Carians passed into the hands of the Turks in the 11th century.
Queen Ada deserves a word here. She was the sister of Mausolus, she had lost her throne, and she held the hill fortress of Alinda. When Alexander came in 334 BC she adopted him as her son, and after Halicarnassus fell he made her queen of all Caria.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who were the Carians?
The Carians were an ancient people of southwest Anatolia who spoke their own language, Carian, which is related to Luwian. They lived in Caria, today’s Muğla and parts of Aydın and Denizli, and their rulers dealt with both Greeks and Persians.
What language did the Carians speak?
They spoke Carian, a language that no longer exists. Most of the inscriptions we have were found in Egypt, where Carian soldiers served as mercenaries, and only a few come from Caria itself.
Which Carian sites can you visit in Turkey today?
In Bodrum you can see the site of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Inland there are Labraunda, Lagina, Alinda and Aphrodisias, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2017. Opening days change, so please check before you go.
Hire English-speaking Tour Guide in Caria
Caria and Carian culture always has been a great mystery. Carian language and customs are still being unraveled today. You can explore today’s Bodrum, Denizli and Aydın to learn more about Carians. Contact me to book an English-speaking professional licensed tour guide to visit Carian attractions. See you soon, Hasan Gülday.
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