Iasos

File:Interior of bouleuterion in Iasos AvL.JPG

File:View of agora from bouleuterion of Iasos AvL.JPG

File:Ruins on agora of Iasos AvL.JPG

File:Portico on eastern side of agora of Iasos AvL.JPG

File:Sanctuary of Artemis Astias in Iasos AvL.JPG

Ancient historians consider Iasos a colonial foundation of Argos,Thucydides VIII:28, Polybius XVI:12, XVII:2, Livy XXIII:30 but archaeology shows a much longer history. According to the ancient reports, the Argive colonists had sustained severe losses in a war with the native Carians, so they invited the son of Neleus, who had previously founded Miletus, to come to their assistance. The town appears on that occasion to have received additional settlers.Polybius. Historiae, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+16.12 xvi. 12]. The town, which appears to have occupied the whole of the little island, had only ten stadia in circumference; but it nevertheless acquired great wealth,Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War, viii. 28. from its fisheries and trade in fish.Strabo. Geographia, xiv.

Iasos was a member of the Delian League and was involved in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). After the Sicilian expedition of the Athenians, Iasos was attacked by the Spartans and their allies; it was governed at the time by Amorges, a Persian chief, who had revolted from Darius II. It was taken by the Spartans, who captured Amorges and delivered him up to Tissaphernes. The town itself was plundered on that occasion. It became part of the Hecatomnid satrapy in the 4th century and was conquered by Alexander. We afterwards find it besieged by Philip V, king of Macedon, who, however, was compelled by the Romans to restore it to Ptolemy V of Egypt.Polybius. Historiae, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+17.2 xvii. 2]; Livy. Ab Urbe condita, xxxii. 33; Ptolemy. Geographia, v. 2; Pliny. Naturalis Historia, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+5.29 v. 29].

The mountains in the neighbourhood of Iasus furnished a beautiful kind of marble, of a blood-red and livid white colour, which was used by the ancients for ornamental purposes.Paul the Silentiary. Description of Hagia Sophia, ii. 213. Near the town was a sanctuary of Hestia, with a statue of the goddess, which, though standing in the open air, was believed never to be touched by the rain.Livy. The History of Rome, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Liv.+32.33.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0164]. The same story is related, by Strabo, of a temple of Artemis in the same neighbourhood. Iasus, as a celebrated fishing place, is alluded to by Athenaeus.Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae, iii., xiii. The place is still existing, under the name of Askem or Asýn Kalessi. Chandler (Travels in As. Min. p. 226) relates that the island on which the town was built is now united to the mainland by a small isthmus. Part of the city walls still exist, and are of a regular, solid, and handsome structure. In the side of the rock a theatre with many rows of seats still remains, and several inscriptions and coins have been found there.

It seems to have been abandoned in about the 15th–16th century, in the Ottoman period, when a small town was founded nearby named Asin Kale or Asin Kurin, in the sanjak of Menteşe within the vilayet of İzmir.

Preliminary research was done by the French archaeologist Charles Texier in 1835. A number of ancient Greek inscriptions were removed from the site which were later donated to the British Museum by the Duke of St Albans.[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?place=24094&plaA=24094-3-1 British Museum Collection] Since then, Iasos and the necropolis have been under regular scientific excavations on behalf of the Italian School of Archaeology at Athens by Doro Levi (1960–1972), Clelia Laviosa (1972–1984) and Fede Berti (1984–2011). From 2011 till 2013 the Director of Iasos excavations has been Marcello Spanu .

The site of Iasos has been settled continuously since the Early Bronze Age. In early times, Iasos was influenced by the culture of the Cyclades islands.

During the 1970s, archaeological excavations at Iasus revealed Mycenean buildings (with two "Minoan" levels underneath them).

"At Iasus, Mycenaean buildings, approximately dated by the presence of LH IIIa ware, have been found below the protogeometric cemetery. Below this again two 'Minoan' levels are reported, the earlier containing local imitations of MM II-LM I ware, the later imported pieces of the Second Palace Period (AJA [1973], 177-8). Middle and Late Minoan ware has also occurred at Cnidus (AJA [1978], 321)."Mitchell, S.; McNicoll, A. W. (1978–1979). "Archaeology in Western and Southern Asia Minor 1971–78". Archaeological Reports (25): 59–90.

Other archaeological finds cover Geometric, Hellenistic and Roman periods, through the Byzantine period.

Outstanding remains in Iasos include an Artemis stoa and Roman villas.

Four of its bishops are known: Themistius in 421, Flacillus in 451, David in 787, and Gregory in 878 (Michel Le Quien, Oriens Christianus I:913). The see is mentioned in the Nova Tactica, 10th century (Heinrich Gelzer, Georgii Cyprii descriptio orbis romani, nos. 340, 1464), and more recently in the Notitiae Episcopatuum.

Iasus is listed among the titular sees of Caria in the Annuario Pontificio.Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 911 The titular see has had the followingPius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 448.Michel Le Quien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Parigi 1740, Tomo I, coll. 913-914.

Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. 5, p. 226; vol. 6, p. 241. Bishops:

• Bishop Salvador Martinez Silva (1940.08.10 – 1969.02.07)David M. Cheney, [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2i41.html Iasos] at catholic-hierarchy.org.[http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0952.htm Iasos], at GCatholic.org.
• Bishop Antonio Laubitz (1924.11.08 – 1939.05.17)
• Bishop Gregorio Ignazio Romero (1899.06.19 – 1915.02.21)
• Bishop John Joseph Keane (later Archbishop) (1888.08.12 – 1897.01.29)
• Bishop Gaetano d'Alessandro (later Archbishop) (1884.03.24 – 1888.03.18)
• Bishop Étienne-Louis Charbonnaux, M.E.P. (1844.07.08 – 1873.06.23)
• Bishop Ernst Maria Ferdinand von Bissingen-Nieppenburg (1801.12.23 – 1820.03.12)
• Bishop Emanuel Maria Graf Thun (1797.07.24 – 1800.08.11)
• Bishop-elect Bartolome Gascon (1727.03.17 – ?)

File:Iasos 5510.jpg|Iasos Agora

File:Iasos Agora frieze 5524.jpg|Iasos Agora Frieze

File:Iasos Agora frieze 5526.jpg|Iasos Agora Frieze

File:Iasos Agora plan 5496b.jpg|Iasos Agora Plan

File:Iasos Bouleuterion 5492.jpg|Iasos Agora Bouleuterion

File:Iasos Bouleuterion 5489.jpg|Iasos Agora Bouleuterion

File:Iasos Basilica 5505.jpg|Iasos Agora Basilica

File:Iasos Necropolis 5501.jpg|Iasos at agora Necropolis

File:Iasos Zeus Megistos area 5531.jpg|Iasos at agora Zeus Megistos area

File:Iasos museum 5428.jpg|Iasos museum Altars

File:Iasos museum 5430.jpg|Iasos museum Altar detail

File:Iasos museum 5434.jpg|Iasos museum Altar detail

File:Iasos museum 5435.jpg|Iasos museum Altar

File:Iasos museum 5437.jpg|Iasos museum Treaty

File:Iasos museum 5449.jpg|Iasos museum Capital

File:Iasos museum 5452.jpg|Iasos museum Frieze

File:Iasos museum 5462.jpg|Iasos museum

File:Iasos museum 5469.jpg|Iasos museum

• List of ancient Greek cities

• {{CathEncy|wstitle=Jassus}}
• Grande Encyclopédie, s.v. Iasos 20:505.
• Fede Berti, Roberta Fabiani, Zeynep Kızıltan, Massimo Nafissi (ed.), Marmi erranti. I marmi di Iasos presso i musei archeologici di Istanbul. Gezgin Taşlar. Istanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri'ndeki Iasos Mermerleri. Wandering marbles. Marbles of Iasos at the Istanbul Archaeological Museums. (Istanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri 7.12.2010 – 4.7.2011). Istanbul: Istanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri Müdürlüğü, 2010.

{{commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130607012030/http://iasos.org/ Official Web Site]
• [http://www.guidebodrum.com/iassos.htm Guide Bodrum]
• [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=Iasos&object=Site Iasos article at the Perseus Project]
• [http://www.attalus.org/docs/search.html#Iasos Greek inscriptions from Iasos, in English translation]
• [http://iasoskazisi.selcuk.edu.tr/en/index.html Informative site by Selçuk University in English with button for Turkish version]

{{Former settlements in Turkey}}

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Category:Populated places disestablished in the 16th century

Category:1835 archaeological discoveries

Category:Greek colonies in Caria

Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey

Category:Former populated places in Turkey

Category:Geography of Muğla Province

Category:Buildings and structures in Muğla Province

Category:History of Muğla Province

Category:Populated places in ancient Caria

Iasus

Category:Greek city-states

Category:Members of the Delian League

Category:Milas District