DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0077
Chap, iv.]
SIPYLUS.
49
them as the ruins of Sipylus, a town of Lydia, and the abode
of Tantalus and Pelops; he supposes the small walls in the
neighbourhood to be the remains of houses, and the pool of
water the lake or xl^y-n, or " stagnum," which, according to
ancient authors,* covered the ground where Sipylus once
stood. I cannot agree with him as to this name, for in the
first place, the lake or pool to which he alludes is far too
insignificant to have attracted the attention of ancient
writers; and, moreover, is in the plain above the town and
ruined tombs; and when I saw it in the rainy season, was
not above thirty feet in diameter. The extent also which
he gives to the walls is too great; and I believe that the
greater part of those near the tombs, and along the hill side
towards Bournoubat, are modern. They are very low and
loosely put together, and appear to have been heaped up
either by shepherds to pen their flocks, or by labourers in
clearing the ground for cultivation, and in forming terraces
to keep up the soil. They are rude and irregular in their
form, and generally occur where the ground is most level,
under the lee of a projecting rock or cliff. They are to be
met with, also, over the surrounding hills. On a second
visit I particularly examined one mass of walls of this
description, rather higher and more extensive than the rest,
to which M. Texier had assigned the name of Maispn des
Pelopides, and saw nothing to alter the opinion I had
already formed.
Yet there can be no doubt that an ancient city once occu-
pied this ground, from the circumstance of an Acropolis
existing on the summit of the hill, although for the fol-
lowing reasons I cannot agree to the name given it by
M. Texier. Strabo, f in alluding to the destruction of
Sipylus by an earthquake, and remarking that Magnesia
was also overturned by a similar catastrophe, adds that
the latter town was situated under Mount Sipylus; whilst
PausaniasJ affirms that the ruins of the town could for
* Pliu. Nat. Hist. v. 31. Pausan. Acli. vii. 24.
t Lib. xii. c. 8, p. 580. % Ach. lib. vii. c. 21.
SIPYLUS.
49
them as the ruins of Sipylus, a town of Lydia, and the abode
of Tantalus and Pelops; he supposes the small walls in the
neighbourhood to be the remains of houses, and the pool of
water the lake or xl^y-n, or " stagnum," which, according to
ancient authors,* covered the ground where Sipylus once
stood. I cannot agree with him as to this name, for in the
first place, the lake or pool to which he alludes is far too
insignificant to have attracted the attention of ancient
writers; and, moreover, is in the plain above the town and
ruined tombs; and when I saw it in the rainy season, was
not above thirty feet in diameter. The extent also which
he gives to the walls is too great; and I believe that the
greater part of those near the tombs, and along the hill side
towards Bournoubat, are modern. They are very low and
loosely put together, and appear to have been heaped up
either by shepherds to pen their flocks, or by labourers in
clearing the ground for cultivation, and in forming terraces
to keep up the soil. They are rude and irregular in their
form, and generally occur where the ground is most level,
under the lee of a projecting rock or cliff. They are to be
met with, also, over the surrounding hills. On a second
visit I particularly examined one mass of walls of this
description, rather higher and more extensive than the rest,
to which M. Texier had assigned the name of Maispn des
Pelopides, and saw nothing to alter the opinion I had
already formed.
Yet there can be no doubt that an ancient city once occu-
pied this ground, from the circumstance of an Acropolis
existing on the summit of the hill, although for the fol-
lowing reasons I cannot agree to the name given it by
M. Texier. Strabo, f in alluding to the destruction of
Sipylus by an earthquake, and remarking that Magnesia
was also overturned by a similar catastrophe, adds that
the latter town was situated under Mount Sipylus; whilst
PausaniasJ affirms that the ruins of the town could for
* Pliu. Nat. Hist. v. 31. Pausan. Acli. vii. 24.
t Lib. xii. c. 8, p. 580. % Ach. lib. vii. c. 21.