DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4680#0291
622 XIV. AKMONIA AND THE AKMONIAN DIOCESE.
road-system. It stands midway between the great mass of Mt. Din-
dymos (Murad-Dagh) and the lofty volcanic mountains between
Sandykli and Afion-Kara-Hissar. Travellers going N. or N.E. from
Banaz-Ova have therefore small choice of roads : unless they are going
to the Pentapolis they must ascend the Hammam-Su to its source
near Siokharax, and then cross a broad lofty ridge which projects
N. from Ahar-Dagh and acts as a sort of aqueduct to bear away the
Tembris towards Kotiaion. Here the road forks beside a tumulus
with a Turbe on the top, which stands on the outer edge of the ridge
and commands a wide view1; and one branch, descending the valley
of the Akkar Su, traverses the whole length of Phrygia Paroreios, or
goes E. to Galatia while the other branch goes N. to Apia and
Kotiaion. This road is at the present time one of the main trade-
routes of Anatolia (Ch. XIII § 9).
The road to the Pentapolis ascends the Ahat-Keui-Su by Akmonia
to Diokleia, and then crosses a low ridge till it strikes a stream flowing
S. by E.: it descends this stream a few miles, and then crosses another
ridge into the Sandykli-Ovaz. The fine open valley in which the
Banaz-Tchai, the Hammam-Su, and the Ahat-Keui-Su unite, is there-
fore a singularly important point in the road-system of every period
in Anatolian history. Several important thoroughfares converge to
it and again diverge from it. Yet, singular to relate, this valley has
never been occupied by an important city: the beautiful situation
and immense natural strength of Akmonia, only four miles to the east,
made it the military centre of the whole district, and gave it the
command over a great part of the valley where the roads and rivers
meet. Bat the wealth of Akmonia must have depended mainly on
this valley, and the remains at Susuz Keui (Keramon-Agora)3 and
Islam Keui (too numerous to have been all brought from Akmonia)
prove that under the Pax Romania the superior convenience of the
open valley made it the permanent residence of a considerable
population.
1 A Turbe, with the grave of a Dede portant points, especially where it
(heroized ancestor), is a relic of pre- enters mountainous district (e. g. near
Mohammedan superstition which has Islam-Keui, at Besk-Karish-Eyuk, at
been incorporated in Mohammedanism Bei-Keui). See pp. 29 f.
as a practical religion. Such founda- 2 The horse-road crosses this ridge ;
tions very often mark an ancient site, but the wagon-road keeps on down
This particular tumulus, as I believe, Aram-Tchai, and then turns left to
marked a stage on the ' Royal Road ' Eukarpia and Sandykli. On M. Radet's
and was used for signalling, among error about the road to Eukarpia see
other purposes: the line of the Royal pp. 572, 597 n.
road is marked by mounds at im- 3 See Ch. XIII § 13.
road-system. It stands midway between the great mass of Mt. Din-
dymos (Murad-Dagh) and the lofty volcanic mountains between
Sandykli and Afion-Kara-Hissar. Travellers going N. or N.E. from
Banaz-Ova have therefore small choice of roads : unless they are going
to the Pentapolis they must ascend the Hammam-Su to its source
near Siokharax, and then cross a broad lofty ridge which projects
N. from Ahar-Dagh and acts as a sort of aqueduct to bear away the
Tembris towards Kotiaion. Here the road forks beside a tumulus
with a Turbe on the top, which stands on the outer edge of the ridge
and commands a wide view1; and one branch, descending the valley
of the Akkar Su, traverses the whole length of Phrygia Paroreios, or
goes E. to Galatia while the other branch goes N. to Apia and
Kotiaion. This road is at the present time one of the main trade-
routes of Anatolia (Ch. XIII § 9).
The road to the Pentapolis ascends the Ahat-Keui-Su by Akmonia
to Diokleia, and then crosses a low ridge till it strikes a stream flowing
S. by E.: it descends this stream a few miles, and then crosses another
ridge into the Sandykli-Ovaz. The fine open valley in which the
Banaz-Tchai, the Hammam-Su, and the Ahat-Keui-Su unite, is there-
fore a singularly important point in the road-system of every period
in Anatolian history. Several important thoroughfares converge to
it and again diverge from it. Yet, singular to relate, this valley has
never been occupied by an important city: the beautiful situation
and immense natural strength of Akmonia, only four miles to the east,
made it the military centre of the whole district, and gave it the
command over a great part of the valley where the roads and rivers
meet. Bat the wealth of Akmonia must have depended mainly on
this valley, and the remains at Susuz Keui (Keramon-Agora)3 and
Islam Keui (too numerous to have been all brought from Akmonia)
prove that under the Pax Romania the superior convenience of the
open valley made it the permanent residence of a considerable
population.
1 A Turbe, with the grave of a Dede portant points, especially where it
(heroized ancestor), is a relic of pre- enters mountainous district (e. g. near
Mohammedan superstition which has Islam-Keui, at Besk-Karish-Eyuk, at
been incorporated in Mohammedanism Bei-Keui). See pp. 29 f.
as a practical religion. Such founda- 2 The horse-road crosses this ridge ;
tions very often mark an ancient site, but the wagon-road keeps on down
This particular tumulus, as I believe, Aram-Tchai, and then turns left to
marked a stage on the ' Royal Road ' Eukarpia and Sandykli. On M. Radet's
and was used for signalling, among error about the road to Eukarpia see
other purposes: the line of the Royal pp. 572, 597 n.
road is marked by mounds at im- 3 See Ch. XIII § 13.