Fresh Batch #99: Kelbessos

The Lion, Palmette, Lotus, Lily, and Fleur-de-Lis

Kelbessos (Turkey)

The available information regarding Kelbessos doesn’t seem to be that helpful, but it is claimed the walls are the oldest portions left of the city, from the first couple centuries of the Common Era, allegedly of Hellenistic design. There is a fortified establishment and a community settlement outside of the walls. The site does not seem to have been excavated thoroughly and there was a lot of illegal excavation that has caused destruction to the area. The political characteristics of the site are not known. This article may be of value for future reference. There is masonry present at the site that is reminiscent of that found in Etruria.

Kelbessos

The walls were built from local limestone or geopolymer that passes as limestone. The thickness of the walls is less than average of fortifications found in Asia Minor, so it may suggest a foreign setup, not really built for defense so much as refuge for invading. The rubble fill that is found in most Hellenistic fortifications is not found at Kelbessos.

According to Wiki, core-and-veneer, brick and rubble, wall and rubble, ashlar and rubble, and emplekton all refer to a building technique where two parallel walls are constructed and the core between them is filled with rubble or other infill, creating one thick wall. Modern masonry still uses core and veneer walls; however, the core is now generally concrete block instead of rubble, and moisture barriers are included. Often such walls end up as cavity walls by the inclusion of space between the external veneer and the core in order to provide for moisture and thermal control. Both the early Phoenicians and Greeks used rubble-filled masonry walls.

The walls in the northwestern sector of Kelbessos stand 4 meters high and are made with morterless irregular ashlar and polygonal blocks. Though the writer suggested this was due to Greek influence, it is consistent with Etrurian masonry, also known as Pelasgic, which indicates Phoenicians, or those connected to them, built this. According to the above referenced article, “The blocks of the wall-circuit are not tooled faces, nor bossed faces; they have quarry faces. The joins are rectilinear, meticulous and well bonded. The horizontal joins have been particularly well prepared. Many fittings which insured the cohesion of the masonry are used, as if they were embedded. The North-West tower is made of the same masonry and has angle grooves which are not very conspicuous. These angle grooves were useful for the vertical alignment of the blocks like a plumb line. However, in this same sector, a few parts of the walls show rougher joins requiring the presence of rubble in the gaps.”

The writer observed that the wall looked unfinished, so that may be the case of the overall location, but the size of the towers and their internal setup suggest the use of artillery pieces, which dates back to the end of the 4th century BC or later. However, the vertical draftings and fittings indicates the fort was not built prior to the Hellenistic period. It was likely a garrison of some sort to control access to the Pamphylian plain.

If you’re interested in why I take interest of ancient sites that contain traces of Phoenician or Phoenician-influenced systems, and how that relates to European and world history, dive into The Holy Sailors (click the image).

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