Iassos Agora Temple of Artemis Astias
Iasos Artemis Astias Tapınağı · Iasos Artemis Astias · Kıyıkışlacık Iassos
Archaic to Roman·Ionian, Carian, Hellenistic·🇹🇷 Muğla Province, Milas, Kıyıkışlacık village, Iassos peninsula, Turkey
About
About Iassos Agora Temple of Artemis Astias
Harbour city Iassos (Iasos), fishing-murex town on a tied island peninsula at Kıyıkışlacık, 31 km west of Milas, controlling the Iassic Gulf (Güllük). Agora centre holds the Tetrastyle Artemis Astias (Artemis of the city) temple c.150 BCE, tetrastyle prostyle with altar and stoas, built over 6th-century Archaic predecessor; Roman mausoleum closes agora west. Italian Fede Berti excavations 1960–; member of Delian League, then Hekatomnid harbour. Unlike Priene Athena Polias mountaintop, Iassos Artemis is low peninsula agora temple demonstrating murex-purple wealth and Carian-Ionian syncretism. Güllük Gulf views to Bargylia.
Why it mattersHekatomnid gulf harbour with murex economy documentation and Artemis Astias island-peninsula cult typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Astias epithet meaning
- 02Peninsula-island formation date
Theories
- 01Murex-purple wealth agora display
- 02Fishing town Artemis vs Ephesian
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.150 BCE (Hellenistic), Archaic predecessor 550 BCE
- Period
- Archaic to Roman
- Culture
- Ionian, Carian, Hellenistic
- Builders
- Iassian fishermen demos and Hekatomnid mausolus
- Purpose
- Agora harbour goddess protecting murex-purple fisheries and gulf sea-route
- Abandoned
- c.700 CE gulf siltation
- Rediscovered
- 1835 Texier; 1960 Levi-Berti Italian excavations
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
150 BCE
Tetrastyle Artemis agora re-build
1960
Italian mission start
On the ground
Structures & features
37.2780° N · 27.5850° E · 12 m · 2 mapped features
Iassos — Artemis Astias Temple Agora
agora temple2nd-century BCE tetrastyle agora temple with Artemis Astias cult image base
37.2790° N · 27.5860° EIassos — Rock-cut Mausoleum of the Agora
mausoleumRoman rock-cut mausoleum sealing agora west side, 2nd CE with sarcophagi
37.2770° N · 27.5840° E