Karasis - Hellenistic Fortress - 22 December 2020

    In 1996, Professor Sayar of Istanbul University was shown the vast ruins atop Mount Karasis in the Taurus Range. What was considered yet another medieval Armenian castle turned out to be a Hellenistic stronghold. Its partially standing walls, 2,4 km long, encircle the summit at the altitude of 900 m to 1050 m (Radt 2011). It took 1h45m for me to climb to the lower part of the fortress. There is no signposted path there, and the ascent is steep. There are two hallmarks at Karasis: the tower with an elephant chiseled above its entrance and the granary. The thing is that they are at opposite ends of the stronghold, and the terrain is very difficult to trek.

Karasis' 60-meter-long granary *

Landform (Google Earth) N↑ *

Fortress plan (after Radt 2011)

Reconstruction of so-called Upper Castle
(after Radt 2011) *

Only board I saw is 4,5 km from destination *

Looking down while climbing up *

Shepherd's shelter *

El Tenador del Diablo ;) *

So-called Lower Castle on horizon *

Polygonal masonry, blocks with
stonemason's marks *

Ruined eastern wall *

Artillery tower; built to house stone-
throwing catapult (Radt 2011) *

Placement of decorations: above entrance
and on its right side, at threshold level *

Elephant - symbol of Seleucid dynasty *

    

Shield and Heracles' club, other symbols
 of Seleucid dynasty (Durugönül 2001) *

    The lack of consent for thorough archaeological excavations makes it hard to establish the dating of the fortress. In doing so we need to take into consideration available evidence:

    1. Reliefs present on site;

    2. Sherds found on Mount Karasis;

    3. Assessment of the architecture;

    4. Historical context.

    The reliefs depict symbols of elephant, Heracles' club and shield. The elephant could herald both Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties (De Giorgi 2011), though the Ptolemies are strongly connected to the sign of eagle. The club and shield are associated with the Seleucids (Durugönül 2001), and it must have been them who initiated the construction works.

      The sherds originate in the 1st c. BC and 1st c. AD and are not classified as Hellenistic (Radt 2016). It tells us that the Seleucids could build it, but probably never lived there. 

     The structure had a banquet complex (Radt 2011) what suggests it was designed to accomodate an important person, perhaps a king. The stronghold was built in ca. 90% when something interrupted the labour.

    Antiochos III was a Seleucid worrior king in the image of his famous compatriot Alexander the Great. He began his reign with regaining Cilicia which had been in the hands of the Ptolemies since around 246 BC (De Giorgi 2011). After completing the task in 197 BC he set off west to fight the Romans and their allies. Eventually, Antiochos was defeated and forced to sign a treaty at Apameia (Phrygia) in 188 BC. The harsh conditions of the treaty established the border between the powers on the Taurus Mountains, stripped the Seleucids of the war elephants, reduced their fleet and imposed payment of a tribute.

    The above leads can support more than one theory as to the origin and function of the object. According to the hypothesis advocated by Dr Timm Radt, the building process was initiated at the beginning of the 2nd century BC by Antiochos III with the aim to create a royal station on the way across the Taurus to the western part of his empire. The lost war against the Romans and the resulting treaty made the fortress purposeless and all works were ceased.

     It is not clear, however, why the king's station would be located at the mountain pass and not in a more prominent place like nearby Anazarbos. Moreover, the theory doesn't take into account the Ptolemaic element that could (and actually should) play a role in making the decision in favour of the stronghold construction.

Lower Castle, southern view *

Western view; Lake Kozan and beyond it
road to Feke *

    The road, connecting the plain of Cilicia with Cappadocia, existed already in antiquity. In the period of the Roman client kingdom ruled by Tarkondimotes (1st c. BC -  AD 17), when the site was occupied, the fortress could simply guard the tract, and protect the hinterland against any danger coming from the north. 

I marched to Upper Castle like Frodo
to Mordor (more than 2 hours) *

Limestone debris... *

... among it block bearing carved shields *

Lower Castle seen from Upper Castle *

Something is looming in north *

All effort to see characteristic walls of granary *

Entrance placed asymmetrically 
in southern wall * 

Dwarf trees everywhere; time to go *

    Time to go. The way back to the car was as arduous as the way up. I chose not to return to the Lower Castle. Once I set foot on the saddle in between the two castle hills, I just went straight down the eastern slope. Sometimes, I could walk along a footpath, sometimes, I had to wade through the trees and undergrowth. All in all, it took 2h30m for me to reach the car. The last stretch of the descent I covered in darkness, fortunately not encountering any hungry carnivore :) The trip, though physically demanding, gave me the sense of adventure I was looking for!