TEOS (Teo) Ancient City Sigacık/Turkey
Teos (Ancient Greek: Τέως) or Teo was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, on a peninsula between Chytrium and Myonnesus. It was founded by Minyans from Orchomenus, Ionians and Boeotians, but the date of its foundation is unknown. Teos was one of the twelve cities which formed the Ionian League. The city was situated on a low hilly isthmus. Its ruins are located to the south of the modern town Sığacık in the Seferihisar district of Izmir Province, Turkey.
Teos, the important commercial harbour on the Ionian coast, was one of the most powerful cities of the region until the Hellenistic period. The remains of the city lie very close to the present Siğacik, within about 30 km from Smyrna. The name is Greek but its etymology remains unknown.1
Teos was founded during the Ionian colonisation, which must have started towards the 10th century BC at the latest. According to tradition,2 the first settler of the city was Athamas with his Minyans from the ancient Boeotian city of Orchomenus. The next settlers were the Ionians under Apoecus and shortly later a third group of immigrants from Athens under Damasus and Nauclus, the sons of Codrus, and from Boeotia under Geres settled there.
The city was one of the earliest members of the Ionian Dodecapolis, as indicated by the fact that colonists from Teos and Erythrae settled in Phokea, whose first inhabitants were Aeolians. Tradition says that the fall of Phokea to the Ionians from Teos and Erythrae was considered a submission of Phokea to the kings of the two above cities so that Teos could become a member of the Ionian union.3 Around 600 BC Thales of Miletus suggested that a political union of the Ionian cities should be based in Teos thanks to the ideal location of the city exactly in the middle of Ionia.
History
Pausanias writes that the city was founded by Minyans from Orchomenus under the leadership of Athamas, a descendant of Athamas the son of Aeolus. Later on they were joined by Ionians and more colonists from Athens and Boeotia.[1]
Teos was a flourishing seaport with two fine harbours until Cyrus the Great invaded Lydia and Ionia (c. 540 BC). The Teans found it prudent to retire overseas, to the newly founded colonies of Abdera in Thrace and Phanagoria on the Asian side of the Cimmerian Bosporus. The port was revived by Antigonus Cyclops. During the times of the Roman emperors, the town was noted for its wine, a theatre and Temple of Dionysus. These are positioned near the acropolis, which is situated on a low hill and had fortifications by the 6th century. A shipwreck near Tektaş, a small rock outcrop near Teos harbour, dates from the Classical period (around the 6th to the 4th centuries BC) and implies trading connections by sea with eastern Aegean Islands.
It was a member of the Lydian group of the Ionian League, one of the four groups defined by Herodotus, based on the particular dialects of the cities. It was the birthplace of Anacreon the poet, Hecateus the historian, Protagoras the sophist, Scythinus the poet, Andron the geographer, Antimachus the epic poet and Apellicon, the preserver of the works of Aristotle. Epicurus reportedly grew up in Teos and studied there under Nausiphanes, a disciple of Democritus.[2][3] Vitruvius notes Hermogenes of Priene as the architect of the monopteral temple of Dionysus at Teos.
An interesting rental agreement chiseled into stone was uncovered in 2016 in the ruins of Teos
TEOS (Teo) Ancient City Sigacık/Turkey
Teos (Ancient Greek: Τέως) or Teo was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, on a peninsula between Chytrium and Myonnesus. It was founded by Minyans from Orchomenus, Ionians and Boeotians, but the date of its foundation is unknown. Teos was one of the twelve cities which formed the Ionian League. The city was situated on a low hilly isthmus. Its ruins are located to the south of the modern town Sığacık in the Seferihisar district of Izmir Province, Turkey.
Teos, the important commercial harbour on the Ionian coast, was one of the most powerful cities of the region until the Hellenistic period. The remains of the city lie very close to the present Siğacik, within about 30 km from Smyrna. The name is Greek but its etymology remains unknown.1
Teos was founded during the Ionian colonisation, which must have started towards the 10th century BC at the latest. According to tradition,2 the first settler of the city was Athamas with his Minyans from the ancient Boeotian city of Orchomenus. The next settlers were the Ionians under Apoecus and shortly later a third group of immigrants from Athens under Damasus and Nauclus, the sons of Codrus, and from Boeotia under Geres settled there.
The city was one of the earliest members of the Ionian Dodecapolis, as indicated by the fact that colonists from Teos and Erythrae settled in Phokea, whose first inhabitants were Aeolians. Tradition says that the fall of Phokea to the Ionians from Teos and Erythrae was considered a submission of Phokea to the kings of the two above cities so that Teos could become a member of the Ionian union.3 Around 600 BC Thales of Miletus suggested that a political union of the Ionian cities should be based in Teos thanks to the ideal location of the city exactly in the middle of Ionia.
History
Pausanias writes that the city was founded by Minyans from Orchomenus under the leadership of Athamas, a descendant of Athamas the son of Aeolus. Later on they were joined by Ionians and more colonists from Athens and Boeotia.[1]
Teos was a flourishing seaport with two fine harbours until Cyrus the Great invaded Lydia and Ionia (c. 540 BC). The Teans found it prudent to retire overseas, to the newly founded colonies of Abdera in Thrace and Phanagoria on the Asian side of the Cimmerian Bosporus. The port was revived by Antigonus Cyclops. During the times of the Roman emperors, the town was noted for its wine, a theatre and Temple of Dionysus. These are positioned near the acropolis, which is situated on a low hill and had fortifications by the 6th century. A shipwreck near Tektaş, a small rock outcrop near Teos harbour, dates from the Classical period (around the 6th to the 4th centuries BC) and implies trading connections by sea with eastern Aegean Islands.
It was a member of the Lydian group of the Ionian League, one of the four groups defined by Herodotus, based on the particular dialects of the cities. It was the birthplace of Anacreon the poet, Hecateus the historian, Protagoras the sophist, Scythinus the poet, Andron the geographer, Antimachus the epic poet and Apellicon, the preserver of the works of Aristotle. Epicurus reportedly grew up in Teos and studied there under Nausiphanes, a disciple of Democritus.[2][3] Vitruvius notes Hermogenes of Priene as the architect of the monopteral temple of Dionysus at Teos.
An interesting rental agreement chiseled into stone was uncovered in 2016 in the ruins of Teos