View source for Carians

{{Short description|Ancient inhabitants of south-western Asia-Minor}}
{{redirect|Karian|the language of Papua New Guinea|Karian language|places in Iran|Karian, Iran (disambiguation){{!}}Karian, Iran}}
[[File:Caria.jpg|thumb|300px|Location of Caria within the classical regions of [[Asia Minor]]]]
[[File:Xerxes detail Carian soldier.jpg|thumb|Carian soldier of the [[Achaemenid army]] {{circa|480 BC}}. Tomb of [[Xerxes I]].<ref>[http://www.iranicaonline.org/uploads/files/Clothing/v5f7a014_f1_300.jpg Achaemenid soldiers]</ref>]]
[[File:Statue of Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, from the Bouleuterion, 2nd century AD, the best-preserved version of the cult statue of Aphrodite in her temple, Aphrodisias Museum, Turkey (16989106197).jpg|thumb|Ancient copy of the [[cult image]] of a local goddess hellenized as [[Aphrodite]] at [[Aphrodisias]]]]
The '''Carians''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɛər|i|ə|n|z}}; {{langx|grc|Κᾶρες}}, ''Kares'', plural of {{lang|grc|Κάρ}}, ''Kar''<ref name=LSJ>{{LSJ|*ka/r|Κάρ|ref}}</ref>) were the ancient inhabitants of [[Caria]] in southwest [[Anatolia]], who spoke the [[Carian language]].

==Historical accounts==
=== Karkisa ===
{{Further|Karkiya}}
It is not clear when the Carians enter into history. The definition is dependent on corresponding Caria and the Carians to the "Karkiya" or "Karkisa" mentioned in the [[Hittites|Hittite]] records. [[Bronze Age]] Karkisa are first mentioned as having aided the [[Assuwa]] League against the Hittite King [[Tudhaliya I]]. Later in 1323 BC, King [[Arnuwandas II]] was able to write to Karkiya for them to provide asylum for the deposed [[Manapa-Tarhunta]] of "the land of the [[Seha River]]", one of the principalities within the [[Luwians|Luwian]] [[Arzawa]] complex in western [[Anatolia]]. This they did, allowing Manapa-Tarhunta to take back his kingdom. In 1274 BC, Karkisa are also mentioned among those who fought on the [[History of the Hittites|Hittite Empire]] side against the [[Egyptians]] in the [[Battle of Kadesh]]. Taken as a whole, Hittite records seem to point at a Luwian ancestry for the Carians and, as such, they would have lost their literacy through the [[Bronze Age Collapse|Dark Age of Anatolia]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The relationship between the [[Bronze Age]] "Karkiya" or "Karkisa" and the [[Iron Age]] Caria and the Carians is complicated, despite having western Anatolia as common ground, by the uncertainties regarding the exact location of the former on the map within Hittite geography.<ref>{{harvnb|Lajara|2007|p=1}}.</ref> Yet, the supposition is suitable from a linguistic point-of-view given that the [[Phoenicians]] were calling them ''"KRK"'' in their [[abjad]] script and they were referred to as {{lang|peo-Latn|krka}} in [[Old Persian]].

=== Homer ===
The Carians next appear in records of the early centuries of the first millennium BC; [[Homer]]'s writing about the golden armour or ornaments of the Carian captain Nastes, the brother of [[Amphimachus]] and son of Nomion,<ref>Homer. ''[[Iliad]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0133%3Abook%3D2%3Acard%3D858 2.858–2.875].</ref> reflects the reputation of Carian wealth that may have preceded the [[Greek Dark Ages]] and thus recalled in oral tradition.

=== Old Testament ===
In some translations of [[Hebrew Bible|Biblical texts]], the Carians are mentioned in [[2 Kings 11]]:4 and 19 ({{IPA|/kɑˈɽi/}}; כָּרִי, in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], literally "like fat sheep/goat", contextually "noble" or "honored"),{{efn|Some versions refer to "captains", others to "the Carites" or "the Carians".<ref>[[BibleGateway.com]], [https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/2%20Kings%2011%3A19 2 Kings 4:19], accessed on 30 August 2024</ref>}} and perhaps alluded to in [[Books of Samuel|2 Samuel]] 8:18, 15:18, and 20:23 ({{IPA|/kɽɛˈti/}}; כְּרֵתִי, probably unrelated due to the "t", may be [[Cretans]]). They are also named as [[mercenaries]] in inscriptions found in ancient [[Egypt]] and [[Nubia]], dated to the reigns of [[Psammetichus I]] and [[Psammetichus II|II]]. They are sometimes referred to as the "Cari" or "Khari". Carian remnants have been found in the ancient city of [[Persepolis]] or modern Takht-e-Jamshid in [[Iran]].

=== Greek and Roman Antiquity ===
The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] recorded that Carians themselves believed to be aborigines of Caria but they were also, by general consensus of ancient sources, a maritime people before being gradually pushed inland.<ref>{{harvnb|Boardman|1991|p=663}}.</ref> [[Plutarch]] mentions the Carians as being referred to as "[[rooster|cocks]]" by the Persians on account of their wearing crests on their helmets; the epithet was expressed in the form of a Persian [[Privilege (legal ethics)|privilege]] when a Carian soldier responsible for killing [[Cyrus the Younger]] was rewarded by [[Artaxerxes II]] (r. 405/404–359/358 BC) with the honor of leading the Persian army with a golden cock on the point of his spear.<ref>Plutarch, ''Parallel Lives'', "Artaxerxes".</ref>

According to [[Thucydides]], it was largely the Carians who settled the [[Cyclades]] prior to the Minoans. The Middle Bronze Age (MMI–MMII) expansion of the Minoans into this region seems to have come at their expense. Intending to secure revenue in the Cyclades, [[Minos]] of Knossos established a navy with which he established his first colonies by taking control of the Hellenic sea and ruling over the Cyclades. In doing so, Minos expelled the Carians, many of which had turned to piracy as a way of life. During the Athenian purification of [[Delos]],{{clarify|date=September 2018}} all graves were exhumed and it was found that more than half were Carians (identified by the style of arms and the method of interment).<ref>Thucydides. ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'', 1.4–1.8.</ref>

According to Strabo, Carians, of all the "barbarians", had a particular tendency to intermingle with the Greeks,
<blockquote>"This was particularly the case with the Carians, for, although the other peoples were not yet having very much intercourse with the Greeks nor even trying to live in Hellenic fashion or to learn our language ... yet the Carians roamed throughout the whole of Greece serving on expeditions for pay. ... and when they were driven thence [from the islands] into Asia, even here they were unable to live apart from the Greeks, I mean when the Ionians and Dorians later crossed over to Asia." (Strabo 14.2.28)</blockquote>

Indeed, the term barbarian was coined by Homer in reference to the Carians speaking an unintelligible language.<ref>Tuplin, C, ''Greek Racism? Observations on the Character and Limits of Greek Ethnic Prejudice'' in G.R. Tsetskhladze (ed.), 'Ancient Greeks East and West' ' (Leiden-Boston-Cologne) 1999, 47-75</ref>

==Greek mythology==
According to Herodotus, the Carians were named after an eponymous [[Car (King of Caria)|Car]], a legendary early king and a brother of [[Lydus]] and [[Mysus]], also eponymous founders respectively of Lydians and Mysians and all sons of [[Atys of Lydia|Atys]].<ref name="Herodotus. Histories, 1.171">Herodotus. ''Histories'', 1.171.</ref>

[[Homer]] records that [[Miletus]] (later an Ionian city), together with the mountain of Phthries, the river [[Maeander]] and the crests of Mount Mycale were held by the Carians at the time of the [[Trojan War]] and that the Carians, qualified by the poet as being of incomprehensible speech, joined the [[Troy|Trojans]] against the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]] under the leadership of Nastes, brother of Amphimachos ("he who fights both ways") and son of Nomion. These figures appear only in the ''Iliad'' and in a list in [[Dares of Phrygia]]'s epitome of the [[Trojan War]].

Classical Greeks would often claim that part of [[Caria]] to the north was originally colonized by [[Ionia]]n Greeks before the [[Dorians]].

The Greek goddess [[Hecate]] possibly originated among the Carians.<ref name="Burkert">Walter Burkert, (1987) ''Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical'', p. 171. Oxford, Blackwell. {{ISBN|0-631-15624-0}}.</ref> Indeed, most [[theophoric name]]s invoking Hecate, such as [[Hecataeus of Miletus|Hecataeus]] or Hecatomnus, the father of [[Mausolus]], are attested in Caria.<ref>Theodor Kraus, ''Hekate: Studien zu Wesen u. Bilde der Göttin in Kleinasien u. Griechenland'' (Heidelberg) 1960</ref>

==Carians and Leleges==
The Carians were often linked by Greek writers to the [[Leleges]], but the exact nature of the relationship between Carians and Leleges remains mysterious. The two groups seem to have been distinct, but later intermingled with each other. [[Strabo]] wrote that they were so intermingled that they were often confounded with each other.<ref>Strabo. ''Geographica'', 7.321 and 13.611.</ref> However, [[Athenaeus]] stated that the Leleges stood in relation to the Carians as the [[Helots]] stood to the [[Lacedaemonians]].<ref>Athenaeus. ''The Deipnosophists'', 6.271.</ref> This confusion of the two peoples is found also in Herodotus, who wrote that the Carians, when they were allegedly living amid the Cyclades, were known as ''Leleges''.<ref name="Herodotus. Histories, 1.171"/>
[[File:Archaeologists studying Carian tomb in Milas Becin.jpg|thumb|165px|right|Archaeologists studying a Carian tomb in [[Milas]], Beçin.]]

==Language==
{{main|Carian language}} 
The Carian language belongs to the Luwic group of the [[Anatolian languages|Anatolian family of languages]]. Other Luwic languages besides [[Luwian]] proper are [[Lycian language|Lycian]] and Milyan (Lycian B). Although the ancestors of Carian and Lycian must have been very close to Luwian, it is probably incorrect to claim that they are linear descendants of Luwian.<ref>{{harvnb|Melchert|2003|pp=175–177}}.</ref> It is possible that the speakers of Proto-Carian, or the common ancestor of Carian and Lycian, supplied the elites of the Bronze Age kingdom of [[Arzawa]], the population of which partly consisted of [[Lydians]].<ref>{{harvnb|Yakubovich|2010|pp=86–96}}.</ref>

An important evidence of the Carians' own belief in their blood ties and cultural affinity with the Lydians and Mysians is the admittance, apart from theirs, exclusively of [[Lydians]] and [[Mysians]] to the temple of the "Carian [[Zeus]]" in their first capital that was [[Mylasa]].

==Religion==
One of the Carian ritual centers was [[Mylasa]], where they worshipped their supreme god, called "the Carian Zeus" by Herodotus. Unlike [[Zeus]], this was a warrior god.

It is possible that the goddess [[Hecate]], the patron of pathways and crossroads, originated among the Carians.<ref>{{harvnb|Burkert|Raffan|1987|p=171}}.</ref> [[Herodotus]] calls her [[Athena]] and says that her priestess would grow a beard when disaster pended.<ref>Herodotus. ''Histories'', 8.104.</ref>

On [[Latmus|Mount Latmos]] near [[Miletus]], the Carians worshipped [[Endymion (mythology)|Endymion]], who was the lover of the Moon and fathered fifty children. Endymion slept eternally, in the [[Temenos|sanctuary]] devoted to him, which lasted into Roman times.

There is at least one named priestess known to us from this region, [[Carminia Ammia]] who was [[priest]]ess of [[Adrastus|Thea Maeter Adrastos]] and of Aphrodite.

==Archaeology==
Throughout the 1950s, [[J.M. Cook]] and G.E. Bean conducted exhaustive archaeological surveys in Caria.<ref>{{harvnb|Bass|1963|p=356 [Footnote]}}: "G. E. Bean and J. M. Cook, ''BSA'' 47 (1952) 171ff; ''BSA'' 50 (1955) 85ff; ''BSA'' 52 (1957) 58ff."</ref> Cook ultimately concluded that Caria was virtually devoid of any [[prehistory|prehistoric]] remains. According to his reports, third millennium finds were mostly confined to a few areas on or near the Aegean coast. No finds from the second millennium were known aside from the Submycenean remains at Asarlik and the [[Helladic period|Mycenaean]] remains at [[Miletus]] and near [[Mylasa]]. Archaeologically, there was nothing distinguishing about the Carians since the material evidence so far only indicated that their culture was merely a reflection of Greek culture.<ref>{{harvnb|Cook|1959–1960|p=50 under '''Caria'''}}: "Except in the extreme east, where it is approached from the Maeander valley, Caria seems to be almost totally barren of prehistoric remains; considering the archaeological reconnaissances that have recently been carried out here, this lacuna is noteworthy. Finds of third-millennium date are confined to a very few points on or near the Aegean coast, with the curious exception of one find-spot which seems to be near Yatağan at the head of the Marsyas valley. No second-millennium remains are known apart from the Mycenaean at Miletus, the Submycenaean at Asarlik (Termera) opposite Cos, and the reports of Mycenaean from the vicinity of Mylasa. It is now asserted by some scholars that the Carians were a people, perhaps Indo-European, who inhabited the interior of Anatolia and only descended to Caria and the Aegean at the end of the Bronze Age; but this is far from harmonising with the Greek tradition about them, and the writer for one finds it difficult to explain the Mycenaean in Caria (and perhaps adjacent islands) as being anything other than Carian. Our difficulty with early Caria is that we have no means as yet of distinguishing Carians; archaeologically their culture appears as little more than a reflection of contemporary Greek culture. Excavation of early Carian settlements is urgently needed."</ref>

During the 1970s, further archaeological excavations in Caria revealed Mycenean buildings at [[Iasus (Caria)|Iasus]] (with two "[[Minoan civilization|Minoan]]" levels underneath them),<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|McNicoll|1978–1979|p=63 under '''Mycenaeans in Asia Minor'''}}: "At '''Iasus''' Mycenaean buildings, approximately dated by the presence of LH IIIa ware, have been found below the protogeometric cemetery. Below this again two 'Minoan' levels are reported, the earlier containing local imitations of MM II-LM I ware, the later imported pieces of the Second Palace Period (''AJA'' [1973], 177-8). Middle and Late Minoan ware has also occurred at '''Cnidus''' (''AJA'' [1978], 321)."</ref> as well as [[Protogeometric]] and [[Geometric art|Geometric]] material remains (i.e. cemeteries and pottery).<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|McNicoll|1978–1979|p=79 under '''Caria'''}}: "There has been much archaeological activity in Caria, and there is little doubt that the discoveries made in the last decade, when fully published, will provoke a reappraisal of Carian history at all periods. Mycenaean discoveries at Iasus and elsewhere have already been mentioned (p. 63). Protogeometric and geometric finds have also been abundant. On the coast a tomb at '''Dirmil''' produced eighth century B.C. pottery (C. Özgünel, ''Belleten'' 40 [1976], 3 ff.) and there is geometric pottery from the settlement at '''Iasus''', as well as protogeometric ware of a distinct Carian style from the cemetery beneath the Roman agora (''ASAA'' [1969/70], 464 ff.). Inland, at '''Beçin''', the fortified site which was presumably the precursor of Mylasa, a geometric cemetery has been excavated by A. Akarca (''Belleten'' xxxv [1971], 1-52). These finds and the Carian geometric style are discussed by J. N. Coldstream, ''Geometric Greece'' (1977), 258-60. Since then a group of geometric ''kotylai'' from '''Euromus''' has been published by C. Özgünel, ''AA'' (1977), 8-13."</ref> Archaeologists also confirmed the presence of Carians in [[Sardis]], [[Rhodes]], and in [[Egypt]] where they served as mercenaries of the [[Pharaoh]]. In Rhodes, specifically, a type of Carian chamber-tomb known as a ''Ptolemaion'' may be attributed to a period of Carian hegemony on the island.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|McNicoll|1978–1979|p=79 under '''Caria'''}}: "Carians also made their mark abroad, and recent work sheds light on their presence in Sardis (J. G. Pedley, ''JHS'' [1974], 96-9), Rhodes (P. M. Fraser, ''Rhodian Funerary Monuments'' [1977], 5, a chamber-tomb of Carian type known as the Ptolemaion, probably belonging to the period of Carian hegemony in the island for which see ''id''., ''BSA'' [1972], 122-3), and above all in Egypt as mercenaries in the Pharaonic armies (O. Masson, ''Bull. Soc. Fr. d'Egyptologie'' lvi [1969], 25-36; A. B. Lloyd, ''JEA'' [1978], 107-10)."</ref> Despite this period of increased archaeological activity, the Carians still appear not to have been an autochthonous group of [[Anatolia]] since both the coastal and interior regions of Caria were virtually unoccupied throughout prehistoric times.<ref>{{harvnb|Bass|1963|p=356}}: "J. M. Cook, after his thorough and exhaustive survey of the area with G. Bean, doubts that the Carians occupied Caria during the second millennium B.C. for, with the exception of Miletus, and Mylasa with its scanty Mycenaean remains, "the coast appears a blank on the map...and the interior of Caria seems to have been virtually uninhabited throughout prehistoric times. Paton and Myres had previously suggested that the lack of Mycenaean remains in Caria, within sight of so many islands which were occupied by Mycenaeans, must have been due to some unknown mainland opposition."</ref>

As for the assumption that the Carians descended from [[Neolithic]] settlers, this is contradicted by the fact that Neolithic Caria was essentially desolate.<ref>{{harvnb|Drews|2001|p=260}}: "That Neolithic Caria was uninhabited is quite incredible. Hacilar directly east of Caria, was a Neolithic settlement already in 8000 B.C."</ref>{{not in source|reason=I don't have the original text, but the quoted portion is quite clear that Neolithic Caria was *not* uninhabited (that claim "is quite incredible"), and the next quotation even doubts that the population was "very small." I think the WP editor misunderstood the source.|date=April 2023}} Though a very small Neolithic population may have existed in Caria,<ref>{{harvnb|Drews|2001|p=260}}: "In short, the population of Neolithic Caria may have been very small..."</ref> the people known as "Carians" may in fact have been of Aegean origin that settled in southwestern Anatolia during the second millennium BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Bienkowski|Millard|2000|pp=65–66}}: "'''Caria, Carians''' A region of south-west Turkey, south of *Lydia, Caria was first settled in the *Neolithic but became a distinctive culture only in the first millennium BC. Carians may originally have been of *Aegean origin and settled in the area in the second millennium BC. The earlier first-millennium BC communities seem to have been independent, mainly *temple centres for native deities, and Caria came under Lydian control. There was considerable *Hellenistic influence, and already the *pottery of the eighth and seventh centuries BC had a geometric tradition similar to that of east Greece. In 546 BC, Caria was brought under *Persian rule and placed under the Lydian satrapy. By the fourth century BC, its culture was similar to that of a *Greek city-state. The Carian *language is related to Luwian (*Hittite) and is known from inscriptions written in a local form of the Greek *alphabet discovered in Caria and others in Egypt by Carian mercenaries."</ref>

==See also==
*[[Caria]]
*[[Carian language]]
*[[Carian script]]
*[[Mysians]]
*[[Lydians]]
*[[Lycians]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|2}}
*{{cite journal|last=Bass|first=George F.|title=Mycenaean and Protogeometric Tombs in the Halicarnassus Peninsula|journal=[[American Journal of Archaeology]]|volume=67|number=4|date=Oct 1963|pages=53–361|doi=10.2307/501620|jstor=501620|s2cid=192928472 }}
*{{cite book|last=Bean|first=George Ewart|title=Turkey beyond the Meander|location=London|publisher=John Murray Publishers Ltd|year=1989|isbn=0-7195-4663-X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cIq7QgAACAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last1=Bienkowski|first1=Piotr|last2=Millard|first2=Alan Ralph|title=Dictionary of the Ancient Near East|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2000|isbn=0-8122-3557-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdlhaAfK1sYC}}
*{{cite book|last=Boardman|first=John|title=The Cambridge Ancient History Part 2: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and Other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC|location=Cambridge, United Kingdom|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1991|isbn=0-521-22717-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGBGauNBK8kC}}
*{{cite book|last1=Burkert|first1=Walter|last2=Raffan|first2=John|title=Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical|location=Oxford, United Kingdom|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd|year=1987|isbn=0-631-15624-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ekqJUZHVTzsC}}
*{{cite journal|last=Cook|first=J. M.|title=Greek Archaeology in Western Asia Minor|journal= Archaeological Reports|volume=6|year=1959–1960|pages=27–57|doi=10.2307/581122|jstor=581122|s2cid=246046881 }}
*{{cite book|last=Drews|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Drews|title=Greater Anatolia and the Indo-Hittite Language Family: Papers Presented at a Colloquium Hosted by the University of Richmond, March 18–19, 2000|publisher=Institute for the Study of Man|year=2001|isbn=0-941694-77-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dhRmAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Lajara|first=Ignacio-Javier Adiego|title=The Carian Language|location=Leiden, The Netherlands|publisher=Brill|year=2007|isbn=978-90-04-15281-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=alQqw2IxJO0C}}
*{{cite book|last=Melchert|first=H. Craig|title=The Luwians|location=Leiden, The Netherlands|publisher=BRILL|year=2003|isbn=90-04-13009-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JSuRSAAACAAJ}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{cite journal|last1=Mitchell|first1=S.|last2=McNicoll|first2=A. W.|title=Archaeology in Western and Southern Asia Minor 1971-78|journal=Archaeological Reports|volume=25|year=1978–1979|pages=59–90|doi=10.2307/581114|jstor=581114|s2cid=163403864 }}
*{{cite book|last=Yakubovich|first=Ilya S.|title=Sociolinguistics of the Luvian Language|location=Leiden, The Netherlands|publisher=Brill|year=2010|isbn=978-90-04-17791-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RcwJOwAACAAJ}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* Benda-Weber, Isabella (2005). ''Lykier und Karer. Zwei autochthone Ethnien Kleinasiens zwischen Orient und Okzident.'' Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Habelt.
*{{cite book|last=Urso|first=Gianpaolo|title=Tra Oriente e Occidente: Indigeni, Greci e Romani in Asia Minore|chapter=Les Cariens ou la mauvaise conscience du Barbare (Alain Bresson, pp. 209-228)|location=Pisa, Italy|publisher=Edizione ETS|year=2007|isbn=978-88-467-1826-6|url=http://www.fondazionecanussio.org/atti2006/13Bresson.pdf}}
*{{cite book|last=Des Courtils|first=Jacques|title=Anatolia Antiqua XVII|publisher=Librairie d'Amérique et d'Orient Adrien Misonneuve, Jean Maisonneuve Successeur|chapter=The Findings From A Late Geometric Period Grave Uncovered At Beçin (Yasemin Polat, pp. 133-150)|year=2009|isbn=978-2-906053-96-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?ei=aCRpTbWLCJDQgAeb2unLCg}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[https://www.livius.org/cao-caz/caria/caria.html Livius – Caria (Jona Lendering)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101024001/https://www.livius.org/cao-caz/caria/caria.html |date=2015-01-01 }}

{{History of Anatolia}}
{{Anatolian peoples|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Ancient peoples of Anatolia]]
[[Category:Carian people|*]]
[[Category:Luwians]]