Klazomenai () or Clazomenae was one of the 12 cities of ancient Ionia (the others being Chios, Samos, Phocaea, Erythrae, Teos, Lebedus, Colophon, Ephesus, Priene, Myus, and Miletus). It is located at the south coast of Smyrna Gulf, Ionia, and a member of the Ionian League. It was one of the first cities to issue silver coinage. Its ruins are now located in the modern town Urla near İzmir in İzmir Province, Turkey.
Location
Klazomenai is located in modern Urla (
Vourla (Βουρλά) in Greek) on the western coast of
Anatolia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of İzmir, at about west of İzmir. The city was originally located on the mainland at
Limantepe, but probably during the early fifth-century BC
Ionian Revolt from the
Persian Empire, it was moved to the
Karantina Island just off the coast. Soon after that, the city of Chyton was founded on the mainland the late fifth-century BC. Both cities had conflictual relations but Alexander the Great eventually connected Karantina island to the mainland with a causeway, the remains of which are still visible.
Mythology
A silver coin minted in Klazomenai shows the head of
Apollo, the principal god of the city. According to myth, swans drew the chariot in which Apollo every year flew south from his winter home in the land of the
Hyperboreans. But Klazomenai was also home to large numbers of swans, and it is thought that the verb
klazo was used to describe the call of the wild birds. The swan on the obverse is both an attribute of
Apollo and a pun on the name Klazomenai.
History
Iron Age
Though not in existence before the arrival of the
Ionians in Asia, its original founders were largely settlers from
Phlius and Cleonae. It stood originally near
Limantepe; but the inhabitants, alarmed by the encroachments of the Persians, moved to the Karantina island of the bay, and established their city there.
Clazomenae was attacked by the king Alyattes in the 6th century.
Classical Age
During the 5th century it was for some time subject to the
Athens, but about the middle of the Peloponnesian War (412 BC) it revolted. After a brief resistance, however, it again acknowledged the Athenian supremacy, and repelled a
attack. In 387 BC Klazomenai and other cities in Asia were taken over by
Persia, but the city continued to issue its own coins.
The philosopher Anaxagoras (c. 510 – 428 BC), often styled "Anaxagoras of Clazomenae", was born in Clazomenae, as was the earlier philosopher Hermotimus of Clazomenae.
Herodotos of Klazomenai was the first Clazomenian Olympic winner, his victory being in the boys foot-race. The Clazomenians dedicated a statue of him at Olympia, Greece.[ Pausanias, Description of Greece, 6.17.2]
Scopelian or Skopelianos of Clazomenae (Σκοπελιανός), was an ancient Greek sophist.[ Suda, sigma, 655]
Roman period
Under the
Ancient Rome, Clazomenae was included in the province of Asia, and enjoyed an immunity from
taxation.
Clazomenae became a Christian bishopric early. Its bishop, Eusebius took part in the Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Another, Macarius, participated in the Council of Constantinople (869), which is seen within the Catholic Church as the eighth ecumenical council.[Raymond Janin, v. Clazomènes, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. XII, Paris 1953, col. 1082][Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. I, coll. 729-730][Sophrone Pétridès, v. Clazomenae. Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. IV, New York 1908] Although still documented at the end of the 14th century, it is no longer a residential bishopric. Accordingly, Clazomenae is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 838]
Archaeology
The site of
Limantepe, which lies near an old harbour contains very important
Bronze Age excavations, the most prominent and remarkable of which is the amount of varying archaic burial sites, as well as evidence of the practises associated with them close by. One possible explanation for this is that these sites were used by different social groups within society.
The city was famous for production and exports of olive oil and its painted terracotta Klazomenian sarcophagi, which are the finest monuments of Ionian painting in the 6th century BC.
A large painted terracotta sarcophagus and lid, together weighing about 2 tonnes, were discovered in the vicinity of Klazomenai in the late nineteenth century. An ancient Greek work dating to about 500 BC, the funerary objects depict war scenes, chariot racing, hunting as well as geometric patterns throughout and is now in the British Museum's collection.[ British Museum's Collection]
It was also prized for its variety of garum.
Ancient olive press
Olive oil extraction installation (
işlik) dating back to the third quarter of the 6th century BC uncovered in Klazomenai is the only surviving example of a level and weights press from an ancient Greek city and precedes by at least two centuries the next securely datable earliest presses found in Greece.
It was restored and reconstructed in 2004–2005 through collaboration between
Ege University, a Turkish olive-oil exporter and a
Germany natural building components company, as well as by local artisans, on the basis of the clearly visible
millstone with a cylindrical roller and three separation pits. The olive oil obtained turned out to be quite a success in business terms as well. The reconstructed olive oil press is located on the original mainland site of Klazomenai, at .
Financial pioneers
In an event noted by
Aristotle, Klazomenians also appear as financial pioneers in
economic history, for having used one
commodity (
olive oil), in an organized manner and on a city-scale, to purchase another (
wheat), with interests refundable on the value of the first. Around 350 B.C., suffering from a shortage of grain and scarcity of funds, the rulers of the city passed a resolution calling on citizens who had stores of olive oil to lend to the city at interest. The loan arranged, they hired vessels and sent them to ports of exportation of grain and bought a
consignment on the pledged security of the value of the oil.
See also
Further reading
-
Greaves, A.M., 2010. The Land of Ionia: Society and Economy in the Archaic Period. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
-
Cook, R.M., 1981. Clazomenian sarcophagi. Mainz: Zabern.
External links
