What do we know about the Letoon? a study of a sanctuary during the period of Achaemenid rule over Lycia

Abstract

The sanctuary of Leto is situated in the Lycian peninsula (south-western Asia Minor) about 4 km to the south-west of the city of Xanthos and 3 km from the mouth of the River Xanthos. In 1973, the French archaeological mission in Lycia discovered a trilingual stele dated to the 4th century BC containing three versions of the same decree: in Lycian, Greek and Aramaic. According to the content of the stele, a man called Simias was named priest of the cult of the gods Kaunian King and Arkesimas, which had been established in the region. The text also provides some additional information regarding the amount of money that the cult should receive from the city, as well as the sacrifices that were to be organised. Forty years after the discovery we still have more questions than answers regarding the inscription and the cult mentioned in the stele: Who were these gods? Who decided to build the sanctuary? What is the role of the satrap on this matter? These are some questions for which we still do not have satisfactory answers. The aim of this study is to address these questions through the thorough examination of the text and its context, which is our main source of information for the study of the cult and its sanctuary during the Achaemenid period. The research will pay special attention to the connections between the cult, Lycia and Caria, and its possible link to the last Xanthian dynasts. In order to do so, the research has two main objectives. The first will be to present a review of the investigation conducted so far on the inscription, and provide an up-to-date translation of the three inscriptions. The second objective will focus on the composition of the Aramaic text and the Lycian names on it, which presents some problems for its interpretation. This approach will allow us to shed some light on the aforementioned questions.