Kelbessos: A Military Settlement as Termessos’ Peripolion

Kelbessos is located in the area of Ağırtaş / Ağıltaş, 23 km west of Antalya. It is at the border of Pisidia, Lycia, and Pamphylia. The fortified citadel (phrourion) was established as a military settlement within the chora of Termessos, so was a garrison with the status of peripolion of Termessos. The settlement of Kelbessos has the structure of a mountain fortress in the nature of a “demos” rather than a fortified settlement. There are ruins in the settlement from the Hellenistic Period to the Byzantine Period. It experienced its brightest time during the Roman Period. Military buildings, religious buildings, a small number of residences, graves, cisterns, and workshops were identified in the settlement. The most important building in Kelbessos is a Principia, unseen in other settlements of the region. This military administration building reflects the military, political and urban status of Kelbessos. Ruins that could be an agora and a temple have been identified by us. Epigraphic and archaeological finds show that Artemis Kelbessis was the primary god of the city. Phallos reliefs and cult niches are other data obtained about its religious beliefs. The settlement’s necropoleis evidence various grave typologies including sarcophagi, monumental tombs, chamosoria, and rock-cut osteotheks. Kelbessos was an ancient settlement that underwent gradual change but did not undergo true urbanization. Rather it remained a secondary military provincial settlement throughout its history. Considering the construction techniques of the fortification walls surrounding the settlement, they were built during the Hellenistic Period, especially in the third-second centuries. The peripolion of Kelbessos was a permanent garrison in the territory of Termessos from the Hellenistic Period onwards. It served both as a part of the city’s defense system and as a safe, fortified citadel where the inhabitants of the surrounding countryside could take refuge in times of need.