Atriya and Stratonikeia in the Late Bronze Age: Some Remarks on Carian Historical Geography

Abstract

The evaluation of the Hittite and Luwian inscriptions that mention Western Anatolia, and the extended archaeological research on the Bronze Age have led to an increase in knowledge and arguments about the historical geography of Western Anatolia. But the poor source of documents about Western Anatolia has made the research more challenging. It is known that one of the old names of the city of Stratonikeia, which is located on the Yatagan Plain in Muğla and is among the important cities of the region, is Idrias. It is suggested that Atriya can be localized within the territorium of Stratonikeia considering the phonetic similarity with Atriya mentioned in Hittite documents. This study aims to contribute to the arguments on this subject by evaluating some of the recent findings in Stratonikeia concerning the Late Bronze Age and the studies on historical geography. Among the ceramic samples of the Late Helladic III period found in the Stratonikeia territory, there has been added some other ceramic samples such as the ones found in the Taşavlu region in 2009, under the Heroon of Hierocles in the city center of Stratonikeia during the excavations in 2018, and in the Değirmendere region during the excavations by the Muğla Museum in 2018-2019. When the routes followed by some Hittite Kings during their travels to the west, the arguments concerning the location of the cities within the Yatağan Plain and Çine (Marsyas) Creek Valley, and the archaeological findings combined, it is concluded that localizing Atriya within these areas is a reasonable proposal.