Introducing Hieropolis - Kastabala

There is a fort from Middle Ages called Bodrum Castle rising on a rock protrusion, which dominates a small plain between Kesmeburun and Bahçeköy, to the north of the Ceyhan river. The castle is at a distance of 110 km from Adana, on the road which connects Osmaniye to Aslantaş Dam and the Karatepe – the Aslantaş Open Air Museum. The ruins of the ancient city which was once located there can still be seen today around the castle. 

The name of this ancient city could be determined as Hierapolis - Kastabala only from the antique inscriptions which were discovered by the end of the 19th century. Since then scholars from various countries had taken an interest in the monuments, inscriptions and coins of Kastaba and due to their investigations, it was possible to bring some light to the history of the Acient City. The oldest information about Kastabala comes from the Bahadarlı village near Karatepe. An inscription written in the Arami language, which was the formal language of the Persians who ruled Anatolia in 5/4th centuries B.C., was discovered there. The inscription was actually a border stone and stated that part of the lands of Kubaba, the Mother Goddess of Anatolia, also known as Pirvasua, belonged to a woman who was ruling over Kashtabalay. 

Whether the name Kashtabalay used here refers to a city or to some piece of land cannot be deducted definitely. The fact that Kastaba as the name of the city can be seen on the coins minted during the rule of Antiochos Epiphanes IV (175-164 B.C.), a king of the Hellenistic Period, shows that the city was built during his reign. Antiochos named the settlement as the holy city because of the temple of the goddess named "Perasia" who was worshiped for a long time. The name Perasia most probably is a derivative from Pirvashua of the above mentioned Arami inscription, whose roots go as far back as the Late Hittite Period. 

In the 1th century B.C. Roman commanders Lucullus and Pompeius brought this region under the dominance of the Roman state. The region where Kastabala and Anavarza are located was at first not incorporated into the Roman province of Cilicia, but put under the rule of the local king Tarkondimatos. Kastabala was the capital city for this king. The famous Roman orator Cicero led a military campaign in this region against the mountain tribes which were rebelling against the Roman state. Tarkondimatos fought on the side of Marcus Antonius during the sea war fought between Marcus Antonius, who wanted to be the sole ruler of the Roman Empire, and Octavianus, in the year 31 B.C. near Preveze and died there. His son of the same name was pardoned by Octavious, who emerged as the victor from this battle only after 10 years, and could sit on his father's throne. Following his death, Kastabala and its surroundings were ruled by the local nobles. It was annexed to the Cilicia province of this region with Tarsus as the capital only by the time of the reign of the Roman Emperor Vespasianus (69 - 79 A.D.). Roman rule brought economic and cultural welfare to the region. This can be observed from the major construction work which was carried out in the area. In later centuries Kastabala was visited by the Roman Emperors Traianus, Hadrianus and Caraccala and the visitors were honoured by the citizens by putting up their statues. As the eastern borders of the Roman Empire started to witness increasing unrest in the 3rd century A.D., a large number of Roman military troups going east passed through the region. In the year 260 A.D. Sasani King Shapur I conquered Kastaba and looted it. Kastabala was never able to recover after this destruction and was abondoned after a while. 

The ruins seen at Kastabala historic site today are all from the Roman Period. The collonaded street of 300 metres, which was built around 200 A.D., can be seen from the asphalt road which connects Kastabala to Karatepe. This street passes close to the rock bed where the castle is situated and goes down to the valley behind where the main settlement area is located. At the terrace, which is reached when going up from this valley, a great number of inscribed statue bases were found. Turning back to the valley, a flat area is reached which used to be a stadium. A little further on, on the slope there is a theatre which has survived in fairly good condition. Across the theatre there are the ruins of a bath from the Roman Period. The remains of two church structures from 5/4th centruies A.D. are also of interest. One of these is just next to the collonaded street and architectural elements taken from the Roman Empire era buildings were used in its construction. Around the city there are many tomb structures and rock tombs. The water supply of the city was taken from the spring near Karagedik village on the eastern shores of the Ceyhan river and transferred through the channels and carried over the aqueducts built over the Ceyhan near Nergis and brought into the city. 

The land of the Goddess Perasia of Kastabala, which apparently was a very old religious centre, was no doubt very spacious. This land spread over a rich and productive plain irrigated in the south by the meandering Ceyhan (Antique Pyramos) River which started from the present day Karatepe and Bahadırlı villages in the north. 

We have emphasized that Hierapolis - Kastabala was a sacred centre. According to Strabon of Amasya, in Kastabala, Artemis Perasia, after the long lasting dances of the religious ceremonies would reach a state of ecstasy and continue dancing on hot coals like the dervishes and at the climax of her ecstatic state would run towards the valleys of Ceyhan and to the wooded hills with her torch in hand. Again in the Hellenistic and Roman Empire Periods sacred Pan-Hellenic competitions used to be organized here in honour of Perasia. The coins have the pine tree and the torch, the symbols of Perasia, in front of the tower a female head with a hat, representing the city. 

Artemis Perasia, the Goddess of Kastabala as mentioned by Strabon, is one and the same as Kubaba. Going around a defined border, such as perambulating the Kaaba, can be equated with the whirling that had an important place in the religious ceremonies which were significant in the Semite religion. It has become apparent that the cult status of Kastabala in particular went back much further than previously assumed, and the Goddess Kubaba was its ruler. Kubaba is the old name of Kybele we know and recognize as the Mother Goddess of Anatolia. She takes her place among other gods and goddesses for the first time in the sources of the Kültepe archives of the Assyrian Trade Colonies Period in 1800s B.C. and in the royal archives of Boğazköy (historical Hattusas) capital of the Hittites dated to 1500-2000 B.C. 

Following the decline of the Hittite Empire around 1200 B.C. Kargamısh was a capital of some sorts of the Last Hittite Age of the Hittite world and Kubaba was its Mother Goddess and was known as the "Queen of Kargamısh". In this period the Kubaba cult made great sudden progress and there is a related relief at Domuztepe. We see the goddess Kubaba who was recognized by the Phrygians also at sites of Pessinus and Sard. She was moved to Rome in 204 B.C. and settled at the Palatinum. She was known as Artemis Perasia during the Greco-Roman period. 

During the late Roman Period up to the 5th century A.D. a rich olive oil boom was observed in the Karatepe and Düziçi regions. Press stones and remains of mashers, which are evidence of olive oil production, can be seen almost at every step in the region and there are also traces of basilicas with coloured floor mosaics and temples at 7-10 km intervals. The olive oil was most likely collected at Hieropolis - Kastabala and from there taken down to the ports of the Issos Bay. 

A great number of inscriptions and coins were discovered at Hierapolis - Kastabala from the Roman Period belonging to the Roman governors as well as to the independent kingdoms which were established at that time. These independent kingdoms existed at Kastabala from around the second half of the 1st century B.C. until the 17th century B.C. The most important and the most renowned among these kings were Tarkondimotos I and Philopater II. These kings had coins minted in their name. It is a known fact that the independence of a nation is proved and evaluated with the existence of its own currency and to the extent this currency is valid. 

Kastabala ruins contain significant historical and archaeological assets. Were these monuments preserved with great care and supplied with orienting and informing sign posts to facilitate easy visits, Kastabala would become one of the tourist attractions of the region alongside Karatepe -Aslantaş, Anavarza and Toprakkale.