By Dimosthenis Vasiloudis

The Trilingual Inscribed 'Xanthian Obelisk' of Ancient Greek, Lycian, and Milyan Languages

The rich tapestry of history is woven with the threads of diverse cultures and civilizations. One such piece of this tapestry is the Xanthian Obelisk, an artifact that stands as a testimony to the mingling of languages and cultures in ancient Anatolia. Etched with inscriptions in Ancient Greek, Lycian, and Milyan, the obelisk presents historians and linguists with a golden opportunity to unlock secrets of the past.

Location and Historical context

The Xanthian Obelisk, also known as the Xanthos or Xanthus Stele, the Xanthos or Xanthus Bilingual, the Inscribed Pillar of Xanthos or Xanthus, the Harpagus Stele, the Pillar of Kherei and the Columna Xanthiaca, is a stele bearing an inscription currently believed to be trilingual, found on the acropolis of the ancient Lycian city of Xanthos, or Xanthus, near the modern town of Kınık in southern Turkey.

Xanthos (or Xanthus) was the capital city of ancient Lycia. Lycia was a region situated on the southern coast of Anatolia and had significant interactions with neighboring cultures and empires, notably the Persians and Greeks.

The Xanthian Obelisk was discovered in the Xanthos acropolis. The intricately carved stele dates back to the 4th century BC and is a significant remnant of Lycian culture and history.

It was created when Lycia was part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The pillar is seemingly a funerary marker of a dynastic satrap of Achaemenid Lycia. The dynasty in question is mentioned on the stele, but his name has been mostly defaced in the several places where he is mentioned: he could be Kherei (Xerei) or more probably his predecessor Kheriga (Xeriga, Gergis in Greek).

The obelisk or pillar was originally topped by a tomb, most certainly belonging to Kheriga, in a way similar to the Harpy Tomb. The top most likely fell down during an earthquake in ancient times. The tomb was decorated with reliefs of his exploits, and a statue of the dynasty standing on top.

The Inscriptions: A Trilingual Puzzle

The three languages are Ancient Greek, Lycian, and Milyan (the last two are Anatolian languages and were previously known as Lycian A and Lycian B, respectively). During its early period of study, the Lycian either could not be understood or was interpreted as two dialects of one language, hence the term bilingual.

1. Ancient Greek: Greek was a widely spoken and understood language in the Eastern Mediterranean during this period. Its presence on the obelisk signifies the Hellenistic influences in Lycia and the broader interactions between the Lycians and the Greeks.

2. Lycian: The Lycian language, a member of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European family, is indigenous to the Lycian region. Although now extinct, inscriptions like those on the Xanthian Obelisk provide valuable insights into the language and, by extension, the culture and politics of ancient Lycia.

3. Milyan (or Milyas): This is the least known of the three languages on the obelisk. Milyan is also an Anatolian language, spoken in the neighboring region of Milyas. Its presence on the obelisk underscores the close ties and interactions between the Lycian and Milyan people.

Significance of the Obelisk

The trilingual inscriptions on the Xanthian Obelisk are reminiscent of the Rosetta Stone in Egypt, which was inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Ancient Greek. Such multilingual inscriptions are invaluable for linguists and historians, as they provide a means to cross-reference and decode extinct or poorly understood languages.

In addition to its linguistic importance, the obelisk sheds light on the socio-political climate of the time. The blending of three languages indicates a region that was not only a melting pot of cultures but also a hub of trade, diplomacy, and perhaps even shared governance.

Another trilingual from Xanthus, the Letoon trilingual, was subsequently named after its three languages: Greek, Lycian A, and Aramaic. They are both four-sided and trilingual. The search sites are different. The key, unequivocal words are bilingual, Letoon, Aramaic, Lycian B, and Milyan. The equivocal words are stele, trilingual, Xanthus, or Xanthos. The "Xanthus inscription" might refer to any inscription from Xanthus.

Inscriptions

The stele is an important archaeological find pertaining to the Lycian language. Similar to the Rosetta Stone, it has inscriptions both in Greek and in a previously mysterious language: Lycian, which, on further analysis, turned out to be two Luwian languages, Lycian and Milyan.

Although not oriented on the cardinal directions, the stele presents four faces of continuous text that are traditionally described directionally, south, east, north and west, in that order, like the pages of a book. They are conventionally lettered a, b, c, and d. The whole book is inscription TAM I 44. The text of each page was inscribed in lines, conventionally numbered one through the number of the last line on the page. There are three pieces of text:

• a.1 through c.19. A historical section of 250 lines in Lycian describing the major events in which the deceased was involved.

• c.20 through c.31. A 12-line epigram in Greek in the style of Simonides of Ceos honoring the deceased.

• c.32 through d.71. A paraphrase of the epigram in Milyan.

The pillar sits atop a tomb, and the inscription celebrates the deceased: a champion wrestler.

The Xanthian Obelisk stands as a silent sentinel of the past, bearing messages from ancient civilizations. Its trilingual inscriptions have significantly contributed to our understanding of the languages and interactions of the ancient Anatolian peoples. As researchers continue to study such artifacts, we get one step closer to unraveling the mysteries of our shared human heritage.