Milas

History

The city's earliest historical mention is at the beginning of the 7th century BC, when a Carian leader from Mylasa by name Arselis is recorded to have helped Gyges of Lydia in his contest for the Lydian throne. The same episode is at the origin of the accounts surrounding the beginning of the cult for and the erection of the statue of Labrandean Zeus in the neighboring sanctuary of Labranda, held sacred by peoples across western Anatolia, with the statue holding the labrys brought over by Arselis from Lydia. Labrandean Zeus (sometimes also named "Zeus Stratios") was one of the three deities proper to Mylasa, all named Zeus but each bearing indigenous characteristics. Of these, the cult of Zeus Carius (Carian Zeus) was also notable in being exclusively reserved, aside from the Carians, to their Lydian and Mysian kinsmen. One of the finest temples was also the one dedicated to Zeus Osogoa (originally, just Osogoa), Under Achaemenid rule Mylasa was the chief city of Caria. A ruler appointed by the Persian Emperor (satrap) ruled the city in varying degrees of allegiance to the emperor. The first dynasty of rulers under the Achaemenid Empire was the Lygdamid dynasty (520-450 BCE). Between 460-450 BC, Mylasa was a regionally prominent member of the Delian League, like most Carian cities, but the Persian rule was restored towards the end of the same century. The Hecatomnids, the dynasty founded by Hecatomnus, were officially satraps of the Persian Empire but Greek in language and culture, as their inscriptions and coins witness. Mylasa was their capital and the mausoleum of Hecatomnus can still be seen today which served as an architectural precedent from which the later mausolea of the dynasty developed. During the long and striking reign of Mausolus, they became…

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  142
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  128
• Little Egret/Western Reef-Heron

  Egretta garzetta (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  125
• Great Cormorant/European Shag

  Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  120
• Greater Flamingo

  Phoenicopterus roseus Pallas, 1811 · Aves
  120
• Barn Swallow

  Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  117
• Yellow-legged Gull

  Larus michahellis J.F.Naumann, 1840 · Aves
  113
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  110