Halikarnassos (Muğla)

Halikarnassos (Bodrum) was founded by Dorian colonists but reached its peak in the 4th century BC when ruled by Hekatomnos and his children, especially Mausolos. His tomb, the Mausoleum, was one of the wonders of the ancient world. The present Turkish-Danish excavations inside the Castle of St Peter are led by Oğuz Alpözen and Poul Pedersen.
The 2004 season was devoted to study of the findings so far and the location of the palace of Mausolos investigated. The palace was apparently on the north and west slopes of the peninsula, under the castle. The team uncovered staircases associated with a large terrace (11 x 13 m) with foundations of green andesite ashlar blocks, made using a technique similar to that of fortification walls of the period of Mausolos below the Crusader chapel. The staircases probably provided access to a small bay with a boatshed, perhaps to be identified with a secret harbour of Mausolos. Two cisterns of the Late Classical or Hellenistic periods carved partially out of bedrock were also uncovered. Late Mycenean LHIIIA and Protogeometric pottery indicates a much longer period of settlement on the peninsula than previously known.

Turkish Bath

The tradition of the Turkish bath extends far back, to a time before Turks had reached Anatolia. When the Turks arrived in Anatolia, they brought with them one bathing tradition, and were confronted with another, that of Romans and Byzantines, with certain local variants. The traditions merged, and with the addition of the Moslem concern for cleanliness and its concomitant respect for the uses of water, there arose an entirely new concept, that of the Turkish Bath. In time it became an institution, with its system of ineradicable customs.

For the Turkish bath was much more than just a place to cleanse the skin. It was intimately bound up with everyday life, a place where people of every rank and station, young and old, rich an poor, townsman or villager, could come freely. Women as well as men made use of the "hamam", as the bath is known in Turkish, although of course at separate hours.

From the individual's point of view, the hamam was a familiar place from the earliest weeks of life right up to its very end. Important occasions during a lifespan were, and in some township still are, celebrated with rejoicing at the bath. The newborn's fortieth day, the brides bathing complete with food and live music, and the Avowal are instances. The latter requires some explanation, for it involved the custom common in Anatolia of making a promise or vow, contingent on the fulfillment of some important wish. The celebration of this in the hamam was arranged and paid for by the person fulfilling his vow, and was open to one and all.

The hamam ceremony of mourning, on the other hand, was far different, but also widespread. The Hospitality bathing was simply the taking of one's house-guest to the hamam for a wash. Then there were the Circumcision, Groom's, and Off-to-the-Army bathings, and others besides. As we see, the whole culture of a people had the Turkish bath as one of its important nexuses.

Naturally, there was a range of equipment associated with a hamam visit, and until recently one might count from 15 to 20 articles in the bundle which a woman brought along with her. Let's see this bundles:
The "pestemal" (pesh-te-mahl), a large towel fringed at both ends and wrapped around the torso, from below the armpits to about mid-thigh , as the woman made her way to the "kurna" or marble basin. The pestemal would be striped or checked, a colored mixture of silk and cotton, or pure cotton, or even pure silk.

A pair of wooden clogs or patens, in Turkish "nalin", of which there were many varied types. Carved exquisitely, these patens kept the wearer's feet clear of the wet floor. They would be embellished in a number of ways, most often with mother-of-pearl, or even sheathed in tooled silver. They might have jingles, or a woven straw sheath, or be applied with felt or brass.

The "tas", or bowl for pouring water over the body, was always of metal. Weather silver, gilt or tinned copper, or of brass, the tas always had grooved and inlaid ornamentation.

One finds a soap case of metal, usually copper, with a handle on top like a handbag, and perforated at the bottom to allow water to run out. Not only soap goes into such a case, but also a coarse mitt for scouring down the skin, a webbing of date-palm or other fibers for lathering on the soap, and combs both fine and broad-toothed made of horn or ivory.

The "kese" (keh-seh), that rough cloth mitt carried in the soap case, not only scoured the dirt out of the pores, but served to deliver a bracing massage. The soaping web, on the other hand, was specially woven out of hair or plant fibers.
A small jewelry box is often included, and depending on the region will be of silver, copper or wood, sometimes covered with wicker, felt, velvet or silver. As she undresses in the hamam, the woman will remove her jewelry and place it in this box.

There are three towels for drying, one to go around the hair like a turban, one around the shoulders, and one around the waist.
The hamam carpet would be laid on the floor, then another cloth spread over it. Indeed, the name of the latter, "yaygi", contains the Turkish root for Quotspread". The woman would sit on the mat so formed to undress, and it was here that the bundle itself would be placed. After each trip to the hamam the spread would be washed and dried, then folded away in the bundle until the next time.

An inner bundle cloth was made of cambric, which can be repeatedly washed.
The outer bundle on the other hand, heavily embroidered, might be velvet, woolen or silken weave. In any case, it is always showy, suitable for the uses to which it is put on feast days and other special occasions.

The mirror was an indispensable item in the bundle, its frame and handle often of wood, but sometimes of silver or brass.
There might be a bowl for henna, which the woman would fill on arriving at the hamam. Aside from the color it lends, henna is considered to strengthen the hair. Henna is an old tradition for young girls before their marriage day; called as Henna night.

A very small container, made of tinned copper, was used to mash up an eyebrow darkener known as "rastik", especially popular with those of fair and auburn hair.

There is another box, this one for "surme", for the lids.
Attar of rose in a bottle, the bottle in turn kept in a wooden case, and inevitably found in the hamam bundle: No other perfume was considered proper for the newly washed body.

WHERE TO GO

BODRUM TODAY

Founded on the antique city of Halicarnassus, modern Bodrum is one of the most important touristic centers of Turkey. The characteristic architecture of the town, tangerine gardens, yachting and sympathetic people have created the Bodrum of today. The people and their houses are in perfect harmony with the sea. Hundreds of Bodrum made yachts carry visitors from all over the world along the Aegean coast making them enjoy the beauty of nature. The inhabitans of the region are friendly with the tourists and helpfull to them in every case. Traditional still boat building is still carried on in the towns shipyards. These boats built by the people of Bodrum, which once gave the Ottoman empire the famous admiral Turgut Reis (Dragut), are very much appreciated by the foreigners who by them. Divers continue the centuries-old tradition of sponge fishing meanwhile bringing the artifacts they find at the bottom of the sea to the Underwater Archaeology Museum established in the castle, thus helping the museum to become the richest in the world in its field. In the fisher taverns one can enjoy all kinds of the freshest sea foods, especially the fish soap and octobus salad, the two most characteristic plates of the Bodrum cuisine. Natural dyed carpets, known as Karaova or Milas, are woven in the inner regions of the Bodrum peninsula. One can find a variety of carpets in the carpet shops of the town. Unfortunately, unlike carpet weaving, the ‘’kilim’’ weaving tradition is slowly passing away. As in untiquity, the inhabitant of Bodrum wears sandals in the summer seasun. These hand made leather sandals are liked very much by tourists, Turkish and foreign. Those who sail out to the sea during the day, enjoy the night in taverns listening to Bodrum songs. The joy of Bodrum nights continue on the streets, filled with the sounds of many languages, until the break of down.

THE TURKISH BATH

The Turkish bath, Which is the only building constructed by the Turks in the castle of the Knights, stands of the south of the chapel. Leaning on the curtain wall, the bath is perfectly set in the castle.It has a rectangular dressing room, a domed washing chamber and behind it a small stoke-hole where the water was heated.There is an inbuilt empty space beneath the washing chamber’s floor, Hotair and water was circulated under and inside the walls. The antique Roman bath tradition has come down to our days through the Ottoman Turks. This bath was built around 1895 when the castle begun the used as a prison. The hamam is restored and the ethnographical objects of the Turkish bath are exhibited here.

Three Faces of Bodrum Castle

Today, Bodrum Castle discloses only two of its personalities; the third is thankfully not in evidence.

Its massive, battlemented walls, five towers and seven gates shows that it was once a fortress of note. Numerous inscriptions and coats-of-arms seen embedded at various points in the structure testify to its medieval, multi-national origins - there are no visible traces left of previous Carian, Roman, Byzantine and Seljuk construction. Even though their proprietorship of the castle lasted only some 120 years, the prevailing aura today is still of its former Crusader occupants, the Knights Hospitaller of St. John. This is due to a large extent to the castle’s restoration and accentuation with period furnishings, all done by Turkish authorities after its transformation into a museum.

This period of the Bodrum Castle may be of particular interest to the western visitor due to associations with historical events which have made lasting impressions on European heritage and culture, but such interest presupposes a modicum of knowledge of the past or, at least, some familiarity with Sheakespeare. Why Sheakespeare? Because, in the play “Henry IV”, the Bard mentions by name a number of the English knights who fought in the battle of Agincourt - the roll-call of honor includes Bedford, Exeter, Warwick, Salisbury and Gloucester - whose coats-of-arms can be seen today above the portal of the English Tower.

Very appropriately there are many reminders of French presence here since a Frenchman, Philibert de Naillac, was the Grand Master of the Order when the castle was founded. When we look at the royal arms of France in the north wall perhaps some will remember that the inscribed date, 1460, was near the end of the reign of Charles VII whose coronation was made possible by Jeanne d’Arc’s victory over the English at Orleans. It is interesting to speculate how French and English knights coexisted in Bodrum when their native lands were at war with each other...

German visitors can admire the handiwork of their countryman Henrik Schlegelholdt. the chief architect of the fortress. The restored German Tower bears the escutcheon of the German Langue or “Tongue”. This designation identified chapters of knights within the Order by their linguistic groups, language being the primary indicator of their nationality. By the 1400s there were few German knights in the Hospitaller Order, most preferring to enlist in the Order of Teutonic Knights active in Prussia. Spaniards and Italians can also find traces left by their countrymen in the Bodrum Castle, associations that fill out the tapestry of the fifteenth century in western Europe. This aspect of the castle blends with its second face, reflected by its current status as one of the world’s finest museums of underwater archaeology. Amphoras strewn around castle grounds set the atmosphere for visits to exhibits of superb artifacts recovered from ancient shipwrecks, a reconstructed wreck and displays of the underwater excavation process. The harmony between the ancient maritime exhibits and the medieval setting is noteworthy.

The third, mostly forgotten face of the Bodrum Castle is that of a prison, established as such in 1893 in the reign of Abdulhamid II. This sultan, known for phobia of plots against his absolute rule and his suppression of civil liberties, had many champions of freedom sent into exile or imprisoned, some in the Bodrum Castle. But not only supporters of liberty were jailed here. When reactionary fanatics tried to have Islamic religious law (Seriat) re-imposed in1909, two of their foremost rabble-rousers were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bodrum Castle when the rebellion was defeated.

Some captured mountain robbers also spent time behind the castle walls. After the turn of the century bands of outlaws infested the mountains and forests robbing the rich and, sometimes, helping the poor. Some of their leaders, known as “Efe”, have been immortalized in folk songs and their dignified, deliberate demeanor and colorful costumes can be readily seen in Aegean regional dances.

The last to be sent here for incarceration in the fortress was Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, a writer who gained fame under the pen-name of “The Fisherman of Halicarnassus”. His persecutors apparently didn’t know that the prison was closed a decade earlier, and the local governor was a person of culture, so the new “convict” was assisted in renting a house looking out on the sea. His infatuation with Bodrum and its heritage poured out of the pages of his many books and brought renown to this formerly laid-back fishing village, today’s resort town of Bodrum.

THE CHAPEL

The beautiful building in Gothic style immeddiately on the right of the courtyard was the chapel of the Knights.

One of the first buildings to be completed during the construction of the castle between 1402 and 1437, it was restored by the Spanish knights, in 1519.The chapel, in its planning, ornaments and heavily decorated facade, shows Spanish in fluences. The chapel used to be entered through a main door in the middle and two smaller ones flanking it, with an arched window immediately above them. Due to the construction technique and plant ornaments, two windows above the main door are beatiful examples of Gothic architecture.

The chapel was totally built with material obtained from ancient Hellenistic constructions.The green stones used in the building of the side wall were brought from the Maussolleion. On the corner stones of facade are inscribed the names of the Spanish knights who helped in the restoration, between the dates of 1519-1520. After the conquest of the castle and the region by the Turks, following Ottoman tradition, the chapel was converted into a mosque with the addition of a minaret.The Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi, visiting Bodrum in 1671 writes that the mosque was called Suleymaniye Camii.The wooden decorations inside the chapel were burnt and the minaret wrecked during the French shelling of 1915.The first ring stone of the minaret can be seen on the upper right corner of the facade. The Byzantine shipwreck dated to the VII. Century A.D. will be displayed at a 1/1 scale in the chapel.

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The museum which first opened in 1964, is Turkey’s first and only museum specializing in underwater archaeology and was opened to house findings from various excavations at Galidonya, Yassiada, Serce Limani, Seytan Deresi, and the nearby sites of Ortakent and Gokce. The museum houses treasures from every age of occupation from Mycenaean, through archaic Classic and Hellenistic Greek, to Roman and Byzantine - all exhibited in chronological order. Among those items exhibited, are Amphora and other stoneware including bowls, glassware, vases, candles, jewellery, miniature statues, coins and tombstones.

The most interesting exhibits are undoubtedly those found on the wrecks. The many handsome amphorae, the black child statues and the statue of the goddess Isis are particularly fine.Also worth seeing are the bronze signs from Gelidonya, the farming implements, the bronze weighing scales and the many bronze coins.

The summer months see many other exhibitions, displays and even concerts taking place in the precincts of the castle. All in all, its historical ambiance, fine museum and interesting exhibitions are something that no visitor to Bodrum should miss. But if you don't get a chance to check out the interior of the Castle, you can at least observe its nightime beauty against the sunset from Kortan, M&M Bar, Bodrum Cafe, Denizciler Kahvesi, Salvaraga Restaurant, Karada Haban, Halikarnas Disco, or any one of the establishments on Cumhuriyet Caddesi.

The Castle is hosting the Bodrum Festival which will be held between 7-15 August. Local and foreign classical, pop and jazz groups, Turkish Music and Folk Music performers will take part during the festival. The photograph and painting exhibitions that will take place there are also not to be missed.

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One feature of Bodrum that no visitor should miss is Bodrum Castle. Constructed by the Knights of Rhodes during the Crusades of the Middle Ages, it was given the name The Castle of St. Petrus, or Petronium. It was built partly from the remains of the mausoleum of Mausolus which had collapsed as the result of an earthquake. The exterior walls were designed by the German architect Heinrich Schlgelholt (in the early 15th century) and were strengthened by five towers known usually as the Italian tower, the French tower, the German tower, the English tower and the Snake tower.
The French tower is thought to be the earliest with the others being added during the following century. The Italian tower was built in 1436 by architect Angelo Mascettola. The final parts of the structure were erected in the time of Pierre díAbusson between 1476 and 1593, with the English tower being added around 1480. The walls of the castle contain the coats of arms and armorial bearings of many of the knights that served there.
Captured by the Ottomans in 1522 during the reign of Kanuni Sultan Suleyman, the church on the site was converted into a mosque (Suleymaniye Camisi). Later during the reign of Abdulhamit II, the castle was used as a place of exile.These days Bodrum Castle is somewhere few people would complain about being exiled to. The Castle is open to the public and houses Bodrum’s famous Museum of Underwater Archaeology.

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Halicarnassus was never able to recuperate after Alexanders plunder.In 201 B.C. Plilip V of Macedonia for a short while occupied the city. In 196 B.C. Antiochus III of Syria attempted to take it back from the Ptolemies, but was prevented by the Allies of the latter, the Rehodians. With peace of Apemeia in 189 B.C. the Romans gave the sovereignty of Halicarnassus to Rhodes; but this was never fully put into practice.The city independence lasted until 129 B.C., when the Romans organized the province of Asia and include Cariain in it. Halicarnassus was plundered by the prite Verres in 80 B.C. and by 60 seems to have been a city of no economical importance, As the ‘’ tyrannicides’’ Brutus and Cassius had established their headquarters at Myndus near Halicarnassus, the city suffered great damage during the power struggle in Rome (43 B.C. ). Better times came however with the establishment of the empire under Augustus and Halicarnassus was once again prospreus. Several temples including the Mars temple, were built during this period. In 400 A.D. the Roman provinces were re-organized and Caria became a separate province. With the adoptian of Christianity as the offical religion Halicarnassus developed into a Diocese connected to the Archbishopric at Aphrodisias.

Although Halicarnassus had passed under Turkish rule in the last quarter of the 11. Century, Byzantium again controlled the region during the first crusade (1096-1099).The Deniz Gazi’s under the command of the Menteşe Bey captured the city and built a castle towards the middle of the 13. Century. The Anatolian unity was destroyed with the defeat of Yıldırım Beyazıt by Tamerlane at the battle of Ankara in 1402. Meanwhile, the Knights of St. John demanded land from Mehmet Çelebi, in compensation for their castle in İzmir which had been wrecked. The knights were given Halicarnassus, but had to figth against the Menteşe Bey who claimed the land for himself. Finnaly capturing the city, which they called Mesy, the knights started building their castle on the Dorian acrapolis where the pervious.Turkish castle was situated.With the conquest of Rhodes in Junuary 5th 1523 by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, Bodrum once again became a part of the Ottoman empire. In 1770 the Rusia novy shelled the town, and in the Greek revolt of 1824 it was used by the Turks a military base. During the first World War the French battleship’’Dublex’’shelled Bodrum and tride to make a landing, this attemp, however, was a failture because of the resistantce of the inhabitants.The war ended with the Ottoman empire on the losingside ,and Bodrum was occupied by Italian forces in 11 May 1919.The Italians used the castle as their headquarters and tried to establish good relations with the inhabitants.When it became obvious that the war of indenpence led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk would be won by the Turks,the Italians left Bodrum and the region of Muğla.

Bodrum, today , is one of the flourishing holiday towns of the Turkish Republic.

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When the Rhodians sailed to the main harbour and put their man ashore to occupy the city she quickly led her ships around the island were the castle stands to day and seized the unmanned ships. The Rehodian soldiers , unable to retreat, were surrounded and destroyed in the agora (market-place). Artemisia then put her own men abourd the enemy ships and sailed to Rhodes. The city thinking that their soldiers were returning victorious, opened its gates without hesitatian and was easly captured.To celebrate this victory Artemisia had her own statue erected.To prevent the statue to be destroyed under any circumstances she had it surrounded with a wall and declared it forbidden ground. After her died in 351 B.C Idrieus came to power Idrieus died in 351 B.C. leaving the rule to his wife Ada. The youngest brothers Pixodoros married his daugther to a Persian noble by the name of Orontobates, but died shortly before the arrive of Alexander in 344 B.C. In the spring of that year, after defeating the Persian army at Grnikos(Bigacreek), Alexsander started occupying Anatolia with remarkable speed. When he arrived to Halicarnassus pixodaros had recently died and the Persion orontobates was in control as satrap.The forces in the city consisted of Persian soldiers and Greek mercanaries under the command of the Rhodian Memnon.As we understand from the detailed accounts of the historians Diodorus and Arrian; The city defended herself bravely.Alexander first attacked the Mylasa gate on the eastern side, then proceeded to at attackt violently to the Myndus gate.The satrap Orontobates and Memon retreated to the two inner castles at Salmacis and Zephyria.Alexander ordered the city to be sacked and the Macedonian soldiers burnt the whole city down leaving only the Maussoleion untouched.After the sacking, the inhabitants brought over from the six lelegian cities during Maussollos reing were sent back as Orontobates and Memnon were still holding on in the castles. Alexander gave the command of the siege to Ada, who by her own will had opened him the gates of Alinda, and proceeded to Lycia was also made the satrap of Caria.The Persians held on for about a year ,meanwhile occupying Cos will their fleet though it is not known precisely how long they were able to control the islans.After the death of Alexander, Halicarnassus was controlled by one of his generals, Asandros, in 313 B.C. first antigonos also know as Monoftalmos (one-eyed), and later general Lisymahos in 301 B.C. ruled over the region. Lsymahos was killed at the better of Kurupedion and Caria than was ruled by the Ptolemies(281B.C.)and had to pay a tax of one ‘’Trireme ‘’a year to the Egyptian kingdom.

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The first satrap whose name we know was Hyssaldomus from Mylasa. He was succeesed by his son Hecatomnos in 387 B.C. Hecatomnos had three sons (Maussollos, Idrieus, Pixodarus) and two daugthers (Artemisia II;Ada), In 377 B.C. Hecatomnos died and his son Maussollos became the satrap of Caria.As in the times of the Lydamis dynasty, Maussollos transfered the capital back to Halicarnassus and rebuilt it on a much grander scale.Easy to defend and situated in a place favourable to naviagation and commerce. Halicarnassus quickly prospered. During the reing of Mussollos the inhabitants of the six neighbouring Lelegian cities were forced to live in Halicarnassus. An ambitious man, he conquered the islands of Cos and Rhodes, and Halicarnassus rebuilt by the most famous architects and sculptors of the age.The money necessary for this was supplied from the heavy taxes he livied. In his reign even long hair was taxed.

Maussollos died in 353 B.C., after reigning over Caria from twentyfour years.The rule of the satrapy passed to Artemisia, his elder sister and wife (with the exception of Egyptian Pharaohs and Polynesian of Egyptian Pharaohs and Polynesian kings, marriage between brothers and sister is never seen in the ruling families of the world. These, considering themselves far superior to the rest of the population did not want to mix; they therefore started to marry within the family).Artemisia II ruled for a very short period of two years, but made herself famous in two notable respects. The first was that she contiuned the construction of the superbtomb, the Maussolleion, which had started in her husband’s time. Artemisia’s other the claim to fame was the re-conquest of Rehodes.

The Rehodians, considering it an indignity to be ruled by a woman prepared a fleet and attacke Halicarnassus.Artemisia being informed of the Rhodians intentions, hid her fleet in the secret harbour.

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After the conquest to Sardis by the Persian king Cyrus, the western Anatolian cities fell rapidly under Persian rule. In the cities they conquered the persians put the power dynasties who would rule in their interest.

During Xerxes’ campaing againts the Greeks (around 480 B.C.), the daughter of the tyrant Lygdamis, Artemisia I was the ruler of Halicarnassus. Herodotus has provided as with much information on Artemisia. He writes that she joined with the Persiansto fights againts the Greeks, and, also ruled over the islands of Cos, Nisyros and Calydnos. At Salamis she advised Xerxes not to risk a naval battle with the Greeks.However as the king had follewed the wish of the majority, she joined the battle in person and fought with so much prowes at the king exclaimed ’’My man have shown themselves women and my women men’’. Heredotus has not writen the name of her housband, but she must surely have taken over the rule after his death.

Following Artemisia’s death, first her son Psyindalis and later her grandson Lygdamis II became tyrants of Halicarnassus. Psyindalis who had a weak character did not archieve anything of much importance. Lygdamis II, on the other hand, exerted a despotic rule. It is said that Herodotus, forced to leave his native city because of Lygdamis’ cruelty, later returned and helped to the overthrow of the dynasty. Political strife, however, made him leave the city once again.

Halicarnassus took part in the lonian revolution, and around 486 B.C. joined the Attica-Delos Confederacy. The revenues it paid to the conferadetion were less than those paid by the cities of Termara and Pedasa.This is a evidence that Halicarnassus was a comparatively small city about middle of the V. Century B.C. In 404 B.C. Sparta put end to the confederation, and Halicarnassus for a while might have enjoyed democratic rule. In the beginnig of the IV. Century B.C. the Persians were again in power. With the treaty between Athens and Persia known as the ‘’king’s Peace’’, the cities of Asia went under totel Persian control.The Persians, once more, divied Anatolia into regions called satrapies. The rule of the Carian region was given to the Hekatomnos dynasty settled in Mylasa.

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According to the geographer Strabo of Amasya, Halicarnassus was founded by Anthes, son of Poseidon. In A.D. 26 Halicarnassus envoys came to Rome in order to convince the emperor Tiberius to have the temple to be erected in his name is Halicarnassus, on the ground that for 1200 yeras their cities had not felt the shock of an earthquake.This would put the foundation of the city right after the Trojen war. Strabo disagrees with this and claims that Halicarnassus,was not is existence in the first quarter of the XI. Century B.C. The traveller and geographer Pausanias points out that the founder of the city was the grandchild of Aention, who was the son of Anthes. The Dorians, use the islands are their stepping-stone arrived to south-west anatolia around 1000 B.C. After many waves of Dorian migrations following each other, the new-comers were forced the settle on the coast. The first settlement in Halicarnassus was on rocky little island where the castle stands today.The island called Zephyria in those days, Zephyros meaning western wind, is joined with the mainland today. Halicarnassus, with three other cities joined the six-city Dorian league called Hexapolis.The cult center of the league was the Triopian Apollo temple at Deveboynu near Cnidus. Meeting hear periodically, the league discuss matters concerning economy and politics. Festivals were also held in honour of Apollo.

Halicarnassus was expelled from the Dorian Hexapolis shortly before the Persian invasion in 546 B.C. The story has told by Herodotus is that a certain man called Agasicles From Halicarnassus recived a bronze tripod as his prize after winning a victory in a game held in honour of Apollo Agasicles disregarded the rule which required him to dedicate the prize on the sport to Apollo, took it home with him and hung it up in his house.The other cities of the Hexahapolis; Lindus, Lalysus, Camirus, Cos, and Cdinus, claiming that this action was an insult to the god, expelled Halicarnassus from the league.This of cours was apretext; the real reason baing the increasing jealously felt againts Halicarnassus rising power.After this event Halicarnassus quicly became lonion in culture.This is confirmed by the works of Herodotos who wrote in lonian dialect, as did is uncle Panyasis, the epic poet.

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The town of Bodrum is founded on the ancient Halicarnassus, one of the most famous cities antiguity.The archaeological evidences in the museum reflect a past of five thousand years in Bodrum and it is neighborhood.The region, as it can be understood from the various artifacts displayed , was invaded throughtout the centuries by many civilizations. The invaders came mainly from the islands to the region called Caria in the antique age.The region of Caria included the the province of Muğla and part of what is Aydın today Anatolia, then also, was divided into many regions. According to the writers of antiquity, Caria extended from the Menderes river in the west to the Dalaman creek in the east. The native inhabitants of the region were the Carians and the Legians.In the Iliad, Homer mentios the Carians as the inhabitants of Anatolia and allias of the Trojans againts the Greeks.

"Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484-425 B.C.), considered as the father of history says :’’The Carians have crossed over to the mainland from the islands when still living on the islands they were called Legeians and were ruled by King Minos’’ Heredotus adds that, according to the Cretans, they were the first to make use of sings and handles on shield and crests on helmets. The Creants also recounted, he says, that the Carians were a maritime folk but the carians would have none of this, maintaining that they have always lived on the mainland."

The carians and Lelegeians lived near the coast in villages built on high hills which they surrounded with walls. Herodotus writes that Halicarnassus was founded by the Dorians who came from Trozen on the east coast of the Pleponnese.