Beşparmak Dağı
Mount Latmus
Mount Latmus and the village of Kapıkırı among the ruins of Heracleia, with Lake Bafa in foreground. View is to the north.
Elevation	1,353 m (4,439 ft)at Tekerlek Tepesi, "the crest of the hub"
Translation	Five-finger mountain/range (Turkish language)
Location
Beşparmak Dağı Muğla Province,[1] Republic of Turkey
Range	Beşparmak Dağlari at the southern edge of the Menderes Massif[2]
Coordinates	37°29′53.19″N 27°31′36.51″E / 37.4981083°N 27.5268083°E / 37.4981083; 27.5268083Coordinates: 37°29′53.19″N 27°31′36.51″E / 37.4981083°N 27.5268083°E / 37.4981083; 27.5268083
Geology
Type	Ridge with multiple spurs, six major ones
Climbing
Easiest route	Hike

Beşparmak Mountains (Latmus; (Ancient Greek Λάτμος)) is a ridge of many spurs running in an east-west direction along the north shore of the former Latmian Gulf^[3] on the coast of Caria, which became part of Hellenised Ionia. The city of Latmus, located on the south slopes of Mount Latmus 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Miletus,^[4] was originally a port on the narrow gulf, as reported by Strabo.^[5] He also states that Latmus is the same as Mount Phthires in the Catalogue of Trojans.^[6]

The mouth of the Gulf of Latmus began to fill with sediment from the Maeander river, which emptied into it, even in classical antiquity. By 300 CE Lake Bafa had formed behind the estuary marshes.^[7] It gradually diminished in salinity and would now be fresh water except that canals to the Aegean introduce a saline element. The ecology remains a brackish-water one and the lake has been made a bird sanctuary. Its area of 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi) with a maximum depth of 25 metres (82 ft) still extends from the base of the west spur of Mount Latmus, although, having lost its port, the ancient medium-sized town of Herakleia (Latmus) has declined in size and facilities to the small village of Kapikiri.

Beşparmak looms far beyond Kapikiri to the east for a total distance of about 35 kilometres (22 mi), 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) wide. It is deeply eroded by various streams into spurs. The spur that can be seen from Kapikiri is one Dağ, or "mountain", but the entire ridge with all the spurs is Dağlar, "mountains", in the sense of "range." The ancient writers generally recognized the western spur over the gulf as Latmus, but Strabo reports that the ridge east was called Mount Grium and extended through Caria.^[5]

Geology[link]

The Arabian plate at 15 converges into the Anatolian Plate at 21 against the purple line (East Anatolian Fault). The Anatolian Plate moves west slipping along the North Anatolian Fault (green) but there is some north-south extension along the red border, which continues into the Aegean Plate at 37. It is opening the old subduction zone and uncovering the massifs, which have arisen as the Cyclades and the Menderes Massif.

The morphotectonic configuration of Anatolia and the Aegean is a result of continental drift movements associated with the Alpine orogeny, a zone of mountain-building caused by the collision of the African and Arabian Plates with the Eurasian Plate. The former have been slipping under the latter compressing and lifting the edge and creating zones of metamorphic rock from previous layers of sedimentary rock. These zones in the Aegean are represented by a number of massifs that were originally buried by crustal subduction: the Rhodope, Kazdag, Menderes, Cycladic Massif and Crete.

For various geologic reasons, modelled differently by different geologists, the zone of compression in the Aegean became one of extension: the region widened and dome-like or ovoid massifs were uncovered, or exhumed, from the subduction zones and rose by isostasy. In the case of the Menderes Massif, which is 40,000 km² (15,444.1 sq mi), the reasons are better known due to geologic research in central Turkey. Anatolia is a triangular block created by the intersection in central Turkey of the North and East Anatolian faults. As the northward-pressing Arabian Plate pushes against this wedge the latter slips to the west but the broad end opens along fault lines like the rays of a fan, extending the massif to the north-northeast and south. This is being called a bivergent (diverges in two places) model.

The entire massif is divided or nearly so by a karst topography into three sections: the Gordes Massif north of the Alasehir or Gediz graben, the Cine Massif south of the Büyük Menderes graben and the Central Massif between. The latter is split like a forked tongue by the Küçük Menderes Graben into the Kuzey Detachment to the north and the Guney Detachment to the south. Mycale is part of the Guney Detachment, while Latmus is in the Cine Massif.

The Graben are low-key rift valleys. There have been some small intrusions of magma into the graben appearing now as granito-diorite outcrops. Dates on thin sections of monazite obtained from the earliest exhumed rocks of the graben suggest "... that the Cenozoic extension in the Gordes Massif, and possibly the entire Menderes Massif, might have begun in the Late Oligocene."^[8] Despite the rare intrusions, the massif is not of volcanic origin. Most of the visible layer is light, metamorphic rock of various kinds, especially marble and schists.

Except for alluvial fans of impermeable clay the rock is highly porous due to a network of small faults, which dips into the warmer regions below the surface. Warm springs and vapors are common, giving the appearance of volcanic activity. The ancients cross-culturally viewed these phenomena as being caused by divinities, which rock-paintings indicate they worshipped. The north slopes of Latmus are subject to heavy and damaging mudslides, which also would have contributed to the idea that it was a god.

Mythology[link]

Latmus appears in Greek mythology as the site of the cave where Selene's consort Endymion lies forever young and beautiful in blissful sleep.

Prehistory[link]

Beginning in 1994 about 170 rock paintings have been discovered in shallow caves and overhangs near springs at the foot of Mount Latmus overlooking Lake Bafa.^[9] They came to light in a survey conducted by Anneliese Peschlow of the German Archaeology Institute.^[10] Peschlow dates the earliest to about 6000 BCE and believes from other findings that the region has been continuously occupied since then. She is currently working to get Mount Latmus reserved as a national park.

The paintings, which are done entirely in red, depict mainly social and religious scenes. Different representations of the mountain include a dragon, indicating that it was worshipped as a god; that is, Latmus was a sacred mountain at least as early as the Early Bronze Age.

A 2004 palynological study of two sediment cores taken from Lake Bafa near Kapikiri (Baf S1) and from the western depth (Baf S6) suggests a habitation sequence of the Büyük Menderes River valley and the shores of Latmus that appears to support the early history of the region. Baf S1, containing the oldest sediment, is layered in four subsections, the first carbon dated to before 4000 BCE.

From the pollen of subsection 1 a model can be constructed^[11] of a lightly grazed climax forest of deciduous oak and pine: 27.6% Quercus pubescens, 14.6% Pinus and lesser concentrations of Isoetes histrix. Low levels of the pasture weed, Plantago lanceolata, indicate a low level of grazing by animals belonging to indigenes that lived somewhere else. There is no evidence that they settled or grew crops in the region.

Subsection 2, dated 1240/1126 BCE to 710/558 BCE, represents a settlement from the Beyşehir Occupation Phase of southern Anatolia, dated there 3500/3000 BP to 1500 BP.^[12] It has a specific palynological profile of "secondary anthropogenic indicators;" that is, not pollen of cultivated plants but of other species growing on cultivated land: certain percentages of Plantago lanceolata, Sanguisorba minor, Pistacia, Platanus, Quercus calliprinos and Juniperus.

The Lake Bafu profile shows the replacement of deciduous oak and pine with maquis species: Phillyrea, Cistus, Ericaceae; fruit trees: Olea, Castanea; and farm weeds: Plantago lanceolata and Juniperus. Carbon in the sediment suggests the forest was cleared by slash and burn. This period corresponds to the settlement of the Carians in the area, who apparently moved in from southern Anatolia. There is a semi-legendary tradition that they subdued another Pre-Hellenic people, the Leleges, but the evidence is not precise enough to say if the indigenes were all or partly Leleges. As the Carians worshipped Endymion, he may have been brought in at this time.

Subsection 3 reveals an abandonment of the cleared areas, the decline of Olea, and the spread of Pistacia, Pinus brutia and Quercus coccifera (instead of deciduous oak) on formerly cleared land and in the maquis. As this is the time of the rise of Ionia, the palynological scenario suggests a movement of population from the land to the newly settled or expanded big cities of the Ionian League. Subsection 4 and Baf S6 go on to catalogue the return of the fruit trees, re-clearing the land for pasture, planting of rye and other cereals, ultimate destabilization of the soil through over-use, denudation and acceleration of sedimentation. After the sealing off of the bay to form the lake, population and land use declined to their current low levels around Latmus, but the river valley is cultivated.

History[link]

Location of Mount Latmus South of Maeander River's mouth.

With the expansion of Greek culture, Latmus became a member of the Delian League in the fifth century BCE. In the fourth century the Persian satrap (a Carian) Mausolus of Halicarnassus captured the city by a ruse^[13] and fortified it with a circuit wall;^[14] under Hellenising influence the city was refounded a kilometer to the west^[15] on a rectilinear grid system^[16] as Heracleia under Latmos,^[17] dedicated to the hero Heracles.^[18] The modern village of Kapıkırı is built among the ruins.

The temenos, or sanctuary of Endymion, with pre-Greek origins, was rebuilt in Hellenistic times, and may still be seen on a rise to the south of the ancient city.^[19] The building faces the southwest; it has a cella with a horseshoe-shaped rear wall partly cut out of the bedrock, with an entrance hall and columned forecourt.

A temple of Athena at Heracleia reveals its earlier foundation by not being aligned with the Hellenistic street pattern.

In Byzantine times, the mountain, known as Latros, became a flourishing monastic centre. According to tradition, the first monastic community was established by Sinaite monks fleeing from the Muslim conquests in the 7th century. By the early 10th century, there were three monasteries, and by 1222, the monastic community of Latros numbered 11 monasteries. It began declining however towards the century's end due to increasing Turkish attacks, and disappeared in the 14th century.^[20] Endymion was Christianised as a mystic saint, whose coffin was opened annually and whose bones emitted musical tones^[21] and the site drew pilgrims. In the ninth century, Joseph the Hymnographer was tonsured in the monastery of Latmus.

Notes[link]

See also[link]

• Carians
• Leleges#Leleges in Anatolia

External links[link]

• Cromwell, Bob (2008). "Mountain Treks in the Besparmak Mountains". http://www.cromwell-intl.com/travel/turkey/mountain-trek/. Retrieved 2008-02-10. 
• George, Roy (1998-2002). "Temple of Athena at Heracleia under Latmus". The Shrine of the Goddess Athena:Museum. http://www.goddess-athena.org/Museum/Temples/Heracleia/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-10. 
• Keller, Don (1991). "Overall View of the Sanctuary of Endymion, from SW". Tufts University: Perseus Project. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=Perseus:image:1991.09.0926. Retrieved 2008-02-10. 
• Wolter, Felix. "Trekking Tour through the Latmos Mountains". utour.de. http://www.utour.de/Latmos.php. Retrieved 2009-12-06. 

v t e Ancient settlements in Turkey Aegean Aegae Aizanoi Alabanda Alinda Allianoi Amorium Amyzon Antioch on the Maeander Apamea in Phrygia Aphrodisias Apollonia in Mysia Atarneus Bargylia Beycesultan Caloe Caryanda Celaenae Ceramus Colophon Cyme Didyma Docimium Ephesus Erythrae Euromus Gambrion Gryneion Halicarnassus Hierapolis Iasos Karmylissos Kaunos Klazomenai Knidos Labraunda Laodicea on the Lycus Latmus Lebedus Limantepe Magnesia on the Maeander Metropolis Miletus Myndus Myriandrus Myus Notion Nysa Oenoanda Orestias Pepuza Pergamon Perperene Phocaea Pinara Pitane Priene Sardis Sigeion Smyrna Stratonicea in Lydia Stratonicea in Caria Temnos Teos Tymion Black Sea Alaca Höyük Comana in the Pontus Euchaita Hattusa Hüseyindede Tepe Ibora Laodicea Pontica Nerik Nicopolis Pompeiopolis Salatiwara Samuha Sapinuwa Tripolis Yazılıkaya Zaliches Central Anatolia Alişar Hüyük Binbirkilise Çatalhöyük Derbe Dorylaeum Gordium Heraclea Cybistra Irenopolis Kaman-Kalehöyük Kerkenes Kültepe (Kanesh) Laodicea Combusta Mokissos Nyssa Pessinus Purushanda Tavium Tyana Eastern Anatolia Altıntepe Ani Melid Sugunia Tushpa Marmara Aegospotami Alexandria Troas Apamea Myrlea Apollonia on the Rhyndax Apros Assos Cardia Cebrene Chalcedon Cius Cyzicus Drusipara Faustinopolis Germanicopolis Lysimachia Nicomedia Sestos Skepsis Troy (Hisarlik) Mediterranean Alalakh Anazarbus Antigonia Antioch on the Orontes Antioch in Pisidia Antiochia Lamotis Antioch on the Cragus Antioch on the Pyramis Aphrodisias of Cilicia Ariassos Arsinoe Arycanda Aspendos Comana in Cappadocia Corycus (Kızkalesi) Cremna Cyrrhus Domuztepe Elaiussa Sebaste Epiphania Gözlükule Hacilar Irenopolis Issus Kandyba Karatepe Kibyra Mallus Mamure Castle Mezgitkale Mopsuestia Myra Olba Patara Perga Phaselis Rhosus Sagalassos Seleucia in Pamphylia Seleucia Pieria Seleucia Sidera Selge Side Sillyon Soli Sozopolis Tell Tayinat Termessos Tlos Xanthos Yumuktepe Southeastern Anatolia Antioch in the Taurus Antioch in Mesopotamia Apamea on the Euphrates Carchemish Çayönü Dara Edessa Göbekli Tepe Harran Kussara Nevalı Çori Sakçagözü Sam'al Samosata Sareisa Seleucia at the Zeugma Sultantepe Tille Tushhan Zeugma

v t e Mountains of Turkey Mountain ranges Ilgaz  • Pontic  • Taurus  • Yunt Mountains Acıgöl • Akdağ • Aktaş • Ağrı (Ararat) • Babadağ • Beşparmak (Latmus) • Davraz • Dilek (Mycale) • Erciyes • Erek  • Göllü • Hasan • Honaz • Kaçkar • Kadifekale • Karacadağ • Karadağ • Karagöl • Kaz (Ida) • Kula • Küçük Ağrı • Madur • Mahya • Nemrut • Nemrut (volcano) • Nif • Palandöken • Spil  • Sultan • Süphan • Şaphane • Tendürek • Topçambaba • Uludağ • Yamanlar • Zurbahan

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Sussan Deyhim is an Iranian singer, composer and dancer.

Born in Tehran, her career began as a dancer with Iran's Pars National Ballet company. Since 1980 she has lived in the United States, where she has collaborated with many musicians, including Arto Lindsay and Richard Horowitz.

Sussan Deyhim is a composer, vocalist and performance artist who has been at the forefront of experimental music internationally for over two decades. Deyhim's music combines extended vocal techniques, digital processing, and the ancient mysticism of Middle Eastern music to create a deeply moving fusion of East and West.

Born in Tehran, Sussan Deyhim began her career dancing with Iran's Pars National Ballet company (performing weekly on Iranian national television), and then with Maurice Bjart's Ballet of the 20th Century. She moved to New York City in 1980, embarking on a multifaceted career encompassing music, theater, dance and media, and wide-ranging collaborations with leading artists from across the spectrum of contemporary art.

Deyhim has performed and recorded widely as a solo artist. Her one-woman show Vocodeliks, commissioned by the Whitney Museum of Art, led Billboard Magazine to describe Deyhim as "an overpowering presence...[whose] wordless incantations are amplified in harmonized layers and recycled into sampled loops, beckoning you into this virtual desert ritual" while the New York Times said that her "thrilling music...sounds in the ear long after you've left the show." Deyhim's solo recordings include Madman of God: Divine Love Songs of the Persian Sufi Masters, Shy Angels (with Bill Laswell) for the visionary label Crammed Discs and Turbulent. Other recordings include Majoun (for Sony Classical) and Desert Equations (released on Crammed Discs), both with the composer Richard Horowitz, a frequent collaborator. With composer and director Heiner Goebbels, Deyhim recorded Shadows (for ECM), based on writings of Edgar Allan Poe and Heiner Mueller, and composed and performed music for Deepak Chopra's A Gift of Love, with narration by Martin Sheen, Madonna, Goldie Hawn, and Debra Winger. She was also a featured soloist on Hal Wilner's tribute to Kurt Weill, Lost in the Stars.

Deyhim's numerous collaborations with the renowned visual artist/filmmaker Shirin Neshat have received critical acclaim, including the video Turbulent, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennial. Their multimedia performance Logic of the Birds was based on Farid ud-Din Attar's mystical book of poetry written in the 12th Century; produced by the Lincoln Center Summer Festival, the Walker Art Center, the Kitchen, and Artangel, Logic toured internationally.

Deyhim's previous work in the theater includes directing, co-composing, choreographing and performing a series of collaborations with Horowitz including: AZAX/ATTRA: Desert Equations (a one-woman multimedia performance piece produced by La Mama in New York City which toured internationally including Ars Electronica in Austria, Morocco, Paris, Berlin and Hong Kong)(; The Ghost of Ibn Sabbah (presented by the Brooklyn Academy of Music/New Music America, Central Park's Summerstage, and NYC's Town Hall); and X-Isle/Isle-X, commissioned by the Hong Kong Cotemporary Dance Company (which subsequently toured in Japan and Indonesia). As a performer, Deyhim has appeared in many international theater productions, including works by Elizabeth Swados, Jean Claude Van Italie, and Lindsay Kemp.

Deyhim has appeared on numerous film soundtracks including The Last Temptation of Christ, directed by Martin Scorsese, with music by Peter Gabriel), Any Given Sunday, (directed by Oliver Stone; soundtrack by Richard Horowitz) Unfaithful (directed by Adrian Lyne, with music by Jan Kaczmarek), and Sleeper Cell, Golden Globe-winning Showtime series with music by Paul Haslinger. Recent collaborations include The Kite Runner with music by Albert Iglesias, The Stoning of Soraya M. with music by John Debney and The Rise of the Argonauts with music by Tyler Bates. Her recent score for the Czech film, Tubruk, in collaboration with Richard Horowitz won them a Golden Lion (the Czech equivalent of the Academy Award) for 2008's best score. She has collaborated with many figures in contemporary music, including Branford Marsalis, Jerry Garcia, Jaron Lanier, Christian Marclay, Elliott Sharp, Arto Lindsay, Loren Rush and Winston Tong. She has also toured internationally with Bill Laswell, Bobby McFerrin, Ornette Coleman, Jah Wobble, Will Calhoun, Doug Wimbish and Adrian Sherwood, among others.^{[citation needed]}

Deyhim has been a frequent participant at humanitarian events and benefits, including a performance at the gathering of the spiritual leaders of the world at the UN General Assembly in 2001; the first Gathering of Female Spiritual Leaders in Geneva at the United Nations; a 2004 performance for Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi's award ceremony organized by Interfaith Center; the Royal Hope Gala, Royal Albert Hall, London with Placido Domingo, The Royal Ballet and others, for medical aid to Iraqi children; and "Witness", a human rights benefit, sponsored by Peter Gabriel.^{[citation needed]}

External links[link]

• Official web site
• Sussan Deyhim at Discogs
• Sony Classical biography