Xanthian Obelisk The Trilingual Pillar of Ancient Lycia

The Xanthian Obelisk, also known as the Xanthos Stele or the Pillar of Kherei, is a significant archaeological find from the ancient Lycian city of Xanthos (modern-day K±n±k, Turkey). Dating back to approximately 400 BC, this monumental pillar served as a funerary marker for a dynastic satrap of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in Lycia.

A Trilingual Mystery

The obelisk is most famous for its inscriptions, which are believed to be trilingual. The text is written in three distinct languages: Ancient Greek, Lycian, and Milyan. While the Lycian and Milyan languages are both Anatolian languages, they were initially mistaken for dialects of the same language, leading the monument to be called "bilingual" in early studies.

The pillar was originally topped by a tomb, likely belonging to the dynast Kheriga (or possibly Kherei), featuring reliefs of his exploits and a statue of the dynast himself. Unfortunately, the upper portion of the monument was toppled, likely during an earthquake in antiquity.

Discovery and Exploration

For centuries, the stele remained in plain sight, though broken. It first drew the attention of Captain Francis Beaufort of the Royal Navy, who surveyed the ruins of the Lycian coast. However, it was Sir Charles Fellows, a British archaeologist and explorer, who conducted the most detailed investigations.

Fellows first arrived in the region in 1838. After a preliminary survey, he returned in 1840 with the support of the British Museum and the Royal Geographical Society. His goal was to document the inscriptions and establish the forms of Lycian letters. He noted that Xanthus was an "undespoiled" city, where the building stone had not been reused, allowing for a clearer understanding of the ancient urban layout.

Comparison with the Letoon Trilingual

The Xanthian Obelisk is often compared to the Letoon trilingual, another four-sided trilingual inscription from Xanthus. While both share similarities in their linguistic structure, they were found at different sites and include different languages (the Letoon trilingual includes Aramaic instead of Milyan).