The origin of the name is highly controversial. The name which was pronounced in its Greek form as “Zmirni” during Ottoman times and even during the early years of the Turkish Republic was later transmitted to modern Turkish as “Izmir”,. There has been no interruption in a nearly 3000 year-long period between the two forms namely “Smyrna (and Zmyrna, Smyrne etc.)” form which was used between 10-8th centuries BC and the modern version, “Izmir” It means that the evolution of the name throughout thousands of years can be tracked back. However there are still many questions that have remained unanswered such as how this first name “Smyrna” came out and who found this name and when, to which linguistic or cultural group it belonged?
Ancient written texts do not only fully answer these questions, but they also confuse things. Results coming from archeological excavations together with legends and myths about Atlantis, the Amazons, women warriors, and semi legends about Homer and other national heroes and related stories seem to complicate interpretations. When etymological data which are so flexible to prove any argument and epigraphic documents that are not very much known are also included, the result will not be so brilliant.
Migrations in 1200s BC which in general affected the whole Eastern Mediterranean, especially the Aegean region by interrupting civilization have led us to label the years between 1200 BC and 800 BC as Dark Ages. The situation in the Aegean Region during these years was extremely dark, for large settlements were demolished. There was a considerable decline in population and people were living in small settlements like villages and trade and economic-industrial activities were totally interrupted.
These dark ages began to disappear thanks to enlarging cities, resuming trade and finally through the revival of written culture during a period of 400 years. The earliest data of the name Smyrna belongs to these centuries when the Aegean world was (re)acquainted with "writing".
The 23rd Olympic Games that were held in 688 BC included boxing competitions for the first time. It was recorded on the Olympic lists, which included Olympic champions, their branches and cities they represented, that the first known boxing champion in the history was a boxer named Onomastus from the city of Smyrna and he was representing Smyrna in the competitions.(1)
Some parts of one of the poems of Smyrnaean bard, Mimnermus, who lived in 7th century BC, are about Smyrna and the past of its people:
"After we had left Pylos, the steep city of Neleus, we arrived at beautiful Asia on a boat and we settled in Colophon following our victory. From here we passed over Asteis River and conquered Smyrna of the Aeoleans under the will of gods."(2)
Presently, it has been proven that the word Smyrna has been used since the end of 8th century. However there are no certain data about how far from this date the history of the word goes and there is no possibility to learn about the times before Nevertheless archeological studies provide some ideas with certainty paving the way for further theories.
Excavations on Bayraklı Mound show that a new cultural group settled there since 1050 BC. This rural settlement, which poor immigrants from the west coast of the Aegean dwelled in turned out to be a rich city named Smyrna during the coming hundreds of years. Studies reveal cultural continuity in the city throughout these centuries.
In ancient times (at least before the time of Alexander the Great) names of cities did not change daily. Their mode of articulation and pronunciation may transform and foreign names may be localized, but renaming an ‘already existing’ city was not common but exceptions. Finally we may presuppose that the name Smyrna was known and pronounced by the Greeks since the 1050s BC and it was recorded after the 8th century BC when writing was invented.
Between the 2000 BC and 1500 BC, namely during the turn of Early-Middle Bronze Age, civilization movements spread fast from Mesopotamia-Egypt to the West. While Assyrian trade caravans extending towards the centre of Anatolia were introducing “writing” in Anatolia, Egyptian and East-Mediterranean fleets, which arrived at Crete and the Aegean Sea, were carrying civilization (writing, art, architecture, administration and trade) to the Aegean shores. The result of this Mesopotamian wind in Anatolia would then be the Hittites, the first central kingdom established in the Anatolian peninsula. Moreover Egyptian wind paved the way for the Minoan kingdom in the Aegean (in Crete).
Almost all the cities which spread over the coastline were founded in the same years as it was the case with the Minoans. In the meantime the Hittite Kingdom was founded in Central Anatolia. Archaeological studies and research, which have been conducted for more than 150 years, show that the settlements in the Western Anatolian coasts came into being in the 1500s BC under the influence and pressure of the Minoans and the Hittites. Archaeological research also reveals that almost all of these cities and kingdoms were demolished with migration movements of the 1200s BC. and that the population decreased to a great extent. It is also obvious that the big cities in the region turned into rural settlements.
Catastrophic events that took place between the 1500-1200 BC continued to live in the legends and folktales of the following centuries.
The legends which give us clues concerning the history and establishment of Smyrna can be categorized under three groups:
- Legends which ascribe the establishment of the city to Amazons [Callinus 7th century BC); Strabo (1st century BC), Tacitus (1 st century AD), Pliny (1 st century AD)]
- Stories which tell that the city was founded by a king, called Tantalus, who lived in Manisa and he was the son of the king of the gods Zeus [Strabo (1st century BC), Tacitus (1 st century AD), Stephanus of Byzantium (6 th century AD)
- Stories which tell that it was founded by a hero, called Theseus, who was the son of the king of Athens or Thessaly.
In several centuries, these basic stories were told and discussed by the prominent poets and historians of the era. Naturally, there have been many variations derived from those basic stories.
These stories, which have reached today, have the potential to enlighten the roots of Smyrna in the Bronze Age; however, they may also mislead a researcher because of the inherent characteristics of mythology.
In almost every story or rather in almost every story that tells what Smyrna means, it is a common belief that Smyrna was a woman and the city was named after her. In some cases Smyrna is said to have Greek origin being the wife of Theseus, who was a king and the founder of the city. In Amazon stories, she is called as “an Amazon princess” whereas in another legend which is not included in the three basic stories, she is the daughter of an oriental king. In short one may assert that Smyrna always carries a female, aristocratic and strong image.
It has been long debated that the name “Smyrna” entered into Greek language from a neighboring Anatolian culture and the name itself was related to the cult of mother goddess of Anatolia.(3)
Written texts provide the only dependable information concerning the name of the settlement and at least in case of Smyrna, the lack of an epigraphic document remaining from the Bronze Age seems to obstruct the debate at this point. A cuneiform which came from Kayseri-Kültepe (it was published in 1946) has been intriguiging the minds of those who argued on the issue. The cuneiform belongs to the 18th century BC, to an era when Assyrian trade caravans spread to Anatolia. The cuneiform mentions a city rich in copper, called Tismurna, however; it neither contains clues about where the city was located nor gives information about it.
Sedat Alp, an Hittite language expert, who works on the issue, claims that “ti” of “Tismurna” is a prefix and it is possible for this settlement to indicate Smyrna.(4) Emin Bilgiç, another Hittite language expert does not take “ti” as a prefix and puts forward that the word should be divided as “Tismu-urna” rather than “Ti-smurna”.(5) Even if Sedat Alp’s theory is right, Ekrem Akurgal acts with deliberation towards the issue and states that there are not enough proofs to connect Tismurna mentioned on the cuneiform with Smyrna.(6)
With this information in hand, we can introduce the history and evolution of the name “Smyrna” for almost 3000 years. Objective and scientific proofs on its history in the previous millennia are not sufficient. The only common denominator where the different theories meet can be Smyrna’s aristocratic/religious and female image.
|
