New discovery in the ancient city: a 2,000-year-old inscription of 13 lines about an athlete has been found.

At Anemurium Ancient City, one of the important cultural tourism spots in Mersin, excavation teams that carry out uninterrupted excavation work every year have discovered an inscription consisting of 13 lines honoring a wrestling athlete believed to date back 2,000 years in the Port Bath during the 2024 excavations for the first time.

Located on approximately 600 acres of land by the Mediterranean coast in the Anamur district, the excavations, research, and restoration works at Anemurium Ancient City are being conducted throughout the year by a team of academics and students from various disciplines and universities, led by the Excavation Head Prof. Dr. Mehmet Tekocak on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Selçuk University. The city, which has many traces dating back 2,000 years with its historical texture, continues to experience exciting new discoveries. Last year, a dressed female statue from the Roman Period was found in the ancient city’s Port Bath, and again an exciting find has emerged. The excavation team has reached an athlete honoring inscription consisting of 13 lines, measuring 120 centimeters in height and 50 centimeters in width. It was stated that the inscription, which was fully revealed after a month of work cleaning its surroundings, mentions a wrestler named ‘Kaikilianos’ who won the championship in a wrestling competition held every five years by a person who lived in that period.

“Every day new things are being discovered”
Governor Ali Hamza Pehlivan, who received information from the excavation team at Anemurium Ancient City, stated, “This place is extremely important not only for Mersin but for our entire country. It is one of our ancient cities that attracts attention and sheds light on human history. Archaeological excavations have been ongoing here for a certain period. Primarily, efforts are being made to uncover the ancient city. It has been revealed that the ancient city dates back to the 1st century BC and has an uninterrupted life until the 7th century AD. And every day new things are being discovered. This makes us all happy. Today, we witness the excavation of an exciting artifact from underground. An inscription was discovered inside the structure referred to as the Port Bath. There are interesting expressions on this inscription. From this inscription, we understand that there was a competition organized in the 2nd century AD. This is a competition held in the field of wrestling. In this competition, an athlete named ‘Kaikilianos’ achieves success, and an inscription is made to honor him. From this, we understand that the city established here was a lively city at that time. The organization of such an event in the field of sports highlights the importance given to sports during those times. We learn from records and archaeological studies that competitions of local and Olympic nature were held during those times. The awarding of those who ranked in the competitions also demonstrates the importance given to sports.”

“Anemurium Ancient City is a candidate for UNESCO”
Governor Pehlivan emphasized that the emergence of various artifacts would make the ancient city even more of a focal point and stated, “We have countless artifacts in our province. Four of them are on the UNESCO list. We have initiated scientific studies to propose three more of our heritage to UNESCO. One of them is Anemurium Ancient City. Its file is currently being prepared. While these preparations are being made, inscriptions and artifacts like this that are uncovered will greatly contribute to the priority issue here.”

“We are finding a solid inscription consisting of 13 lines for the first time”
Reminding that excavation works have been conducted in the ancient city on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey and Selçuk University since 2018, Excavation Head Prof. Dr. Mehmet Tekocak stated, “In 2024, within the scope of the ‘Legacy for the Future Project’, we conducted excavations in various areas of Anemurium Ancient City, including the Central A Structure and the Port Bath. Like last year, the Port Bath has provided us with very important findings and information this year as well. Last year we found a statue of a goddess of health here, and this year we found an inscription belonging to an athlete. For the first time, we are discovering a solid inscription consisting of 13 lines on an archaeological material that can be referred to as an altar, offering table, or statue pedestal, which is approximately 120 centimeters high and 50 centimeters wide. What is important is that we know the person who organized the competition, the awardee, and the category of the competition. Here, in the 2nd century AD, a person named ‘Flavianus’ organized competitions every 5 years in his name. And we learn that in this second competition, an athlete named ‘Kaikilianos’ became the champion in the adult category in the wrestling competition. This athlete not only received an award. This athlete is so significant that an honoring inscription was prepared in his name. There was likely a statue of the possible athlete on this inscription. Perhaps this person also went to other places to participate in competitions and won awards there.”

“It raised athletes in ancient times”
Emphasizing that from the previously found inscriptions, it is evident that Anemurium Ancient City was a center for training athletes in ancient times, Tekocak stated, “We know that these athletes went to both national and international competitions and received awards there. Therefore, Anemurium Ancient City must have been one of the important centers for training athletes in ancient times, in addition to being a port city located on the Eastern Mediterranean maritime trade route.”
Tekocak emphasized that, as today, sports had a universal and unifying aspect in ancient times, stating that Anemurium Ancient City felt this deeply and made investments in this regard, adding that this inscription is a very important and new data for the city in this sense. Tekocak also stated that the inscription is very exciting for them because they found a complete 13-line inscription for the first time.