xNtawata xbidENni, the king of Kaunos

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The xNtawata xbidENni (𐊜𐊑𐊗𐊀𐊇𐊀𐊗𐊀 𐊜𐊂𐊆𐊅𐊚𐊑𐊏𐊆), the “King of Kaunos,” was an established divinity in Lycia from as early as the 6th century to at least the end of the 5th century.¹ The Xanthos stele implies that the xNtawata xbidENni shared cultic functions with maliya and ertEmi, and archaeological evidence suggests that these divinities together shared a common qla (𐊌𐊍𐊀), or sacred precinct, on the acropolis of Xanthos:

Neumann identified “Temple C” on the acropolis as this qla, but this theory has been debated.³

The xNtawata also appears on the Letoon trilingual as the partner of another divinity erBBazoma. The trilingual enumerates the procedures for the establishment of the xNtawata’s and erBBazoma’s cults in Xanthos. This is odd, given that the trilingual dates from the 4th century and the stele from the 5th.³ Bryce reconciles this dissonance by suggesting that the trilingual reflects a reestablishment of the cult of the xNtawata xbidENni rather than an introduction.⁴ This theory is supported by increasing evidence of cultural and political exchange between Karia—the region Kaunos is in—and Lycia during the 4th century.⁵

This divinity also appears in three Greek inscriptions outside Lycia. The first two are Hellenistic decrees from the city of Kaunos itself and they make mention of a “βασιλεύς ὁ θεός” who is “στεφανήφορος.”⁶ Another inscription⁸ from the island of Kos describes a “βασιλεύς Καυνίου,” which closely reflects the Lycian construction of “xNtawata xbidENni.” Bean suggests that the βασιλεύς ὁ θεός referenced in the Hellenistic inscriptions (and perhaps the Lycian ones as well) refers to Kaunos, the eponymous founder of Kaunos, rather than a manifestation of Zeus or a similar divinity.⁸ This means that the cult of xNtawata xbidENni is perhaps an extension of a native Karian hero cult.

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Notes:

¹ Bryce (1986) 186, Neumann (1979) 38
² Bryce (1986) 186 and Dane Scott
³ Neumann (1979) 38
⁴ Bryce (1986) 186
⁵ ibid
⁶ Bean (1954) 95-97; Bean numbers the inscriptions as 37b.6, 98 and 38c.16
⁷ ibid 96
⁸ ibid

Sources:

Bean, G. E. “Notes and Inscriptions from Caunus (Continued).” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 74, 1954, pp. 85–110.

Bryce, Trevor R. The Lycians in Literary and Epigraphic Sources, vol. 1, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen, 1986.

Neumann, G. “Namen und Epiklesen lykischer Goetter”, Florilegium Anatolicum Paris, 1979. pp. 259–271

Appears in

• nf 320, 7
• nf 320, 8
• nf 320, 17
• nf 320, 23
• nf 320, 28
• tl 44, c.8

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