Pedasa
- a city in Caria, Liv. 33, 30, 3; Plin. 5, 29, 29, § 107.
PE´DASA(Πήδασα: Eth. Πηδασεύς), also called PEDASUM (Plin. Nat. 5.29), an ancient city of Caria, in which the Persians suffered a defeat during the revolt of the Ionians. (Hdt. 5.121, 6.20.) It was once the chief seat of the Leleges. Alexander the Great deprived the place of its independence by giving it over to the Halicarnassians, together with five other neighbouring towns. (Plin. l. c.) In the time of Strabo (13. p. 611) the town had ceased to exist, and the name of the district, Pedasis (Πηδασίς), was the only remaining memorial of the place. (Comp. Plb. 18.27; Steph. B. s. v.) As Herodotus assigns to Pedasa a portion of the territory of Miletus, it is clear that the town must have been situated between Miletus, Halicarnassus, and Stratoniceia; but its exact site is still only matter of conjecture, some placing it at the modern Melasso, and others at Arabi Hissar, neither of which suppositions is free from inconsistencies.
[L.S](τὰ Πήδασα). A very ancient city of Caria, originally a chief abode of the Leleges. The district about it was called Pedăsis.
In the hills of Caria above Halikarnassos. One of the eight Lelegian towns mentioned by Strabo (611; ef. Plin., HN 5.107). The Pedasans offered strong resistance to the Persian Harpagos ca. 544 B.C. (Hdt. 1.175), and shortly after 499 another Persian army was ambushed and destroyed by the Carians near Pedasa (Hdt. 5.121). In the Delian Confederacy Pedasa paid two talents at first, reduced to one talent in the second period, but nothing thereafter. (It is, however, disputed whether another Pedasa may be meant; see next entry). The town was incorporated by Mausolos into his enlarged Halikarnassos (Strab. l.c.), but continued to be occupied as a garrison post in Hellenistic times. It was perhaps occupied for a time by Philip V during his Carian campaign (Polyb. 18.44).
The site is assured by Herodotos' description of it as above Halikarnassos, and by the survival of the name at the neighboring village of Bitez. It comprises a walled citadel with a keep at its E end and an outer enclosure below on the S. The citadel wall is of irregular masonry, something over 1.5 m thick, and has a gate on the W. The keep is approached on the W by a ramp which is flanked by a tower in coursed masonry; in a corner of the tower is a staircase.
In a hollow below the site on the SW are remains which seem to be those of the Temple of Athena, as implied by an inscription found close by (CIG 2660). On the slopes to the SE are numerous chamber tumuli, comprising a vaulted chamber and dromos enclosed by a circuit wall and surmounted by a pile of loose stones; these have produced pottery of early Archaic date.
BIBLIOGRAPHYW. R. Paton & J. Myres, JHS 8 (1888) 81f; 16 (1896) 202ff, 215 no. 4; A. Maiuri, Annuario 4-5 (1921-22) 425ff; G. E. Bean & J. M. Cook, BSA 50 (1955) 123-25, 149-51.
G. E. BEANTown in Ionia or Caria, almost certainly at Cert Osman Kale on the E side of Mt. Grion. Herodotos says (6.20) that the Persians, after taking Miletos in 494 B.C., themselves occupied the plain around the city, but gave the highlands to Carians of Pedasa to dwell in. This was apparently the origin of the city of Pidasa which appears in Milesian inscriptions; about 182 B.C. it was incorporated by sympolity in Miletos. The site lies high up on the mountain, perhaps 700 m above the sea; it comprises a roughly oval enclosure some 200 m long. The wall, 1.5-2 m thick, in roughly coursed masonry, is poorly preserved, but a number of towers are recognizable. In the interior some building foundations are discernible, and large quantities of worked stones, including some marble; tiles and pottery date in general to the 4th and 3d c. B.C.
BIBLIOGRAPHYT. Wiegand, Milet I, 3 (1914) no. 149; J. M. Cook, BSA 56 (1961) 91-96.
G. E. BEAN