Is the Temple at Korykion Antron Dedicated to Zeus?

Abstract

The Hellenistic temple located 5 km southwest of Korykos at the Cennet-Cehennem (Heaven and Hell) Caves was transformed into a church in Late Antiquity. The anta facing eastwards on the north wall preserves a name list. Th. Bent suggested that it was a list of the members of the Teucrid dynasty or priest-kings of Olba. E. L. Hicks thought that it listed sponsors of the temple construction, while W. M. Ramsay believed that it mentioned benefactors of the temple. R. Heberdey and A. Wilhelm, who surveyed the region between 1891 and 1892, however, claimed that they were the names of priests of Zeus Korykios. J. Keil, who made drawings and wrote a brief description of the church, shared the views of Heberdey and Wilhelm, which were widely accepted in academic circles. The assumption that the temple at Korykion Antron belonged to Zeus Korykios is based on the inscriptions presented in two articles by Bent. The priest list on the north wall of the temple does not contain any information about the deity to whom the temple was dedicated. In his article Bent refers to two inscriptions - one a graffito on the temple wall and another on an altar and the priest list, all reportedly discovered "one mile above the caves". In his 1891 article, however, he mentions different find spots for these two inscriptions and the list. Our surveys between 2008 and 2011 made it clear that the Zeus Korykios inscriptions were found 3 km north of Korykion Antron, namely at the site of Goztepesi.