PRINCESS ADA OF CARIA
 Four
years ago, while digging the foundations of a new building at Yokuşbaşı in Bodrum, an
ancient tomb was discovered. When archaeologists lifted the 700 kilo stone lid of the
sarcophagus they saw the perfectly preserved skeleton of a woman.
She was wearing a gold diadem in the form of a myrtle branch and flowers, and had been
buried with a vast array of treasures. Who was this woman? Was she of noble birth, a
princess perhaps? Archaeologist Aykut Özet was convinced that the skeleton belonged to a
woman of royal birth, laid to rest 2313 before. Research proved him right. She was a
Carian princess who had eaten and drunk at the same table with such eminent figures as
Mausoleus and Artemisia. She may well have met Alexander the
Great.
Study of the contents of the tomb revealed that Princess Ada had lived between 360 and
325 BC. Paleoanthropoligist Berna Alpagut’s examination of the skeleton showed that she
had delivered more than one child, that she had lived on dairy and cooked foods, that her
teeth were sound and complete, that she was 1.62m in height and around 40 years of age
when she died.
The Halikarnassos (Bodrum) where Princess Ada lived in the 4th century AD differed
greatly from the present town. Carian King Hecatomnus had three sons named Mausolus,
Idrius and Pixadarus, and two daughters named Artemisia and Ada. When Mausolus became king
in 377 BC he married his sister Artemisia. After the death of first Mausolus and then
Artemisia, Princess Ada acceded to the throne in 344 BC. She had not been reigning long
before her younger brother Pixadarus, who was not married to his sister and therefore not
eligible to inherit the kingdom according to Carian laws of succession, usurped the throne
with the help of the fortress of Alinda. However, in 334 BC Alexander the Great brought
Ada back from exile and restored her to the throne. From 323 BC until AD 1989, when her
tomb was uncovered in Bodrum, nothing more was heard of the once renowned princess.
It was decided to reconstruct Princess Ada as she had looked in life, and her skeleton
was taken to Manchester University Medical School by British experts. Dr. Richard Neave,
assisted by Dr. John Prag and Dr. Ray Evans, embarked on the task of replacing the flesh
on the bones of this two and a half thousand year old Carian noblewoman. Since May 1993
Princess Ada has been on exhibit in a special room at Bodrum Underwater Archaeological Museum with the treasure found
in her tomb.
The story of Princess Ada’s life has been related in cartoon strip form on a 24 metre
long and 4.5 metre high fresco around the walls of the room. The young artist who has put
her history in picture form is Serdar Anlağan. Born in 1968, Sinan University, and is
currently doing postgraduate work at the same university. Skylife interviewed Anlağan
about the project.
- SKYLIFE:
- How would you define a strip cartoon?
- ANLAĞAN:
- The strip cartoon is regarded as the youngest art form, one which attained its modern
character in the 1950s.
- However, its history can be traced back to ancient Egypt, Rome, Byzantium, and the
middle ages. It was used in Christian culture, particularly in Gothic cathedrals, to
explain the Bible to the illiterate. Bosch and Bruegel were both strip cartoon artists.
- SKYLIFE:
- How did you reconcile the strip cartoon with museology?
- ANLAĞAN:
- Oğuz Alpözen, director of Bodrum Underwater Archaeological Museum, is an archaeologist
with a broad outlook and imagination. The decision to illustrate the life of Princess Ada
in cartoon form was taken last year. The idea was to depict scenes from the life of a
woman who had lived thousands of years ago.
- The universal language of the cartoon strip is ideally suited to this purpose. Every
detail of the drawings was based on information provided by museum experts.
- SKYLIFE:
- How did you apply the cartoon technique to an area 4.5 metres high
- ANLAĞAN:
- It was difficult. I worked on scaffolding. The technique used by the Balyans for
painting the frescoes on the 7 metre high ceilings of Dolmabahçe Palace guided me.
Serdar Anlagan, mail: karnas@building.com
- Source:
- By Aslı Kayabal
SKYLIFE 12/93
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