This book is the product of a longitudinal and meticuluous study on Lycia and the authors endeavour to prove, using structural theories, the hypothesis that urbanism was a prerequisite for high culture during the Classical Greek period in Lycia within interdisciplinary analyses of Classical and Near Eastern archaeology. The comparative method encompassing the Assyrian, Babylonian, Urartian, Phrygian, Lydian and Persian residential (i.e. administrative central) cities casts light onto the urban development of administrative centres in the Lycian Peninsula.

Residential cities like Xanthos, Phellos and Limyra are examined following a certain scheme from west to east covering their citadels, palace/basileia, cultic monuments, state agoras, necropoleis, urban area, arsenals, military training grounds, water sources and road connections.

In order to improve understanding Pinara, Tlos and Myra are also incorporated into the study despite scarcity of sources and lack of longitudinal excavation results in the urban area and they are shown to deserve the status of the residential city…