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[[File:Labraunda, tomb of Idrieus.jpg|thumb|Tomb of 4th century BCE wrongly attributed to [[Caria]]n Dynast [[Idrieus]] in Labraunda.]]
{{main|Labrys}}
The first occurrence of "labrys" in English noted by the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]]'' concerns this sanctuary:<ref>quoting ''Journal of Hellenic Studies'' XXI. 108 (1901).</ref><blockquote>It seems natural to interpret names of Carian sanctuaries like Labranda in the most literal sense as the place of the sacred labrys, which was the Lydian (or Carian) name for the Greek πέλεκυς, or double-edged axe.</blockquote>
The same root ''labr-'' appears in the ''[[labyrinth]]'' of Knossos, which is interpreted as the "place of the axe." The double-headed axe was a central [[icon]]ic motif at Labraunda. The axe cast of gold had been kept in the Lydian capital [[Sardes]] for centuries. The Lydian king [[Gyges of Lydia|Gyges]] awarded it to the Carians, to commemorate Carian support in a battle. This is the mythic anecdote: the social and political reality may have been more complicated, for such ritual objects are never lightly passed from hand to hand or moved from their fixed abode. Upon receiving this precious, purely ritual axe, the Carians kept it in the Temple of Zeus at Labraunda.
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