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Mount Nemrut
Until it's collapse in the 1 century
BC the Seleucid Empire included the land around Mount Nemrut in the
south east of Turkey. With independence the nation of Commagene was
established by Mithridates who was succeeded by a series of kings
called Antiochos of whom his son, Antiochos the Great, was the
first. This Antiochos, who claimed descent form both Alexander the
Great and Darius of Persia, ruled for 3D years and built the
monuments which still survive on the peak of Mount Nemrut in memory
of his gods, the nation of Commagene and himself.
Click to view the details of Nemrut Mt.+Harran
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Very little survives from this era and
Antiochos was wise to choose the highest peak in the area (2150 m.)
on which to construct an artificial mound 50 m. high and terraces
facing east and west on which to display the monuments. It is
believed that Antiochos is buried beneath the mound.
At the time they were built each
terrace supported five seated figures 8 to 10 m. high flanked by
pairs of eagles and lions to protect them. Following the death of
Alexander the Great more extensive unity was sought in Greece and
the Near East and an important step towards this was the attempt to
synchronise the various gods of the region. Antiochos' own mixed
heritage, along with this synchronisation, would have encouraged him
to order the creation of monuments which celebrated more than one
god each.
The statues therefore represent Apollo
(Hermes, Helius and Mithra); the Commagene fertility goddess
(including Tyche and Fortuna); Zeus (Ahuramazda); Antiochos himself;
Hercules (Artagnes and Ares) - and together they provide s unique
insight into the Greco-Persian art of this period. On the back of
the heads are inscriptions (in Greek) describing the religious rites
to be carried out on the mountain - including dawn sacrifices on the
eastern terrace - and the lines of descent of the kings of Commagene.
For centuries, disturbed only by
earthquakes which scattered the heads of the statues dawn the sides
of the mountain, the monuments remained at peace in their lofty
solitude. In 1839 however, an intrepid explorer Hermann von Moltke
rediscovered them and in 1883 the first archaeologists visited the
site. Soon afterwards Osman Hamdi Bey, the leader of Turkey's
archaeological department, arranged for the scattered heads to be
moved back up the mountains and placed on the terraces. Visitors may
feel that it adds to the ambience of the site that these heads have
not been repositioned on the statues but remain within reach and can
be touched and photographed easily.
Click to view the details of Nemrut Mt.+Harran
Tour
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Tour
For 80 or so years after Osman Hamdi
Bey restored the site it remained impossibly difficult to reach for
all but the most determined visitors but nowadays a road runs almost
to the top of the mountain leaving only a 20 minute walk (or
scramble!) to the top. Most visitors arrive in time to watch either
dawn or sunset from the terraces, the statues are seen to their best
effect at those times along with the stunning views of the Taurus
mountains and the Ataturk dam.
The tumulus of Karakuş, built by
Mithridates II is a tomb for his mother, Isias, his sister and his
daughter. The three Doric tall columns on its southern side are each
surmounted by a statue of a animal: one by a lion, another by a bull
and the third by an eagle. The name of the tumulus of Karakuş, black
bird in Turkish is derived form the 2.5 meter-high statue of an
eagle on o column at the south end of the site. Two doric columns
are very well preserved.
Cendere Bridge, handsome bridge
spanning the Cendere Çay, a branch of the Kahta Çay, (The Nymphaios)
was erected, according to a Latin inscription on columns, by four
Kommagenian cities in honour of Septimius Severus, his wife Julia
Domna and his sons Caracalla and Gets. The four columns originally
stood in two pairs on either side of the bridge, but the one set up
in honour of Geta is missing. Probably it was removed after Geta was
murdered by his brother Caracalla.
Hierothesion at Arsameia on the
Nymphaios. The well-preserved relief, half in Parthian and half in
Greek iconography, shows King Mithridates Kallinikos shaking hands
with Herakles, who in Kommagene also represented Ares and the
Persian god Artagnes. The relief must have been carved in the reign
of Antiochos I, about 50 B.C.
A visit to Mount Nemrut is a highly
recommended and never to be forgotten experience.
Click to view the details of Nemrut Mt.+Harran
Tour
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