Chapter X: Section D: Monuments of the West

ANGORA, GIAOUR-KALESI, YARRE (CHESME KEUPRU); DOGHANLU, BEY-KEUI; SIPYLUS, KARA-BEL; ILGÎN (KÖLIT-OGHLU YAILA), (EFLATOUN-BUNAR, FASSILER).

It has already been indicated that the Hittite works in the west are few in number and of somewhat special character, and that they are disposed for the most part seemingly along a single line of road.[358] They betoken a line of conquest rather than a period of settlement. Nevertheless, if we may permit ourselves to take into consideration certain sculptures which, though uninscribed, are of strongly Hittite character, we shall find reason to feel the presence of Hittite influence, or close contact with Hittite artistic feeling, in Galatia north-east from Phrygia. In view of the fact which has been established[359] that the Halys River formed a boundary between peoples of different racial customs, this evidence, if it may be accepted, assumes definite importance, inasmuch as such influence was less likely, under the circumstances, to be the result of neighbourly assimilation. It would argue, in short, for a definite occupation or suzerainty.

Of such uninscribed works we may single out three in the immediate vicinity of Angora, the one at Kalaba,[360] which is just eastward of the town, the others at Amaksiz and Yalanjak,[361] which lie to the west and south-west respectively. These are uniform slabs of stone, suitable for the façade of a building, decorated with reliefs of lions.[362] It is not merely the analogy of motive and of subject, but certain details of treatment, which give them a Hittite character. The beasts are in each case represented as advancing, with wide open mouths. The farther legs are advanced and the tail curls over the back. On the lion from Kalaba the body is seemingly hairy below the belly and the collar is suggested. Most characteristic of all is the treatment of the shoulder muscles, which are drawn in conventional outline, as at Eyuk, Sinjerli, and elsewhere. (At Chesme Keupru, also, exposed to the weather on the western side of the bridge, there is a lion sculptured completely in the round. This is in itself a fashion unknown to Hittite art, and added to that there must be noticed the seated posture of the animal and uncouth treatment of the subject. We cannot see in this any semblance of Hittite influence.)

The sculptures of Giaour-Kalesi, however, are of unmistakably Hittite origin, even though no inscription seems to have been noticed with them. Here the subjects are godlike figures, in familiar Hittite guise.[363] They are carved in relief upon the living rock, and their situation is particularly noteworthy. A rocky knoll overlooks, indeed partly overhangs, a narrow pass: upon the summit is a fortress, rectangular in shape, about eighteen yards by thirty-seven, and supported by an outer and lower wall at a distance of twelve to thirty yards. The masonry of the inner wall is rough dry-walling, while the outer is built in the style of the fortress on Beuyuk Kaleh at Boghaz-Keui,[364] of stones roughly pentagonal in shape, irregular in size, fitted to one another, and laid without mortar. In its shape this fortress corresponds to that of Yenije Kaleh at Boghaz-Keui;[365] in its double wall and rough inner masonry to that on Kizil Dagh;[366] and in the position of the monuments near its entrance to that on Kizil Dagh just mentioned, and to another at Karaburna.[367]

ANGORA: THE ACROPOLIS (_See also p. 36._)]

The sculptures represent two male figures: the one bearded, the other beardless. Both are clad in the short tunic, tip-tilted shoes, and conical hat familiar in the god-figures at Boghaz-Keui.[368] A dagger with crescental hilt is stuck into the belt of each. They are of gigantic size, seemingly about ten or twelve feet high, and both are posed in the same way facing in the same direction. They turn to the observer’s left; their right hands are advanced, as though pointing down the pass, while their left arms are drawn back. Obedient to convention, the right legs are advanced, and the shoulders are seen almost in full view. Something hangs down from the hat of each, falling behind the neck;[369] and upon the front of the hat worn by the bearded figure there may be traced a curving object, but whether the upturned brim familiar on the sculptures at Sinjerli and Boghaz-Keui,[370] or some other emblem, is not determinable.

There can be little doubt as to the identification of these two figures, as they are portrayed, with the father-god and the son-god (the two forms of Attis of later times), seen in exact correspondence on the sculptured walls of the sanctuary at Boghaz-Keui.[371] Is it merely a coincidence that, while being a link in the great westerly route from Boghaz-Keui towards Kara-Bel and Sipylus, they are pointing down the pass which is thought by many to have led also directly to Pessinus or Pessinous, the chief sanctuary of the Mother-goddess[372] in this part of Asia Minor?

Whatever may have been the direction of the Royal Road eastward of Giaour-Kalesi, it would seem to have passed west by way of Yarre, which is found near a bridge over the Sangarius called _Karanji Keupru_. Here a sculptured slab has been found[373] decorated with a relief representing a ceremonial feast. This is an important link, for this class of subject has a wide distribution, as we have seen,[374] throughout Hittite lands on both sides of the Taurus. Its appearance west of the Halys betrays the influence not only of Hittite art but of a common religious institution.

AYAZÎN: ROCK-HEWN TOMBS AND EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Cf. p. 60.

The church may be recognised on the right by its rounded exterior, corresponding to the apse.]

The slab is almost exactly thirty inches square and twelve inches thick. The back is rough, and on the upper side is carved a tongue or ‘joggle,’ for attaching another slab: clearly it formed part of the façade of a building like the slabs of Angora, Sinjerli, and Sakje-Geuzi. The drawing of the scene is more angular and less free than is seen on most Hittite works, but there are several intrinsic Hittite peculiarities. Two figures are seated, their feet on footstools, at opposite sides of a narrow table or altar. The head and back of the left-hand figure are missing. The shoes of both turn upwards at the toes, and their garments seem to be long, reaching to their ankles. The end of a toga-like garment is conspicuous on the right-hand figure, falling over the right shoulder and reaching almost to the seat. The head-dress of this figure resembles a skull-cap with expanding front, and a short hood or veil falls behind the neck. The features are sharp, the nose and chin being particularly prominent. The figure is seated on a stool with two straight legs which cross. In the left hand (which, as at Sinjerli and elsewhere, is inaccurately represented with the palm instead of the knuckles towards the observer) there is grasped a small round-topped object; and in the right hand, which is partly raised, there seems to be a cup. The opposite figure is clad alike, so far as it can be seen, and similarly raises a cup towards the lips. The object between them resembles in form the narrow tapering altars seen on the sculptures of Fraktin. Upon it there seem to be a bird, and possibly some other offerings not clearly defined. In the background between the two heads, and above the ‘altar,’ there appear certain marks, in relief, which may be the remains of hieroglyphic signs. It is unfortunate that the whole of this sculpture is not preserved, a circumstance which makes us hesitate to attempt to explain its meaning. It is probable, however, that the persons, being both seated, are in this case on an equality, and both share in the feast, as at Marash,[375] Boghaz-Keui,[376] and Sinjerli.[377] We infer that they are man and woman, but that is not clear. The figure on the right, clad in the toga and long robe, wears also an earring. The seat on the left is not a stool of the same kind as that on the right, but rather a square-shaped chair, though, being broken in two, we have only a portion remaining from which to judge.

In the Phrygian country the rock sculptures of non-Phrygian character near the Midas-tomb at Doghanlu[378] may be thought to carry on the line of Hittite highway to the west. These are found on a plateau above the valley in which are the Phrygian monuments, and they seem to have been anciently reached by means of a road ascending in a gentle curve, now partly hidden at the bottom by accumulated earth. There are several figures of gigantic size carved in relief upon the rocks, but that which has attracted most attention is a small one in the series, two feet four inches high, described by the discoverer as a figure of ‘Hermes.’ The person stands, facing left, his left foot and arm advanced. His hair is dressed close, or it may be covered by a skull-cap, and a curl is visible behind the neck. In the left hand a _caduceus_ is held upright, the head of which is seen like a small disk with horn-like objects projecting from the top and turned towards one another. Beyond the staff are certain picture-signs, amidst which a bird[379] may be recognised, with a small triangular sign below. These signs, in the opinion of the discoverer, are not the same as the Hittite hieroglyphs. None the less, the monument is accepted as Hittite by Dr. Messerschmidt[380] and M. Perrot.[381] We consider their interpretation of the origin of the sculpture to be extremely doubtful. We do not feel so strongly as Professor Ramsay that the Phrygians obviously learned this type from the Hittites of Pteria, as may be seen from a comparison with the youthful god in the sanctuary of that place. On the other hand, the _caduceus_, the picture-signs, and the short robe of the figure, are not really those familiar in Hittite art. We are told, however, that other sculptures of the series with which the ‘Hermes’ is associated have more in common. The theory of Hittite influence, though not of Hittite origin, is perhaps easiest reconciled with history, and we may accept it tentatively as a working hypothesis explaining their presence, but not as independent evidence.

AYAZÎN: ROCK-HEWN ROOF OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Notice the dome and capitals. (_See Pl. LI. and p. 60._)]

The same doubt does not exist, however, in regard to an inscription from Bey-Keui, which is a definite trace of the Hittites in the west. The monument is a dressed block of limestone, dug by Professor Ramsay[382] out of a mound at the entrance to a glen. The hieroglyphs are in relief, and on the portion of the stone preserved were arranged in rows, of which two partly remain. The whole was surrounded by a plain border.[383] From the published copy two or three of the signs may be readily recognised as distinctively Hittite. The position of the monument has thus a great interest amid the paucity of evidence in the west.

Those monuments which tell of the Hittite influence in the extreme west are found on the mountains of Sipylus and Tmolus, not far in either case from Smyrna. The river Hermus before entering the sea flows about a mile distant on the northern side of Mount Sipylus. On the other bank there stretches out a considerable expanse of highly fertile plain. The road and railway pass between the river and the mountain, and from them the famous sculpture may be plainly seen. It is several hundred feet up the slope, involving a sharp climb up the accumulated débris and soil at the foot of the cliff. Above, the cliffs rise sheer and almost precipitous.[384]

The monument occupies a recess specially prepared, about forty feet in height, while the figure itself is over thirty feet high. This gigantic sculpture, perhaps on account of its accessibility, has been more noticed in writings, ancient and modern, than any other. Its present condition,[385] however, leaves us no chance of forming any new opinion as to its original meaning and character. Fortunately on both points there remains little doubt, in spite of a considerable controversy, which is, however, now no longer of interest. As to its meaning, we are guided by the studied words of Pausanias,[386] read in the light of modern information, to believe that it was a rock image of the Mother-goddess; and as to its character, we may see in its present weathered state the indications of a sculpture in very high relief, almost indeed in the round, though not disengaged from the rock, which once represented a female seated, with her feet presumably upon a stool. The head of the figure is seemingly inclined forward, and the form of the female bust may still be recognised. Those who previously may have thought the carving to represent a bust upon a pedestal were deceived by its present appearance, for certain hieroglyphs[387] in the recess near the head attest its Hittite origin: the motive of bust and pedestal finds no place in the category of Hittite art, while the seated figure of the Mother-goddess has its counterpart in the Hittite sculptures at Eyuk[388] and Fraktin.[389] The inscription in question is very fragmentary, though certain characteristic symbols can be recognised, notably the tip-tilted shoe and the horned (ram’s) head. ‘It contains,’ writes Professor Sayce, ‘the name of the Mother-goddess, with her title “Queen of the Rock,” all of which signs recur in an inscription from Emir-Ghazi.’[390]

MT. SIPYLUS: GIANT IMAGE OF THE MOTHER-GODDESS]

It would seem that classical writers, following generally in the footsteps of Homer, confounded this image with another object, a natural rock on the same mountain, which tradition associated with Niobe, and would seem indeed to have conveyed a suggestion of her weeping form. Thus Homer[391] sings that ‘Niobe, turned to stone, upon arid Sipylus broods o’er her sorrows’; and so again Ovid:[392] ‘Fastened to the rock she weeps, and the marble sheds tears.’ Fortunately Pausanias, himself probably a native of this country, ascertained the facts and showed how the confusion had arisen. ‘This Niobe,’ he says,[393] ‘I myself saw when I ascended Mount Sipylus; close at hand it is merely a rock and a cliff, with no resemblance to a woman, mourning or otherwise; but if you stand farther off, you will think you see a weeping woman bowed with grief.’ This is clearly the Niobe of Homer, Ovid, and Sophocles, and clearly also the smoothed appearance of the rock above the image of the Mother-goddess (which is not, it seems, due at all to the action of the water), was one of the reasons accounting for the confusion. As to the identity of the image, Pausanias leaves us in no doubt where he says,[394] ‘Here (at Aeriae) there is a temple of the Mother of the Gods, with a stone image of her: both are worth seeing. The people of Aeriae say that it is the most ancient sanctuary of this goddess in the Peloponnese. The oldest of all her images,[395] however, is on the rock of Coddinus at Magnesia, to the north of Sipylus: the Magnesians say it was made by Broteas, son of Tantalus.’ Finally the same writer makes his distinction apparent by showing that he was aware of the passage in Homer referring to the story of Niobe.[396]

As in other cases, we do not dwell upon the religious symbolism of the monument. That the Mother-goddess (Ma) was the prototype of Kybele remains undisputed, and all that is of interest in the cult of the great Phrygian goddess has been pointed out by Sir William Ramsay[397] and others. But the attributes of the goddess in the minds of the Hittites remain indefinite, and are to be inferred from the rites represented with her at Boghaz-Keui, Eyuk, and Fraktin, from the ritual described by Strabo and Herodotus, as surviving at Comana, Tyana, Pessinus, and elsewhere, and from the inherited attributes of Kybele herself.[398]

The other Hittite monuments of the west on the pass of Kara-Bel are comparatively near at hand. A stream which feeds the Hermus, flowing around the foot of Mount Sipylus on the east, comes down from the valley which separates that mountain on the south from the opposite slopes of Olympus. The bed of another small tributary leads up these southern slopes to a narrow wooded glen upon the ridge, in which are the sources of the Kara Su. Through this glen there passes a track, now not much used, connecting Ephesus to the south with Sardis or Smyrna by the northern valley. About seventy feet above this track, in the perpendicular face of the cliff, a niche of rock encloses a sculpture in relief. The niche is about six feet wide at the base and nine feet high, being considerably narrower at the top.[399] The figure within is that of a warrior, similar to those of Giaour-Kalesi, and resembling the god-figures at Boghaz-Keui. He stands facing to his left, his left leg and arm advanced, and his shoulders squared to the observer. He wears a short tunic and short-sleeved vest and high boots, which in some early drawings are shown as turning up at the toes.[400] The conical Hittite hat completes his costume. A triangular-shaped bow is carried over his right shoulder, and his extended left hand seems to grasp a long staff or spear.[401] The sculpture, being on the east side of the ravine, is turned towards Ephesus. There is another similar sculpture on a detached block of stone some two hundred and fifty yards farther up the pass. This stone seems to have fallen from the rocks above, and it now lies on the west side near the stream, about twelve yards below the level of the path. As it lies the sculptured face is towards the east, and the figure being turned as in the former case, towards the left, looks to the north. It is probable, however, from the similarity of the two subjects, that they originally looked in the same direction.

It is curious that there is no mention of these sculptures by Pausanias. Herodotus, however, describes them as images of Sesostris,[402] ‘the one on the way from Ephesus to Phocaea, the other from Sardis to Smyrna. In both places a man is carved, four and a half cubits high, bearing a spear in his right hand, and in his left a bow; and the rest of his equipment is in unison, for it is partly Egyptian and partly Ethiopian. From one shoulder to the other there extend across the breast sacred Egyptian characters, incised, which read as follows: “I acquired this region by my own shoulders.” Who or whence he is he does not here show.’ It is clear that Herodotus was writing from hearsay: there is just enough general accuracy in his account to identify the monuments, and enough discrepancy to make it apparent that he had not visited them himself. The details as to position we have already noticed; and Professor Sayce has shown[403] that the inscription, so far from being across the breast of the figure and in Egyptian characters, is found in the characteristic place, between the spear and the head of the figure, and consists of a group of Hittite hieroglyphs, in which certain symbols can be recognised. On the fallen block no trace of inscription remains, as the sculpture has suffered mutilation; in fact, a Yuruk’s tent was at one time pitched against it, and the niche used as a fireplace. But sufficient remains to make it demonstrable that no Egyptian inscription ran across the breast. We can hardly hesitate to identify this figure with one of the two forms of the Hittite national deity, and if the suggested absence of beard be a guide, he will be in this case the son-god of Boghaz-Keui, the Sandon of Tarsus, the prototype of Attis the consort of Kybele. We are inclined to see him here, as at Giaour-Kalesi, in the aspect of a God of Arms. We may notice once more, and ask, as in a previous case, whether it can be mere coincidence that the only Hittite monuments surviving in the extreme west are representations of the Mother-goddess and of the chief male deity of the Hittite peoples.

KARA-BEL: THE HITTITE GOD OF ARMS]

With these monuments of the west we classify also one definitely Hittite inscription from near Iconium, and two instructive monuments reflecting Hittite influence, found near the Lake Beyshehr. The inscription was found near Ilgîn, at a place called Kölit-oghlu Yaila,[404] about three miles from the latter and eight miles eastward from the former, and about three hundred yards off the road from Ilgîn to Kadyn Khan. Actually the spot is about fifty miles north-westward from Iconium. Here there are traces of an ancient site in a slight eminence upon the plain, and the ruins of a wall running in a curve for a long distance. It is possible, Professor Ramsay thinks, that these indications may mark the site of pre-Hellenic _Tyriaion_,[405] which was one of the three chief cities of the Phrygio-Lycaonian frontier lands. In Roman times, however, Tyriaion was placed without doubt at Ilgîn. It is more probable that the mound indicates a site of antiquity that fell for some reason into neglect as Tyriaion came into prominence. Out of the top of this there was dug up a block of limestone, about two feet eight inches high and six feet long. It is not quite complete; but upon it there may be made out with some certainty three rows of Hittite hieroglyphs in relief, the inscription commencing with the right-hand side at the top. The position of the monument is of special importance, for it seems clearly to have been found near to its original position, and is the sole witness of Hittite handiwork in this part of the tableland. And though it stands alone, it does not seem to be of that class, the isolation of which may be accounted for and is in itself instructive, like the sculptures of Sipylus and Kara-Bel. It seems, on the other hand, to be the product of settled conditions, and its presence implies a whole field and period of Hittite influence which would otherwise have remained in obscurity.

There are two monuments south-west of Konia which, though not inscribed nor demonstrably of Hittite handiwork, reflect clearly Hittite influence and feeling in art. One of them is ‘Plato’s Spring’ at Eflatoun-Bunar,[406] nine miles northwards from Beyshehr. This consists of two walls of an unexplained structure, of which about two-thirds has been destroyed. The façade, which is decorated with sculptures, is about twelve feet in height and twenty feet in length. It is washed by a stream which has been partly dammed by stones taken from the building. The stones are large, almost gigantic, and dressed with care: they are decorated with human figures in relief, which vary in size with the stones, though forming a symmetrical group, and each posed with hands raised, in full view; several of them wear the conical Hittite hat. Two pairs of wings, enclosing disks, are carved upon a single stone which spans all but the corner-stones, while a great slab which covers the whole retains the decoration of a single pair of wings and part of a central disc. In the side view some of the stones are dressed with a panel; other stones are lying about, and Professor Ramsay has detected one on which a lion seemed to have been carved.

There is another remarkable but equally problematical monument at Fassiler,[407] near the route from Beyshehr to Iconium. It is a gigantic stela, about eight yards in height, and nearly a yard thick. At the bottom its width is nearly three yards, narrowing at the top to nearly two yards. The subject represented upon it is carved in very high relief. It shows two lions side by side separated only by a figure, clad in a long robe, with hands folded before the breast. Upon the shoulders[408] there is posed a greater figure, wearing the short tunic and conical hat of peculiar form. The right hand is raised, while the left arm is bent, and some indistinct object is grasped by the hand. Meagre as is our information about this monument, we do not hesitate to see in it a reflection of an idea which we see carried out in the Hittite sanctuary of Boghaz-Keui. The theme seems to us to represent the statue of the god borne upon the shoulders of his priest; and the lions, as emblems or guardians of the god, suggest a derived form of the son-god or Attis, which we discuss in a later chapter.[409] The character of the lions flanking the monument, with their heads projecting boldly in front, is also in keeping with Hittite tradition;[410] and the position of the sculpture between the lions has its counterpart in a monument, equally of post-Hittite times, which has been brought to light at Sinjerli.[411] Finally the whole appearance of the monument suggests a columnar figure upon a lion-base,[412] of which this is a clumsy and ill-carved substitute. A wonderful gulf separates the drawing and execution of this monument from the sculptures of Boghaz-Keui.

SECTION E.—MONUMENTS IN THE SOUTH-EAST OF THE TABLELAND.

KARA DAGH, EMIR-GHAZI, TYANA (BOR, NIGDEH, ANDAVAL), BULGHAR-MADÊN, IVRÎZ.

We turn in fine to the south-eastern corner of the tableland, now a desert tract fringed by the northern slopes and outlying ridges of the Taurus mountains. Our comparatively intimate knowledge of the monuments and historical geography of this region is due almost entirely to the consistent researches of Professor Sir Wm. Ramsay and his school.

We come firstly to the Kara Dagh (Black Mountain), an outlying ridge of Taurus,[413] which rises three or four thousand feet above the plain, to a height of seven thousand feet above the sea. At the foot of the mountain, on the north, the little village of Maden-Shehr marks the classical site of BARATA, better known, perhaps, as _Bin Bir Kilisse_, ‘the thousand and one churches.’ Professor Ramsay tells[414] of the great changes that time has wrought in this locality. Here there ‘must have been in ancient time the summer sanatorium of the Lycaonian plain. The soil is very fertile, and being volcanic, is specially suitable for vines. Many kinds of fruit trees also were cultivated. Water is not plentiful, but there are several springs of remarkably good water. The needs of agriculture and viticulture were met by a wonderfully elaborate system of storing the rain and the melted snows of winter.’ But now ‘the site of this ancient city is the most inhospitable in the whole of Lycaonia. There is no water except filthy half-poisonous puddles stored in the ancient cisterns. The vines have almost entirely disappeared, the orchards remain only in a few trees run wild. There is hardly any cultivation. The water runs rapidly off the steep slopes of the mountain, and is of no benefit to agriculture except in the lowest parts of the little sheltered valley where the city was built.’

That the life, and possibly the sanctity, of the place dates back to remote antiquity is shown by the discovery[415] of two Hittite inscriptions on the summit of the mountain. The spot called _Mahalich_ is marked by a Byzantine Church, which seems to preserve the ancient sanctity of a high place of older times.[416] The church is supported on the north side by rocks in which a passage can now be traced, though it would seem to have been partly hidden at least by the Byzantine walls. This passage was to some extent artificial, and on its rock-walls are two inscriptions, a short one in relief upon the north, and a longer one incised on the south. The shorter inscription consists of four groups of signs only, translated by Professor Sayce[417] to mean ‘Tarkyanas, the supreme king.’ The other inscription is longer, comprising twelve groups of signs in a row, in addition to the same royal name, which in the middle recurs with little variation in its hieroglyphic form, though surmounted in this case by a winged emblem. There appears in this inscription[418] a hieroglyphic sign otherwise unknown, resembling a horned altar.

In the same neighbourhood, about eight miles to the north-west, there is an outlying rocky hill called Kizil Dagh, which rises sharply from the plain to a height of nearly four hundred feet. The summit of this knoll is crowned with a fortress, the early character of which is betokened, says the discoverer,[419] by its style and by three hieroglyphic inscriptions found near by. We are not yet told the precise nature of the ramparts, but the position of the fortress recalls those of Giaour-Kalesi, Boghaz-Keui, and Karaburna. Near a gate in the western wall, on the right-hand side, the longest inscription of the series is to be seen upon a sort of rock altar. The hieroglyphs are carved in relief, and arranged in two rows. As with the inscription on the Kizil-Dagh, the same royal name appears in the middle of the group of signs, surmounted, it would seem, by a winged disk. Lower down on the hill, but still upon the shoulder, there rises a sharp rock, roughly hewn into the form of a high-backed seat or throne, and on the back of this a bearded figure has been engraved. The personage is represented as seated on a square-shaped throne, his feet upon a stool; but the details of the design are unlike anything else that has been recorded.[420] Much of its peculiarity may be attributed to the unskilled hand that carved it, but there are certain features rendered with deliberation that are worthy of note. The left arm is outstretched, and the hand grasps towards the top a staff with crescental knob, which is held vertically. The lower end of the staff stops short above the stool, possibly in obedience to the general convention of perspective in Hittite art. Were the drawing completed, indeed, in our own convention, with the vanishing point suitably chosen, it would be found that the staff seemed to rest upon the stool. In the right hand, which is just in front of the body, there seems to be a cup of some kind.[421] The dress is not clearly drawn, but there is the suggestion, by a simple oblique line, of a loose fold or possibly the loose end of a toga across the body. The hem of the skirt is fringed. No footgear is apparent, and the head-dress is apparently a degradation of the familiar conical hat, reduced in this case to an inverted V-shape by unskilled drawing. The hair falls straight and backwards upon the shoulders. The seat is curious, and plainly simulates a substantial chair of wood. The back is a solid upright piece, square cut, and the side-pieces which form the arms are lateral strips, connecting the front legs with the back. The footstool is similar in style. Without other evidence it would have been difficult to support an argument of Hittite origins for this carving; but that question does not arise, owing to the presence of a group of hieroglyphs appearing characteristically between the top of the staff and the face, and these signs are at once recognisable as forming the same group which we have met with three times previously in the same vicinity, namely, the royal name read by Professor Sayce _Tarkyanas_.[422] The same name appears in two other places on the same rock. In the one case it is followed by two short lines of inscription, incised like the rest, and the spelling of the name seems to illustrate an interchangeability of two hieroglyphic signs. Surmounting the whole there is a winged emblem, in which the central portion seems to be composed of two crescents underneath a disk (which is also divided like a crescent). Above the emblem there appear the symbol of sanctity (the divided oval) and the hieroglyph which Professor Sayce interprets as the name of the god Sandes.[423] The same arrangement, with slight variations, is repeated with the other occurrence of the name, which in this case, however, is spelt as in the earlier instances. The centre of the winged emblem may be seen to be a rosette, with a curious spreading object below. Above, two dots follow the name of Sandes, and the picture-sign of a human arm bent ‘in adoration’ is by the side.

These two groups of inscriptions, and the carving which accompanies them, awaken several interesting thoughts. The most important point is one which might be easiest lost sight of, namely, that these sacred places are sought on rocky points or hilltops, bearing out the suggestion of the sculptures near Boghaz-Keui,[424] in which there may be reasonably suspected the surviving traces of mountain-cults, or cults of mountain deities, underlying the newer religious symbolism. There the idea is conveyed in the drawings, here in fact. Who this deity was, in his local guise at any rate, we do not learn. It would seem, however, that he was identified at some time or other with Sandes, just as at Boghaz-Keui most of the various local deities seem to be identified with the chief national god of the age. The monuments before us, then, probably belong to the time when the cult of this god was dominant, as under the Hatti rulers, or during the ascendency of Greater Cilicia (possibly _Kas_ in the inscriptions) as head-state of the Hittite confederacy. As for the name repeated in each inscription, the fact that the winged rosette, or winged emblem of sorts, overspreads it in four instances, leads us to infer from the analogy of similar Hittite monuments,[425] that the name is that of the king-priest of the locality. We recognise then in our _Tarkyanas_ (by whatever name he may have been called) the local dynast of the period of the sculptures, who was the chief minister and representative of the local god.

Who, then, is the seated figure? It may be naturally thought that the group of hieroglyphs repeating the same name decide that fact, but we are led on further consideration to incline to another conclusion. For there is no single example in Hittite art where the king is represented seated or enthroned. On the other hand, it is the god who is found to be enthroned, and the king appears in such scenes by virtue of his priestly office. In this case the winged emblem does not accompany the writing of the name between the figure and his staff; hence it is conceivable that we have here a representation of the deity called by a name which was that used also by the priest; if this be so, then it may be assumed that the priest has really adopted to himself a name similar to, or compounded of, that by which the god was known in the locality.[426]

There is one further point of importance which these inscriptions illuminate. It is hardly to be doubted but that they are all contemporary, especially as we have reason to believe that they each contain the name of the same living person. Yet the different styles in which they are carved—some in relief, others incised, some badly drawn, others outlined with more care—would have otherwise given scope for argument as to different periods of origin. We may dismiss, at any rate for the future, the arguments as to period based merely upon the difference between relief-work and incision, irrespective of style and details.[427]

The plain is broken between Iconium and Tyana by a low ridge called the Karaja Dagh. On the northern side of this, an isolated mass of rocks rises from the plain, and is known as the Arissama Dagh. On one of its highest peaks an ancient fortress, called naturally Arissama Kaleh, commands a track which skirts the northern shoulder of the ridge and looks down on the remains of a village called Eski Kishla (Old Winter Quarters), about four miles distant to the west. The place is now hardly inhabited, save for a few half-starving nomads; but there are considerable traces of an ancient site in the squared stones to be found among the débris. Here there has been found[428] a remarkable stone altar of mushroom shape, and inscribed in the Hittite hieroglyphs. Some three miles south-east is the village of Emir-Ghazi, placed upon the slope of a considerable mound, where also old worked stones are excavated in quantity. Here Professor and Lady Ramsay discovered two further monuments, also inscribed; the one was a fragment of a second altar of the same form, but the original character of the other object remains uncertain, as it had been converted into a water-trough and so considerably damaged.

These three monuments[429] are an important contribution to Hittite archæology, and their position throws considerable light upon the changed conditions and economy of the past. The altar is unique and perfect. It is forty-two inches high, cylindrical in shape, with an expanding top, the diameter of which is twenty-four and a half inches. The material is black basalt. The pedestal tapers somewhat from the base upwards, and the top spreads out sharply like a table. The Hittite hieroglyphs upon it are in relief, and form a seemingly continuous inscription, arranged around the top edge and around the shaft in six parallel rows. A conspicuous feature of the inscription[430] is the _Ædicula_ (so called), being the grouping of the royal or priestly emblems in the form of a shrine (or _naiskos_) under the outspread wings attached to a rosette, and recalling closely the emblems of the priest-king at Boghaz-Keui.[431] From the second altar, the tray and bottom of which are broken away, one line of inscription is entirely missing, while the ends of the other lines (of which there were five originally) are also wanting. As in the former case the hieroglyphs are carved in relief. This form of altar, though not found elsewhere in the round, is suggested by the rock carving of Fraktin,[432] and is clearly and elaborately represented on the dromos-decorations at Eyuk.[433] In the latter case the altar is placed before the enthroned bull, and towards it the priests and priestess lead up rams to the sacrifice.

The remaining monument is so imperfect that but little can be made out as to its original nature. That it was a corner-stone is certain from the arrangement of the inscription, and we may compare it with the monuments from Aintab[434] and from Marash.[435] Dr. Messerschmidt is inclined to give it the same form as a corner-stone with recessed angle from Carchemish.[436] However that may be, five lines of hieroglyphs in relief are partly preserved upon the two inscribed faces, the rest being cut or broken away; the height is about twenty-five inches, and the width of the sides seventeen and fifteen inches respectively.

TYANA: THE RUINED AQUEDUCTS OF ROMAN PERIOD (_See pp. 42, 70._)]

At the eastern limits of the great plains we reach Kilisse Hissar, the site of the old-time TYANA.[437] It is shut in on three sides by ridges and low outlying hills, but is open to the plain, and accessible from Eregli and from Bulghar-Madên. It can hardly be doubted that this was the chief city for the region we are considering, even in Hittite times, to judge from its importance in the minds of classical writers and from the extensive nature of its mounds and ruins. Strabo[438] describes it as ‘built upon the mound of Semiramis’ which was ‘fortified with good walls.’ Here, curiously enough, no Hittite monument has been brought to light, probably because haphazard excavation in the mound is hardly possible, owing to the fact that it is almost covered by the modern houses. None the less, a Phrygian inscription of Midas[439] attests the antiquity of the site; and three separate Hittite inscriptions seen in the neighbouring places of Bor, Nigdeh, and Andaval may be reasonably believed, as is supposed, to have come from the same source.

The most instructive and interesting of these monuments is that from Bor, which is a monumental stela, recovered in two main portions at different times at an interval of twelve years or more.[440] Even now the stone is not complete; as may be seen from our illustration the fitted edges do not quite correspond, so that a small portion is missing from the height, while the left-hand edge is entirely broken away. The upper part measures thirty inches by sixteen, with a thickness of eight inches. The lower part is five inches taller, so that the whole must have been six feet or more in height. Fortunately, on the fragments that have survived, there is to be seen nearly the whole figure and face of a man, clearly the priest-king, as well as an indication of the nature and arrangement of the inscription. The figure is carved in high relief, with a projection amounting in places to three inches, while the hieroglyphs are incised upon the background. The figure occupied a height equivalent to eleven bands of the hieroglyphs, of which fourteen are indicated. We have no means of judging how wide the stone was originally, as the bottom is fractured and the top has plainly been re-dressed since it was broken, to correspond with the narrower width. We are inclined to think that the larger and more important portion of the stone is still lacking. For the attitude of the figure is that of adoration or of a suppliant. The man is depicted with his back near the edge of the stone, and his hands raised before his chin, exactly as on the rock monument of Ivrîz.[441] Now on the stelæ in which one figure alone appears, like those of Carchemish and Marash,[442] the personage, be he priest or king, occupies the central position on the stone, and almost its whole height. He stands in those cases with one arm outstretched grasping his staff, while the other arm is close to his side; on the one he faces to the left, on the other to the right, but the pose is the same. In this case the details are all changed. To judge by certain faint indications on the stone, and by comparison with the monument of Ivrîz described below, it may be inferred that the hands are clasped in front of the face; it is at any rate clear in the photograph that one hand at least is raised before the mouth. He does not occupy the centre of the stone but the side of it, as may be judged from the short lines of inscription beginning just opposite the face. He does not fill the whole monument in accordance with the idea of ‘exclusive majesty’ so common and so dominant in Oriental art; on the other hand there are three lines of inscription above his head, and at least one below. We are inclined from these considerations to regard these fragments as forming part of a much larger whole, on which the theme was one of adoration, not much unlike that carved on the rocks at Ivrîz.[443] The resemblance may well be extended, for on comparing the two priestly or kingly figures many striking features will be found in common. The most apparent difference is the arrangement of the cloak, which on the Bor stone is fastened below the throat, while on the Ivrîz sculpture it is shown to hang more loosely, so that the front edge of the fringed border trails on the ground. Otherwise the details correspond closely; in each case the cloak is embroidered in three bands, and bordered with a fringe. Even the patterns are similar, the _svastika_ appearing on the stone before us in the middle band between two bands decorated with _diamond_ pattern (or ‘continuous squares’). The skirt below is even more sumptuously embroidered; in each case the _svastika_ fills the lowest band, and from this hangs a fringe. On the Bor fragment other elaborate devices are introduced, including the double or quadruple Ionic curve, and the rosette; an embroidered waistbelt, collar, and shoes complete the treatment. Other features, less exceptional, conform to the old conventions: the turning-up points to the shoes, the bunched curl of hair behind the neck, the skull-cap, and the straightness of the nose. The beard is full and curly.

BOR: HITTITE INSCRIPTION AND RELIEF

The subject is the King-Priest in adoration of a deity whose figure is missing. Cf. Pl. LVII.]

The inscription commences with two groups of hieroglyphs which may be read _Ay-mi-ny-a-s of the land of Tyana_.[444] An earlier reading[445] by the same decipherer suggested _Ai-m-gal-a-s_, corresponding to the royal name Αινγαλος occurring in Greek inscriptions of Cilicia. However that may be, and whatever may be the precise values to be assigned to these hieroglyphs, the initial group which contains the royal name[446] will be found to recur on the two famous monuments of Bulghar-Madên and Ivrîz. On the latter, the name appears in one place written exactly in this instance, and in another place, as at Bulghar-Madên, with a slight and evidently grammatical variation. This fact throws a welcome light upon the local history of the period.

Of the other monuments of the locality, the fragment from Andaval—now hidden in the Greek church of that place—seems from the description given of it to have been part of a similar monument, or at any rate of a stone decorated with human figure and inscription.[447] The stone is broken and rounded, measuring about thirteen inches across. It shows only the top and back of the head of the figure, with two lines of incised hieroglyphs above and the beginnings of two lines behind. The hair on the head is shown by small curls, while behind the neck it falls in the characteristic bunch. The eye is seen as usual in full upon the profile of the figure, which is turned to the observer’s right.

The third monument has been found[448] in late years at Nigdeh, where it was dug out of the foundations of a house. It is round and moulded, and in all probability formed part of the base of a column or of a built-up pedestal of some kind. At the bottom there is a protrusion of stone for attachment, and in the top there is a square-cut socket hole, of a width equal to about a third of the whole diameter. The mouldings, which run around the upper edge only, look almost Roman in style. The inscription[449] upon it is short, occupying a space only twelve inches by four, and the letters are incised.

The monument of Bulghar-Madên is an inscription in five lines of incised hieroglyphs.[450] It may be reached by crossing the outlying ridges of Taurus between Tyana and Bulghar-Madên (a distance of thirty miles), or by turning from the main road up the valley of the stream which flows at the foot of the Bulghar Dagh.[451] In either case the monument is found near the small village of _Ali Hodje_, two miles below Bulghar-Madên, on the left (or north) bank of the stream; and it is to be reached only by a sharp climb up the steep side of the valley, a little way above the village. A guide is necessary, for the inscription is inconspicuous, and it is carved on an outcrop of brown rock similar to many others in the locality. The rock overhangs slightly, and is fairly smooth, though its rough granitic nature renders it difficult to work with ease. The inscription is in fair preservation, but it has probably never been deeply or clearly incised. It occupies a space about four feet high and rather more than six feet wide, and it is divided off from the rock around by a border-line incised to about the same depth as those which separate the rows of hieroglyphs. These rows are not all of the same length, for the two uppermost are shorter on the left hand than the others, probably on account of a considerable flaw in the stone which they thus avoid. The top of the inscription is about ten feet from the ground, so a ladder is desirable in order to study it closely.

It is generally thought that the vicinity of the silver-mines explains the presence of this inscription. Yet the mines are some four miles distant, and a more appropriate spot near the entrance to them could have been readily found. It seems much more probable that this monument, like the stone upon a pedestal near to Bogche, marks the boundary to a territory or state, which in this case, for the reason we have indicated, would be that ruled from Tyana. The general tendency of the reading given by Professor Sayce,[452] which is remarkably instructive, seems to confirm this opinion. Thus ‘A prince am I who has fixed the boundaries,’ and again, ‘This is the prince-god’s sacred stone for the land, set up here, belonging to the boundary.’ It is only fair to say that Professor Sayce regards his reading in this case as tentative; he also reads the name of the prince in this case as a ‘son of Ayminyas’ of Tyana; and there is another compound form of the word which may be taken for ‘the land of Ayminyas.’

We come, in conclusion, to the monument of Ivrîz,[453] which is best approached from Tyana or Iconium by way of Eregli,[454] but is also accessible to the adventurous traveller from Bulghar-Madên by traversing the rocky snow-flecked ridge that lies between. From Eregli following up the bed of the Kodja Su the dreary barren plains are left behind, and a verdant though neglected valley is unfolded. The pathway lies through old gardens and vineyards and reaches of corn-land; willows line the waterside, and the country is cheered by a profusion of trees in which the hazel and chestnut abound, with here and there a great walnut or a row of poplars. The valley with its singular fertility and beauty is in marked contrast to the arid tracts beyond, and the change is only intensified where, leaving the main stream, the pathway follows up, on the left bank, a richly wooded vale that trends towards the south. This new valley leads into the mountain, and after a distance of nearly three miles it comes to an abrupt end where the wall of Taurus is met, rising almost precipitously, and encircling the head of the glen where the hamlet of Ivrîz is found. At the foot of the rock a stream of water, clear and cool, bursts out in tremendous volume, and, supplemented by other similar sources, becomes in a hundred yards a raging and impassable torrent, roaring with a wonderful noise as it foams and leaps over the rocks in its course. Before joining the main stream of the valley it washes at a bend the foot of a bare rock, upon which from the opposite side there may be seen the famous sculptures,[455] the most striking of all known Hittite works, and one of the most imposing monuments of the ancient East.

The treatment of these sculptures is all in relief. In composition there are two persons represented: the Peasant-god, a gigantic figure fourteen feet in height, distinguished by the bunches of grapes and bearded wheat which he holds, and the King-priest, an heroic figure eight feet in height, facing towards the god, with clasped hands raised in adoration or thanksgiving for his bounty.

The god is clad in the short tunic, short-sleeved vest, pointed cap, and shoes with turned-up toes, characteristic of the godlike figures on all Hittite sculptures. But here the sculptor has elaborated his theme, and has worked into it ideas or conceptions which we may reasonably suspect were derived ultimately from the East through the intermediary of Cilicia.[456] The figure is squat and stolid, and the face almost Semitic. The nose, while straight and prominent, is treated with unusual fulness. The hair is arranged in ringlets, so too the beard, except upon the face where it is represented by curls.[457] The left hand is advanced, holding up the ears of corn; while the right one is by the body, grasping the vine-branch with pendent clusters. The drawing of the body obeys the ordinary convention; the left leg is advanced, the head is seen in profile to the left, while the shoulders are squared to the observer. There are bracelets on the wrists, and the suggestion of something undetermined upon the right forearm. The belt is decorated as if of worked leather, and ends in a curl before the body, possibly suggesting an attachment on the further side. The boots are high, with a front flap bound to the ankle by a lace wrapped around, like the boots of the peasantry of the district and of Cilicia in modern times. Perhaps the most peculiar and Oriental detail is to be found in the horns which decorate the helmet, of which four pairs are visible. In front of the right foot is the suggestion of a bolted implement, possibly a plough.

IVRÎZ: GIANT SCULPTURES ON THE ROCK

The subject is the King-Priest in adoration of the Hittite god of cultivation.

From a plaster cast in the Berlin Museum.]

Facing the god, and posed at a higher level (possibly, as in other examples of eastern art, so that the relative smallness of the figure would be less apparent), is the figure of the priest-king, who, if we mistake not the group of hieroglyphs that denote him, is the same that we have previously met with near Tyana.[458] In general style and in some details, the treatment of this figure is similar; but the dress differs in several ways. The priestly skull-cap is surrounded by three decorated fillets with a knotted ornament of jewels upon the brow. The long skirt is a richly woven garment, on which the pattern is chiefly a series of punctuated squares in parallel rows, with a _svastika_ border edged with a fringe. Over the shoulders there is thrown an embroidered mantle, with ample collar, attached in front with a jewelled clasp or brooch. It falls behind to below the knees, while in front the tasselled or fringed ends trail on the ground. The pattern is arranged in three bands of continuous squares or double zigzags. There is a substantial necklace and bracelet. The boots and features and hair are treated as in the god-figure opposite; perhaps the hair is bunched in this case a little more thickly behind the neck. The right leg is advanced, and the two raised hands are clearly clasped before the face, the fingers and nails of the further hand being carefully represented.

There are three short inscriptions accompanying these figures. In that which is carved before the face of the god, Professors Sayce[459] and Jensen both find the name of Sandes in the first line (the W-like sign below the divided oval that signifies divinity). In the next line, as in the overlap of the first and second lines of inscription behind the king, we find the same name (read Ayminyas)[460] as we have previously seen in the inscriptions of Bor and of Bulghar-Madên. This point is of importance in considering the history of the Hittite peoples when, as it seems, the central authority was no longer at Boghaz-Keui. For the date of these sculptures, if only from their close analogy in treatment to those of Sakje-Geuzi, may be put down to the tenth or ninth century B.C. It would seem indeed that we are here drawn into relation with the kingdom of (Greater) Cilicia, which, with Tyana probably as capital, took the place of the Hatti-state within the Halys, as the dominant Hittite state at the beginning of the first millennium B.C.[461]

This point becomes more probable as we dwell upon the religious symbolism of the monument. As Professor Ramsay has shown, in the muscular toiling peasant-god who by his hoe and plough reclaims an arid waste and makes it bounteous, we have a conception of Hercules, and that he was the recognised chief deity of the district is evident from the name _Herakleia_ given by the Greeks to Eregli. Professor Frazer also has put it beyond doubt that the attributes of this Hercules are to be found in Sandon of Tarsus. Now the prototype of Sandon we shall find in the national Son-god (later Attis) portrayed in the sculpture gallery of Boghaz-Keui,[462] and in this way we are linked at once with the older Hittite mythology through the intermediary of the Cilician.

IV

THE NORTHERN CAPITAL

A DESCRIPTION OF PTERIA, THE ANCIENT CITY AT BOGHAZ-KEUI, AND THE SCULPTURES CALLED IASILY KAYA.