The land of the Hittites : $b An account of recent explorations and discoveries in Asia Minor, with descriptions of the Hittite monumentsGarstang, John
History
The land of the Hittites : $b An account of recent explorations and discoveries in Asia Minor, with descriptions of the Hittite monuments
Garstang, John
Hittites; Turkey -- Antiquities
Turning from Derendeh southward up towards the divide, ‘Arslan Tash’ is
reached, about three miles after passing Palanga. The place lies about
one mile east of the Kurdish village of Yeni Keui. The spot is marked by
a series of hummocks near a small wayside graveyard, and receives its
name[315] from two great monumental lions of hard limestone,[316] one
erect, and the other fallen on its left side. They form a pair each about
eight feet in length, and nearly six feet in height. These monuments,
though large and impressive, are of crude appearance. They recall most
nearly two massive early lions found at Sinjerli,[317] but though obeying
certain early canons they are less thoroughly worked, as well as more
roughly drawn. Their mouths are open, but exaggerated in size. The rough
of the mane is strongly but not finely marked; the legs are not at all
disengaged from the stone; the forepaws are almost shapeless, but the
hind ones are fully outlined, with the muscle of the thigh suggested.
Only one forepaw and one hindpaw appear in the profile view (a purely
Hittite convention) while the tail comes down between the legs forward,
ending in a curl.[318] Mr. Hogarth thinks that as they lay when found
these lions may have marked the position of the entrance to a building.
Just over the watershed, at a place called (Ashagha) Yapalak, a badly
defaced Hittite inscription has been seen,[319] but not published,
and it seems to have been removed. The record, however, marks the
continuity of the track, and the next discovery brings us well into
the valley of the Pyramus at Izgîn. The monument itself was seen and
photographed amid considerable excitement at Albistan,[320] whither it
had been transported, and it is now in safe keeping in the museum at
Constantinople.
The object is an obelisk, a unique example among Hittite works. Its
Hittite origin is attested by the inscription which covers its four
sides. Its material is coarse limestone; in height it measures eight feet
two inches; in form it narrows slightly towards the top from one point
of view, maintaining its width (twenty-one inches) in the other. The
tapering faces are narrower at the bottom than the others, being only
ten inches wide. The apex is slightly rounded. The hieroglyphs are in
strong relief, arranged in rows. There are about nineteen of these rows
on the broad faces, and sixteen only on the narrow ones, so that the
signs are less crowded on these sides. Unfortunately the monument is very
worn around the middle, and a considerable portion of the inscription
cannot be recovered. It was originally seen standing as a headstone
in a graveyard at Izgîn, which is a Turkoman village, some six miles
north-east from Albistan, near the confluence of the Kurman Su with the
Pyramus.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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