of the Kara Dagh,[322] and even those of Boghaz-Keui,[323] prepare us for local cults of this character. From Kuru-Bel, as we have mentioned, several different routes lead on to the plateau of the interior. One of these (but not the easiest or most direct) follows the stream called Kuru Chai down till it joins the Zamanti Su. A little way above the junction on the opposite side there flows in another stream which comes past Ekrek. This is a small Armenian village, eight hours’ easy journey eastward from Cæsarea. It boasts three Christian churches, and from one of the graveyards there has come to light a stone[324] of special interest. This was originally a Hittite monument with a panel of hieroglyphs incised along the bottom, bordered by a double line. A few signs appear below, but they are not continued. The stone has been re-dressed, it would appear, in Christian times, and five crosses have been carved upon it, being left in false-relief by cutting away the surface of the stone. There is a feather and zigzag border around the edge, which may possibly be original. The two rosettes might equally well be a Hittite device, but their relief corresponds with that of the crosses. The latter are symmetrically arranged, two small ones on each side under the arms of the larger central cross, which stands on a bar upon a roughly incised ‘calvary.’ [Illustration: PLATE XLVI EKREK: HITTITE INSCRIPTION REDRESSED WITH CHRISTIAN EMBLEMS] Farther down the Zamanti Su we come to the village of Tashji, placed in a narrow glen on the bank of a small tributary. Here, upon a rock, there are visible the incised outlines of two figures and a considerable number of hieroglyphs.[325] The carvings are so weathered, and the record of them so insufficient, that little can be made out of the inscription. The two figures, however, may be judged to have been clad in priestly dress, with close-fitting skull-cap. The sharply-cut features of one of them remain conspicuous. They are to the right hand of the scene as published, and facing to the observer’s right; hence it is probable that they are facing some deity or deified object which has escaped observation. The position of this monument is of special interest, as it is only eight miles eastward from Fraktin, which is found on the next main bend of the river.