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
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.)
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