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,