Eflatun Pinar
.jpg)
Eflatun Pınar (Turkish for Plato's Spring or Purple Spring ) , also Eflatunpınar , is a Hittite spring sanctuary east of Lake Beyşehir about 70 km west of Konya in the Turkish province of Konya .
A 7-meter-wide and 4.2-meter-high facade made of three-dimensional stone blocks rises on the north side of a dammed spring pond, the walled edge of which encloses an approximately square water surface of 30 × 34 meters. The complex probably dates from the time of the Hittite Empire between the 15th and 13th centuries BC. It is composed of individual stone blocks and is seven meters wide and, together with the base, which is temporarily under water, also seven meters high. The bottom row consists of five mountain gods that can only be seen when the water level is low. Above this one sees the main god and goddess in the middle, although there is uncertainty about their identity. They are flanked by various hybrid beings, about whose function nothing is known. Together they carry a winged sun disk that lies above everything.
On the opposite side, the foundation walls of another structure protruding into the pond have been preserved. In front of the front wall is the fully plastic figure of a sun goddess with aureole , who belonged to a pair of gods. A stone block with three bull sculptures was erected a few meters from the south-east corner of the pond. The monumental block probably remained at this point without having reached its originally planned location.
Various parts of sculptures and other fragments can still be seen in the vicinity of the pond, which suggests that it was once a larger sanctuary.
James Mellaart sees Eflatun Pınar as an Arzawa sanctuary with a thunderstorm god and sun goddess , while Kurt Bittel considers it a victory memorial from the time of Tudhalija IV (13th century BC).
The relief of Fasıllar , about 30 km southeast, was possibly planned as another additional part for Eflatun Pınar.
Coordinates: 37 ° 49 ′ 32.4 " N , 31 ° 40 ′ 28.9" E
literature
- Horst Ehringhaus: gods, rulers, inscriptions. The rock reliefs of the Hittite Empire in Turkey. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2005, pp. 50–57, ISBN 3-8053-3469-9
- Kay Kohlmeyer : Rock paintings from the Hittite Empire. In: Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica 15 (1983) pp. 34-38.
Web links
- Eflatunpınar Monument. www.hittitemonuments.com (English)