Karatepe-Arslantaş

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Coordinates: 37 ° 17 ′ 44 ″  N , 36 ° 15 ′ 13 ″  E

Relief Map: Turkey
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Karatepe-Arslantaş
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Turkey

Karatepe-Arslantaş , ( Karatepe Turkish "black hill", Arslantaş Turkish "Lion's Stone", also Aslantaş ) Luwisch á-za-ti-wa / i-tà-ia-na (URBS) Azatiwataya , is a neo-Hittite ruin in the district Kadirli of Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey . Azatiwada , the end of the 8th to the 7th century BC. Ruled over a late Luwian small empire, founded the hill fortress with his palace on a then important long-distance trade route. It was on the river Ceyhan , the ancient Pyramos, in the south of the Taurus Mountains . Since no buildings were excavated by subsequent rulers, the place is likely to have been abandoned soon after Azatiwada's death.

The fortress is surrounded by a wall about a kilometer long, some of which has disappeared in the water of the Arslantaş reservoir. The foundations of some buildings have been preserved from the fortress, including one of the Bît Hilâni type . The place is best known for the two monumental gates found there with remarkable reliefs, which Helmuth Theodor Bossert discovered in 1946 and which are researched and restored to this day (2012) under the direction of Halet Çambel (1916–2014). They show scenes from court life as well as mythological and cultic images. They are largely provided with bilingual texts in Luwian hieroglyphs and in Phoenician script , which Bossert recognized as bilingual , which contributed significantly to the deciphering of the script, then known as hieroglyphic Hittite . A Phoenician version of the inscription also partially covers the larger than life statue of the weather god.

Karatepe-Arslantaş has been on the tentative list for recognition as a World Heritage Site since 2020 .

Statue of the weather god

location

Enclosing wall

The Azatiwada Palace is located on the limestone hill Ayrıca Tepesi about 224 m above sea level in the foothills of the Cilician Middle Taurus, about 135 km northeast of Adana . The Karatepe mountain range begins south of it. To the west of Castle Hill and the Ceyhan River, the Akyol caravan route ran along, connecting the plain Cilicia with the Anatolian highlands. It corresponds to part of the ancient road network that ran from Karatepe in the north through the Taurus to Central Anatolia and in the south over the Amanos to Sam'al (today Zincirli ). Today's Arslantaş reservoir flooded the river bed and parts of the fortress walls. On the opposite bank of the Ceyhan is another fortified hill, the Domuztepe. Part of the basalt that was used for the reliefs on Karatepe-Arslantaş probably comes from there. Bahadır Alkım found traces of mining there during his excavations.

history

The later Cilicia, which roughly corresponded to the Hittite Kizzuwatna , consisted of the kingdoms Qu'e and Hilakku at the beginning of the first millennium BC . Qu'e corresponded roughly to Cilicia Pedias , the flat Cilicia and Hilakku, which later gave the whole Cilicia, corresponded to Cilicia Tracheia , the rough Cilicia . Qu'e also included the region of today's Adana, where the Danuneans who gave the city its name lived . Between 738 and 732 BC King Awariku ruled in Qu'e . He was the Assyrian ruler Tiglat-Pileser III. subject to tribute, in whose tribute lists he appears under the name Urikki. Avarikus governor was the resident of Karatepe Azatiwada. It can therefore be assumed that this was used in the reign of the Awariku and built the fortress. Since he describes in the inscription that he enthroned the descendants of Avarikus in Adana, a date after Avarikus' death (after 709 BC) must be assumed for the creation of the inscription.

Some researchers equate Azatiwada with Sanduarri, king of Kundi (probably Anazarbos ) and Sissu ( Kozan ), both north of the Adana plain. Sanduarri allied in the 7th century BC. With the Phoenician city of Sidon against Assyria, but was captured and beheaded by Asarhaddon . This equation would fit the Luwian immigration to Cilicia described by Albrecht Götze towards the end of Assyrian rule and the presence of the Phoenicians in the area. However, while Goetze and others an earlier date in the 9th century in the time of Shalmaneser III. suggest, the American archaeologist Irene J. Winter assigns the reliefs to a later period after a stylistic analysis, but does not rule out the 9th century for the construction of the fortification. The 7th century is generally assumed for the end of the castle, possibly its destruction as part of the Asarhaddon campaigns to Hilakku (Cilicia). Traces of subsequent buildings have not been found; some of the wall sections in the north-west area of ​​the fortress that can be dated much later date from the Byzantine period.

Research history

Karatepe was discovered in 1946 by the German archaeologist Helmuth Theodor Bossert after the local teacher Ekrem Kuşcu, among others, had given evidence of a lion's stone. On behalf of the University of Istanbul , he explored the site together with Halet Çambel and Bahadır Alkım , who worked for the Turkish Historical Society. The gates were uncovered and the Karatepe bilingualism was found, a bilingual inscription in Phoenician and hieroglyphic Luwish. Since the Phoenician part was legible, this find contributed significantly to the deciphering of the script, which was then still known as hieroglyphic Hittite . In the years up to the beginning of the 1950s, Alkım also dug at Domuztepe and researched the road network leading from Karatepe-Arslantaş over the Taurus to Central Anatolia and over the Amanos Mountains to Sam'al (now Zincirli). From 1952 the excavation work was under the direction of Halet Çambel, while Bossert looked in Mopsuestia , today's Yakapınar, for the capital of the Asitawata named in the text Pahri . Until 1957, restoration work was carried out on the gates and further excavations were carried out in some areas of the fortification under the direction of Bahadır Alkım. In the late 1950s, the gates were protected by roofs, and in 1958 the Karatepe Aslantaş National Park was established. In the 1980s, the construction of the Arslantaş dam necessitated rescue excavations on Domuztepe, which were carried out by Mehmet Özdoğan in 1983/84. While the restoration work on the gates continued, work on the fortress architecture was resumed in 1997 under the direction of Martina Sicker-Akman from the German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul in collaboration with Halet Çambel.

In 1962, Paolo Matthiae , at that time an employee of the Italian excavation at Arslantepe, visited Karatepe in the absence of the excavation team, took photographs and published the unauthorized publication Studi sui Rilievi di Karatepe at his university . After fierce protests from various institutions, the university withdrew the publication. As a result, a strict ban on photography was issued on the premises. For the publication on the images of Karatepe, which Halet Çambel and Aslı Özyar published in 2003, the reliefs were taken again by Dieter Johannes, the then photographer of the German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul, and the ban on photography was then lifted.

The site is now an open-air museum attached to the Adana Archaeological Museum and was managed by Halet Çambel until her death in 2014.

fortress

Karatepe plan

A two-part wall ring surrounds the castle hill on which the palace stood, whereby the western and eastern parts of the system are not connected. The diameter of the fortification is about 375 meters in the north-south direction, 195 meters in the west-east direction, the circumference is about one kilometer. The walls are about four meters thick on average and had 28 towers and five gate towers. Parts of the outer fortifications in the east are now flooded by the reservoir. The erection of the walls on the grown, fissured rock sometimes required a lining of crevices, or the removal of rock sections. Especially in the steep eastern part of the facility facing the river, there was a risk of the masonry being undermined by rainwater running off. Therefore, a complex drainage system was set up in the entire area of ​​the fortress, the canals of which run through under walls and buildings. A front wall on the steep east side of the mountain protected the access to the river, which ensured the water supply. Access is through two monumental gates in the north and south. The remains of the wall to the northwest and southeast of the upper, southern gate are interpreted as barracks or as a depot. An adjoining room in the immediate vicinity of the south gate is equipped with rock works such as bowls and shell rocks . This and the proximity to the statue of the weather god may suggest a cultic function of the room. Further north are the remains of a building generally interpreted as a palace. In the northernmost area of ​​the walled area there is another building complex whose function is not known.

palace

The building complex, known as the palace, is located at the highest point of the hill and measures 45 meters in west-east and 65 meters in north-south direction. Remains of the foundation walls are only 40 centimeters above the natural rock. A number of rooms are grouped in an irregular arrangement around a courtyard measuring 22 × 30 meters. To the north of the courtyard is a room open to the south, the entrance opening of which is flanked by two basalt blocks. Bahadır Alkım sees it as a pedestal and recognizes the floor plan of a Bît Hilâni in the arrangement of the northern building elements , a building type that is widespread throughout the Middle East and Asia Minor and consists of several small rooms grouped around an open, wide entrance, from Columns being framed.

Due to the partial overbuilding and slight deviations in the alignment, it can be seen that the complex was built in at least four construction phases. From the first phase only a staircase and a few remains of the wall to the west of the palace building have been preserved. She's in the upcoming worked rock and built over by younger walls in the east. A later canal from phase 2 is knocked into the stairs as a channel.

The second construction phase includes the rooms that form the Bît Hilâni in the north. To the right and left of the 12.5-meter-wide vestibule framed by columns are two square structures, possibly towers. Behind it follows the main room in the same width and 7.5 meters deep, next to it in the east an elongated room and in the west a group of four adjacent rooms and three in front of them. From the middle of the Hilânis the building is drained through canals to the east out of the building and to the west through the other rooms. The channels lie below the floor level and measure 20 to 30 centimeters in width, they are bordered by 10 to 30 centimeter high kerbstones.

In phase 3 the Bît Hilâni was rebuilt, whereby the existing walls were partially built over. The main room was expanded to include the adjacent parts. The basalt bases in the vestibule were probably not built until this phase, and basalt bases were also found in the western room connecting to the main room. Two wings of the building were added to the south and a wall to the east, creating the courtyard as a central element. This southern part connects to the Hilâni in the north through a long space and several small ones in the west, whereby the orientation is slightly offset from one another. The canals from phase 2 are partially disturbed by the new walls, which indicates that they were no longer used during this time. New canals lead through the south-western premises to the outside and further under a paved path. Remnants of the paving of the courtyard have been preserved in some places.

In phase 4, the Hilâni was expanded again across its entire width to the north, with layers of fallen masonry built over. Clearly different masonry techniques can be seen here. While the walls up to phase 3 were built using small stones, larger, polygonal masonry was used in phase 4.

Some remnants of walls in the north-western area, which are built over the existing ones, without taking into account the existing level differences of up to one meter, point to building activity in a much later, possibly Byzantine period. At Kumkale, upstream, there is a Byzantine base, which probably explains the isolated Byzantine shards already found by Alkım.

Marina Sicker-Akman, who has been researching the architecture on Karatepe since the 1990s, summarizes that the buildings reflect the Hittite building tradition with the element of the Bît Hilâni and the courtyard as well as northern Syrian, Aramaic influences. The wooden columns suspected by Alkım could point to contact with the Cretan culture.

Gate systems

The entrance to the castle was formed by two gates in the north-east and south-west of the surrounding wall, referred to as the north and south gates for the sake of simplicity. Ramps that followed the natural course of the terrain led to these. The gates were protected by towers in front of or flanking the castle wall. The ramps first led into a roofed forecourt, which was followed by a gate made of two wooden wings. The thresholds and door hinge stones on both sides are still preserved. Behind it there was a chamber to the right and left. The walls in the base area were made of quarry stone with clay mortar, above with unbaked clay bricks , of which only small remnants have been preserved. Inside they were equipped with orthostats with reliefs and inscriptions. They stand on basalt plinths, most of which are also labeled. Wooden beams were embedded between the plinths and orthostats and above them, towards the rising quarry stone masonry . The inscriptions in Luwian and Phoenician script and language, which partly cover entire orthostats, but can also be found on pedestals, reliefs and the gate lions, form the bilingualism of Karatepe. Behind the south gate was a sacred area in which the statue of the weather god stood, which is now placed on the left behind the gate. The statue also bears a version of the Phoenician part of bilingualism.

The reliefs, including the portal lions and portals, are named after Çambel with a combination of two uppercase and one lowercase letters and a number. The first capital letter 'S' or 'N' stands for south or north gate , the second 'V' or 'K' for atrium or chamber , the third, small letter 'r' or 'l' for right or left . The numbers follow a continuous numbering from the outside of the goals inwards. The inscriptions are named Ho and Pho for hieroglyphics and Phoenician at the upper south gate or Hu and Phu at the lower north gate.

Some of the sculptures are unfinished. The scenes were first carved into the stone, after which the stone was removed with probably iron chisels. The differences in technique and style show that at least two different stonemasons worked on the depictions. The height of the orthostats, as far as they are completely preserved, is between 1.41 and 1.10 meters, the width ranges from 1.77 meters for the portal lion NVr 1 to less than 20 centimeters for non-image binder stones.

North gate

Floor plan of the north gate
Right atrium
North gate with portal lions and relief NVl 0
Breastfeeding Goddess NVr 8

The sculptures in the forecourt of the north gate begin on the right with a portal lion NVr 1 . It consists of four fragments, the head of which was found 100 meters away in the forest. Forelegs and head are three-dimensional, the body in relief. Parts of the Luwian inscription Hu 8 are attached to the back as well as to an inserted wedge that served as a support for the rising masonry. It follows as NVr 2 an image of the originally Egyptian god Bes . He wears a seven-part feather crown, his face and body are criss-crossed with deep wrinkles. He has a stylized mustache and goatee that hangs down over his chest. A phallus can be seen below the body and a tail hanging behind it. Two monkeys are sitting on his shoulders and bring their hands to their mouths. The figure's head is considerably too large in relation to the body, but this fits in with the dwarf-like representation typical of Bes. The frontal, strongly symmetrical view that is characteristic of Bes representations and the large eyes with a penetrating look may indicate a deterrent or protective function. Both the position directly behind the portal lion and that of another be behind the portal sphinx to the right chamber fit this. The following, narrow Orthostat NVr 3 bears the section Hu 9 of the text, which in small parts overlaps the pictorial works adjacent to the right and left.

In nVR 4 , the mapping of an archer, probably a hunter or hunting God closes with a bear. The man on the left, facing to the right, holds the bow in his left hand, three arrows in his right, and a quiver is visible over his shoulder. The clothing with a high hat, wrap skirt and short-sleeved shirt also appears in some other people. In front of him stands an erect bear with outstretched paws. The human figure is about twice as large as the animal, which is supposed to indicate superiority. The next picture stone NVr 5 is divided horizontally in a ratio of approximately 1: 3. The upper, smaller part shows two birds of prey, presumably vultures, bending over a goat-like dead animal that stretches all fours away. In the lower field in the middle you can see a person fighting with two lions. They stand upright on both sides and strike one front paw each on his shoulders while he holds their other paw with both hands. This motif of the hero fighting with lions has been known from Mesopotamian representations since the 4th millennium. The scene of the two vultures with a goat in the middle appears on seals from Tell Zubeidi in Iraq and on a gold cup from Marlik in Iran.

After a narrow stone without an image (NVr 6) , which only serves as an intermediate piece, another lion hunting scene follows on NVr 7 , whereby the fighter, recognizable by the size that fills the plate, is a god that cannot be precisely identified. He is standing on the left, wearing a round cap, short-sleeved shirt and wraparound skirt with a belt. In his right hand he is holding a spear with which he aims at the lion standing upright in front of him, which is only half his size. Above the lion and in front of the face of the spear-bearer, a bird of prey, probably a hawk, is depicted, which has struck a hare, without any recognizable connection. The plumage on the chest and the raised wings are easy to see.

The next orthostat with the number NVr 8 shows a goddess who is breastfeeding a boy standing next to a palm tree. She stands on the right in a chiton- like robe and offers the smaller boy the breast. He stands to the left, a little higher than his mother, and has his head back to drink. Both have one arm around the other. At the left edge of the picture is a palm tree with a cross-hatched trunk and pendulous date panicles, inclined slightly to the right. As with the bird in NVr 7, it cannot be decided whether it has a meaning, for example as a symbol of fertility, or whether it merely serves the visual balance of representation . One can only speculate about the identity of the characters. It seems certain that the large figure represents a goddess, the boy can also be a god or the ruler. The protective embrace by a god is known from Hittite representations on seals or from Yazılıkaya ( Tudhalija IV. And Šarruma ), the motif of the breastfeeding goddess possibly has its origin in Egypt, where it appears frequently and from where it came to Cilicia via Phoenician craftsmen could be. Halet Çambel suggests the interpretation as the Hurrian-Hittite-Luwian mother-son pair Ḫepat and Šarruma as a further possibility .

Portalsphinx NVr 13

A winged, bird-headed guardian spirit ( genius ) is depicted on the adjoining stone NVr 9 . His hands are raised and carry a winged sun . The head is that of a bird of prey with a curved beak, the human body is dressed like the male figures. He holds one up and one down from the two pairs of wings that grow from his sides. Similar winged hybrids can be found on Tell Halaf . The winged sun is known from Hittite representations as a feature of a god from Eflatun Pınar , for example , or as a ruler symbol from the royal cartouches in Yazılıkaya. On the left between the wings hieroglyphs are carved, which belong to the inscription Hu 11 on the neighboring, only 21 centimeter wide orthostat NVr 10 . The relief NVr 11 shows a god walking to the left, carrying a goat over his shoulders. He holds the animal with both hands on the front and back legs, and a mace in his right hand . A short sword is attached to a strap hanging from the shoulder. He wears the usual men's clothing, including a round cap with the ear protection turned up, and the short boots with details of the tongue, shaft and lacing are striking. The mace, of which comparable specimens were found in Zincirli , but also on Samos , as well as the suspension of the sword, which was unusual in the late Hittite area, indicate connections between Cilicia and the western world. The interpretation of this figure is unclear, comparable representations can be found in large numbers, for example in Karkemiš in a procession of victims, but also as individuals in association with gods and hybrid beings, although their function has not been revealed. Here, too, parts of the inscription Hu 11 can be seen on both sides of the body. In nVR 12 is an unfinished piece, which is probably broken during processing and was abandoned. It is inserted upside down as a binder between NVr 11 and the offset Sphinx NVr 13 . It shows a figure with caprids and birds, which also occupies the entire height of the relief.

The portal sphinx NVr 13 is offset by one stone thickness . The human head, which was broken off and was found lying next to it, is fully plastic, the lion's body is designed as a half-relief. The eyes, made of white lime, are inset and fastened with lead, the pupils are missing. She is dressed with a cloak over the shoulders, which is patterned like a herringbone and ends with a triple hem at the bottom. On the shoulders a particularly decorated trim of the cape can be seen. Behind it grow two pairs of wings, only one of which can be seen at a time. She strides to the right, the tail held high ends in a snake's head. The body, hind legs and the background of the depiction bear the Luwian inscription Hu 11.

Left atrium
Portal lion NVl 1

Since the compilation of the reliefs on the left side is interrupted by the inscription block Phu A III – I on the orthostats NVl 3–5 , some images were divided horizontally here in order to also accommodate seven images on five stones. After one of them (NVl 11) broke, the portrait NVl 0 was placed outside the row to the left of the portal lion as a replacement . Presumably as an introduction to the following series, it was also divided horizontally into two zones, but with almost identical images. NV10 was not found in situ , but could be located and set up again at the current location due to the precisely fitting connection. In both pictures it shows two warriors with caterpillar helmets on their heads and lances and shields in their hands. Between the two, in the upper zone, a somewhat smaller person can be seen with arms spread apart and a pointed helmet, whom both of them stab with their lance. In the lower zone you can see a hare in the same place, above a palmette . The latter may only have the function of filling in the empty space. Çambel suggests two possible interpretations: either the two antithetical (opposing) warriors represent local soldiers, recognizable by their caterpillar helmets, who strike an enemy, perhaps Assyrians (pointed helmets), who are compared to a hare, or the middle warrior tries to to settle a dispute between the two outside parties.

The actual series of reliefs begins with the portal lion NVl 1 . It forms the counterpart to NVr 1, but was originally planned to be larger, which can be seen from the double back-to-tail line. It bears the Phoenician inscription Phu A IV on the body and on the base . Gate lions are well known in Anatolia, at least since the 18th century BC. By a find from Kaneš . The Orthostat NVl 2 is horizontally divided into two halves by a palmette strap. An arch-shaped piece has been cut out on the left, corresponding to the original tail line of the reduced portal lion. In the picture above you can see a rider between two servants. He sits sideways on a frame that resembles a pack saddle and holds onto a towering support with one hand while his feet rest on a board. The groom on the right leads the horse on a noose, the left drives it with his hand. Above the horse, a palmette tree again fills the empty space. By comparing the saddle construction with Assyrian depictions, Çambel sees the rider as ruler. In the picture below, a lion is defeated by two warriors. The left fighter fends off the animal standing in the middle and facing left with one hand and thrusts the short sword into its body with the other. The second warrior comes on horseback from the right and attacks the lion from behind with a lance.

Orthostats NVl 3–6 with Phoenician inscription Phu A III – I

The three following stone blocks NVl 3 to NVl 6 , of which NVl 5 is a connecting piece only 24 centimeters wide, bear the inscription parts Phu A III to Phu AI , with some omitted letters on the adjacent NVl 2 in the upper right corner above the head of the Knechts are added. NVl 7 is halved again, this time only by a horizontal line. In the upper area, two women standing opposite each other hold a ring with one hand, between them a smaller woman beats a frame drum . All three wear calf-length wrap-around skirts and hoods that encircle their full hair in the neck area. Below two musicians are shown, on the left a lyre player , on the right an aulet , in between two dancers, the one on the left jumping with his legs bent, a smaller one on the right. Frame drum, lyre and aulos are among the oldest known musical instruments of the ancient Orient. The lyre, here a kind of round-bottom lyre with a resonance box flattened at the bottom, was the most frequently played instrument among the Hittites, according to both pictorial and written evidence. It is also proven many times in late Hittite reliefs. An aulos was found in Ur by Leonard Woolley , in the late Hittite period it is as well known, for example from Karkemiš, as it is from Assyria. For the first time, a mouth bandage, called Phorbeia , appears here , a leather strap that was held to the mouth of the blower with one or two straps around the head and was supposed to prevent, among other things, the relaxation of the cheek muscles. The frame drum was in Mesopotamia at least since the end of the 3rd millennium BC. In use. For Anatolia, various membranophones are documented in writing from the Hittite period; there are only pictorial representations from the late Hittite phase. The two scenes are interpreted as belonging to an event, probably a cultic festival with music and dance, according to Çambel possibly associated with a competition between lyre and aulos players, comparable to the Greek agon . The ring that the two women above would hold would then be a kind of wreath.

On the following relief NVl 8 you can see a warrior looking to the left, a god in size, holding a lance on the ground in his right hand and a club in the left. In front of his upper body he wears a short sword on a strap, comparable to the reliefs NVr 11, NVr 12, NVl 2 and NKl 6 . The clothing consists of the conical cap with raised ear flaps, a short-sleeved shirt and a short wrap- around skirt, the diamond-shaped pattern of which resembles that of the Genius of NVr 9 . In the 2nd millennium BC Numerous Hittite rulers are depicted with short wrapped skirts and similar armament, for example in Hanyeri , Hemite , Karabel , also Šuppiluliuma II. In Chamber II in Hattuša . However, since the rulers always portrayed themselves in long robes in the 1st millennium, Çambel concludes here that they were deceased, deified rulers. This relief is followed by a 23 centimeter piece of tie .

The number NVl 10 is followed by a two- or even three-part relief without separating markings. Two bulls can be seen above a band of lotus flowers and buds, facing each other with their heads bowed. In between, a triangle probably represents a mountain. The top scene, which takes up about half the height, shows a deer hunt. Deer and human move to the right, the hunter has a drawn bow in his left hand, and his right hand reaches back to pull an arrow out of its quiver. The deer already has an arrow in its back and turns to look at the hunter. He has high antlers. The deer hunt, like the lion hunt, is a common motif in Anatolia, examples come from Alaca Höyük, Zincirli, Karkemiš and Tell Halaf. According to Çambel, the antithetical bulls emphasize the cultic character of deer hunting. The lotus ribbon, as a pictorial representation of Egyptian origin, has been adopted as an ornamental form by the Phoenicians, Assyrians, Persians and Greeks.

The end of the left row of the atrium is the Sphinx NVl 12 . The head was found lying in front of it. It corresponds to the NVr 13 opposite , but has a poorer quality. The edges are not rounded, the pattern of the cape and the wings is coarser. Behind it is the relief NVl 11 as a runner , the broken original to NVl 0 .

A four-meter-long threshold runs between the two sphinxes across the width of the forecourt, followed by a four-meter-long and equally wide corridor. This is followed by the two gate chambers on the right and left, again via a threshold.

Right gate chamber
Right Chamber
Portal sphinx NKr 1
Bes relief with monkeys NKr 2

The two chambers are each flanked by a sphinx and a lion. However, the Portalsphingen NKr 1 and NKl 1 are not semi-plastic like NVl 12 and NVr 13 , but are designed as a bas-relief. This sphinx also has a hatched cloak over the shoulders, which hangs down between the front legs as an apron. The two pairs of wings are also hatched. In front of her is a palmette tree with two volutes at the top of the trunk. This is followed by another Bes representation as NKr 2 . The figure shown with crouched legs holds a snake in both hands and wears a five-part crown. The two monkeys that sit on the shoulders at NVr 2 have a separate upper section of the picture, with a little tree between them. You put a hand to your mouth and seem to be nibbling on something. The arrangement of the Bes directly after the portal animal indicates a guard function. The relief, which was found very fragmented, was put together from several parts. On top of the two-part Bildstein NKr 3 , three birds of prey can be seen in profile in different postures , two to the right, one to the left. Below are four male figures. The one on the right turns left, everyone else looks in his direction. The second and fourth from the left wear a wrap skirt, the other two shirts that come down to their knees. Accordingly, two of the men are probably locals, the right one perhaps the ruler, the other two foreigners who are received here. Çambel suggests the possibility that reference is made to a historical event , possibly the conclusion of the pact between Sanduarri and the Phoenician princes. The meaning of the birds is unclear, a bird's eye view could be indicated in connection with the conclusion of the contract .

NKr 4 is a 21 centimeter wide binder without a picture, NKr 5 bears the section Hu 5a of the hieroglyphic inscription. On NKr 6 the motif of the lion slayer appears again. Two antithetical fighters fight with a lion standing upright in the middle. Below are two smaller lions and a goat. One is attacking the goat from the left, the second has already jumped on its back. There is no separation between the upper and lower image content. This is followed by the inscription stone NKr 7 with Hu 5b and the corner of the chamber with the binder NKr 8 .

The back row of the chamber now begins from the right with two warriors facing each other on NKr 9 . Both are equipped with caterpillar helmets and shields and have a short spear in their hand. The next relief NKr 10 shows two upright opposing caprids on a stylized tree. Volute-like growths can be seen on the trunk of the plant, leaves or buds at the top. Since a penis can be seen in the animal on the left in contrast to the one on the right, it seems to be a buck and a goat. The motif of antithetical goats on a plant is also known from Mesopotamia, for example from the golden lyre from Ur, as well as from late Hittite documents such as Zincirli and Tell Halaf in the first millennium BC.

The following three scenes NKr 11 to NKr 13 must be seen in context. In the right, placed in the middle of the chamber, two large antithetical figures are depicted with a smaller one in the middle. A man stands on the left, a woman on the right. The middle person, also male, stands taller and hugs the two on the outside. The large figures wear long, smooth robes with a vertical, double bridge. The man wears a round cap or a diadem, the woman a veil. Large parts of the smaller figure have broken away so that details of the clothing cannot be seen. They almost certainly represent a triad of gods of father, mother and son. It remains unclear whether this is the Hittite trinity of Teššup , Ḫepat and Šarruma, taken from the Hurrian pantheon, which is proven by three caryatids from Tell Halaf. that they were at least in the 9th century BC. Was still known. An interpretation as Kubaba , the Luwian city goddess of Karkemiš, with Tarhunza and Karhuha is also being considered. In NKr 12 and NKr 13 are two large, to see to the right facing men. The first (from the right) holds a knife in his right hand in front of his body, the left is raised in greeting. The second bends one arm while he greets with the other. The third holds a knife, the fourth a shouldered club, both greet with the other hand. The clothing is the same for everyone with long robes and round caps or headbands. All four move in a row towards the divine triads of NKr 11 . From the comparison with the procession of gods in Yazılıkaya it is concluded that these are also gods. Winfried Orthmann , on the other hand, suggests a train of dignitaries. Such scenes are known from Karkemiš and Zincirli, but they do not approach gods, but kings. The back of the chamber is closed off by the non-image binder NKr 14 .

The left rear corner piece of the chamber forms with the number NKr 15 an unfinished relief with two male figures, the left one, facing to the right, slightly larger than the other one facing him. NKr 16 consists of two zones with no separating markings. Below you can see a rider sitting on a horse without a saddle, the left hand holding a rein, the other raised in greeting. Three men in long robes and with round caps walk above him, also greeting. All move to the right, they probably form the beginning of a train that continues on NKr 18 after a sacrificial scene . Since they are unarmed, a cult procession can be assumed. The depiction of riders without weapons in the areas of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia cannot be compared, all known equestrian images are related to war or hunting. Also NKr 17 is divided without hyphen in two zones. Above on the left is a small male figure holding a spear in his outstretched hand. This is scratched after the relief background has been smoothed. In front of him is a Capride walking to the right, under his head another little man, facing to the left, in a greeting posture. The lower scene shows a bull sacrifice. The sacrificial animal is held by the horns and tail by two men, a third standing behind swings a double ax with which he will kill the bull. On the left edge of the picture a tall man, presumably a priest, is watching the action, holding a round object in his right hand. The bull sacrifice is comparable to the Attic ox murder , in which the sacrificial bull was killed with a hatchet, whereas in the Anatolian area the throat was generally cut. Therefore, it is concluded that this ritual has a western origin. At a corresponding festival in the Heraion of Argos , the ox-bat was then symbolically stoned to cleanse him of his guilt. Hence the object in the priest's hand could be a stone. In the inscription, Azatiwada describes an annual ceremony in which a bull and a sheep were sacrificed to Tarhunzas / Baal . There could be a relationship between writing and relief, assuming that a goat is depicted here instead of the sheep. On the poorly preserved, only 27 centimeter wide binder NKr 18 , two men turned to the right are depicted in a greeting posture, who most likely represent the end of the processional procession beginning in NKr 16 .

Ship scene NKr 19

The now following ship scene NKr 19 is one of the most remarkable and most talked about sculptures of Karatepe. It shows a ship with a crew of four, including fish and human figures. On the left side of the bow it has a rectangular ram, and on the right side a bowed stern post . Five oars with angled blades protrude from the hull and a rudder in the stern area. The number of oars does not have to correspond to the actual conditions of the ship shown, it is more due to the space available for the stonemason, as well as the fact that the oars do not reach the water. Platforms framed with battens are attached to the bow and stern, with the railing in between . The mast reaches of the stone up to the top, at the transverse thereto standing Rah small triangles can be identified that are to be interpreted with great probability as a reefed sail. Six ropes, some of which run at an angle, can be seen from the rigging , with hatching that is supposed to represent the rotation of the ropes. On deck on the left platform there is a man who looks ahead and points there with one hand. Above the railing, two crew members are sitting facing backwards with their legs outstretched, the fourth is sitting on the stern platform, looking forward and holding a bowl. According to Lionel Casson , the crew of Greek ships existed before the 5th century BC. In addition to the rowers of three officers: the bow officer (Prorates) , who mainly looked out at the bow, the Keleustes responsible for the rowers and the captain and helmsman (Cybernetes) . The Keleustes was later assigned, a second man who Pentekontarchos . If this interpretation is adopted, the bow officer would be seen here on the left, the helmsman sitting on the right and the two rudder officers in the middle. The fact that the people sit or stand above instead of behind the superstructures and the railing must again be attributed to the stonemason, as otherwise the representation would have become too confusing. Two people are lying in the water under the ship, four large and four smaller fish closely packed below. A comparison with the victims of a wagon battle, which can be seen on the Long Wall of Sculptures in Karkemiš, suggests, due to the similarly contorted posture, that they are dead, i.e. enemies killed in a sea battle. Since all sailors are shown unarmed, a scene after a battle has been won can be assumed. It remains to be seen whether this refers to a specific historical event.

The ship scene was covered by numerous scientists after the first publication. Machteld Mellink compares 1950 with similar scenes from Sennacherib's palace in Nineveh and considers that it could be a Cilician ship, since Sennacherib's annals mention Hittites who built ships for him. The French historian James Germain Février called it the Greek-type longship in an article on Phoenician ships in the same year. In 1969, the Belgian naval historian Lucien Basch also identified a construction similar to the Greek in a study of Phoenician ships. Casson, on the other hand, sees a war galley modeled on the Phoenician models, while the American underwater archaeologist George Fletcher Bass also sees parallels to the Aegean ship type. Irene Winter describes the scene in her essay on the reliefs of Karatepe, but leaves the decision about the ship's origin open. Finally, after numerous comparisons of superstructures, rigging, general construction and crew, Halet Çambel preferred the ship's Greek and Aegean origins.

Orthostat NKr 20 is missing, the chamber is closed by the heavily fragmented portal lion NKr 21 . It is made up of several parts, the head is damaged. In the eyes, as with all portal lions, you can see the injection points for the lead to attach the eyeballs, the inserts themselves are missing here. At right angles to it, outside the chamber, is NKr 22 with the Luwian inscription Hu 3 .

Left gate chamber
Left chamber

The left chamber of the north gate was found to be very disturbed. Since the terrain here slopes down in several directions, the effects of erosion were particularly strong; the protective layer of earth only reached half the height of the relief stones. Only a small part of the base was left in place. Of the orthostats, only parts of the sphinx NKl 1 , the lower half of NKl 10 and part of the inscription stone NKl 11 were found at the original location. The current installation of the reliefs is therefore not certain.

Car scene NKl 2

The portraits of the chamber begin on the left with the portal sphinx NKl 1 composed of more than 250 fragments . It corresponds roughly to the NKr 1 opposite , but the palmette tree has been omitted here. The following relief NKl 2 shows a carriage with three people moving to the right and being pulled by a horse. The figure in front, the charioteer, is leaning forward and holding the reins in both hands, little of the other occupants has survived. The car has eight-spoke wheels, the car body is almost completely broken away except for a piece of the drawbar. The horse's mane is clearly visible, a ring with pendants hangs from the harness, another decorative object hangs from the head. The ring is comparable to the decorative disk known from Assyrian horse pictures. Horse-drawn carriages only appear in late Hittite depictions in connection with hunting or war. However, since no weapons, enemies or prey animals can be seen here, one can only speculate about the meaning of the relief. An arched object above the heads of the carriage crew is seen either as a parasol or as a shield, as is known from a terracotta car model from Ajia Irini on the Cycladic island of Kea . Representations of rulers' exits with parasols are often to be found in the Mesopotamian region; a comparison with the Cycladic model would rather indicate a cultic background. From the following NKl 3 only the fragment of a person pointing to the right with an outstretched arm is preserved. There may also be a second figure.

The back wall of the chamber begins with NKl 4 , a heavily chipped and fragmented god who carries a goat. You can see the feet going to the left, the left hand that holds the animal's hind legs and from this ear and horn base. In the following relief NKl 5 , the surface is almost completely, but only worked out flat in contours, so probably not finished. You can see two men walking to the right. The one in front carries a bowl on the right and a bowl with food in the raised left hand. As with the feast scenes SVl 3 and SKr 15, this is shown in an open cross-section so that the content is visible. The second, somewhat smaller man leads a goat running next to him, holding it by the horn and back. The meaning of the scene remains open; a meal or a sacrificial scene is possible. Examples of processions bringing gifts , in which a man with the sacrificial animal follows the person offering , are known from Arslantepe and Karkemiš. In Alaca Höyük , goats are sacrificed in a similar way. On the next, also heavily fragmented orthostat NKl 6 , a man walking to the left, occupying the whole height, presumably a god, is shown holding a hunted lion in front of him. The prey hangs from the man's hand, the head is bent upwards with the jaws open. The hunter is armed with a short sword and mace. According to the weapons, it could also be a ruler or an official, but the location in the middle of the back wall opposite the divine triad of NKr 9 points more to a god.

The relief NKl 7 shows two antithetical men facing a palm tree in the middle, a winged sun hovers over the scene. It consists of 45 fragments, the surface is badly damaged. Large parts of the figures are missing, the crown of the palm tree with a blossom framed by volutes and a remnant of the cross-hatched trunk can be seen. The wing sun consists of concentric circles, the wings of cover and wing feathers. A comparison with a relief found in Domuztepe on the other side of the river shows that the people's legs are bent and the hands are probably touching the palm. This posture is typical for dancers. The winged sun suggests that those depicted are not mortals. Orthmann sees parallels to Neo-Assyrian models in the picture. Çambel holds with regard to relevant findings from Nuzi also connect to mitannisch -hurritischen culture possible. The last stone on the back wall with the number NKl 8 shows a female figure from full relief height, so probably a goddess. Parts of the head and arm have broken off. She is clad in a pleated robe with a braid reaching down to the calves, which is encompassed by a belt with ends hanging down at the front. She has a mug on her head, which she probably holds with both hands. The meaning or exact identity of the goddess is unclear. The installation at the Kammereck is secured by recesses in the bosses .

From NKL 9 only 40 centimeters high and 30 centimeters wide fragment is obtained, which shows a hand that is likely holding a bird. The relief NKl 10 , which is particularly badly disturbed in the upper area, shows a man turned to the right, a bird catcher. He has a captured bird over his shoulder. The animal's feet are tied together with a rope, at the other end of which is another bird. In his hand he holds a net bat with which he is about to catch a bird standing at his feet. The same device can be seen on SKl 14 . The bird on the right is probably a brown ibis, a species of ibis. Relief remains at the top right could have belonged to another bird. From the text of a bronze plaque from Hattuša it emerges that when a land is contractually handed over, the bird trappers located there must also be handed over. This indicates a special importance of the bird catcher, possibly in connection with the bird view , which was often practiced in the Hittite Empire. Since the lower part of NKl 10 was found in situ, the installation here is secured. The next Orthostat NKl 11 bears the hieroglyphic inscription Hu 1 . The portal lion NKl 12 closes the left gate chamber. It is also very fragmented. The torn throat, the tongue hanging out a little and the canine teeth of the damaged head can still be seen.

South gate

Floor plan of the south gate

Due to the location of the south gate on a high terrace near the hilltop, considerably less soil could accumulate here, so that the orthostats were more exposed to the forces of erosion and vegetation than at the north gate. In addition, the location on a steep slope meant that all moving parts were washed further down the slope by heavy downpours. Therefore, the condition of the local reliefs was much worse than at the north gate. Over the years, fragments were repeatedly found on the slope in the bushes.

Right atrium
Right atrium

The right side of the forecourt begins with the only partially preserved portal sculpture SVr 1 . What remains are legs and parts of the body with recognizable wings. Since portalsphingen in the late Hittite period cannot be found on the outside, Çambel's colleague Aslı Özyar considers the figure to be a winged lion, as does the corresponding sculpture SVl 1 opposite . It follows SVr 2 with the Luwian inscription Ho 2. The relief SVr 3 shows the ruler, sitting on a throne, turned to the left. His feet rest on a shelf, the right raised hand holds a flower, from which, however, the blossom has broken off, the left a bowl in front of the body. Behind him stands a slightly shorter man with a fly whisk. The eyes of both people are shown frontally and have a double border. The chair seems to be of a type known in Karatepe, as it can be seen similarly on SVl 3 and SKr 16 . It is certainly made of wood and has three cross struts on the side, with paneling in between. There are comparable scenes here on the reliefs mentioned and in Zincirli. Parts of the hieroglyphic Luwian text are attached underneath the figures.

Two antithetical bull people are shown on the SVr 4 orthostat . The faces shown frontally are human with long hair falling on the shoulders and a beard. The hind feet of bulls and the tail can be seen below the shirt. The hands hold lances standing on the ground. In his studies of late Hittite art, Winfried Orthmann lists numerous examples of such bull people, as well as isolated representations from the Hittite Empire and from Central and Neo-Assyrian art. Most of them are guardian figures, but the meaning of the beings in Karatepe is unclear. The following stones SVr 5 and SVr 6 bear the Luwian inscription parts Ho 6a and 6b. The SVr 7 lion figure, which closes off the forecourt, is offset by more than one meter in contrast to the north gate. It consists of numerous fragments; large parts, including the head, are missing. The body is covered by the inscription Ho 1.

Left atrium
Left atrium, SVr 7 in the foreground

Only small parts of the winged lion SVl 1 , which opens the left atrial row , are the counterpart to SVr 1 ; they are now attached in the assumed position by means of metal supports .

The two following orthostats SVl 2 and SVl 3 must be viewed as belonging together. Both are divided into two zones, on the left there are food carriers, below a music band and on the right above a feast scene and below a bull sacrifice. The diner are four male figures, three of them facing to the right and one to the left. The foremost, right, carries two beverage vessels , a phial and a handle vessel, which are made of bronze or precious metal according to the recognizable fluting . The second, smaller one, the only one drawn without a beard, holds a jug and a bag, possibly with water and spices. Why he is the only one looking to the left cannot be clarified. The third brings a roast hare on a tray, the fourth a duck. All four are dressed in knee-length shirts with a border. The four musicians in the lower area are also directed to the right. They are led by an aulete, the next two play different lyres. These differ in type from those in Scene NVl 7 , the first is a round-bottomed lyre, as it is native to the Aegean region, the second an asymmetrical flat-bottomed lyre, which came from Mesopotamia and northern Syria, but also in the 2nd millennium BC. In Anatolia is known, among other things from a Hittite fist-shaped Rhyton of unknown origin. The fourth musician beats a frame drum. In contrast to NVl 7 , here it is a man who operates this instrument. In his research, Orthmann gives a large number of Hittite music bands, which he divides into different groups. He assigns these to group B, in which the musicians move in a row in the same direction. Similar chapels appear in Zincirli and Karkemiš.

Banquet scene SVl 3

The upper half of the right figure SVl 3 shows a male figure sitting on a throne, his feet resting on a bench, in front of a set table. The right hand reaches for the food in a bowl, which is shown in cross section; flatbreads and cone-shaped cheese can be seen. He holds one in his left hand, which rests on the armrest. Behind the armchair is another food stand with two jugs with handles, next to it is a servant with a frond. Two other servants stand in front of the enthroned man, facing him, the one in front also with a fly whisk and a jug, the one in the back brings a tray with unidentifiable food. There is an incense stand to the left of the table. A little monkey crouches under the table with its paw to its mouth, apparently eating the remains of the meal. The vessels are made of clay and metal, which are known from Central Anatolia, but also from the wider area such as Crete, the Levant or Cyprus. Among the ceramic finds from Karatepe, however, there was no comparable tableware. The chair with the bench is similar to that of SVr 3 and SKr 16 , it is, like the food stand, made of wood and comes from local production. The table stands on S-shaped legs, which are connected at the top with a stabilizing cross brace. Above it can be seen three capitals that support the plate. E. Gubel sees in his study of Phoenician furniture a local origin of the table, but the well-known table from the great tumulus of Gordion can also be used as a comparison. Çambel assumes that the stonemason was familiar with Phoenician and Phrygian tables, so that he incorporated both into his ideas of a princely table. Monkeys are and never were native to the Anatolian region, but appear in both Assyrian and Asia Minor illustrations from the 2nd millennium BC. They came to the area as gifts from Egypt. It cannot be clarified whether it has any significance in the context of the ritual shown.

A victim scene can be seen in the lower section of SVl 3 . A bull is held on a rope by two men standing on the right and left, behind the animal is another man with a jug in his hands. On the right edge of the relief a man is carrying a goat on his shoulders. A fifth man stands to the left of the scene, facing away from it. He is dressed in a cloak with parallel stripes, which Çambel compares to that of King Warpalawas from the İvriz rock relief . Its function is not clear. Similar to NKr 17 , the sacrifice of bull and goat could be related to the annual sacrifice to the weather god described in the text of the inscription.

The sacrificial animals indicate that scene SVl 2/3 is a ritual meal. There is possibly a temporal connection between the two upper images, in which food is brought to the table of the enthroned, and the two lower images, in which the sacrifice is accompanied by a band. But all four images can also be seen as individual parts of the same action. Examples of both possibilities are numerous in Mesopotamia, among others. According to Çambel, the enthroned person cannot be a god, since they are shown seated in banquet scenes, but never in connection with mortal servants. Therefore, only the interpretation as ruler remains, whether it is a local regent, i.e. Azatiwada, or a deceased, deified king, in this case probably Awariku / Urikki, remains speculation. The function of the figure on the left in the bull sacrifice scene is also unexplained, possibly depicting a priest who leads the sacrifice ceremony, but perhaps also the ruler depicted above, who will attend the ritual in a priestly capacity at another point in time.

The Orthostat SVl 4 shows a man looking to the right and standing on a bull. He is holding a hare by the hind legs in his right hand and a bird in his left. In front of him is a smaller, also right-facing figure. The size and the fact that he is standing on a bull clearly identifies him as a god. While the weather god otherwise occupies this location, the animals shown here indicate that there is a mixture of weather god with a patron god of fields and animals. The function of the small figure is unclear, possibly it represents the ruler, but because of the same direction of view not as an adorant , but as a wards , comparable to the depiction of Tudhalija as Šarruma's protégé in Yazılıkaya.

The following relief SVl 5 is again divided into two zones. In the upper one, an unarmed man standing in the middle is stabbed to death with swords by two antithetical warriors. The two wear the caterpillar helmets of the foot troops and round shields and hold the man by the wrists with one hand. This is raised on a pedestal. In the middle of the picture below is a warrior with a helmet and a shield carried over his shoulder. He holds the horses of two riders by the halter. These are armed with pointed helmets and lances that are typical of the cavalry, which they hold horizontally at the height of the horse's back. They pull back the heads of the mounts to stop them. The reins and various straps can be seen from the bridle. Similar depictions of the upper scene can be found in Tell Halaf and Karkemiš. No parallels are known from Anatolia and Mesopotamia to the lower scene, which is why an interpretation is not possible.

The next stone contains the Pho B II section of the Phoenician inscription. The left atrial row is closed with the portal lion SVl 7, which is only partially preserved . The head of the figure is missing, the inscription Pho BI is engraved on the body.

Right gate chamber
Right Chamber

Only a few fragments of the reliefs in the right gate chamber have survived ; with the exception of the portal lion SKr 19 , the installation has not been secured.

Nothing has survived from the first stone of the right chamber SKr 1 , from the second SKr 2 only a fragment with the lower left part of an upright shape. At SKr 3 a small male figure in greeting can only be seen in the lower right corner. In SKr 4, which is also fragmented , only a man facing to the right can be seen standing in a box-like structure. The remains of SKr 5 reveal part of a ship scene similar to NKr 19 , the rest are the hull with a ram, some oars and a corpse floating in the water. A car scene is shown on SKr 6 . You can see a handlebar with outstretched arms and a second person from whom the upper part has split off. The car body and parts of the horse have been preserved from the vehicle. At the top left, above the figures, an animal, possibly a dog, can be seen. The relief SKr 7 , which was also badly damaged, shows another wagon scene with remains of the horse's body without a head, as well as parts of the box and the arms of the charioteer. Two animals that are difficult to recognize, a bird and maybe a dog, each of which could indicate a hunting scene.

On the two-zone relief plate SKr 8 , with which the rear wall of the chamber begins, only one of the originally at least three people shown can be seen at the top left, holding a fish in her hand. Only two other feet have survived at the lower left. The Orthostat SKr 9 , again divided into two zones, shows two strong billy goats facing to the right. The lower part is largely preserved, the upper only fragmentarily. Comparable representations are not known in late Hittite art, so an interpretation is not possible. The upper half of relief SKr 10 is missing, the lower half shows a deer and a goat being chased by dogs that attack them from behind. Only outlines of the deer can be seen. Such hunting scenes are from the 2nd millennium BC. From Alacahöyük, but also known from the contemporary places Zincirli and Karkemiš. In SKr 11 , two men, who fill the full relief height, face each other, holding a third, naked, upside down man by his feet. The man on the left stabs him in the body with his sword. Comparisons with corresponding representations, including again from Zincirli and Karkemiš, show that this is the killing of Ḫumbaba by Gilgamesh and Enkidu . On the remains of the only 29 centimeter wide binder SKr 12 , the upper body of a warrior turned to the right can be seen, holding a club and a lance, above a fish vertically. The meaning of the relief is unclear, the fish may be related to SKr 8 . The picture SKr 13 , composed of numerous individual parts, shows two tall men facing each other, with a smaller one in between. The two outer ones seem to stand on not exactly identifiable four-footed animals, which identifies them as gods. You are holding unrecognizable animals in your hands. The third, smaller man in the middle is also holding an animal by its hind legs; it is probably the ruler under the protection of the two deities.

Fragment of a lion's head in the local museum, probably at SKr 19

The left side wall begins with SKr 14 , of which only a few parts have been preserved. Remnants of five men, probably originally six, can be seen in two zones. Since neither sacrificial animals nor food can be seen, it cannot be clarified what kind of train they form. The two following orthostats SKr 15 and SKr 16, which belong together, contain remnants of a banquet scene, comparable to SVl 3 . The arrangement has been changed, the person sitting on the throne sits on the left, the depiction seems to be based on the well-known feast scene, but simplified. For example, the table is drawn more simply, the dishes lie on it without a bowl. The few remaining fragments of SKr 17 show a small man in the lower right corner , in front of it the abdomen of a horse. According to Özyar, a structure in the upper left corner could be a decoy cage . Only the upper third of the next relief SKr 18 is present. You can see an archer, a god in terms of size. He is turned to the right and holds an unstretched bow in his outstretched hand and a quiver on his shoulder. A similar picture can be seen on NVr 4 . The end of the left chamber row is formed by the portal lion SKr 19 , which is also only preserved in a few parts. The head is missing, a picked up fragment of the upper jaw with teeth and nostrils is exhibited in the local museum. All the existing parts of the animal are covered by the hieroglyphic inscription Ho 7. A last stone SKr 20 is set up at right angles to the lion, with reliefs on two sides. On the short side a man with a staff is shown, on the broad side parts of a cow and the remains of another animal.

Left gate chamber
Left chamber

At least the bases of the left gate chamber were preserved in situ, which is why the erection of the reliefs is considered secure.

The chamber begins on the left with the corner stone SKl 1 , which has reliefs in poor condition on both the narrow and the broad side. On the broad side is a large male figure with a bow, in front of her a dog, of which only the front part is present, and underneath another animal. On the left a smaller man holds arrows ready, above a bird and two dogs can be seen. Presumably the figures represent a hunting god with his assistant. A smaller figure is also chiseled on the narrow side, perhaps another hunting assistant. Dogs are also used as hunting helpers on SKr 10 . The stones SKl 2 to SKl 6 are completely missing. On this side of the chamber there is only SKl 7 , on which a large figure facing to the left is depicted, in front of it a much smaller one looking at him. The great one, i.e. the god, wears a richly decorated robe with fringes and a border of rosettes and squares, comparable to that of King Warpalawas on the so-called stele of Bor and the same king found in Kemerhisar , the Luwian Tuwana , on the rock relief of İvriz. In contrast to the two representations mentioned, it is here the god who wears the decorated robe. The smaller figure would therefore be the ruler protected by him.

The first three orthostats of the rear wall SKl 8 to SKl 10 together represent a sacrificial train that is probably moving to the left towards the god of SKl 7 . The upper half of SKl 9 is missing, and about a third of SKl 10 . On the first, SKl 8, two men can be seen in two zones. The top left holds a staff, the next one carries a goat on his shoulders. Below, the man in front leads a goat by a rope, the man behind carries an animal, large parts of which are missing. On SKl 9 only the lower part of a man can be seen and behind it the remains of an animal. SKl 10 is again designed in two zones with two men, of whom the upper left is somewhat larger and only half is preserved. The one following him carries a goat on both hands. The two lower ones lead a goat each, one holding a bowl, the other an unrecognizable object. The heavily fragmented relief SKl 11 shows the remains of five men in two zones and in the upper area parts of a piece of furniture that cannot be further interpreted, similar to those from SVl 3 . There is a figure on each side of the piece of furniture. In the lower area you can see parts of three men, the two on the left facing to the right, the third facing to the left. Only the head of the left is preserved. The meaning of the scene cannot be reconstructed. The meaning of the next figure on SKl 12 is also unclear . Below you can see two antithetical bulls, above the feet of two other animals, possibly lions. On the well-preserved binder SKl 13 , which consists of two blocks, five large and one smaller birds are shown one above the other. You can probably be assigned to the bird hunting scene on SKl 14 below. This is divided into two areas, in the upper is a simple, round boat below, in which there are two men facing left. The front, standing one holds a fishing gear, comparable to the decoy cage shown in SKr 17 . The one behind is sitting and holding a paddle. Under the boat there is an unidentifiable fish with two fins on its back and two on its belly. In the lower scene on the right is a man with a fishing gear in his hand. The comparison with NKl 10 suggests a net racket . The semicircular device in the other hand cannot be determined. He tries to catch a bird standing in front of him. It has a large body, long legs and a straight beak. According to the ornithologist Hans Deetjen, like the birds on SKl 13 , it could be a francolin .

The following three relief stones SKl 15 to SKl 17 on the right side of the chamber show a procession of four gods of the fields and corridors as well as two human figures. In the first picture on the right is the god facing left, he is holding a hare by the hind legs in his left and a bird in his right. It corresponds to the representation on SVl 4 . In front of him, looking at him, stands a smaller figure, which should accordingly show the ruler. The caterpillar helmet and the spear in his hand identify him as a military leader. In the next picture, the god shown in the same way is preceded by a small figure, possibly an assistant. The third picture shows two of these gods, also with a rabbit and a bird, who complete the procession. A similar procession of field gods can be seen on a seal roll from Kültepe . The stones SKl 18 to SKl 20 are missing. The chamber side is closed off by the heavily fragmented portal lion SKl 21 . All teeth including the fangs are preserved on the head, between them the triangular tongue hangs out of the open throat. At right angles to this is a last orthostat SKl 22 , corresponding to the opposite SKr 20 . There are only three fragments of the corner stone worked on both sides. On the broad side only the head and parts of the shoulder of a large figure facing left can be seen, on the narrow side the remains of the face of a large figure facing left.

Statue of the weather god

Phoenician inscription on the back of the statue

The statue of the weather god is about six meters northeast of the south gate in the interior of the fortress. The site is secured as the original location by a hollow carved into the natural rock. The larger than life statue stands on a bull pedestal measuring around 1.3 × 1.0 meters and thus reaches a height of over three meters. The god wears an ankle-length robe with fringes on the lower edge, over it a cloth wrapped tightly around the body and on his head a cap with tied up ear flaps and a border. His arms are bent and he is holding two broken, unrecognizable objects in his hands. The missing face was recreated in 1988 by Nezar Özatay, a sculptor and restorer from the Center for Restoration and Conservation of the General Directorate for Antiquities and Museums in Istanbul.

The bull pedestal, which is embedded in the hollow in the floor, has a square hole into which the pin of the statue is fitted. On the sides, two bulls, the well-known attributes of the weather god, can be seen in relief, the heads are plastic and heavily weathered. At the front they are held by a man, also in relief, with both arms by his head. His head is missing.

The entire lower body of the figure as well as the back and side of the left animal are covered with the Phoenician inscription PhSt / CV. According to their text, the deity depicted is Baʿal-KRNTRYŠ.

Arrangement and iconography of the sculptures

The gods occupy the largest group of representations, recognizable by their size, which occupies the entire height of the relief. The marking by horns, which is otherwise known from the ancient oriental area, is not to be found here. Some of the gods are named in the inscription; there are gods of the entire Luwian pantheon worshiped in Azatiwataya . These include gods of the fields, gods of the hunt (possibly the lord of the bow Jarri on NVr 4 , who is associated with Apollo ) and a patron god of the herds, the goat bearer on NVr 11 . The highest god in the Anatolian pantheon, the weather god Tarhunzas or Teššup, is possibly the male god of the divine triad on NKr 11 . The next largest group of mythical beings includes the repeatedly depicted Bes, the bird-headed genius on NVr 9, bull people on SVr 4 and the antithetical warriors and dancers. The illustration of the killing of Ḫumbaba from the Gilgamesh epic and the goats standing on the tree must also be assigned to this group. The group of images from the realm of mortals includes depictions of rulers, sacrificial and feast scenes including images of music and dance, hunting and bird-catching scenes, carriage scenes and finally reliefs that may refer to historical events, such as the audience of NKr 3 and the ship scene NKr 19 . Regarding the images of the rulers, it must be stated that due to the lack of inscriptions, none of the figures can be identified with a certain ruler.

Numerous parts of the reliefs were found in situ, with others the installation could be made accessible due to the butt joints and plinths. A rough conceptual concept can be recognized from the arrangement, in which the world of the gods and their mythological environment, on the right-hand side, is contrasted with the ritual acts of mortals on the left-hand side. It can only be speculated whether the sculptures were created for purposes of worship - the gods or the rulers - or to impress strangers entering the castle, or with other, unknown goals. Only a few figures such as the triple Bes, the winged Genius NVr 9 or the portal lions and the sphinxes can be assumed to have a protective or guardian function.

The origin of the image motifs can be found primarily in the ancient Anatolian and Mesopotamian regions, but influences from the Phoenician as well as the western, i.e. Greek and Cretan cultures can also be recognized.

The inscription

Excerpt from the hieroglyphic text of the inscription:
In my days I extended the Adanawean frontiers on the one hand towards the West and on the other hand towards the East (English translation after JD Hawkins)

Azatiwada was one of Awariku (Urikki), king of Qu'e and Adana in Cilicia and vassal of Tiglath-Pileser III. ( 745 bis 726 v. Chr. ), Inserted rulers in the Phoenician text as abarakku referred to what Edward Lipiński with vizier translated. The text is an autobiographical account of his services to the kingdom of Adana, where, according to the inscription, he enthroned the descendants of Awariku. In the text, he derives his descent from the house of Mukasa (Luwisch mu-ka-sa-sa-na DOMUS-ni-i, Phoenician LBT MPŠ), which some equate with the Greek seer Mopšos .

abstract

“I am Azatiwada, vizier of Baal, servant of Baal, whom Awariku, king of the Adanaans, made great. Baal made me a father and mother to the Adanaans. I revived the Adanaans. I spread the land of the plain of Adana from the rising of the sun to its setting. And in my day the Adanaans had goodness and supplies and prosperity. And I filled the memory of Paʿr. And I added horse to horse, and shield to shield, and army to army, according to Baal and the gods. And I destroyed the robbers caves and drove out every villain who was in the country [...]. "

- Azatiwada : translation of the Phoenician text after Edward Lipiński

King Awariku is the originator of the 1997 bilingual of Çineköy , in which he also traces his ancestry back to Mopsos.

Newer interpretation

The literary scholar and writer Raoul Schrott defends the controversial thesis that Homer lived as a Greek scribe in the service of the Assyrians in Karatepe. In his descriptions of the landscape of Troy and Troas, he sees clear similarities with the surroundings of Karatepe. He concludes that Homer adapted the well-known Trojan saga to the circumstances there. He also believes that he can recognize numerous events and people from the Iliad in the reliefs of the gates. Schrott's theses are rejected by the majority of scientists.

literature

  • Helmuth Theodor Bossert, Halet Çambel, Bahadır Alkım: Karatepe kazıları. (Birinci ön-rapor). = The excavations on Karatepe. (First preliminary report). (= Türk Tarih Kurumu yayınlarından. V. seri, 9, ZDB -ID 1179835-x ). Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, Ankara 1950.
  • Paolo Matthiae : Studi sui rilievi di Karatepe. Centro di Studi Semitici, Rome 1963.
  • François Bron: Recherches sur les inscriptions phéniciennes de Karatepe. Droz, Geneva 1979.
  • Halet Çambel: Karatepe-Aslantaş. The inscriptions. Facsimile edition. (= Corpus of hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions Vol. 2) de Gruyter, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-11-014870-6 .
  • John David Hawkins : Corpus of hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions. Vol 1. Inscriptions of the Iron Age. Part 1: Text: Introduction, Karatepe, Karkamiš, Tell Ahmar, Maraş, Malatya, Commagene. de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-11-010864-X .
  • Martina Sicker-Akman: Studies on the architecture of the late Hittite castle complex in Karatepe-Arslantaş. In: Istanbul communications. 49, 2000, pp. 529-541.
  • Martina Sicker-Akman: The prince seat of the late Hittite castle complex Karatepe-Arslantaş. In: Istanbul communications. 50, 2001, pp. 131-142.
  • Halet Çambel, Aslı Özyar: Karatepe-Arslantaş. Azatiwataya. The sculptures. Zabern, Mainz 2003, ISBN 3-8053-3085-5 .
  • Waltraud Sperlich: The Hittites. The forgotten people. Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2003, ISBN 3-7995-7982-6 .

Web links

Commons : Karatepe  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John David Hawkins: Corpus of hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions. Vol 1. Inscriptions of the Iron Age. Part 1: Text: Introduction, Karatepe, Karkamiš, Tell Ahmar, Maraş, Malatya, Commagene. de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, p. 53.
  2. UNESCO
  3. Çambel / Özyar p. 13.
  4. ^ John David Hawkins: Corpus of hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions. Vol 1. Inscriptions of the Iron Age. Part 1: Text: Introduction, Karatepe, Karkamiš, Tell Ahmar, Maraş, Malatya, Commagene. de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, pp. 42-44.
  5. Irene J. Winter: On the Problems of Karatepe: The Reliefs and Their Context , in: Anatolian Studies 29, 1979, pp. 115–151 (here 146 note 138); J. David Hawkins: Some Historical Problems of the Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions , in: Anatolian Studies 29, 1979, pp. 153-167 (here 156); ders .: Corpus of hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions. Vol 1. Inscriptions of the Iron Age. Part 1: Text: Introduction, Karatepe, Karkamiš, Tell Ahmar, Maraş, Malatya, Commagene. de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, p. 45.
  6. ^ A b Charles Allen Burney: Karatepe In: Historical dictionary of the Hittites . Scarecrow Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-8108-4936-5 , pp. 146-148.
  7. a b c Irene Winter: On the Problems of Karatepe: The Reliefs and their Context In: On Art in the Ancient Near East of the First Millennium BCE . Brill, Leiden 2009, ISBN 978-90-04-17237-1 , pp. 467-524.
  8. Çambel / Özyar pp. 141–144
  9. Martina Sicker-Akman: Research on the architecture of the late Hittite castle complex in Karatepe-Arslantaş. In: Istanbuler Mitteilungen 49, 2000, pp. 529-541; Martina Sicker-Akman: The prince's seat of the late Hiethite castle complex Karatepe-Arslantaş. In: Istanbuler Mitteilungen 50, 2001, pp. 131–142; Çambel / Özyar pp. 1-6.
  10. Çambel / Özyar p. IX note.
  11. Adana Müze Müdürlüğü (Turkish)
  12. a b c Martina Sicker-Akman: Studies on the architecture of the late Hittite castle complex in Karatepe-Arslantaş. In: Istanbul communications. 49, 2000, pp. 529-541.
  13. Martina Sicker-Akman: The princely seat of the late Hiethite castle complex Karatepe-Arslantaş. In: Istanbul communications. 50, 2001, pp. 131-142.
  14. Çambel / Özyar p. 15.
  15. Unless otherwise mentioned, the descriptions of the individual reliefs follow Halet Çambel, Aslı Özyar: Karatepe-Arslantaş. Azatiwataya. The sculptures. Zabern, Mainz 2003, pp. 57–115.
  16. Jürgen Seeher : Gods carved in stone. The Hittite rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya. Ege Yayınları Publishing House, Istanbul 2011, ISBN 978-605-5607-53-1 , pp. 110–112.
  17. Horst Ehringhaus: Gods, rulers, inscriptions. The rock reliefs of the Hittite Empire in Turkey. von Zabern, Mainz 2005, ISBN 3-8053-3469-9 , p. 51.
  18. Jürgen Seeher: Gods carved in stone. The Hittite rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya. Ege Yayınları Publishing House, Istanbul 2011, ISBN 978-605-5607-53-1 , p. 116.
  19. Ulf Jantzen : Egyptian and oriental bronzes from the Heraion of Samos. ( Samos vol. 6), Habelt, Bonn 1972, p. 58.
  20. Basalt relief from Carchemish (9th century BC): Depiction of people with sacrificial animals on their shoulders in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
  21. Çambel / Özyar p. 123 f.
  22. Jürgen Borchhardt : Homeric helmets. von Zabern, Mainz 1972 p. 97.
  23. Kurt Bittel In: Historia . 7, 1964, p. 131.
  24. ^ Jacques Handschin : An overview of the history of music. Räber, Luzern, 1948 p. 38.
  25. Sheramy D. Bundrick: Music And Image In Classical Athens. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005, ISBN 978-0-521-84806-0 , p. 35.
  26. ^ Winfried Orthmann : Investigations on late Hittite art. Volume 8 of Saarbrücker contributions to the archeology. R. Habelt, 1971 p. 287 ff.
  27. ^ Volkert Haas , Heidemarie Koch : Religions of the Old Orient. Volume 1: Hittites and Iran. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-51695-9 , p. 276.
  28. Alessandra Gilibert: Syro-hittite Monumental Art and the Archeology of Performance. The Stone Reliefs at Carchemish and Zincirli in the Earlier First Millennium Bce. de Gruyter, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-022225-8 , p. 108.
  29. Alessandra Gilibert: Syro-hittite Monumental Art and the Archeology of Performance. The Stone Reliefs at Carchemish and Zincirli in the Earlier First Millennium Bce. de Gruyter, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-022225-8 , p. 43.
  30. ^ FS Bodenheimer: Animal and man in Bible lands. Volume 1. Brill, Leiden 1960 p. 160.
  31. Silvia Schroer , Othmar Keel : The iconography of Palestine / Israel and the ancient Orient. A history of religion in pictures. Saint-Paul, 2005, ISBN 978-3-7278-1508-9 , p. 300.
  32. ^ Orthostats from Burgtor Zincirli. Two goats rearing up
  33. Brigitte Musche: Middle Eastern jewelry from the beginnings to the time of the Achaemenids (approx. 10,000–330 BC). Brill, Leiden 1992, ISBN 978-90-04-09491-8 , p. 226.
  34. Jürgen Seeher: Gods carved in stone. The Hittite rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya. Ege Yayınları Publishing House, Istanbul 2011, ISBN 978-605-5607-53-1 , pp. 65–67.
  35. Wolfgang Helck : Reflections on the great goddess and the deities associated with her. R. Oldenbourg, Munich 1971, ISBN 978-3-486-43261-9 , p. 101.
  36. Walter Burkert : Homo Necans. Interpretations of ancient Greek sacrificial rites and myths. de Gruyter, Berlin 1997, ISBN 978-3-11-015099-5 , p. 153 ff.
  37. Walter Burkert: Homo Necans. Interpretations of ancient Greek sacrificial rites and myths. de Gruyter, Berlin 1997, ISBN 978-3-11-015099-5 , p. 186.
  38. ^ Lionel Casson: Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World. JHU Press, Baltimore 1995, ISBN 978-0-8018-5130-8 , pp. 300-301.
  39. ^ Relief in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations Ankara
  40. Machteld Mellink: Karatepe. More light on the dark ages. In: Bibliotheca Orientalis 7. 1950 pp. 141–150.
  41. ^ JC Février: L'ancienne marine phénicienne et les découvertes récentes. In: La Nouvelle Clio. 2, 1950, pp. 128-143.
  42. Lucien Basch: Phoenician Oard Ships. In: The Mariner's Mirror. 55, 1969 p. 152
  43. ^ Lionel Casson: Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World. JHU Press, Baltimore 1995, ISBN 978-0-8018-5130-8 , p. 57.
  44. George Fletcher Bass: A History of Seafaring Based on Underwater Archeology. Book Club Associates, 1974, ISBN 978-0-86007-705-3 , p. 55.
  45. Çambel / Özyar p. 18.
  46. Assyrian relief of a lion hunt
  47. ^ Winfried Orthmann: Investigations on late Hittite art. ( Saarbrücker Contributions to Antiquity, Vol. 8). Habelt, Bonn 1971 Plate 40 Relief Malatya A / 7.
  48. Scene from the Sphinx Gate in Alaca Höyük on hittitemonuments.com
  49. ^ Relief from Domuztepe in the Karatepe Museum
  50. ^ Winfried Orthmann: Investigations on late Hittite art. Volume 8 of Saarbrücker contributions to the archeology. R. Habelt, 1971, p. 457.
  51. Hildi Keel-Leu, Beatrice Teissier: The Near East cylinder seals of the collections "Bible + Orient" of the University of Friborg Switzerland. Saint-Paul, 2004, ISBN 978-3-7278-1471-6 , p. 168.
  52. ^ Heinrich Otten : The bronze plaque from Boğazköy: A State Treaty of Tutḫalijas IV. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1988, ISBN 978-3-447-02784-7 , p. 15. at GoogleBooks
  53. Çambel / Özyar p. 18.
  54. ^ Winfried Orthmann: Investigations on late Hittite art. (= Saarbrücker Contributions to Antiquity, Vol. 8). Habelt, Bonn 1971, panels 63 b, c and 66 d.
  55. ^ Winfried Orthmann: Investigations on late Hittite art. (= Saarbrücker Contributions to Antiquity, Vol. 8). Habelt, Bonn 1971 pp. 306-310.
  56. ^ HG Güterbock , Timothy Kendall: A Hittite Siver Vessel in Form of a Fist In: Jane B. Carter, Sarah P. Morris (eds.): The Ages of Homer. A Tribute to Emily Townsend Vermeule. University of Texas Press, Austin 1998 pp. 45-60, Fig. 3.7, ISBN 978-0-292-71208-9 , p. 52.
  57. ^ Winfried Orthmann: Investigations on late Hittite art. ( Saarbrücker Contributions to Antiquity, Vol. 8). Habelt, Bonn 1971 pp. 393-394. and Plate 63 Zincirli F / 5-F / 8a
  58. ^ E. Gubel: Phoenician Furniture. A Typology Based on Iron Age Representations with Reference to the Iconographical Context. Peeters, Löwen 1987, ISBN 978-90-6831-110-5 , p. 119.
  59. İlhan Temizsoy, u. a .: Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. Ankara, ISBN 975-7523-03-8 , pp. 116-119.
  60. Gudrun Selz: The banquet scene: Development of a “timeless” image motif in Mesopotamia: from the early dynastic to the Akkad period. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1983, ISBN 978-3-515-04026-6 , p. 463 ff.
  61. ^ Relief from Chamber B in Yazılıkaya
  62. ^ Winfried Orthmann: Investigations on late Hittite art. (= Saarbrücker Contributions to Antiquity, Vol. 8). Habelt, Bonn 1971 Plate 10a T. Halaf A3 / 176.
  63. ^ Winfried Orthmann: Investigations on late Hittite art. (= Saarbrücker Contributions to Antiquity, Vol. 8). Habelt, Bonn 1971 Plate 28 Karkemis E / 11
  64. ^ Winfried Orthmann: Investigations on late Hittite art. (= Saarbrücker Contributions to Antiquity, Vol. 8) Habelt, Bonn 1971 Plate 38 Kemerhisar 1
  65. ↑ Rock relief from İvriz, Warpalawas on the right, Tarhunzas on the left
  66. Çambel / Özyar p. 108, note 561.
  67. Halet Çambel: Karatepe-Aslantaş. The inscriptions. (= Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions Vol. 2 = Studies on Indo-European Linguistics and Cultural Studies. NF 8, 2). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York NY 1998, ISBN 3-11-014870-6 , p. 65, at GoogleBooks
  68. Çambel / Özyar pp. 123–140
  69. Çambel / Özyar pp. 138–140
  70. ^ John David Hawkins: Corpus of hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions. Vol 1. Inscriptions of the Iron Age. Part 1: Text: Introduction, Karatepe, Karkamiš, Tell Ahmar, Maraş, Malatya, Commagene. de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, p. 52.
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  73. Halet Çambel: Karatepe-Aslantaş. The inscriptions. (= Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions Vol. 2 = Studies on Indo-European Linguistics and Cultural Studies. NF 8, 2). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York NY 1998, ISBN 3-11-014870-6 , p. 62, at GoogleBooks
  74. ^ Trevor Bryce , The Routledge Handbook of The People and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persians Empire . Routledge, 2011, ISBN 978-1-134-15908-6 , p. 372
  75. Residence of the kings of Qu'e and Adana.
  76. Walter Beyerlin (Ed.): Religionsgeschichtliches Textbuch zum Alten Testament (= The Old Testament in German. Supplementary series vol. 1). 2nd, revised edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1985, ISBN 3-525-51659-2 , p. 258, at GoogleBooks from p. 258 .
  77. Complete translation in Google Book Search
  78. Raoul Schrott: "Adana: Homer finally has a home - in Turkey" , FAZ , December 22, 2007
  79. ^ "The dispute over Troy" , Deutschlandradio , January 3, 2008
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on September 13, 2012 in this version .