Tigris tunnel
The Tigris Tunnel is a 750 meter long cave about 100 km from the Turkish city of Diyarbakır . The Berkilin Çay flows through this cave , together with the maggot a source river of the Tigris . The end of the cave was therefore often referred to as the Tigris spring, but in fact the Berkilin Çay comes to the surface a little further west at Bingöl . There are several archaeological monuments in the vicinity of the Tigris Tunnel.
The best known of these are the reliefs of Tiglat-Pileser I and Shalmaneser III. that are attached directly to the wall of the Tigristunnel. The gate fittings from Balawat represent their production. Above the tunnel there is a natural rock arch, which is connected to it by Urartian rock stairs. Above the other end of the tunnel there are further caves, on the largest of which Shalmaneser III was immortalized. with another relief and a poorly preserved cuneiform inscription.
literature
- Andreas Schachner: Assyria's kings at one of the sources of the Tigris. Archaeological research in the Birkleyn cave system and the so-called Tigris tunnel. (Istanbul Researches 51) Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, Tübingen 2009.
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 31 '46.8 " N , 40 ° 32' 50.8" E