Nemrut Heads

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Part of an article to be published in the Weekend Argus Travel supplement in 2007

On a recent flight from Dublin to Bahrain and passing over eastern Turkey with snow-covered Mount Ararat poking through clouds and Lake Van spreading its tentacles through surrounding mountains, brought back memories of a visit to the Mesopotamia Plains.

Eastern Turkey is very different to its western counterpart, more isolated, third worldish with fewer visitors and local people looking at me as if I’d come from space.

Travelling from west to east, the scenery constantly changed, a tree-spotted range split by cascade-carved gorges, pylons topped with scruffy nests, home to South African storks, here for the summer to breed.

Arriving in uninspiring Kahta, where the discovery of oil has brought prosperity to the town I was invited to join a tour to Turkey’s World Heritage Site, Nemrut Dagi (NEHM-root dah-uh), the mountain where stone heads were found in 1881. There was no public transport to the site and hitchhiking wasn’t an option, so I joined the tour.

Climbing all the time, and with stops along the way to see places of interest, we visited the 36BC burial mound Karakus Tumulus with nodding heads of oil pumps below and Nemrut summit above. At the base of the hill are three nine-metre pillars having survived pillage by the Romans and crowned with an eagle, bull and lion. Other pillars were used to build the Cendere Bridge, our next stop.

The original bridge was damaged by a truck and subsequently a modern one has been constructed to alleviate wear. We crossed the old bridge between ornately carved blocks of rock above a gorge.

Continuing along the road and still climbing we entered Nemrut National Park. Turning off from the road we explored the Commagene capital of Arsameia, walking along a narrow path, the Processional Way passing inscriptions, caves and reliefs, to a bluff overlooking a fertile basin. The most impressive was a carving depicting King Mithradates shaking hands with Herakles. A little further, we entered a tunnel leading to a cave thought to have been used for rituals. On slimy steps and without a torch the others gave up but I continued, taking advantage of the coolness.

It was a further 15km bone-jolting journey to the car park and restaurant below the summit. At 2150m, Nemrut Dagi is the highest mountain in northern Mesopotamia and due to the altitude it was pleasant, cool 500m climb to the base of the 150m diameter man-made mound of fist-sized rocks. The purpose of the mound remains a mystery with excavations proving unsuccessful.

Puffing and panting we arrived at the western terrace where five tumbled 10-m statues lay on the ground like a child’s game of Misfits. Snow, earthquakes and time have long since decapitated the heads from the crumbling statues, each the size of a Mini and laced with cracks. With granite blocks weighing the same as a truck, not to mention the 75-m (now 50m mound), we wondered at the engineering involved in constructing this shrine.

Self-absorbed, egomaniacal King Antiochus built the site for the generations that would follow him. The colossal statues represent gods and heroes with whom he expected to meet in the afterlife. From left to right – Apollo, Hermes, Tyche, Zeus, Antiochus, Hercules, Eagle and the Lion of Commagene.

Having seen pictures of the heads, I was more interested in their location and the setting was as spectacular as the heads, lying between the Taurus Mountains to the north, Euphrates in the east and Gaziantep in the south. The sculptures appear to guard the eerie vastness, broken by Ataturk Dam, one of the ten largest in the world.

Overlooking rocky fields, sprinkled with thistles and colourful flowers was a platform. Our driver overheard us speculating that it may have been used for sacrificial worship.

“It’s a helipad!”

Seeing our disappointment he pointed out altars in front of each statue where sacrifices were carried out.

There are more heads on the eastern terrace, sculptures depicting Antiochus ancestors plus Persian and Macedonian royalty.