ROWANDUZ KALEH: MEDIEVAL FORTRESS ON A STEEP CONICAL HILL OVERLOOKING THE AFRÎN
Supposed to have been built under Genoese architects during the 14th century A.D. (See [p. 9].)
A brief consideration of the classified list of monuments above will reveal the fact that for description no grouping of these places is so convenient as that formed naturally by geographical divisions. The first main group (A) will include all the monuments of the north of Syria, in which we may recognise three separate districts. The most southerly is the Orontes valley, with which we can include Aleppo, though the latter historically would seem to have been the centre of an independent state.[166] The monuments from Hamath consist of a series of stones inscribed in relief, partly belonging to the same inscription; while at Aleppo there is one small stone of similar character. The places Restan and Homs indicated upon the map are positions of importance further up the Orontes, though unidentified by local remains.[167] The site of Kadesh, the historical frontier fortress of the Hittites in their warfare with Egypt, is similarly now unrecognisable, but a consensus of opinion among students of the Egyptian records places it not far southward of the present lake of Homs.[168]
Eastward we have the monuments on the Euphrates, including numerous inscriptions, a stela, and fragments of sculpture, from the irregular mounds which mark the site of ancient Carchemish at Jerablus. Several carved and inscribed monuments are recently reported from Kellekli and Tell-Ahmar,[169] which are in the same vicinity, while further up the river there are found an inscribed and sculptured block from Samsat, and a doubtful carving on the rocks near Gerger Kalesi. The remaining monuments of the north of Syria lie towards the west, mostly in the valley of the Kara Su. The mounds of Sinjerli and Sakje-Geuzi are included, wherein excavations have disclosed the ruins of sculptured palaces and other monuments that will be described with more detail in a later chapter. A relief with inscription comes from Kara-burshlu in the same vicinity; while a sculptured and inscribed corner-stone of peculiar character has been found at Aintab, a little to the east. To the south of this town is Killiz, a place not marked by any peculiar remains, but the centre where numbers of bronze figures,[170] seals, and other small objects of Hittite character, are commonly found in the bazaars. Lower down on the Afrîn, and hence geographically contiguous, is Kurts-oghlu, whence comes a portion of a small statue carved in the round, upon which still remain two lines of incised inscription. We include Marash also in this group, though it is on higher ground at the ascent of the Taurus mountains. Here there must have been a city of importance, suggested alike in the strategic position and in the number and character of the monuments found upon the site. Among these are two sculptured lions (one inscribed with hieroglyphs in relief), slabs carved with reliefs depicting interesting scenes, and the lower part of an inscribed statue, as well as several blocks and fragments also inscribed.
Passing northwards the monuments found in the mountain regions of Taurus and Anti-Taurus constitute our second main group (B). This embraces the district marked by the four sites in the valley of the Tochma Su, with which there may be included two others in the head-waters of the Pyramus. At Malatia there have been found several architectural blocks sculptured in relief with religious representations and hunting scenes, most of them bearing also groups of Hittite hieroglyphs upon them. There can be no doubt that, situated like Marash in a position of great strategic importance,[171] at one time on the Mitannian and later on the Assyrian frontier, this place is equally one of the more noteworthy Hittite sites. From Derendeh come an inscribed fragment of a statue and a small basaltic lion; and from a spot called appropriately Arslan Tash, one hour distant to the south, two other lions, which are presumably architectural. At Palanga an inscribed cylindrical columnar figure has been found; while Gurun, further up the valley, is the site of two inscriptions, one on the living rock and the other on an isolated block. On the southern side of the watershed an inscribed stone has been found in a cemetery at Kirchuk Yapalak, two hours distant from Albistan; while the column or obelisk from Izgîn, inscribed on four sides with hieroglyphs in relief, is an object almost as remarkable as the round column from Palanga.
This group includes, as a second district, five sites in the Anti-Taurus. The most easterly is Kuru-Bel, a pass near old-time Comana: here is one of the most striking Hittite works, resembling a great altar with lions crouching upon the top on either hand. Three places are on the main stream of the Zamanti Su: from an Armenian cemetery at Ekrek there has come a stone inscribed in incised hieroglyphs, which has been re-dressed with Christian emblems; at Tashji are two figures and an inscription incised upon the rock; while Fraktin is famous as the site of rock-sculptures that make important additions to Hittite religious symbolism. Lastly, at Asarjik, on the northern slope of Mount Argæus, overlooking Cæsarea, an inscription is incised upon a broken rock, accompanied by interesting markings like graffiti.
In our third main group (C) we include those few monuments found in or near the valley of the Halys, north-westward of Cæsarea. These are a great sculptured eagle on a lion-base, an object not demonstrably of Hittite workmanship, on the river-bank near Yamoola; a perfect inscription covering four sides of a round-topped stone, standing on a pedestal, overlooking the river valley on the south bank near Bogche; thirdly, an inscription in three lines on a stone found at Karaburna, which is on the opposite bank considerably lower down; and lastly, two incised inscriptions found recently at Suasa, which lies back considerably from the river, almost opposite the place last named.
With the same group we class the district inside the circuit of the Halys, the monuments of which are almost confined to the famous ruins of Boghaz-Keui, with the neighbouring sculptured sanctuary of Iasily Kaya, and the walled mound and palace of Eyuk, both of which are described in later chapters. There are, however, one or two features which may be appropriately singled out for comparison in this chapter, notably the inscription in relief on the rock called Nishan Tash, on the high ground of the citadel at Boghaz-Keui, and a couple of building blocks sculptured like those of Sinjerli, Malatia, and Eyuk, recently found at the foot of the acropolis. If we may mention also two objects of doubtful provenance, these introduce a place called Eski-Yapân, on the road from Sungurlu to Chorum, where an architectural lion is built into a modern wall,[172] and Denek-Madên, near to Cheshme-Keupru, where an interesting round ivory object engraved with Hittite characters and signs has been rescued.[173]
PLATE XXXVI
