CÆSAREA: TURKISH CEMETERY, NOW DISUSED (See [p. 23].)

We are inclined to group together all the monuments westward of the Halys (D), including with them the two famous sculptures near the Lydian coast. We thus bring together for comparison the rock carvings of Giaour-Kalesi and of Kara-Bel, which are analogous, and the dethroned Niobe seated on Mount Sipylus. In the Phrygian country there are on record an inscribed stone at Bey-Keui, and a sculpture with uncertain hieroglyphs at Doghanlu Daresi. A relief found at Yarre, representing a ceremonial feast, conforms with a definite class of Hittite sculptures found elsewhere on the several sites mentioned in the list above. The same may be said, though with less confidence, of carved slabs found in the vicinity of Angora, representing lions, but we exclude the sculptured lion to be seen near the bridge at Cheshme Keupru. The remarkable thing about the disposition of these monuments, excluding the reliefs at Angora, is that they seem to mark out the line of a single road, namely the Royal Road from Boghaz-Keui to Sardis and the west.[174] The only reasonable doubt seems to be as to the route from Giaour-Kalesi to Boghaz-Keui, about which there is no evidence. Some students of the local topography think it must have gone by way of Angora, in spite of the tradition (which in the absence of evidence becomes of interest) that Angora was a comparatively late Phrygian foundation.[175] Others urge[176] that it was improbable that the road ‘swerved southwards to Giaour-Kalesi,’ an opinion seemingly forgetful of the road’s objective.[177]

The district westward of Iconium, in which are found the Lycaonian-Hittite monuments of Eflatoun-Bunar and Fassiler, stands by itself. But as there is only one clearly Hittite object from this region, namely a stone inscribed with hieroglyphs in relief, from near Kolitoghlu Yaila, near Ilgîn, we include this with the main western group.

We now come to the fifth and last group (E) of these arbitrary divisions, which includes nine sites and several of the most important monuments.[178] It embraces the whole of the south-western range of Taurus from the Kara Dagh to Bulghar Dagh, as well as the districts at its foot, of which in classical times Eregli (Cybistra) Arissama (Ardistama) and Kilisse Hissar (Tyana) were the more important centres. The monuments recently discovered on the Kara Dagh might indeed have been regarded as a group apart; but as this district shares in the geographical economy of the others, and is a spur of the main Taurus range, we prefer to class them with the rest. They are found in two places, firstly, near Mahalich, on the summit of the Kara Dagh, where there are two inscriptions in relief and a passage in the rock; and secondly, on the outlying knoll called Kizil Dagh, on which are the remains of a ‘high place,’ including a rock-throne and an incised seated figure with three inscriptions; while on the very summit there are the ruins of a fortress, and an inscription in relief upon the rock. The monument of Ivrîz, above Eregli, is well known; it is a gigantic and imposing sculpture of the god of fertility (by whatever name he may be known) with the local priest-king in adoration; three short inscriptions accompany the scene. The traces of a second sculpture of similar character are to be found not far above.[179] At Bulghar-Madên, on the other side of a lofty ridge, an incised inscription of five lines is graved upon the living rock. These two monuments seem to have been connected in some way with Tyana, in the vicinity of which several inscribed stelæ and sculptures have been found. That from Bor, discovered in two portions which were rescued at different times, is the best of these; and an interesting fragment remains at Eski Andaval, where jealousies and suspicions prevent it from being seen. Nigdeh contributes an incised altar of round shape. From Tyana itself nothing is reported, but the antiquity of the site is unquestioned, and its known monuments reach back to the time of a Phrygian Midas.[180] In this district, particularly at Bor, numerous small objects of great interest have been secured, and there is little reason to doubt but that they were found originally not far away.[181] Further west, in the desert tract of the eastern extremity of the great salt plains, there are the ruins of Ardistama; and in the vicinity, near Emir Ghazi, there have been found in late years an inscription in relief, and three others on round altars. These are included in the same group on account of their geographical proximity.

Now that we have completed this preliminary survey of the disposition of such Hittite monuments as by their character or the circumstances of their discovery may be accepted by us as evidence in our inquiry, we realise more clearly the reason for the distinction we made in an earlier chapter between the eastern and western portions of Asia Minor. In the West we can speak of only nine monuments, of which four are not of Hittite origin. Six of these seem to lie along the line of a single road; and of the others, only one is inscribed with Hittite characters, and even that is moveable and not found in its original position. If only by contrast with this paucity, the comparative frequency of monuments towards the East, and their definite character, naturally inclines us to assign some tentative boundaries to the Hittite country. In the North this is not difficult; the Halys River remained in the time of Crœsus a division between peoples of different race,[182] and Sir William Ramsay has pointed out[183] differences in important racial customs between the peoples of the two banks in ancient times.

But to the south there is no such boundary; even the great plains, which form so prominent a landmark in the map, seem to be more barren now than in the days when Ardistama flourished.[184] This change is illustrated by the western extension of the monuments along the foot of the Taurus and in the desert. We must not forget, also, that whole tracts are eliminated from our purview from absence of stone; nor should we allow ourselves to be prepossessed with the idea of divisions on the tableland, which is, after all, continuous and coterminous. If it is true that nearly all the evidences of Hittite occupation in the west resolve themselves into monuments erected along a single road, it is also true that if we exclude from our view the group of remarkable monuments at Boghaz-Keui and Eyuk, there remains little sign that the country within the circuit of the Halys was indeed at any time Hittite territory, much less that it enclosed their northern capital. In face of such considerations the great sculptures and fortress of Giaour-Kalesi, the carvings of Doghanlu, the inscription and tumulus of Bey-Keui, and most striking of all, the sculptures of the west on Mount Sipylus and in the pass of Kara-Bel, as well as those monuments in Phrygia and Western Lycaonia which at least reflect the influence of Hittite art, become imbued with a relative importance not to be overlooked in our inquiry. The land of the Hittites is for us as broad as the extent of their works: it is for another phase of our subject to inquire whether there is evidence to tell us how and when their territory was acquired, and for how long it remained in their power.

Section A.—Monuments of the North of Syria.

HAMATH, RESTAN, ALEPPO; KURTS-OGHLU (ALEXANDRETTA), SINJERLI, KARA-BURSHLU, SAKJE-GEUZI; AINTAB (KILLIZ), MARASH; JERABLUS, KELLEKLI, TELL-AHMAR, SAMSAT, RUM KALI (GERGER).

The town of Hamath has grown up where the main road from the north enters the Orontes valley. This river, in characteristic fashion, flows for the most part deep below the level of the surrounding plains; and Hamath is found at a spot where the banks widen out, so that the town is in a hollow, almost surrounded by escarpments formed of the steep banks and the broken edges of the plain. Though picturesque, the position in general can have had little strategic importance, even in antiquity, being overlooked and exposed. Hence it probably came into being in Hittite times as an important halting-place upon the main road through Syria, and as a natural centre for the surrounding agricultural districts. The original Hittite stronghold would seem to have been more strongly placed; this probably covered the broad-topped mound[185] which marks, in the manner so familiar in old Syrian towns, the beginnings of the site. Doubtless this would be surrounded at a certain stage with a wall, as was the fashion of those days; and later, on the analogy of Sinjerli, the population overspread the limits of the enclosure, and so settled in times of quiet on the tempting ground at the foot of the acropolis. In this development, and in the nature of its situation, Hamath shares largely the general features of many Syrian sites. Being (even now) somewhat out of the way of European travellers, it is curious that numerous inscriptions should have been noticed here, while a famous historical site like Kadesh remains unidentified, and a strong natural position like Restan was until recently without record of Hittite occupation.[186]

PLATE XXXVII