PLATE XLIX
YAMOOLA: GIANT HEADLESS EAGLE STANDING ON A SOLID PEDESTAL SUPPORTED BY LIONS
The background has been removed.
The base of this monument is also of special interest. In each of the two visible panels (hence presumably upon the third) a lion is shown in an attitude not exactly crouching, but as though supporting the weight upon his shoulders and back. His forequarters are too much raised for an ordinary recumbent position, though otherwise the attitude of these animals is reposeful. The left leg in each case crosses over the right, and the tail curls up from between the legs backward over the thigh. The right side is presented in each case, and the face looks outwards. The width of the base, excluding the tail, which projects about five inches, is three feet nine inches. Framing the panels in which the lions are shown, and separating the pedestal from the rest of the monument, there is a curious wavy ridge of stone upon which the eagle is perched. It may possibly be intended as a branch of a tree, but it is made almost to resemble a writhing serpent, with its alternate narrowing and widening.
We have departed from the strict lines laid down at the outset of our inquiry in including this object, which is uninscribed, and bears no direct evidence of date upon it. We do so because we claim it with some confidence as Hittite work. Eagles, in relief and in the round, and lions, are familiar emblems in Hittite religious art, and they are found in association at Boghaz-Keui;[351] indeed, at this place, which we may believe to have been the religious centre for the whole Halys basin, a cult of the eagle seems to have been perpetuated in Hittite times.[352] Hence, though the character and composition of the monument are unique, the emblems which it comprises are familiar subjects in Hittite art, and appropriate to the locality. As to its meaning, however, we can hazard no opinion; its position near the valley of the river suggests a possible relationship, and we know[353] that rivers were sacred to some Hittite tribes.
Leaving now the valley of the Halys, it is a singular fact that there is no permanent trace of Hittite presence on record within the broad circuit which that river encloses, except the ruins of the capital at Boghaz-Keui and of the neighbouring palace at Eyuk. At the former place there is one monument called Nishan Tash, which claims mention independently of the buildings and sculptures to which we devote a special chapter, inasmuch as it is a rock-carving unlike anything else on the acropolis where it is found. It lies between the two fortresses of Beuyuk and Yenije Kaleh, where the surface of a rock facing to the south has been smoothed for a space about twenty feet by ten, and carved with a design or inscription arranged in ten separate lines. It is generally thought that this is an inscription in Hittite hieroglyphs, and probably that is correct; but owing to its extremely weathered state, we do not believe it possible now to recognise the signs with any certainty, though one traveller claims to have deciphered four lines in comparatively recent years. The rock lies back at a considerable angle, and is thus entirely exposed to rain and frost. At the present time the carving simulates a series of animal forms, arranged in pairs facing one another, and (in the second row) of winged creatures placed singly and separated by dividing lines from one another. In the ninth row there is a suggestion of bulls facing one another in pairs, with lowered heads. Doubtless this is illusion,[354] but it shows the unfortunate impossibility of recovering the original inscription with any reliability.
Two further monuments, recently discovered,[355] may be appropriately mentioned, inasmuch as they have no clear relation to any other buildings of the site. They are cubical building blocks of granite (similar to those from Malatia and elsewhere), and the face of each is decorated with a relief. In the upper part of the stone there is a socket-hole, from which fact the discoverers argue that they were the bases for statues, though from the analogy which their other discoveries afford, it would appear more probable that they supported a building carried up in timber. The subject of the relief is clearly religious, and it includes some striking and important features, which appear on each stone. Indeed, the only difference between the two is found in three out of five hieroglyphic signs that occur in each case. Otherwise the subject represented is the same. This shows a priest, clad in toga-like robe standing in an attitude of prayer before an altar. He wears a skull-cap, shoes with turned-up toes, and earring. The toga is worn (in one case plainly) over a short tunic and vest. His left hand is raised towards the altar, and his left foot is advanced. The altar is of square shape, and without parallel in Hittite representations.[356] It is decorated with squares divided by diagonal lines and crosses. There is a little difference discernible in the arrangement of these decorative details, the chief point being that on the one they are arrayed in rows (in which case there are no crosses) and in the other in columns (in which case the crosses form a partial middle column between two of diagonals). Most curious of all, upon the altar, seemingly one on the right hand and one on the left, are two tall loop-like or round-topped objects standing vertically. Behind the altar there seems to be the cult object, which at first glance looks very like a harpoon, though the head is bent somewhat backward. It may, however, be thought to represent some pointed object (like the Hittite hat) on a pole.
(There is a small ivory object recently obtained at Denek Maden, near Chesme Keupru, which we may appropriately mention here,[357] as it is characteristic of a certain class of Hittite objects, though not of direct use to our present subject. Its form makes it improbable that it was a seal in the ordinary sense. On the obverse there is the figure of a god clad in a short tunic; from the hieroglyphs alongside he is to be recognised perhaps as Sandan, or Sandes. On the reverse there is the robed figure of a priest holding apparently a long staff in his hand, and wearing a skull-cap. Certain hieroglyphs accompany this figure also. The character of the object and treatment of detail have several features of special interest.)