PLATE LI
AYAZÎN: ROCK-HEWN TOMBS AND EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Cf. [p. 60].
The church may be recognised on the right by its rounded exterior, corresponding to the apse.
The slab is almost exactly thirty inches square and twelve inches thick. The back is rough, and on the upper side is carved a tongue or ‘joggle,’ for attaching another slab: clearly it formed part of the façade of a building like the slabs of Angora, Sinjerli, and Sakje-Geuzi. The drawing of the scene is more angular and less free than is seen on most Hittite works, but there are several intrinsic Hittite peculiarities. Two figures are seated, their feet on footstools, at opposite sides of a narrow table or altar. The head and back of the left-hand figure are missing. The shoes of both turn upwards at the toes, and their garments seem to be long, reaching to their ankles. The end of a toga-like garment is conspicuous on the right-hand figure, falling over the right shoulder and reaching almost to the seat. The head-dress of this figure resembles a skull-cap with expanding front, and a short hood or veil falls behind the neck. The features are sharp, the nose and chin being particularly prominent. The figure is seated on a stool with two straight legs which cross. In the left hand (which, as at Sinjerli and elsewhere, is inaccurately represented with the palm instead of the knuckles towards the observer) there is grasped a small round-topped object; and in the right hand, which is partly raised, there seems to be a cup. The opposite figure is clad alike, so far as it can be seen, and similarly raises a cup towards the lips. The object between them resembles in form the narrow tapering altars seen on the sculptures of Fraktin. Upon it there seem to be a bird, and possibly some other offerings not clearly defined. In the background between the two heads, and above the ‘altar,’ there appear certain marks, in relief, which may be the remains of hieroglyphic signs. It is unfortunate that the whole of this sculpture is not preserved, a circumstance which makes us hesitate to attempt to explain its meaning. It is probable, however, that the persons, being both seated, are in this case on an equality, and both share in the feast, as at Marash,[375] Boghaz-Keui,[376] and Sinjerli.[377] We infer that they are man and woman, but that is not clear. The figure on the right, clad in the toga and long robe, wears also an earring. The seat on the left is not a stool of the same kind as that on the right, but rather a square-shaped chair, though, being broken in two, we have only a portion remaining from which to judge.
In the Phrygian country the rock sculptures of non-Phrygian character near the Midas-tomb at Doghanlu[378] may be thought to carry on the line of Hittite highway to the west. These are found on a plateau above the valley in which are the Phrygian monuments, and they seem to have been anciently reached by means of a road ascending in a gentle curve, now partly hidden at the bottom by accumulated earth. There are several figures of gigantic size carved in relief upon the rocks, but that which has attracted most attention is a small one in the series, two feet four inches high, described by the discoverer as a figure of ‘Hermes.’ The person stands, facing left, his left foot and arm advanced. His hair is dressed close, or it may be covered by a skull-cap, and a curl is visible behind the neck. In the left hand a caduceus is held upright, the head of which is seen like a small disk with horn-like objects projecting from the top and turned towards one another. Beyond the staff are certain picture-signs, amidst which a bird[379] may be recognised, with a small triangular sign below. These signs, in the opinion of the discoverer, are not the same as the Hittite hieroglyphs. None the less, the monument is accepted as Hittite by Dr. Messerschmidt[380] and M. Perrot.[381] We consider their interpretation of the origin of the sculpture to be extremely doubtful. We do not feel so strongly as Professor Ramsay that the Phrygians obviously learned this type from the Hittites of Pteria, as may be seen from a comparison with the youthful god in the sanctuary of that place. On the other hand, the caduceus, the picture-signs, and the short robe of the figure, are not really those familiar in Hittite art. We are told, however, that other sculptures of the series with which the ‘Hermes’ is associated have more in common. The theory of Hittite influence, though not of Hittite origin, is perhaps easiest reconciled with history, and we may accept it tentatively as a working hypothesis explaining their presence, but not as independent evidence.
PLATE LII
AYAZÎN: ROCK-HEWN ROOF OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH