That the life, and possibly the sanctity, of the place dates back to remote antiquity is shown by the discovery[415] of two Hittite inscriptions on the summit of the mountain. The spot called Mahalich is marked by a Byzantine Church, which seems to preserve the ancient sanctity of a high place of older times.[416] The church is supported on the north side by rocks in which a passage can now be traced, though it would seem to have been partly hidden at least by the Byzantine walls. This passage was to some extent artificial, and on its rock-walls are two inscriptions, a short one in relief upon the north, and a longer one incised on the south. The shorter inscription consists of four groups of signs only, translated by Professor Sayce[417] to mean ‘Tarkyanas, the supreme king.’ The other inscription is longer, comprising twelve groups of signs in a row, in addition to the same royal name, which in the middle recurs with little variation in its hieroglyphic form, though surmounted in this case by a winged emblem. There appears in this inscription[418] a hieroglyphic sign otherwise unknown, resembling a horned altar.
In the same neighbourhood, about eight miles to the north-west, there is an outlying rocky hill called Kizil Dagh, which rises sharply from the plain to a height of nearly four hundred feet. The summit of this knoll is crowned with a fortress, the early character of which is betokened, says the discoverer,[419] by its style and by three hieroglyphic inscriptions found near by. We are not yet told the precise nature of the ramparts, but the position of the fortress recalls those of Giaour-Kalesi, Boghaz-Keui, and Karaburna. Near a gate in the western wall, on the right-hand side, the longest inscription of the series is to be seen upon a sort of rock altar. The hieroglyphs are carved in relief, and arranged in two rows. As with the inscription on the Kizil-Dagh, the same royal name appears in the middle of the group of signs, surmounted, it would seem, by a winged disk. Lower down on the hill, but still upon the shoulder, there rises a sharp rock, roughly hewn into the form of a high-backed seat or throne, and on the back of this a bearded figure has been engraved. The personage is represented as seated on a square-shaped throne, his feet upon a stool; but the details of the design are unlike anything else that has been recorded.[420] Much of its peculiarity may be attributed to the unskilled hand that carved it, but there are certain features rendered with deliberation that are worthy of note. The left arm is outstretched, and the hand grasps towards the top a staff with crescental knob, which is held vertically. The lower end of the staff stops short above the stool, possibly in obedience to the general convention of perspective in Hittite art. Were the drawing completed, indeed, in our own convention, with the vanishing point suitably chosen, it would be found that the staff seemed to rest upon the stool. In the right hand, which is just in front of the body, there seems to be a cup of some kind.[421] The dress is not clearly drawn, but there is the suggestion, by a simple oblique line, of a loose fold or possibly the loose end of a toga across the body. The hem of the skirt is fringed. No footgear is apparent, and the head-dress is apparently a degradation of the familiar conical hat, reduced in this case to an inverted V-shape by unskilled drawing. The hair falls straight and backwards upon the shoulders. The seat is curious, and plainly simulates a substantial chair of wood. The back is a solid upright piece, square cut, and the side-pieces which form the arms are lateral strips, connecting the front legs with the back. The footstool is similar in style. Without other evidence it would have been difficult to support an argument of Hittite origins for this carving; but that question does not arise, owing to the presence of a group of hieroglyphs appearing characteristically between the top of the staff and the face, and these signs are at once recognisable as forming the same group which we have met with three times previously in the same vicinity, namely, the royal name read by Professor Sayce Tarkyanas.[422] The same name appears in two other places on the same rock. In the one case it is followed by two short lines of inscription, incised like the rest, and the spelling of the name seems to illustrate an interchangeability of two hieroglyphic signs. Surmounting the whole there is a winged emblem, in which the central portion seems to be composed of two crescents underneath a disk (which is also divided like a crescent). Above the emblem there appear the symbol of sanctity (the divided oval) and the hieroglyph which Professor Sayce interprets as the name of the god Sandes.[423] The same arrangement, with slight variations, is repeated with the other occurrence of the name, which in this case, however, is spelt as in the earlier instances. The centre of the winged emblem may be seen to be a rosette, with a curious spreading object below. Above, two dots follow the name of Sandes, and the picture-sign of a human arm bent ‘in adoration’ is by the side.
These two groups of inscriptions, and the carving which accompanies them, awaken several interesting thoughts. The most important point is one which might be easiest lost sight of, namely, that these sacred places are sought on rocky points or hilltops, bearing out the suggestion of the sculptures near Boghaz-Keui,[424] in which there may be reasonably suspected the surviving traces of mountain-cults, or cults of mountain deities, underlying the newer religious symbolism. There the idea is conveyed in the drawings, here in fact. Who this deity was, in his local guise at any rate, we do not learn. It would seem, however, that he was identified at some time or other with Sandes, just as at Boghaz-Keui most of the various local deities seem to be identified with the chief national god of the age. The monuments before us, then, probably belong to the time when the cult of this god was dominant, as under the Hatti rulers, or during the ascendency of Greater Cilicia (possibly Kas in the inscriptions) as head-state of the Hittite confederacy. As for the name repeated in each inscription, the fact that the winged rosette, or winged emblem of sorts, overspreads it in four instances, leads us to infer from the analogy of similar Hittite monuments,[425] that the name is that of the king-priest of the locality. We recognise then in our Tarkyanas (by whatever name he may have been called) the local dynast of the period of the sculptures, who was the chief minister and representative of the local god.
Who, then, is the seated figure? It may be naturally thought that the group of hieroglyphs repeating the same name decide that fact, but we are led on further consideration to incline to another conclusion. For there is no single example in Hittite art where the king is represented seated or enthroned. On the other hand, it is the god who is found to be enthroned, and the king appears in such scenes by virtue of his priestly office. In this case the winged emblem does not accompany the writing of the name between the figure and his staff; hence it is conceivable that we have here a representation of the deity called by a name which was that used also by the priest; if this be so, then it may be assumed that the priest has really adopted to himself a name similar to, or compounded of, that by which the god was known in the locality.[426]
There is one further point of importance which these inscriptions illuminate. It is hardly to be doubted but that they are all contemporary, especially as we have reason to believe that they each contain the name of the same living person. Yet the different styles in which they are carved—some in relief, others incised, some badly drawn, others outlined with more care—would have otherwise given scope for argument as to different periods of origin. We may dismiss, at any rate for the future, the arguments as to period based merely upon the difference between relief-work and incision, irrespective of style and details.[427]
The plain is broken between Iconium and Tyana by a low ridge called the Karaja Dagh. On the northern side of this, an isolated mass of rocks rises from the plain, and is known as the Arissama Dagh. On one of its highest peaks an ancient fortress, called naturally Arissama Kaleh, commands a track which skirts the northern shoulder of the ridge and looks down on the remains of a village called Eski Kishla (Old Winter Quarters), about four miles distant to the west. The place is now hardly inhabited, save for a few half-starving nomads; but there are considerable traces of an ancient site in the squared stones to be found among the débris. Here there has been found[428] a remarkable stone altar of mushroom shape, and inscribed in the Hittite hieroglyphs. Some three miles south-east is the village of Emir-Ghazi, placed upon the slope of a considerable mound, where also old worked stones are excavated in quantity. Here Professor and Lady Ramsay discovered two further monuments, also inscribed; the one was a fragment of a second altar of the same form, but the original character of the other object remains uncertain, as it had been converted into a water-trough and so considerably damaged.
These three monuments[429] are an important contribution to Hittite archæology, and their position throws considerable light upon the changed conditions and economy of the past. The altar is unique and perfect. It is forty-two inches high, cylindrical in shape, with an expanding top, the diameter of which is twenty-four and a half inches. The material is black basalt. The pedestal tapers somewhat from the base upwards, and the top spreads out sharply like a table. The Hittite hieroglyphs upon it are in relief, and form a seemingly continuous inscription, arranged around the top edge and around the shaft in six parallel rows. A conspicuous feature of the inscription[430] is the Ædicula (so called), being the grouping of the royal or priestly emblems in the form of a shrine (or naiskos) under the outspread wings attached to a rosette, and recalling closely the emblems of the priest-king at Boghaz-Keui.[431] From the second altar, the tray and bottom of which are broken away, one line of inscription is entirely missing, while the ends of the other lines (of which there were five originally) are also wanting. As in the former case the hieroglyphs are carved in relief. This form of altar, though not found elsewhere in the round, is suggested by the rock carving of Fraktin,[432] and is clearly and elaborately represented on the dromos-decorations at Eyuk.[433] In the latter case the altar is placed before the enthroned bull, and towards it the priests and priestess lead up rams to the sacrifice.
The remaining monument is so imperfect that but little can be made out as to its original nature. That it was a corner-stone is certain from the arrangement of the inscription, and we may compare it with the monuments from Aintab[434] and from Marash.[435] Dr. Messerschmidt is inclined to give it the same form as a corner-stone with recessed angle from Carchemish.[436] However that may be, five lines of hieroglyphs in relief are partly preserved upon the two inscribed faces, the rest being cut or broken away; the height is about twenty-five inches, and the width of the sides seventeen and fifteen inches respectively.
PLATE LV