Nemrut Mountain

Eastern and Western Civilizations, 2150 m. The intersection point in a magnificent pyramid at a height, the eighth wonder of the world, Nemrut, is in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage with its fascinating statues up to ten meters high and inscriptions that are meters long.

Mount Nemrut attracts attention with its giant statues and mausoleum, as well as being the place where the world’s most magnificent sunrise and sunset can be watched. Every year, thousands of people come to Mount Nemrut to watch the sunrise and sunset.

Declared as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, Mount Nemrut is one of the important National Parks of the country, together with the artifacts of the Commagene Civilization around it. The giant statues and tumulus on Mount Nemrut, Arsameia (Old Castle), New Castle, Karakuş Hill and Cendere Bridge are located within the borders of the National Park.

history

For two thousand years, the sun rise and set at 2150 m. In order to solve the mystery of the giant statues watching at a height, it is necessary to go to the discovery of the Commagene Civilization.

The team headed by the young scientist Otto Punchtein, who was sent to the region by the Royal Academy of Mount Nemrut to conduct research, works on the tumulus on the top of Mount Nemrut and on the colossal sculptures and various reliefs on the terraces formed on the east and west sides of the tumulus. Punchstein, who deciphered the Greek inscription after long studies, discovered that these works belonged to the Commagene Civilization and were built by the Commagene King Antiochos I. The inscription, written by Antiochos, contains the secret of Mount Nemrut and the laws of Antiochos.

The excavations that led to the emergence of the Commagene Civilization were carried out in Arsameia, Samsat and the Euphrates Basin, apart from Mount Nemrut. The movable artifacts unearthed in the excavations in the region have been preserved in museums, and the rest in the National Park Area.

Kingdom of Commagene

Commagene, which means “Community of Genes” in Greek, is a powerful kingdom in which the beliefs, cultures and traditions of the Greek and Persian civilizations are integrated. The ancient Kingdom of Commagene, located at the junction of various roads in the Taurus Mountains, was located in the fertile lands of the North of Syria, Hatay, Pınarbaşı, the Northern Taurus Mountains and the Euphrates River in the east. It is understood from the caves and archaeological finds in the vicinity that the lands of Commagene, which are suitable for agriculture and animal husbandry and contain cedar tree forests of high economic importance, have been used as a settlement area since ancient times.

Commagene, the small but powerful country of the ancient world, was founded as an independent kingdom in 109 BC by Mithradates Kallinikos, the son of a prince who was related to Darius, one of the Persian Kings, known as the “King of Kings” on his father and Alexander the Great, the Macedonian Ruler on his mother’s side. Mithradates Kallinikos, who achieved great success in ensuring the unity between the Commagene people, who were composed of different communities and had different beliefs and cultures, had temples built in various parts of his country, believing that he would strengthen his bond with the gods and thus make his nation live in peace.