Nemrut Mountain (Adiyaman)

An artificial hill with a temple built for Roman client king Antiochus I Theos of Commagene, Mt Nemrut is truly an ancient wonder and one that draws thousands of tourists each year.

Commagene was an independent kingdom in what is now the Kurdish south-eastern part of Turkey and it managed to keep its separation from Rome until it sided with Mark Anthony in the war after Julius Caesar's death and became a tribute state under the victorious emperor Augustus.

Antiochus had tried to keep his Greek kingdom independent and it is he whose death caused the building of the temple at Mt Nemrut. Living from 69 to 40 BC, Antiochus took both his religion and heritage seriously and both are displayed at the temple. Born to a Macedonian mother and Persian father, Antiochus had  a heritage linked to Greek pantheon via Apollo and Zoroastriasm, which he displayed in the unique combination found at Mt Nemrut.

The enormous statues, the heads of which now litter the site, combined both Persian and classical Greek features, so that Greek faces wore the headgear more associated with Zoroastrian displays. King Antiochus is also displayed with these gods in massive proportion, though the Romans later destroyed many of these.

Also known as the Nemrut Dagi, the sanctuary has exquisitely carved reliefs that trace Antiochus' family. On one side his father's lineage shows Persian descent from the legendary conquering king Darius; whilst his mother's side shows a bloodline that springs from that other great empire-builder, Alexander the Great. Another notable frieze is that of a lion which shows the positioning of stars and planets, allowing archaeologists to obtain a date of July 7^th 62 BC, probably when construction started or when Antiochus had his coronation. It is likely that these once formed part of one giant frieze.

The arrangement of statues and reliefs was known as a hierothesion, a Greek-derived word meaning sacred burial place of a royal family and a few other sites have similar lay outs.

Statues of ancestors and gods are found throughout the site, but the most imposing feature is the 49 metre tall and 152 metre wide artificial mountain, or tumulus. However, this hierothesion was not intended to be a mere tomb to preserve the remains for centuries.

Instead, Antiochus hoped that his people would come and use the temple built at the site for festivities and religious ceremonies, as the site had a unique astronomical significance due to the calendar the king introduced, one that combined both the Egyptian solar method with the local lunar one. Yet no one has found the remains of this ancient king, despite excavations that have taken place since 1881, initiated by Karl Sester, a German engineer.

Mt Nemrut was made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987 and is a popular tourist attraction, either from bus trips or by helicopter. The town of Adiyaman is the main local urban centre and most tourists come between June and August.

Did you know that Turkey has two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? Click here to find out more.