[1971] Mount Nemrut, Adıyaman, Turkey #1

The Mount Nemrut (Nemrut Dağ) is a historical place listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site is located at an altitude of about 2200 meters (7200 ft). The haunting sculptures overlooking Mount Nemrut are some of the most magnificent that you’ll find anywhere in the world. Giant heads built in the 1st century B.C. under the Commagene Kingdom look out over an incredible sunrise and sunset every day. These massive sculptures are like just about nowhere else in the world, weighing at 6 tons and are a full 10 meters tall.

 

The sculptures were built by King Antiochus I Theos of Commmagene as a tomb-sanctuary for himself. The sculptures are of himself, of himself, two lions, two eagles and various Greek, Armenian, and Medes gods, such as Zeus-Aramazd or Oromasdes (associated with Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda), Hercules-Vahagn, Tyche-Bakht, and Apollo-Mihr-Mithras. The sculptures themselves show the “East meets West” nature of the kingdom, as the facial features are Greek but the clothing they’re wearing is decidedly more Eastern. They are no longer standing in their original positions, but the scattered effect of the sculpture’s current positions is almost more jarring than if they were neatly in a row as they almost certainly were originally intended.

 

For further reading: whc.unesco.org/en/list/448

 

Location: 37°58’51.75”N, 38°44'26.42"E

Done