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Mt. Nemrut
 Topping the karst limestone mountain of Nemrut Dagi (2150m/7056ft) in the
south-eastern Taurus 90km/56 miles north-east of Adiyaman is the
Hierothosion of the Kommagene King Antiochus I (69-38 B.C.), dedicated to
his own glory and that of the gods.
Antiochus' tomb is concealed somewhere inside the 50m/164ft high man-made
burial mound, with its spectacular terraces on three sides (east, north
and west). The 80m/260ft long north terrace, lined with (collapsed)
columns, served as a place of assembly and arena for processions and other
rituals.
On either side of the east terrace stand relieves of the King's ancestors,
paternal (Persian) to the north, maternal (Seleucid) to the south, framing
the colossal figures of the gods (heads standing on the ground) facing the
main altar. These include, in addition to eagles and lions, the Greco-Persian
mixed deities Zeus - Oromasdes, Hercules - Verethragna - Artagnes - Ares,
Apollo - Mithras - Helios - Hermes and Kommagene - Tyche, as well as
Antiochus I himself.
A similar arrangement is repeated on the west terrace, which is some
10m/33ft lower than the east. Here the heads of the colossal statues are
better preserved and there are also more of them. The "Lion Horoscope"
with its astral motifs symbolizes the deification of Antiochus I through
the metamorphosis of king into star.
Samsat: The ruins of Samosata (3rd c),
the old Kommagene capital on the Euphrates, now mostly lie submerged
beneath the waters of the Atatürk Baraji (Dam) south-west of Kahta. Only
when the level in the reservoir is low does the 45m/148ft high castle hill,
which in 1990 was still being excavated, break the surface of the water.
The site is reached from Adiyaman by driving east to Anil and then south
along the new road to Yeni Samsat (about 65km/40 miles). From about 640
Samsat, like Adiyaman, was one of the frontier forts (thugur) constantly
changing hands between Byzantium and the Arab and Turkoman invaders,
sometimes under Christian occupation (e.g. 700, 860, 1098) and at other
times Muslim (10th c. Emirate of Aleppo; 12th c. Seljucks).
Arsameia on the Nymphaios:
Approximately 25km/15 miles north-east of Adiyaman, above the east bank of
the Kahta Cayi (Nymphaios) opposite Yeni Kale castle near Eski Kahta (see
below), is a cult and burial site known today as Eski Kale (Mithridates I
Kallinikos) and the summer residence of the Kommagene rulers founded in
the 3rd c. B.C. by Arsames. In addition to the remains of steps and
buildings on the summit plateau (mosaics from the 2nd c. B.C.), a number
of relieves and rock chambers are passed on the approach. Lower relief (II):
the god Mithras - Helios (a further part depicting Antiochus II is missing);
middle relief (I): (fragments) Mithridates and his son Antiochus I,
antechamber (cult site of the god Mithras?) with, to the rear, a rock
tunnel with fourteen steps leading to the burial chamber of Mithridates
(?); upper relief (III): Dexiosis relief of king (Mithridates or Antiochus
I) with the demigod Hercules (extending his right hand), inscription by
Antiochus I, steeply-stepped, blocked, rock tunnel (158m/518ft deep),
purpose unknown.
Cendere Koprusu (Chabinas Bridge):
This well-preserved Roman bridge crossing the Cendere (the ancient
Chabinas) at a point where the river emerges from an impressive gorge into
the wide valley of the Kahta Cayi, was built between A.D. 198 and 200 by
the "legio XVI Flavia firma", stationed in Samosata (Samsat). According to
an inscription four Kommagene towns financed the building of the single-
arched bridge with its span of 34.2m/112ft. One of the original four
dedicatory columns (to Septimus Severus, his wife lulia Domna and their
sons Caracalla and Geta), the one to Geta, was taken down in A.D. 212,
part of an attempt to obliterate any reminder of Caracalla's having had
his brother and co-ruler removed.
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