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2,000-Year Old Mountaintop Tomb In Turkey Is Simply Spectacular

A mountain in the Taurus Mountain range, Nemrut forms a boundary between the Mediterranean coastal region and the central Anatolian Plateau in southern Turkey. In 62 BC, a tomb-sanctuary was built on the summit of the mountain, at an elevation of 2,134 metres, under the order of King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene.
He was the King of the Greco-Iranian Kingdom of Commagene (a successor state of the Seleucid Empire) whose rulers were a Hellenised branch of the Iranian Orontid dynasty. The Kingdom took over the land between the Taurus mountains and the Euphrates, in the middle of the ancient city of Samosata, acted as a buffer state between Armenia, Parthia, Syria, and Rome.

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King Antiochus formed his own cult during his rule, to be worshipped after he passes away in a Greek form fused with Zoroastrianism. Some written engravings depicted that the king decreed his tomb would be built in a remote place, next to the gods, with him being deified and worshipped among their ranks.
Varying cult beliefs are illustrated in the tomb sanctuary, whose huge statues are classified in a hierothesion of Antiochus, lions, eagles, and several gods of Greek, Armenian, and Iranians, including Heracles-Artagnes-Ares, Zeus-Oromasdes, and Apollo-Mithras-Helios-Hermes.

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During certain periods back in time, the statues’ heads were removed, most likely due to iconoclasm, and dispersed throughout the site, whose statues also depict a fusion of Greek and Persian impacts, with the clothing illustrated in a Persian iconographic style, while a Greek artistic style was indicated through the physical features.
Furthermore, a 49-metre tall tumulus and two ceremonial terraces was also presented within the sanctuary. The western terrace resembles a lion, presenting a positioning of stars and the planets Jupiter, Mercury and Mars, indicating an astrological calendrical representation for ceremonies on account of an astronomical or religious nature.

Source: Wikimedia Uploads

The sanctuary seemed to be lost for hundreds of years, until German archaeologists conducted digs in the late 19th century, indicating that the location was a regal grave for Antiochus, thanks to the inscriptions found across the site. Until now, the following digs have remained unsuccessful in finding Antiochus’ burial chamber.
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