Mount Nemrut

Hikayemiz

Nemrut or Nemrud is a 2134m mountain in southeastern Turkey, notable for the summit where a number of large statues are erected around what is assumed to be a royal tomb from the 1st century BC.The name is a relatively modern one, dating back to the Middle Ages. In Armenian legend, Hayk defeated the Biblical king Nimrod and buried him in these mountains. Nemrut is most likely to have received its name from an Armenian tradition in which Nimrod was killed by an arrow by Hayk during a massive battle between two rival armies of giants to the south-east of Lake Van.Location and descriptionThe mountain lies 40km north of Kahta, near Adıyaman. In 62 BC, King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene built on the mountain top a tomb-sanctuary flanked by huge statues 8- 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. These statues were once seated, with names of each god inscribed on them. The heads of the statues have at some stage been removed from their bodies, and they are now scattered throughout the site.