Hisar Roman Mausoleum: Nobleman, Soldier, or Administrator?

 Photos by Jack A. Waldron

The ancient village of Hisar is located not far from the Septimius Severus Bridge over the Karasu river, and sits along the same main road that ran parallel to the Euphrates. I use the word "ancient", because we know a community existed here in ancient times, as it does today.  Pictured above, a Roman mausoleum dating from the 2nd-3rd century CE, that sits at the center of the village of Hisar.

The village resides in the Araban district, which is part of Gaziantep, an area of Turkey made famous by its production of pistachio nuts, baklava with goats milk, and of course its human history, that dates back to the time sapiens expanded out of Africa.  As you can see in the photo below, the deceased was entombed within the base of the mausoleum.

So, relatively speaking, the Hisar Mausoleum could be considered a modern structure, yet, 1800 years old.  For whom it was built, we do not know?  However, based on the quality of the tomb, we can guess that they were wealthy, a nobleman of a ruling class in the area perhaps, or a soldier made rich, probably in charge of local food production for the Roman Empire, with some title/s, or something to this effect.

The four-sided building supports a 10 meter high pyramidal roof that is crowned with an intricately sculpted square Corinthian capital (pictured above).  Pictured below, the support beams of the pyramidal roof building up to the square peak.

Three pseudo Corinthian columns in L-shaped positions support each of the four corners of the mausoleum, which gives the structure superb strength in combating earthquakes (pictured below).

The square platform base from which the four columns rise is about 4 meters by 4 meters.  It is believed that a dedicatory statue once adorned the center of the platform, based on evidence of mounting clamps to secure such a statue.

It's wanders such as this mausoleum that make Turkey such a magical land!  Upon setting out on my journey, I was not aware of this tomb, but only happened to see it on a local map a few days before my arrival.

As you can see from the large amounts of graffiti on the monument, some locals are not accustom to valuing such antiquities, and I for example am a rare tourist to even visit it, not to mention considering it an international treasure.

Surrounding the mausoleum are a fair number of stone block piles, suggesting there is a larger story to be uncovered here in this small village, someday, by some entity, hopefully to tell the greater history of Hisar.

*All photos and content property of Jack A. Waldron (photos may not be used without written permission)

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