BIKE CLASSICAL: Sofraz Tumulus A: Ancient Cesum?

Photos by Jack A. Waldron

I arrived at the Safraz Tumulus in the evening, after 5:00, and there was nobody around, though it looked like there may be guard on duty at times. Though visitors are never allowed to camp near such antiquities, it was late, so, I set up camp, cooked some doner lamb, topped it with fresh tomatoes, and ate it with a loaf of Turkish white bread, then, went to sleep.

The Safraz Tumulus site is located 10 kilometers southeast of Ucgoz village, 30 kilometers southeast of Adiyaman city, and about 25 kilometers north of the 2nd century Roman mausoleum monuments at Elif, Hisarkoy, and Hasanoglu. The question, is this the site of ancient Cesum? Cesum is located in the middle left of the map pictured above, and is located along a tributary of the Goksu river. I don't see another possibility of this being another settlement, unless there is a missing or unknown site on this map?

If there is a perfect time to visit Adiyaman, it's Spring! The fields are green with wildflowers all a bloom, while the air is still fresh, both above and below all tombs. They say, you cannot ride a road in Adiyaman without seeing a Tumulus somewhere in the distance. No, I say that.

As stated below, the Sofraz Tumulus rises approximately 15 meters above the surrounding fields. Here at the site, the sign says 1C CE, while other sources date the structure from between 1C BC to the 2C CE, well. I guess we'll leave the dating to future excavations and analysis.

Not far from the tumulus flows the Safraz River, which is a tributary of the Goksu River, that flows beneath the Goksu Roman Bridge before entering the mighty Euphrates.

There is actually a second tumulus located within a stones throw of the Safraz Tumulus, and I will cover that burial site in my following blog post. Facing away from the Safraz Tumulus, (pictured below), the large hills rising in the distance harbor another elaborate burial tomb containing several sarcophagi.

So, Safraz as I see it, lay along a route circumventing the numerous tributary obstacles that, previous to the massive bridges being built over these tributaries by the Romans closer to the Euphrates, made travel along the mighty river difficult to impossible.

The tumulus is constructed of crushed stone and rubble, that rises above the dromos (entrance) on the southern side of the structure, which is located a further 5-6 meters below ground level. Pictured below, the walled conclave leading to the entrance shaft.

Perhaps such an obstacle (depth) was considered a safer more secure way to protect the grave, that is putting it deep underground, as opposed to building a stone structure above ground, like tombs in Elif, Hasanoglu, and Hisar?

Pictured above and below, the support walls directly outside the steps leading up to the top of the entrance shaft.

Modern wooden stairs take us down to a tunnel entrance that leads into a large vaulted chamber where two sarcophagi are positioned in situ. I included my foot in the photo below in order to give an idea of the depth.

The stone blocks of the structure are very finely crafted, and with no ornamental or relief work present, I wonder if it was cheaper to build a tumulus, then to erect a mausoleum with such decoration. After all, these blocks could be bought, made or quarried in stock sizes, without regard to a facade.

Pictured above, looking upward to the top of the entrance shaft. You cannot see it from this angle, but, there is no locked gate at the top of the stairs to prevent visitors from entering the shaft during off hours. However, it would be very dangerous to try to climb down in the dark! Pictured below, the stone door to the tomb is sitting off to the side, and notice the locking mechanism built into its construction.

I didn't mention it earlier, but the tall guy pictured below showed up in the morning while I was making coffee. He is the güvenlik görevlisi, or, security guard for the tomb, and I immediately apologized for camping next to the tumulus, but he kind, and said not to think about it. He then asked if I would like a tour of the tomb.

As you can see from these photos, the stone work is very fine, and you can see a red band painted along the bottom of the wall, which drops in height as you approach the chamber through the tunnel, or corridor. There must be a reason for such painting, and know I am very curious to find out why this was done.

This corridor is referred to as the 'transition room', and the paint on the walls dropping from high to low as you proceed toward the chamber entrance may have something to do with entering the underworld. The direction of the corridor is north-south, which may also play some role in the ritual of burial and interment.

The burial chamber is elongated east-west measuring 3 by 4 meters, with the sarcophagi buttressed against the east and west walls. The sarcophagi are of a more simple type, lacking the elaborate relief and sculpture of sarcophagi purposed for public display.

Though of a basic design, you can see that the lids and bodies are very smoothly cut, with fine sharp lines, expressing care, strength, and purpose. Both sarcophagi are made of limestone.

Interesting to me, is that both sarcophagi lids have through holes on one end at their ridge.

They appear to be specifically purposed to raise and lower the lid, which could suggest a few possibilities; they were necessary in order to lower the lid a great distance (in this case, 5 meters deep), they were used to raise the lids at an angle within the confined chamber, or, something other, or, all the above.

Regardless, the grave robbers ended up breaking into each of the sarcophagi at one of their ends, probably because they tightly sealed, and, perhaps with sort of adherent, or over time the lids just adhered to their bases naturally?

The arched roof is high, and has protected the chamber extremely well, considering the structure is around 2000 years old.

The dryness and lack of any standing water surprised me most, though you can see that there has been some leaking from the corners of the roof. In my next post, we will take a look at the other Safraz Tumulus, or, the Safraz Tumulus II, which with its somewhat shallow staircase entrance, was much less protected from the elements.