Photos by Jack A. Waldron
Cycling some twenty kilometers southwest of Eregli (Konya), I arrived at what is now believed to be the ancient Neo-Hittite retreat of Warpalawas, the 8th C BCE king of the Hittite principalities of Aramaean.
Along the way, I didn't hesitate to snap a shot of this classic Eastern European built motorcycle (pictured below). It bore the same turquoise blue that my 1966 YL1 Yamaha (and many cycles of the era) had, so there was an instant connection, and affection!
Though the region is a hot dry parched land that boarders a great semi-desert, the Hittite gods have offered millennia of bounty by providing a massive gushing cold water spring from deep beneath the scorched earth, which turns the land into a productive paradise for those who work the fields.
This would indicate the worship of a spring cult, not unlike that of Fraktin, the spring of another Hittite paradise. The site has become a popular picnic destination for locals, and a must see for those in love with the ancients, and their artworks.
Though you can't see the massive Hittite relief in the photo above, the flat face of the rock in the distance contains the fine sculpted images of Warpalawas facing the Hittite storm/weather god Tarhunzas/Tarhunna.
Children run by the colossal relief without much interest, while most visitors give it a once or twice over, but for a few, this scene offers a glimpse at the true meaning of life.
As you approach the relief, it dawns on one how much effort and importance was given to giving thanks to the gods, and it must be said, unconsciously (or not, I think?), expressing the vanity that was held by him, the ruler, the living god, Warpalawas.
Honestly, I know my photos don't do justice to the majesty of the art and representation presented, but I tried to use PhotoShop (pictured below) to enhance the details of the relief.
Pictured below, a full presentation of Tarhunzas/Tarhunna, the Hittite storm/weather god. The history of Tarhunzas/Tarhunna the storm/weather god, the etymology of the name, and cultural significance of the character reaches back to beginnings of the Indo-European language and western asian societal formation.
In the right hand and under the right arm of Warpalawas are featured bunches of grapes, a representation of the bountiful harvest reaped at the benevolence of the gods. In his left hand, he holds wheat stalks, to reinforce the same iconography.
Pictured above and below, Warpalawas, who is accompanied by Neo-Hittite hieroglyphs (pictured closely below) explaining that these reliefs were accompanied by a large statue, probably of the storm/weather god, Tarhunzas/Tarhunna.
Pictured below, a virtual replication of the Ivriz relief, though much cruder in its artistic quality, presumably Warpalawas is face-to-face with the storm/weather god Tarhunzas/Tarhunna. I took this photo in the courtyard of the Nigde Archeological Museum.
I guess I feel an importance in taking selfie images in order to show that I was truly at a site. However, I know that in the largeness of things, humans will eventually go extinct, and the planet will cease to exist, and all of this hullabaloo is for nothing. Still, I am a simple human, so I present myself as if it will have meaning for posterity.
The Eregli (Konya) Archeological Museum holds some very important Late-Hittite finds from the area around Ivriz (featured below).
Found some 75 meters upstream from the Ivriz relief, the bottom half of a late Hittite stele dedicated to the storm/weather god Tarhunzas/Tarhunna by King Warpalawa is on display.
The stele holds two different writings; the back and right side have Luwian hieroglyphs, while the left side is inscribed in Phoenician, which mentions King Warpalawa.
Pictured above, the back of the Ivriz storm/weather god stele. Due to the small space within the Eregli Archaeological Museum, a mirror has been placed on the wall so visitors can see the hieroglyphs on the right side of the stele (pictured below).
The Eregli Archeological Museum also has on display the late Hittite period head of a colossal statue of Serpus, which was found near Ivriz). The style of the beard is Aramaean.
*All photos and content property of Jack A. Waldron (photos may not be used without written permission)
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