x0x Sunset and Sunrise over Nemrut

[Originally distributed by TurkC-L ]
[See more about Mount Nemrut at: http://www.nemrud.nl/ ]

x0x Sunset and Sunrise over Nemrut

* The Road Up: When the bus, filled with foreign and Turkish tourists,
began its journey up the mountain, nobody was really sure what they were
going to be faced with. The road was quite primitive, steep and winding
* Severed Statues: The history sinks into you. The severed statues we
frequently see in pictures are only a small part of the spectacle at the
peak of one of the highest mountains of Anatolia
* Greek Gods: To our astonishment we realized that most of these heads
belong to the ancient Greek gods: Zeus, Apollo and Hercules. The
engravings that have endured through centuries show writings in Greek
alphabet
* Unity of Genes: The Kommagene Kingdom was founded in 69 BC. The
ancestors of the founder, Mithridathes Kalinikos, reach back to the
Macedonian leader, Alexander the Great and a Persian king, Dariusa.
Kommagene actually means "unity of genes" in Greek, referring to the unity
of different societies at the region

By Emrah Guler

Coming either from Turkey or some other place, almost all of us must be
familiar with the sight of the ancient sculptures of colossal heads of
people -- or gods -- with bizarre hats, and a few animals, lying at the
peak of Nemrut Mountain in southeast Anatolia. Those figures can be placed
along with the Sphinx or the stones in Stonehenge. Many of us don't know
what civilization they belong to, how tall they are, whether they have
bodies somewhere near, or why they were made.

As a curious traveller and a typical tourist, when I had to travel to
eastern Anatolia (to not so touristic cities), I immediately thought "here
is my chance to see those ruins over Nemrut Mountain." I didn't have the
slightest idea how I would go there, what kind of awesome view I would be
confronted with, and how it would affect me. Remembering the impact of the
ruins at Ephesus and the ancient Lycian tombs at Kas and Kekova, I must
say I got pretty excited with the idea.

There is an ongoing debate over whether these ruins near the town of Kahta
should be credited as the eighth wonder of the world. Knowing that the
Pyramids of Egypt, the Lighthouse at Alexandria, the Hanging Gardens of
Babylon and the Ancient Tomb at Halicarnassus are among the other wonders,
it became a must for me, the conscientious tourist, to visit this place.
How to get to the peak

During my visit in the east, I found out that there are two ways to get to
the mountain. One is through Adiyaman city (the more popular route), and
the other is through the city of Malatya.

Because of geographical convenience, I selected the route from Malatya.
The tour organized by a branch of the Tourism Ministry offers you a plan
that initially sounds great. A bus filled with tourists is to take off
about noon and arrive at the peak about four hours later. People check
into their rooms at the motel and a couple of hours later are supposed to
travel 15 more minutes up the mountain to see the real sight and watch the
sunset near the historical ruins. Following a short night at the hotel,
sunrise is to be watched. And after breakfast the bus takes off back to
Malatya.

When the bus, filled with foreign and Turkish tourists, began its journey
up the mountain, nobody was really sure what they were going to be faced
with. The road was quite primitive, steep and winding. As the bus moves up
with an average of 40 kph (for the last hour of the journey, the speed is
about 10 kph, due to the never ending curves), the anticipation built
intensely, as if in a Hollywood disaster movie. I imagined an inspiring
combination of endless rocks and artificial green at the end of the
journey; motels and cafes scattered around with lots of cheerful people
positioning themselves on the historical ruins, where they can enjoy both
the comfort of modernity and the spell of history while seeing the sunset.

When we finally arrived at a flat land with a decrepit building without
any sight of anything living (human, animal or plant), I realized with a
sudden disappointment that it was the motel of our tour. We checked into
the place where there was no water, no windows that you can open and warm
beer; I tried to comfort myself with thoughts of the sight we have almost
reached.
The sight at the peak

Within a couple of hours, we got back into our bus to finally reach our
destination. And when we finally reached the peak, it was difficult to
have an initial reaction after hearing so much about the place and the
fervent anticipation.

But soon, the history sinks into you. The severed statues we frequently
see in pictures are only a small part of the spectacle at the peak of one
of the highest mountains of Anatolia. At the very middle of the flat peak,
there stands a hill with a height of 50 meters and 150 meters radius,
consisting of stones broken specifically to create the artificial hill.

We discovered that the hill serves to cover the tomb of King Antiochos I
of the ancient civilization of Kommagene. The ancient people of Kommagene
found the highest place to bury their king, and now, entering the third
millennium, the tomb lies mysteriously beneath the millions of stones.

At three sides of this monumental tomb there are altars, engravings and
statues to honor the king. The heads we are all familiar with are at most
three meters high, and the actual amazement arises when their bodies lie
in front of your eyes. Once more, to our astonishment we realized that
most of these heads belong to the ancient Greek gods: Zeus, Apollo and
Hercules. The engravings that have endured through centuries show writings
in Greek alphabet. It is astounding that these historical ruins in eastern
Anatolia, at 2150 meters altitude, do not belong to Assyrians or
Babylonians but the Hellenistic civilization.
Sunset from 2150 meters

The Kommagene Kingdom was founded in 69 BC. The ancestors of the founder,
Mithridathes Kalinikos, reach back to the Macedonian leader, Alexander the
Great and a Persian king, Dariusa. Kommagene actually means "unity of
genes" in Greek, referring to the unity of different societies at the
region.

The sunset was truly beautiful from 2150 meters, as the view is of a vast
land that includes Ataturk Dam. But by chance the weather was misty, and
although very beautiful, the sun didn't really look much different than
from any other place. After a tiring day, we slept, only to be woken up at
4:30 a.m. to then watch the sunrise.

A message from one tourist to another: The ruins are a sight to be seen,
but either the sunrise or the sunset is enough. And if you can arrange it,
visit the place either in the end of spring or at the beginning of summer,
as apparently the sunrise and sunset are at its most charming. Also,
travelling from Adiyaman, instead of Malatya, reportedly offers you much
more than our trip. Despite a few weaknesses in the tour and the hassle of
getting there, the trip to see the awe-inspiring statues is well worth it.

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