NEMRUD DAGH
Turkey.
Mountain in the
E Taurus range, in S Turkey near modern Adiyaman.
It was the highest peak (2232 m) in the Hellenistic
kingdom of Commagene, and at its very summit is the
great monument of Antiochos I of Commagene (reigned
ca. 69-ca. 38). It consists of four main parts: at the
summit a huge tumulus ca. 50 m high and built of broken
rock, flanked by leveled terraces to E and W, and at
the E end of the E terrace the stepped platform of a
great altar. Aside from tumulus and altar, the monuments consist of sculpture, usually inscribed. In what
follows the E terrace sculptures are described, but these
were duplicated on the W terrace in almost all (perhaps
originally all) cases, with minor variations in disposition,
style, wording, and of course preservation.
The sculptures are of five main groups: 1) a group
of nine colossal figures backing against the tumulus; 2)
a group of five huge stelae, four showing Antiochos being received by his gods, the fifth a horoscope; 3) flanking the terrace on the N, a row of fifteen stelae representing his Iranian (paternal) ancestors; 4) at the S,
a similar row showing his Seleucid (maternal) ancestors;
5) supplementary stelae depicting (presumably) various
relatives and, more important, one showing the king's
investiture. The colossi, built of sculptured ashlar, represent, from N to S, lion and eagle; then, seated on
sketchily indicated thrones, Artagnes (Verathragna) -Herakles-Ares, Apollo-Mithras-Helius-Hermes, Zeus-Oromasdes (Ahuramazda), Commagene (personified as a Tyche-Abundance figure), and Antiochos himself; finally
eagle and lion. The height of Zeus-Oromasdes is ca. 9 m.
The reception reliefs show Antiochos being received by
each of the above gods.
The direct paternal ancestors of Antiochos were Iranians who had been satraps of Armenia in Achaemenid
times, then moved down into Commagene (first as satraps, later as kings): the Orontids. But what especially
impressed the king was that one of these (Aroandas
Orontes) had married a daughter of Artaxerxes II, while
his own father, Mithradates I, married a daughter of
Antiochos VIII Grypos. Hence the ancestor reliefs. The
Persian shows five Achaemenid kings, from Darius I
to Artaxerxes II, then the Orontids down to Mithradates
I, while the Seleucid line begins (perhaps) with Alexander the Great, goes on to Antiochos VIII, and ends with
several queens. The supplementary reliefs are difficult to
identify securely. Across the great ashlar wall formed
by the backs of the thrones of the colossi is the long
inscription of Antiochos, setting forth details of his life
and aims and containing a sacred law. Finally, the
horoscope shows a lion (Leo) in relief and studded with
stars; it also shows three planets, presumably in conjunction, which are identified as Herakles, Apollo, and
Zeus, i.e. Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter. It must commemorate an important event in the life of Antiochos,
and also explains the three male gods he worshiped and
their strange combinations of names.
All the inscriptions are in Greek. The style of the
sculptures is also Greek in general, but the trappings of
the male gods (with one exception) and of the Iranian
ancestors is Persian. The exception is Herakles: when
shown as a colossus he is depicted in his Iranian manifestation as Verathragna, but on the reliefs he is Herakles, stark naked save for lion-skin and contrasting
strangely with the muffled Persian figures. Notable iconographically is the Armenian tiara of Antiochos (shown
also on his coins), the pointed tiara of the Orontids, and
the leather apron worn alike by Orontids and the Persian
gods.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
K. Humann & O. Puchstein,
Reisen in
Kleinasien und Nordsyrien (1890); L. Jalabert & R.
Mouterde,
Inscriptions Grecques et Latines de la Syrie
I (1929).
J. H. YOUNG
