Antakya - Nemrut Dag - Adiyaman
We left Antakya by 7:00 A.M to endure a very long and tiring day, sat on the bus for what looked like a never ending distance, which was to take us to the UNESCO site of Nemrut Dag, with just a stop at Adiyaman, for lunch, though the whole tiredness proved to be paid off at the end of the day when we finally reached Mount Nemrut (2,150 m) and the last resting place built by Antiochos I (69-31 BC) of Commagene on its top.
On the way up (Left) and down (Right) Mount Nemrut.
The East terrace (Left).The West terrace (Right).
The East terrace (Left).The West terrace (Right).
West Terrace. Antiochos I (Left). West Terrace. Commagene (Right)
East Terrace. Head of guardian eagle and lion (Left). On the way down (Right).
No description can equal the emotions felt as we watched the sunset from the West terrace. I can't but feel an intense admiration for the man, who in describing the reasons for having had this sacred resting place built up, stated
" ... I justify my intention in erecting, close to the celestial thrones and on foundations inaccessible to the ravages of time, this hierothesion where my body after having aged in the midst of blessings, will sleep in eternal rest separated from the pious soul flying off towards the celestial regions of Zeus-Oromasdes ..."
The peaceful surrounding ... the radiant light ... the closeness to the sky ... the cool breath of air ... and the serenity of the moment, allied to the inner silence, made it all look so unreal and undescribable, that anyone in search of a refuge, (whether in this or any other "life") might be tempted to sellect such a place ...
As we alked down, to once again get onto a bus (this time some hired smaller buses to carry us from and back to the hotel in three groups), I felt the long journey had been worth it ...
We were in Eastern Anatolia ... and I was beginning to like it. On our way to Adiyaman, Christian an I had already commented on the change of landscape ... the blue coastline had given way to long stretches of cotton wool plantations ... interspersed by honey coloured mud like fields with specks of green ... with people working on them or selling their products on the side roads, beside the hundreds of gravestones spread along the slopes of the small hills behind them.
Multiple views along the way
Adiyaman has been the only place (so far), in which I came across quite a few women dressed in black with their veils covering their faces completely ... I believe this aspect has in a way "densified" the mystery, which has been on my mind, since my childhood in regards to the far Easter European countries ... and which does not necessarily correspond to what these countries are like nowadays, Atatürk having played a major role in what Turkey is today (... but I'll talk about him further ahead ...).
We have got a long way ahead of us tomorrow ... and though I feel slightly tired I am once more looking forward to what tomorrow might "unveil".
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