Emirgazi Altars

Five altars made of black basalt have been found at Emirgazi in secondary locations around 1904 and 1906. Four of the round altars (A, B, C, D) apparently have the same Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription (EMİRGAZİ 1). The fifth piece in a rectangular shape, heavily damaged by secondary usage in later centuries, also has a text with a similar context (EMİRGAZİ 2). A sixth piece obtained in 1953 in Emirgazi from a local villager is the corner fragment of another rectangular block, which has a partially visible single-line inscription on its two vertically meeting sides (EMİRGAZİ 3).

The text on the altars refers to steles (which may imply the altars themselves) dedicated to a divine mountain (Mt. Sarpa). Hawkins suggests the mentioned mountain might be Arisama Dağ considering the proximity of the location where altars were found and adds that a second mountain referred to as "Axe Mountain" in the text may be Karaca Dağ to the south. The naming of King Tudhaliya (IV) in the text as the dedicator dates the items to the second half of the 13th century BCE. The altars and the rectangular block are currently in the Istanbul Museum. The sixth fragment is in the Konya Museum.


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EMİRGAZİ 1A and 1B

   

EMİRGAZİ 1C, 1D, EMİRGAZİ 2 and EMİRGAZİ 3