Kocaoğuz Stele

The stele was found about 50 km to the west of the city of Afyon at a location known as Kocaoğuz mound. It was reused in a Roman time structure; thus, the original location is unknown. The granite block is about 2 meters tall, 0.5 meters wide, 0.25 meters thick, and weighs about 800 kg. Below a winged sun disk, there is a five-line inscription, which was published by S. Şahin and R. Tekoğlu. The first sentence tells about the conquest of a city or country by a prince, but the name of the prince (Tarpa...?) and city/country (...li) are not clear. The second sentence indicates that the prince has erected this stele for the Storm-god. Assuming that the stele originates from a nearby location, the lack of Neo-Hittite period monuments in this region may suggest that this stele too dates to the Empire period, although contrary opinions exist. It may be a product of the transition period during the 12th to 11th century BCE. The stele is currently in the Afyon Museum.


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