A centuries-old mystery seems to finally have been solved. Arslan Kaya is a 2,600-year-old monument located in western Turkey. The piece, whose name means “lion rock,” features a heavily damaged inscription that has long puzzled archeologists. Now, Mark Munn, a professor of ancient Greek history and archaeology at Pennsylvania State University, has finally deciphered the enigma.
Munn, who published his findings in the journal Kadmos, relied on mid-morning light to figure out what the carving on this 50-foot-tall structure says. As shadows at this time of day highlighted what was left of the inscription and helped him decode the letters—of which only four were well known. After drawing a hypothesis, Munn compared it to photographs of the monument taken in the 19th century.
The professor states that the inscription on the monument spells out the word “Materan” in the Old Phrygian language, along with other characters used in inscriptions as word dividers. Materan is the name of the mother goddess, protector, and a central deity revered by the Greeks. One of the main clues to support his findings is the accompanying religious imagery, like the reliefs of sphinx figures and an image of Materan herself flanked by lions.
“The Greeks knew her as the Mother of the Gods,” Munn told LiveScience, adding that the Romans called her “Magna Mater,” or “Great Mother.” In addition to the dedication to the goddess, which confirms her importance in the region, the text may have featured the name of the person who commissioned it or a message to passersby calling for the structure's protection.
Rather than being a breakthrough discovery, Munn's research supports a long-withstanding theory about what the inscription said. The monument, originally discovered in 1884 by William Ramsay, had long been damaged by looters and natural wear.
Munn's findings also support the generally accepted date for the inscription, thought to be between the first half or middle of the sixth century BCE due to the monument’s stylistic details, such as its tall and angular letters. This coincides with the splendor of the height of the Lydian Empire, which dominated the region alongside the eastern Turkish Phrygian Empire. Ultimately, this discovery could spell out a more robust cultural and religious connection between these two kingdoms.
The inscription on Arslan Kaya, a 2,600-year-old monument located in present-day Turkey, had long puzzled researchers.
Relying on sunlight, shadows, and old photographs, Professor Mark Munn has determined that the inscription reads “Materan,” a central deity revered by the Greeks.
Source: The Phrygian inscription W-03 on the Arslan Kaya monument
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