STONE IDOLS AND SCULPTED MONUMENT

A rounded fragment of white stone was recognised by a shepherd amongst rubble by the Cappadocia Gate. This head fragment of the stele that stood on a stepped monument in the gate court shows that the blank face of this semi-iconic Phrygian idol was round in shape with curls of hair on the shoulders represented by bolster-like elements (Fig. 9).
In the laboratory, conservator Noël Siver supervised the sorting and joining of thousands of sandstone architectural fragments from the monumental entrance (Fig. 10). The arduous work of joining pieces of many stone bolsters that were somehow incorporated into the architecture of this same entrance is almost complete. Fragments were drawn (Fig. 11) and the database updated. Like the idols, these architectural elements are of Phrygian inspiration with close parallels in the well-known rockcut façades in the Phrygian Highlands.
Murat Akar took a series of splendid photographs of the sandstone statue and other sculpted pieces (Fig. 12) all of which Catherine Draycott has prepared for publication. She concludes that the statue, which is surely of Phrygian inspiration, probably represents a male ruler. The sculpted block which perhaps formed a base for the statue bears an inscription in Old Phrygian which Claude Brixhe has published in the journal Kadmos. The pieces is dedicated by a person called 'Tata' while the front face includes the names of at least two people, 'Masa Urgitos' (son of Urgos) and 'Uva', neither of whom are attested historically. A new reconstruction of the relief sculpture on the front of this inscribed block, parts of which can be seen in earlier issues of the Kerkenes News, suggests that a pair of figures, perhaps griffin-headed genies, flank a tree or vine beneath a winged sundisc. While there are many uncertainties in this proposal, there can be no doubt that both the iconography and the arrangement contain some distant reflection of Neo-Hittite influence.
Finally, just as the season ended, huge semi-iconic idols in the form of an omega, emerged. Clearly of Phrygian inspiration, these idols have blank representations of faces almost one metre in diameter framed by a raised band representing hair that ends in embossed bolster-like curls on each shoulder. They are double sided, demonstrating that they were freestanding. The illustrated example is the only one to bear inscribed marks both of which are in the form of a “C”. Discovery of these pieces amongst the fallen masonry in the entrance makes clear that these idols originally formed crenellated battlements top of the large tower-like terraces either side of the paved court. It is not known whether these are multiple representations of one and the same deity, presumably the Phrygian Matar or Mother, or were images of an unknown pantheon. The front face of each of these idols is slightly slanted so as to have been lit by the full force of the rising sun. Their appearance would have been truly awesome.
These discoveries were completely unexpected when excavations were begun at the front of the palatial complex. They demonstrate the existence of a Phrygian order of monumental architecture previously hinted at only by the contemporaneous rockcut façades in the Afyon-Eskisehir region. There is sparse indication of Ionian or Lydian architectural conception, and even less of Neo-Hittite or Near Eastern tradition. On the other hand the relief sculpture, though unique, exudes slightly more eclectic nuances.