| Adiyaman(153
km. northeast of Gazia Antep). The Archaeological Museum houses regional
finds from the Lower Firat wjich date from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic
ages. |
Mount
Nemrut (Adiyaman)
|
|
| Good
quality kilims woven in bright colors sell for reasonable prices in the
bazaar. Surrounding monuments include the ruins of an Abbasid citadel (restored
by the Seljuks) and the 14th century Ulu Mosque. The discovery of oil in
the region has brought prosperity to Adiyaman. 5km. to the north is Pirin
(Perre), that boasts a large Roman necropolis dug out of the rock and
soil. |
Relief
of Heracles and Mithridates
(Eski
Kahta - Adiyaman)
|
Cendere
Bridge
(Yeni
Kahta-Adiyaman)
|
| Adiyaman,
as well as Kahta (which also has good accommodation and camping facilities),
make good bases from which to visit Nemrut Dagi (Mount Nemrut) National
Park. You can hire transportation in either town. On the smmit of Nemrut
Dagi, at 2.150 meters the highest mountain in Northern Mesopotamia, sits
the gigantic funerary sanctuary erected in the first century B.C. King
Antiochos I of Commagene. |
Karakus
Tumulus (Adiyaman)
|
The
engineering involved continues to amaze visitors seeing for the first time
the artificial tumulus as it is flanked by terraces on which rest the colossal
statues of Apollo, Zeus, Heracles, Tyche and Antiochus. Time has inflicted
heavy damage on the sculptures - their torsos sit with their beautifully
carved heads at their feet. |
| |
|
Cendere
Bridge
(Kahta-Adiyaman)
|
At
ancient Eskikale (Arsaameia of Nymphaios), a magnificent relief
in the ruins of what scholars believe might have been the Commagene Palace
depicts Heracles greeting the Commagene king, Mithridates. Opposite this
site, separated by the Eski Kahta river, are the remains of Yenikale
(New Castle) built by the Mamluks. Other nearby sights include the
Roman bridge at Cendere and another Commagene royal tumulus, Karakus. |
|
