PHRYGIAN ROCK-CUT ALTARS IN THE LIGHT OF NEW FINDINGS AND A TYPOLOGY PROPOSAL

Rahsan Tamsu Polat ()
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Rahsan Tamsu Polat: Ankara University

Anadolu University Journal of Social Sciences, 2010, vol. 10, issue 1, 203-222

Abstract: The Phrygians have a special place among the Iron Age Kingdoms of Anatolia in the first half of the 1st millenium B.C.The archaeological and epigraphical evidence for Phrygian religious cult indicates that the major divinity was a goddess known to the Phrygians as Matar/Mother Goddess who has her origin in Anatolia. She is the goddess of nature and fertility. This goddess was accepted later in the Greek and Roman World. The prominence of Matar is demonstrated by a series of religious rock monuments. The monumental rock facades, the stepped altars and the niches are the most original and impressive types of these monuments. In this study the Phrygian rock cut stepped altars have been studied. These altars are three dimensional monuments carved out in isolated rocks. They are composed of steps and idols which symbolize the goddess.

Keywords: Phrygian; Altars; Matar; Rock Facades; Niches; Ä°dol. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:and:journl:v:10:y:2010:i:1:p:203-222

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