"Mountains were God in Anatolia in Ancient Time" Adiyaman Ili by RUMISABUNCU

Adiyaman, in southeastern Turkey, was originally founded in the 7th century A.D. and settled by Omayyads of Damascus, Abbasids of Baghdat, Selcuks, Mongols, Memluks, and Ottoman Turks. Of interest in the city is the Adiyaman Citadel which dates back to the 8th century A.D. and the 16th century Abdulgani Mosque, an Islamic religious building.

Tourists mostly come to Adiyaman to visit the biggest attraction in the region, Nemrut Dagi (or Nemrut Mountain). The site was constructed by the Roman Antiochus I, king of the small Commagene civilization, as his own final resting place. Giant-sized head statues of Apollo, Fortuna, Zeus, Herakles and Antiochus I atop the highest peak of the mountain make an impressive sight. The king traced his descent to the gods through Alexander the Great. There are also eagle and lion statues. Among the numerous reliefs, one of the most striking is the constellation Leo on the west terrace.

Nearby Karakus tumulus, surrounded by carved pillars with animal motifs, is said to be the burial site of the Commagene royal women. One column carries a sculptured black eagle on the top; thus, the name karakus (“black bird” in Turkish) was given to the site.

On the road to Kahta village (ancient Arsameia) is the 300 feet long single-span Roman Era Cendere Bridge over the Kahta Cayi (ancient Nymphaium River).

Nemrut Dag (Mt Nemrud) is a mountain measuring 2,150meters in height. It is located near the village of Karadut in Kahta county in the province of Adiyaman. Kings of the Kommagene dynasty from 80 B.C. to 72 A.D ruled Adiyaman and its vicinity. This kingdom, whose capital was Samosata (now called Samsat), was founded around 80 B.C. by Mithridates 1, father of Antiochos 1. The kingdom's independence came to an end with its defeat by Roman legions in the last of the Kommagene wars and it became part of the Roman province of Syria. At its height, Kommagene extended from the Toros (Taurus) mountains on the north to the Firat (Euphrates) river on the east and southeast, to present-day Gaziantep on the south, and to the county of Pazarcik in Kahramanmaras on the west.The magnificent ruins on the summit of Mt Nemrud are not those of an inhabited site however. They are instead the famous tumulus (burial mound) and hierotheseion (a word that is derived from Greek and refers to the sacred burial precinct of the royal family, and whose use is known only in Kommagene) of King Antiochos I of Kommagene, who ruled from 69 to 36 B.C. In a cult inscription, King Antiochos declares that he had the site built for the ages and generations that were to follow him "as a debt of thanks to the gods and to his deified ancestors for their manifest assistance". The king also declares that his aim was to provide for the people an "ex- ample of the piety that the gods commanded be shown towards the gods and towards ancestors. "Professor K. Dorner has traced the genealogy of Antiochos 1, who was himself born of a Persian father and a Seleucid-Macedonian mother. His findings indicate that Antiochos I of Commagene claimed descent, through his father Mithridates, from Dareios (Darius) 1 (522-486 B.C.) and, through his mother Laodike, from Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) Mt Nemrud is located 100 kms from Adiyaman. No reference is made to it in ancient sources. Karl Sester, a German road engineer, rediscovered it in modern times in 1881. An expedition to Mt Nemrud was organized in 1882-83 by Karl Humann and Otto Puchstein, who published their findings in a book entitled Reisen in Kleinasien und Nordsyrien (Berlin 1890). Osman Hamdi Bey and Osgan Effendi also investigated the site in 1883 and their findings were published in a book entitled Le Tumulus de Nemroud Dagh (Istanbul 1883). F. Karl Dorner and Rudolf Naumann mounted an expedition to Mt Nemrud in 1938. Dorner returned to the site after 1951 and began working there with the US researcher Teresa Goell. In 1984, a Turkish-German team led by Professor Dorner successfully carried out restoration work at the site. Excavation and restoration work has been continuing since 1989 under the direction of Sencer Sahin. In 1989,