PLATE LXVIBOGHAZ-KEUI: GROUP OF TWO MONSTROUS FIGURES STANDING POSSIBLY ON A WINE-PRESSIn the large recess at Iasily Kaya.
PLATE LXVI
BOGHAZ-KEUI: GROUP OF TWO MONSTROUS FIGURES STANDING POSSIBLY ON A WINE-PRESS
In the large recess at Iasily Kaya.
The three figures following this pair have been described, and with them the second straight length of wall comes to an end. The next bend is inwards, and the wall becomes nearly parallel to the axis of the chamber, containing in this length nine further figures. The leaders[515]are similar in general appearance to those which precede them, though the object carried on the shoulder may be thought to resemble rather the mace carried by the head of the whole procession. The same may be said of two others[516]of this series, but the condition of the stone is too bad to enable much detail to be gathered. In regard to the pair between these,[517]no objects are now visible in their hands, while their costumes also show some difference of detail. The one seems to have a long cloak, or possibly a staff, hanging from the arm, while the robe of the other is striped horizontally over the left leg. The third figure of the group[518]is peculiar; the arms seem to be thrown forward, with a cloak or long staff hanging down from below the shoulder, while the hat also is inclined slightly forward. A horn or peak to the hat is also traceable. The two last of this series[519]resemble rather the type of the figures supporting the leader of the procession, both as regards costume, position of the hands, and the curving forward of the hat, even though the heads are not inclined as in the earlier instance quoted. There next follow, on a short return of the wall, three figures[520]which we found too weathered to describe, though two of them have been represented by earlier visitors asbearded and wearing embroidered robes. The next and last turn of the wall, which now resumes its main parallel direction, is occupied by thirteen figures, of which the first[521]seems to be a robed and bearded figure of the kind indicated by those two which precede it. It stands apart from those which follow; so too do the next two, though not so far, while the remaining ten figures[522]are close together. These twelve figures are all alike, clad in tunics, conical hats, and tip-tilted shoes. They carry no weapons, and their right feet are partly raised, touching the ground only with the toes, as in the act of running, which is suggested also by the position of the arms, drawn up at the double, and to some extent by the poise of the bodies. These figures also, unlike the rest, are not in procession but in line, for the right elbows and right feet of the more advanced are hidden by those which are shown behind them, and the left hands of the latter partly hide the former—a convention of perspective adopted freely by Egyptian artists also, and repeated in an inner gallery which has yet to be described. This completes the series of sculptures on the left.[523]
BOGHAZ-KEUI: PLAN OF THE ROCK SANCTUARY CALLED IASILY KAYA, WITH THE POSITIONS OF THE SCULPTURES NUMBERED.
BOGHAZ-KEUI: PLAN OF THE ROCK SANCTUARY CALLED IASILY KAYA, WITH THE POSITIONS OF THE SCULPTURES NUMBERED.
This series of sculptures finds its counterpart in those upon the opposite side of the recess, which being lessnumerous, and for the most part like one another, are more readily described. The figures are twenty-two in number, of which only two are male; they are represented likewise in procession, but approaching in the opposite direction with their faces turned consequently to the observer’s left. The leading figure, which is opposed to the godlike figure just described, is likewise of majestic stature. She stands upon the back of a panther, which in turn is poised upon four low flat-topped pedestals (or ‘mountains’). She is clad in a long pleated skirt with train and waistbelt; the upper part of the body seems to be bare or clothed in a tight-fitting garment, and the female breast is suggested in the fulness of the bust below the outstretched arm. Her head-dress is the ‘mural crown,’ an upright flat-topped bonnet with vertical supports.[524]Her long plait of hair and turned-up shoes are conspicuous. Both arms are forward; with her left hand she holds a long staff on which she partly leans, and with her right she proffers certain special emblems,[525]which almost touch those held out by the male figure which meets her. To complete the balance of composition, the forepart of a goat with a conical cap upon his head, protrudes from behind her dress also.
PLATE LXVIIBOGHAZ-KEUI: ONE OF THE FEMALE FIGURES OF THE RIGHT-HAND SERIES IN THE LARGE RECESS AT IASILY KAYA (Seep. 224.)
PLATE LXVII
BOGHAZ-KEUI: ONE OF THE FEMALE FIGURES OF THE RIGHT-HAND SERIES IN THE LARGE RECESS AT IASILY KAYA (Seep. 224.)
The figure that follows, though smaller, is none the less striking and important. It represents a boy or beardless man, with curling pigtail, in the now familiar costume, consisting of short tunic, shoes with toesupturned, and a conical fluted hat. He also stands upon the back of a panther, which differs only from the former in the position of its tail, which is held up while the other is kept low.[526]With his outstretched right hand he clasps the upper end of a staff, and in his left he holds an axe with double head,[527]the offensive edges of which are curved. A short dagger with semicircular handle hangs by the belt, but worn in this case on the right side, doubtless at the discretion of the artist, so as to avoid breaking the contour of the figure. The symbol which seems to denote his name is the lower part of the body and legs of a small being clad in the same fashion as the figure itself, under the usual oval emblem.
Behind are two female figures, which in all respects resemble that which heads this series, except that they are smaller, and the emblems above their right hands are different. These sculptures are comparatively well preserved, being in a corner sheltered somewhat from the weather. Their headgear, staves, long plaits (or shawls) down their backs, and turned-up shoes, are particularly clear. They form a pair, standing as though supported by a double-headed eagle with outspread wings.[528]The heads of the eagle face in opposite directions, and the wings, which are turned upwards towards the tips, are represented, as in a previous case, by lateral lines bound by vertical bands on each side. An interesting addition to the design is in the horseshoe-shaped device,[529]the ends of which only, however, are seen, as though placed over the back behind the wings: theydescend as a thin line on each side of the body and curl outwards at the level of the top of the legs. The legs of the eagle are wide apart, and the talons are in the position of resting on something flat which is not represented.[530]This completes the sculptures on the main frontage. The figures which follow, as far as the twenty-first, are nearly alike, and closely resemble the female figures just described. They all stand, however, on the level; their left hands are upraised towards the face, and the staff which seems to be held by their right hands is clearly seen to curve away towards the top. The eighteenth figure is distinguished by obliquity of the pleats in the skirt, but it falls none the less naturally into the series. It may be said also that in not one of these figures is there clear proof preserved that earrings were worn, though the suggestion is present in several cases. Their height averages two feet eight inches. Two are found in the recess formed by the return of the wall to the right, and there is space for a third on the weathered surface of the rock. Seven others follow in a somewhat irregular line, which is broken by a small gap in which one more is found. Two follow on a slight projection, and seven others along the receding wall bring the series to an end.
PLATE LXVIIIBOGHAZ-KEUI: THE CHIEF PRIEST, POSSIBLY THE KINGLast sculpture on the right in the large recess at Iasily Kaya.
PLATE LXVIII
BOGHAZ-KEUI: THE CHIEF PRIEST, POSSIBLY THE KING
Last sculpture on the right in the large recess at Iasily Kaya.
The twenty-second figure is quite different, and worthy of special study. It is of much greater size, being eight feet high, and it stands alone on the inner face of a projection in the rock, thus facing the innermost portion of the enclosure where the two processions meet. In it we see again upon a larger scale the details of costume, with toga, skull-cap, and tip-tilted shoes, which we have already noticed inconnection with the ninth figure on the left, only in this case the figure faces to the observer’s left; the left arm is thus the one that is sleeved, and the loose end of the robe hangs over the right shoulder, reaching almost to the ground and ending possibly in a tassel. The dirk is by the right side, and the reversed lituus is grasped in the left hand, which is raised to hold it. The cap has three bands round the edge; a pigtail is possible but doubtful. The feet rest on two rounded pedestals with scale-like surfaces;[531]and the extended right hand supports a series of emblems.[532]These form a somewhat complicated group; in the middle of it there is a small bearded figure wearing a conical ribbed hat which tilts forward at the top, and clad in a long robe decorated with scale-like pattern. At the sides are three protrusions which are difficult to explain.[533]This little figure rests upon what resembles a Hittite shoe, the toe of which is prominently upturned. Its left hand is upraised above the head, and the right arm is outstretched. The outside elements of this emblem are tapering columns of three flutes capped by Ionic volutes; between these and the figure a third device intervenes on each side, consisting possibly of a dirk with its point resting in a quiver. The whole is covered by a device in which two rosettes form the central features, the lower one encircled by a horseshoe-shaped object, and borne on a pair of outspread wings as previously described. This figure, we shall find, recurs once more in a group in the adjoining gallery, to which we shall shortly pass.
On the opposite side of the same projection of rock,and therefore facing to the south, exactly where we have defined the entrance, there is a group of two figures[534]which have not been previously described, but are characteristic and of special interest. These are very difficult to trace on the weather-beaten rock, and to make out the details it is necessary to examine them in various lights, particularly in the early morning and again in the early afternoon. By this means it is possible to make out that the group consists of two females or robed figures seated at opposite sides of a table in the characteristic attitude seen on the slabs representing ceremonial feasts, from Marash, Sinjerli, Yarre, and elsewhere.[535]One of the figures at least has the appearance of a plait of hair or shawl thrown back; the chair on which she sits seems to be solid. Certain emblems accompanied each figure, but these cannot now be identified, except the oval emblem of sanctity or divinity which surmounts each group.
On the next bend of the wall, some six yards distant, and thus really outside the main chamber, there are two monstrous winged figures just over three feet high. They face one another on opposite sides of a narrow rift in the rock, which seems to have been the ancient approach to an inner sanctuary adorned also with a series of sculptures. That on the left hand[536]presents most detail. The body and limbs are human, but the head is that of a lion, and two short wings are added behind, of which the right is slightly raised and the left hangs down. The hands are raised one on each side of the head, and the fingers are extended like claws, adding menace to the threatening aspect of the jaws, as in warning to those who dared to approachthe entrance over which it watched. A short tunic tied across the waist reaches barely to the knees, and around the lower edges a broad fringe may be traced. The upper part of the body seems also to be clad in a garment fastened down the front. The carving of the companion figure,[537]on the opposite side, seems hardly to have been completed in detail, though it reproduces in general the design and appearance of the former.
PLATE LXIXBOGHAZ-KEUI: THE SMALL GALLERY AT IASILY KAYABOGHAZ-KEUI: HITTITE PORTRAITSThree figures from the group on the left in the small gallery at Iasily Kaya.
PLATE LXIX
BOGHAZ-KEUI: THE SMALL GALLERY AT IASILY KAYA
BOGHAZ-KEUI: HITTITE PORTRAITS
Three figures from the group on the left in the small gallery at Iasily Kaya.
The entrance which these creatures guard is now closed by fallen stones, and access to the interior is gained further to the right by climbing over stones and rubbish at a place which would seem to have been originally closed. On entering from this end we find ourselves in a narrow gallery between vertical walls of rock, which open out slightly as we advance. By the original entrance, however, the approach would be from the broader end.[538]On the west side there are carved twelve male figures[539]side by side, resembling the similar group in the main chamber already described.[540]In this case, however, the group is low down, and until recent times was partly or wholly covered with earth, so that the sculptures are in excellent preservation.[541]The action and attitude of the figures suggests a quick march in line. The costume and details in each case are the same, and have already become familiar. Each wears a short tunic with a fold in front, a belt around the waist, shoes with upturned toes, conical ribbed hats with brim, and a horn-like emblem attached to the front. The earring is plain in several cases. The left arm is forward and turned up at the elbow, the hand being empty. Theright hand holds a weapon like a sickle, which rests upon the shoulder, the curved part of the blade being upwards. The form is very nearly that of the sacredkhopeshof Egypt.[542]The figures are not unnaturally stolid, but the faces are heavy and the nose and lips thick, though not protrusive.
On the opposite wall are two important sculptures, facing in the same sense. The front one[543]is generally regarded as an heraldic figure. It is very tall, being about eleven feet in height. The upper part is the body of a man, face right, wearing the conical hat with ribs and rings. He is represented as clad in lion-skins, two of which hang from the shoulders, the heads facing outwards and replacing the arms, which are not visible or suggested. The other pair hang downwards from the waist, each suspended by one foot, their other hindlegs being drawn under the bodies and approaching close to one another. The heads of the lions reach with the forepaws to the approximate level of knees. The whole design may be alternatively regarded as composed of lions in this combination, replacing altogether the body of the man, while reproducing the same form. Below the knees the legs are replaced by a device which may be taken for the tapering point of a great dagger or dirk with midrib. The figure has no visible frame.
PLATE LXXBOGHAZ-KEUI: THE DIRK-DEITY, CLAD IN LION-SKINSIn the small gallery at Iasily Kaya.
PLATE LXX
BOGHAZ-KEUI: THE DIRK-DEITY, CLAD IN LION-SKINS
In the small gallery at Iasily Kaya.
We come now to the last sculptures of the series, which form a group of two figures.[544]The one is great and majestic, resembling on a large scale in all details the youthful figure that stands upon the lioness in the main series.[545]Only in this case the rings in the conical hat are prominent, and seem not to lie whollybetween the ribs, but to be bisected by them. The left hand also, which in the other figure holds the double-headed axe, here grasps the upraised right wrist of a smaller figure, which his left arm enfolds about the neck. This smaller figure is in all respects similar to that which we have met with twice previously in the outer chamber,[546]clad in the toga as before, and carrying the lituus reversed in the hand which is free. The curled end of a pigtail is seen behind his shoulder, but this may be judged to belong to the larger figure, on account both of its large scale and position, and because the bare neck of the smaller figure is visible. Both figures are identified by the emblems which accompany them: the greater by the device of a small body and legs, held up as in its counterpart by the outstretched right hand; the smaller one by the composite group placed in the bare space above his head to the right. This is the same as that accompanying the figure mentioned,[547]except for the small central figure which is here replaced by a different symbol, thought by some to be a phallus. The symbols on either side give the impression ofuraeicrowned with a disk, seen in full face, but the real motive is doubtful.
So many and so various are the hypotheses that have been put forward as to the meaning of these sculptures,[548]that it will prove less confusing perhaps to regard them entirelyde novo. We are the more constrainedto do so, in that the attention of scholars has been largely focussed on the identification of the deities in the central group, without much consideration of the series as a whole, or its relation to Boghaz-Keui and the Hittite peoples. It seems to us that the whole series must from its composition illustrate one central idea, on which any explanation of individual figures should throw some light. Looking then broadly at the sculptures, it is clear that certain of the figures, notably those with wings, are of divine aspect, representing gods or minor deities.[549]The exalted figures which lead the procession must then be those of gods or of persons held in highest reverence. These are, on the left, firstly, the great male figure borne on the shoulders of two ministers, and behind him two other male figures of like kind but lesser magnitude. On the right are the leading female figure and the youth borne on the backs of lionesses or panthers. Behind these is a pair of female figures, clad like their leader, standing upon the emblem of the two-headed eagle. These two groups are parallel; if the leading figures are those of gods, as we are led to infer, the pair of figures which follow on each side should equally be gods or personages of divine rank. Casting our eyes left and right we find numerous figures clad in like fashion to their leaders, and we conclude that the gods of the Hittites at this stage of their art are represented in their national costumes as they are in human form.[550]The train which follows the goddess and her youthful companion and the female divinities of the double eagle is composed of females, many of whom are denoted by special symbols.[551]In these we see the priestesses of the cult or cults, wearing the dress and simulating the persons of the goddesses.[552]The common costume on the left, excluding certain special figures,[553]is the short tunic characteristic of the Hittite soldiery and people. In these male figures we readily recognise two classes. First, those who mingle with the main procession, and are often denoted by special symbols. These seem to be the priests, though some of the foremost may be demi-gods. Second, those who form a group of twelve at the end of the procession. These may represent the populace[554]taking part in the rites represented.
Where now is the king under whose direction these sculptures were made, and whose figure on the analogy of all the commemorative sculptures of the ancient East should occupy a place and rank second only to the gods? On the main façade he finds no place, for the attendant figures in each case are in pairs, and theyouth who follows the leading goddess to the right shows no insignia of royalty, but seems to be grouped naturally with his leader. Looking around, we find facing this scene the majestic figure clad in a toga,[555]accompanied by a whole group of emblems which indicate his rank. He stands alone, exalted and distinguished, yet following as it were in the train of the goddess. In the other procession, to the left,[556]he follows the figures of the lesser gods. In the inner gallery he is embraced by the godlike figure of the same youthful deity who, in the outer gallery, accompanies the goddess; and we are reminded of the Egyptian text[557]which describes the representation of the god of the Hittites embracing their king as the design upon the royal signet which was attached to a treaty.[558]Now this figure is that which is generally regarded as representing the high priest, and not without reason; it reappears without insignia as leading in the act of sacrifice before the bull-shrine at Eyuk,[559]and on two sculptured blocks recently discovered at Boghaz-Keui, we find the same again ministering before the altar.[560]It mattered little what was the object of the cult; the costume was evidently that of the priesthood. Now the same treaty informs us that the great king of the Hittites was also chief priest of the god. The king-priest indeed was a feature of Hittite national life, and in this light we are able to interpret their monuments across the Taurus also.[561]We are led to conclude that such is the explanation of these sculptures,and that in the figures before us we have both chief priest and king. The problem is now much simplified. The kingly figure accompanies both processions: that in which his majesty is most clear is that of the great goddess and her consort; while on the other side he seems to embrace or at least to sanction by his presence the worship of the other deities.
PLATE LXXIBOGHAZ-KEUI: HITTITE GOD EMBRACING THE PRIESTIn the small gallery at Iasily Kaya Sutekh of the Hittites embracing the great King. (See alsop. 228.)
PLATE LXXI
BOGHAZ-KEUI: HITTITE GOD EMBRACING THE PRIEST
In the small gallery at Iasily Kaya Sutekh of the Hittites embracing the great King. (See alsop. 228.)
It is possible, however, that when the minutiæ of the royal insignia, the winged rosette, shall be more thoroughly understood, it will be found that these two kings are not one and the same person. Who then can they be? Why are they associated here together with so many different deities? Who are these deities? What can be the meaning of the whole series of representations?
Before attempting to answer any of these questions, let us pause to remind ourselves of several fundamental considerations. Recent discoveries have made it clear that in the fourteenth centuryB.C.the organising centre of the Hatti power—the capital, in short, of the Hittite peoples—was at Boghaz-Keui. So far as we can see, this was the greatest period of the Hittite empire, when their arms were not only contesting the possession of Syria with the Pharaohs, on the one hand, but had penetrated through Lydia to the Ægean on the other. We are prepared to believe that the great sanctuary of Iasily Kaya was also the product of this age, if only from the fact that it is the most imposing monument which has survived. The intimate correspondence, moreover, in the nature and treatment of the chief male figures with those which from their position beyond the Halys must belong to the period of empire, like the sculptures of Kara-Bel and Giaour-Kalesi, points also to this period. We are indeedalready prepared in our minds for this suggestion by the clear correspondence of the seal impressed upon the treaty between Hattusil and Rameses the Great with the design of the sculpture in the inner sanctuary described above. Now the constitution of the Hittite power at this period was clearly a confederacy, an alliance of petty states, the traces of which may be found on both sides of the Taurus. The ‘kings’ of those states were the ‘allies’ or vassals of the great king who directed their military operations, and whose seat at this time was at Boghaz-Keui. The archives of the site itself confirm the point, which was already suggested by the Egyptian monuments, and especially from the intrinsic evidence of the treaty (which has now, in view of recent discoveries, become authenticated material for our use).
We have made this digression to establish certain facts, the appreciation of which seems to us fundamental to a right consideration of the problem of the sculptures. Briefly put, these are: that Boghaz-Keui marks the site of the Hittite capital at the time of the greatest Hittite extension (in the xivth and xiiith centuriesB.C.); that the constitution of the Hittite power at this time was a confederacy of states from both sides of the Taurus; and that the sanctuary of Iasily Kaya was contemporary with this period. We may expect then to find the national deities most prominent in the sculptures. Again, having due regard to the nature of the states, each ruled by its own king or priest-king, each separated from its neighbour by the broken nature of the country, developing its own customs, ritual, and religion, it is not to be supposed that any common national cult could supplant or greatly change the local worships. The definite history of later times leads us to infer thecontrary; and we are again confirmed in this conclusion by the evidence of the treaty, to the sacredness of which the numerous gods of states were called as witness.[562]With some of the states the national deity, or the national word for a deity (Sutekh), is associated; others mention their separate deities by name.
Let us return now to the sculptures. The first two figures on the right hand, the female and the youth who ride the backs of lionesses, are recognised almost unanimously by scholars as prototypes of the great Mother-goddess (MA) of Asia Minor and her Lover-son, identified on the one hand with Cybele and Attis, as with Istar and Tammuz on the other. This identification, while it helps us to conjecture the local attributes of the deities, enables us also to recognise at once the national character of the leaders in the procession, for the cult of the Nature goddess was world-wide. Her association with the lioness is familiar in her many guises, as for instance in Phrygia, where she rides in a lion-drawn car. Doubtless in the Lion-goddess accompanied by the Lion-son there is a reminiscence of some primitive worship, the origins of which perhaps were already lost to view, and which we must seek somewhere in the hilly borders of the Euphrates valley. The Lion pair is followed by the twin deities of the Double Eagle, goddesses both.[563]The significance of the double-headed eagle is unknown. But that there was a local worship associated with the eagle is indicated alike by the discovery at Boghaz-Keui of a sculptured head of this bird, in black stone,larger than natural size,[564]and by a newly deciphered cuneiform fragment from the same site, on which mention is made in ideographic writing of the house or temple of the eagle.[565]That such a cult was general within the circuit of the Halys is suggested by the great monument which now lies prone in a wild spot overlooking the river near to Yamoola,[566]and by various smaller objects. At Eyuk also there is a conspicuous though partly defaced representation of a priest of the Double Eagle, on a sphinx-jamb of the palace gateway,[567]a symbolism which we read to imply that the occupant of the palace was chief priest of the cult. This palace, however, at so short a distance from the capital, probably marks the site of a royal estate rather than an independent kingdom. Now we have already come to the conclusion that the sculptures on the right-hand procession pertain particularly to the locality of Boghaz-Keui, inasmuch as the chief representation of the king-priest is associated with this group. Hence we conclude that, following the images of the national deities on this side (the Mother-goddess and her Son, the Lion deities), there come the images of the local cult of this part of Cappadocia, namely, the twin goddesses of the Double Eagle. The other female figures of this side distinguished by separate symbols represent probably the priestesses of the cults, which may have been to some extent allied; while the continued procession of nameless women recalls to mind the rite of self-dedication practised in the temples of Istar at Babylon.[568]
The left-hand series of sculptures is more complex, butopen to explanation in general terms on the same line of argument. The leading figure clearly represents the Father-God (in contraposition to the Mother-Goddess), the Zeus of the Greeks, the Baal of Tarsus, the ‘Sutekh,’ or national deity of the Hittites. This is shown supported upon the shoulders of two priestly attendants, who, like the lions opposite, seem to stand upon the tops of mountains. There is in this detail a lurking reminiscence or absorption of a mountain-cult, which becomes clearer in the two figures which follow. These deities we take to be the local forms of ‘Sutekh’ pertaining to different Hittite states[569]other than Cappadocian; the first is distinguished by the unsheathed sword, the second by a detail of his dress, but both are almost identical with the leader, while both stand upon mountain-tops. It is significant that the peoples whom we suspect from their dress to have descended from the mountains should preserve also in this way the unconscious memory of their ancestral deity. Another figure of like kind follows, but it is the two winged figures that particularly attract our notice.[570]Here in Hittite art we have clearly deities from across the Taurus,[571]claiming place in the ceremony here depicted just as they claim separate mention in the list of Hittite deities in the Egyptian treaty.[572]There follows the image of a priest-king; but whether that of the great king seen on the opposite side, or of a vassal king from beyond the Taurus similarlyaccompanying his deities, is not determined. The star-like emblem and crescent which he bears must be a clue, if only it could be interpreted. At this point we suspect the list of divine beings gives way to the sacred; but it may be that the gods of minor states (in all cases identified with the great god) continue to occur, accompanied in several cases by their local retinue. Finally there comes the group of moving beings, which alone tells us that the scene which we are looking on is the picture of a rite, and not a mere commemoration of an alliance.
What then is this rite? There is little direct evidence to answer us. In the central group are the images of male and female deities, accompanied by a youth, Nature’s divine Triad. We cannot hope at this stage of our knowledge to penetrate the mystery of the symbolism seen in the mountains, the lions, and the goats. But from what is known of the cult of Cybele in her various forms, and of Attis, her lover-son, whose attributes are distinguished yet identified in the separate cults of Baal and Sandon of Tarsus, there can be little doubt as to the main object of the ceremony.[573]The rejuvenescence of Nature, symbolised by the divine nuptials of the Goddess of Earth with the God of Fertility, is the central motive; and the fruits of the earth are the issue. But though we recognise the nature of the cult, we do not feel justified in presupposing anything but a general resemblance between the local worship and the rites practised elsewhere in later times. That which we do see in this monument is a national religious ceremony of the Hittites, at which the local deities of the chief states, or the divine personages representing them, were present. In this ceremonythe image of the national god was borne upon the shoulders of his priests[574]to the shrine of the Mother-Goddess, which was found in the local sanctuary of the capital. The objective was that the earth should be fertile and yield her produce, that the fruits should ripen and the ears of corn grow fat. As to the season when this ceremony took place, there is little suggestion. The spring-time is that which seems to us appropriate; but if the grotesque figures in the left-hand series[575]really stand upon a wine-press, and if the group of men[576]on the same side really hold sickles in their hands, then the harvest-time is indicated. On the other hand, the ceremony may have been seasonal or irregular, or adapted to some great date of the Hittite calendar. Speculation on the point is useless. As to the further nature of the rites we remain likewise in ignorance, realising only the dance or march of the men and the presence of the women, and having only the knowledge which has been handed to us of rites practised at the shrine of the goddess in other places.
If we pass to the inner sanctuary we only find ourselves face to face with new mysteries. The group of figures on the left is clearly a counterpart to those depicted in the outer chamber, suggesting the ceremonies in the act. But on the opposite side the two separate sculptures are of new and independent character. In the one is seen the dirk-deity enfolded in lion-skins; in the other the youthful god, now assuming a greater dignity, embraces the king. It has been suggested, with much apparent reason,[577]that thesymbolism may be interpreted to mean that the priest-king or his representative is gently guided by the deity ‘through the valley of the shadow of death’ to sacrifice. But we know of no parallel for such symbolism in Oriental sculptures, and we prefer to see in this inner chamber merely a special sanctuary of the god, with images pertaining to his cult. In the one the king is received as high priest into the presence and embrace of the god. We have already seen that such an action in itself was deemed of so great moment that it formed the subject of the royal signet. Thereby, maybe, the king became invested with sanctity of person; in any case, his privilege of access to the god is recognised. In the other sculpture, in our opinion, we see the god once more, but in another guise, and identified with another cult, which from its widespread vogue and influence must have been almost national—namely, that of a sacred dirk.[578]A first attribute of the kingship, indicating, it would seem, his priestly office, was the guardianship of the sacred dirk, just as one might say ‘Defender of the Faith.’ That such a dirk has some original reference to sacrifice we cannot doubt. Here we find it forming the lower part of a composite divine figure. The face of the deity may be thought to suggest the Son-god: we are tempted to believe in this identification by a somewhat venturesome analogy. For this god is clearly to be identified with the Sandon of Tarsus, Hercules son of Zeus; and in his early character Hercules is represented clad in lion-skins, much as we see the deity before us. Hence it is possible that the sculpture which decorates the wall of the inner sanctuary commemorates some riteof investiture of the king with the insignia of his office as high priest of the god. We see, then, in the inner chamber a separate shrine of the Son-god, to which the king had access, by virtue of his office as high priest. The outer recess we regard as a shrine of the Mother-goddess, adorned on the one side with the symbolism of her cult, and on the other with the representation of the rite we have described. The further consideration of the historical aspect of these sculptures belongs to a later chapter.