Hittite Monuments

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İvriz Monument
The monument is located near the İvriz village, 12 km to Ereğli, Konya. The relief is about 4.20 meter tall and 2.40 meters wide and carved on the rock walls near a large spring. It shows Warpalawas, King of Tuwana, worshipping the god Tarhunza who holds ears of wheat in one hand and bunches of grapes in the other. The god wears a horned helmet, a symbol of divinity. The figure of the king, which is considerably smaller than that of Tarhunza, is elaborately dressed and appears in a worshipping stance. King Warpalawas of Tuwana is known from Assyrian sources as Urballa. He was in power at least in between 738-710 BCE, thus the monument is dated to the second half of 8th century BCE. His name also appears in Bor and Bulgarmaden monuments.
Three lines of hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions in front of the god translated (by Hawkins) as: "This (is) the great Tarhunzas of Warpalawas. For him let him/them put long(?) Sahana(?)".
Three lines behind the king: "This (is) the image of Warpalawas the Hero ..."
A third, one-line inscription is located at the bottom of the rock that was previously covered by the water. It reads as: "Tiyamartus Warpalawas's belo[ved? ... ] carved it ...". It appers to be the inscription of the scribe.
Furthermore, in the vicinity of the relief at least three other inscribed rock fragments were found which appear to be parts of other monuments.
Further up in the mountain at Ambar Deresi, there is a second relief which appears to be a replication of the İvriz relief. It is smaller, less detailed and probably was never finished. Unlike the large İvriz relief this one has no inscription and cannot be determined whether it had one before.
A third relief was discovered by villagers only in 1972, just about 100 meters up the creek from the İvriz relief, about 15 meters above the way. It is very flatly carved, only about a centimeter in depth, shows a man(?) wearing a short skirt leading an animal to the right, and they are following another person who wears a long tunic. The upper part of the person in front with the long garment is missing because of the broken rock. The animal can be a horse, a dog, but more possibly a bull since it is thaught that this is a sacrificial scene. The flat, shelf like carved rock with some carved steps on the side may suggest a ritual location. Stylistically the relief points to an older period than the large Ivriz relief.
In 1986, about 75 meter up stream from the İvriz relief, a partial stele and a colossal statue head was discovered during the construction of an irrigation channel. Only the botton part of the stele survives and has a relief on one side and a hieroglyphic Luwian inscription on the back and the right sides. The other side has a Phoenician inscription. This text also mentions King Warpalawas. It is currently in Ereğli Museum.
37°24.610 N - 34°10.357 E Google Earth location (exact)

Click on pictures for a larger image.

Second and third reliefs

Ivriz stele

Image sources:
Tayfun Bilgin, Bora Bilgin, Ertuğrul Anıl, 2009.
Kurt Bittel, Die Hethiter, Beck, München 1976, ISBN 3406030246.
Lionel Bier, A Second Hittite Relief at Ivriz, JNES, 1976.
John David Hawkins, Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions. 2000.

İvriz Monument The monument is located near the İvriz village, 12 km to Ereğli, Konya. The relief is about 4.20 meter tall and 2.40 meters wide and carved on the rock walls near a large spring. It shows Warpalawas, King of Tuwana, worshipping the god Tarhunza who holds ears of wheat in one hand and bunches of grapes in the other. The god wears a horned helmet, a symbol of divinity. The figure of the king, which is considerably smaller than that of Tarhunza, is elaborately dressed and appears in a worshipping stance. King Warpalawas of Tuwana is known from Assyrian sources as Urballa. He was in power at least in between 738-710 BCE, thus the monument is dated to the second half of 8th century BCE. His name also appears in Bor and Bulgarmaden monuments. Three lines of hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions in front of the god translated (by Hawkins) as: "This (is) the great Tarhunzas of Warpalawas. For him let him/them put long(?) Sahana(?)". Three lines behind the king: "This (is) the image of Warpalawas the Hero ..." A third, one-line inscription is located at the bottom of the rock that was previously covered by the water. It reads as: "Tiyamartus Warpalawas's belo[ved? ... ] carved it ...". It appers to be the inscription of the scribe. Furthermore, in the vicinity of the relief at least three other inscribed rock fragments were found which appear to be parts of other monuments. Further up in the mountain at Ambar Deresi, there is a second relief which appears to be a replication of the İvriz relief. It is smaller, less detailed and probably was never finished. Unlike the large İvriz relief this one has no inscription and cannot be determined whether it had one before. A third relief was discovered by villagers only in 1972, just about 100 meters up the creek from the İvriz relief, about 15 meters above the way. It is very flatly carved, only about a centimeter in depth, shows a man(?) wearing a short skirt leading an animal to the right, and they are following another person who wears a long tunic. The upper part of the person in front with the long garment is missing because of the broken rock. The animal can be a horse, a dog, but more possibly a bull since it is thaught that this is a sacrificial scene. The flat, shelf like carved rock with some carved steps on the side may suggest a ritual location. Stylistically the relief points to an older period than the large Ivriz relief. In 1986, about 75 meter up stream from the İvriz relief, a partial stele and a colossal statue head was discovered during the construction of an irrigation channel. Only the botton part of the stele survives and has a relief on one side and a hieroglyphic Luwian inscription on the back and the right sides. The other side has a Phoenician inscription. This text also mentions King Warpalawas. It is currently in Ereğli Museum. 37°24.610 N - 34°10.357 E Google Earth location (exact) Click on pictures for a larger image.

Second and third reliefs

Ivriz stele