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Bor Steles
Bor Stele is also known as Warpalawa Stele after the king who is depicted on it. It was recorded for the first time in Bor but was said to be originally found in 1860 during the excavations for a house construction in Kemerhisar in Niğde. The stele was in two pieces and restored to one; however scholars believe the restoration to be incorrect as it has given too much space in between the two pieces. Suggested correct shape is shown in Hawkins' picture and drawing below, which puts the stele at about 2 meters in height. The stele shows King Warpalawa of Tuwana in prayer, similar to the scene in İvriz. Warpalawa’s name also appears in Bulgarmaden inscription. This stele is dated to the mid-8th century BCE.
The inscription (J. D. Hawkins):
I am Warpalawa, Tuwana's king, the righteous(?), the hero, son of [Muwa]ha[rani, ...].
I myself planted this vineyard,
and this Tarhunza of the Vineyard I set up.
For me he will walk well,
and here in which year he will come well for me,
to me there shall be 100 measures of ... ... 100 measures of wine.
The year in which I became king
in that year the enemies beneath my feet he put, did Tarhunza.
...
and to me may he grant long days, may Tarhunza!
In 2012 another stele was found by farmer Abdullah Arı in farm field at Kayı Yolu location of the Bağdüz district of Bor. The basalt stele is about 2.35 meters in height and 1 meter in width. On the front side, it depicts a Storm-God holding grapes and long stems of wheat, similar to those in İvriz and Keşlik. The right side of the must have originally contained a long Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription of which only a small section of five lines have been preserved. The inscription must have suffered intentional damage as evidenced by chiseled grooves towards the back. The stele is on display at Niğde Museum.
Click on the pictures for larger images.
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