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Bulgarmaden Inscription

The rock inscription is located on a rock cliff near the Madenköy village (also known as Bolkar Maden, Bulgarmaden) of Adana, south of the road between Ulukışla and Çiftehan. The location is about 20 km northwest of the Clician Gates (Gülek Pass) and about 30 km east of İvriz. The Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription is about 400 meters above the road and covers an area of 1.5 meter by 1.3 meter. It mentions the name of Tarhunaza who is apparently a subject of King Warpalawa of Tuwana (see İvriz and Bor). The text indicates that Tarhunza received the Mount Muti (possibly Bolkar Mountain) as a gift from Warpalawa, and Tarhunaza thanks him and the gods. He also advices those who may rule over Mount Muti in the future to make offerings, and adds a protective curse against anybody who damages the inscription. It is dated to the second half of the 8th century BCE.


Click on the pictures for larger images.

J. H. Haynes, 1887, Harvard University Library J. D. Hawkins, 2000 - photo: H. Gönnet J. D. Hawkins, 2000 C. Süer, 2011 E. Anıl, 2011


Literature:
Ehringhaus, H. Das Ende, das ein Anfang war: Felsreliefs und Felsinschriften der luwischen Staaten Kleinasiens vom 12. bis 8./7. Jahrh. v. Chr., Mainz, 2014: 66–71.
Hawkins, J. D. Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Vol 1, Berlin, 2000: 521–25 and plts. 297–99.
Hawkins, J. D. Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Vol 3, Berlin, 2024: 282, 347.
Kalaç, M. "Bolkar-Maden Kaya Yazıtı - Die Felsenschrift von Bolkar-Maden," Anadolu Araştırmaları 4/5, 1976-77: 61–69.
Payne, A. Iron Age Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Atlanta, 2012: 107–8.
Yener, A. "Bulgarmaden: Thought About Iron, Bolkardağ and the Taurus Mountains," FsHawkins, 2010: 183–91.
(List of Abbreviations)


Image sources:
John Henry Haynes, 1887, Harvard University Library.
J. David Hawkins, 2000.
Ertuğrul Anıl, 2011.
Cüneyt Süer, 2011.