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 Warpalawa, 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 Warpalawa 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 the 8th century BCE. His name also appears in Bor and Bulgarmaden monuments.
The three-line Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription in front of the god is translated (by Hawkins) as: "This (is) the great Tarhunza of Warpalawa. For him let him/them put long(?) Sahana(?)".
Three lines behind the king: "This (is) the image of Warpalawa the Hero ..."
A third, one-line inscription is located at the bottom of the rock that was previously covered by the water. It reads: "Tiyamartu, Warpalawa's belo[ved? ... ] carved it ...". It is probably the inscription of the scribe.


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 approximately the same size, less detailed and probably was never finished. Unlike the İvriz relief this one has no inscription. In 2015, about 500 meters south of this relief a stele fragment with a Luwian inscription has been found.

A third relief was discovered by villagers only in 1972, about 25-30 meters up the creek from the İvriz relief, about 10 meters above the way. It is a very flatly carved relief, only about a centimeter in depth, and shows a man(?) wearing a short skirt, leading an animal to the right. 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 thought 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 İvriz relief. This relief has been removed from the rock and transferred to Ereğli Museum.

In 1986, about 75 meter upstream from the İvriz relief, a partial stele and a colossal statue head was discovered during the construction of an irrigation channel. Only the bottom part of the stele survives and has a relief on one side and a Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription (İVRİZ 2) on the back and the right sides. The left side has a Phoenician inscription. This text also mentions King Warpalawa. They are currently in Ereğli Museum. Furthermore, four inscribed fragments, three of them near the İvriz monument and one in Ambar deresi, were found in various years.


Click on the pictures for larger images.

Second and third reliefs
   

İvriz stele and colossal statue head


Inscribed fragments