Arsameia stele - Arsameia on the Nymphaion, Kocahisar (Adiyaman province, Turkey)
N 37° 56.599 E 038° 39.358
37S E 469771 N 4199582
In the ruins of Arsameia on the Nymphaion (Adiyaman province of Turkey), you can visit the most ancient known relief carving of two figures shaking hands, beautiful stele with Mithridates II and Hercules.
Waymark Code: WMJEAV
Location: Türkiye
Date Posted: 11/07/2013
Views: 1
In the ruins of Arsameia on the Nymphaion (Adiyaman province of Turkey), you can visit the most ancient known relief carving of two figures shaking hands, beautiful stele with Mithridates II and Hercules. Believed to have been created between 70 B.C. and 38 B.C., it is splendid to behold to this day.
This famous 3.5 m high relief portrays a meeting between King Mithridates II of Commagene and Hercules; consistent with the Greek iconography of gods and demigods Hercules is naked and he carries a club and a lion's skin. Handshaking is unusual in Greek iconography, but it is found in the Persian one. The dress and the arms of the king are very elaborate and they are depicted very accurately - the king wears a crown (atypical of Greece), but also a wreath of leaves, another indication of Commagene being in between two worlds.
Arsameia on the Nymphaion called also Eski Kale (Old Fortress) was established by Arsames in the 3rd century B.C. as the summer capital of the kings of Commagene, and was considered sacred ground. Today you can find here only remnants of the one of former centers of the Commagene. But the hilltop with ruins of Arsameia offers also perfect vista over surrounding region of Anatolia.