In the remote highlands of Phrygia, Professor Mark Munn of Pennsylvania State University has deciphered part of the inscription on the Arslan Kaya monument, also known as the “Lion Rock.” This finding confirms the mention of Materan —an ancient name of the Mother Goddess, or the Mother of the Gods— on the monument, suggesting a precise dating to the first half of the 6th century BCE. The inscription, though fragmented and almost erased by time and vandalism, has been identified with the aid of a series of photographs captured at a specific time of day when the light enhances its legibility.

The Arslan Kaya monument is an imposing rock formation in the Phrygian highlands in present-day western Turkey, near Lake Emre Gölü. The structure, carved into a volcanic conglomerate peak about fifteen meters high, features a sculpted façade with geometric details and a small niche holding remnants of the figure of the Mother Goddess. Above this figure, at the base of the pediment, lie the remains of the inscription that has been under analysis.

Despite its deterioration, the decorative and architectural elements on the façade of Arslan Kaya display a style that Munn has compared to monuments from the Midas region, the cradle of ancient Phrygian civilization. The reliefs depict figures of sphinxes, along with the image of the goddess flanked by lions. These figures symbolize protection and power, elements typical of Phrygian religious representations, which, according to Munn, strengthen the connection to the Mother Goddess worship in the region.

Arslan Kaya
The inscription, very deteriorated, under the figures of the pediment. Credit: Ingeborg Simon / Wikimedia Commons

The text at the base of the pediment of Arslan Kaya has been a source of intrigue and frustration among archaeologists since the 19th century. The rock’s erosion, combined with looting and vandalism, has erased nearly all traces of this inscription. The surface has suffered natural wear from centuries of exposure to the elements, further aggravated in recent decades by treasure hunters using explosives, damaging the surface and fragmenting the goddess’s image in the niche. Nevertheless, Munn took advantage of the mid-morning light, when shadows highlight the remaining traces, to capture the letters of the inscription and compare them with previous photographs, reaching back to 19th-century records.

Since William Ramsay discovered the monument in 1884, the inscription had been identified as a series of letters that did not seem to follow a clear pattern. In the late 19th century, archaeologist Alfred Körte suggested that the text contained the letters μ.τματεραν, though he admitted this reading was uncertain due to wear. This interpretation became the basis for later work, which included Paul Kretschmer and, more recently, Claude Brixhe and Michel Lejeune, who published an interpretation in the 1980s.

Brixhe and Lejeune proposed that only four letters were visible and separated them into fragments, suggesting the text was mostly unintelligible. However, Munn questioned this conclusion. Through a series of detailed photographs, the professor managed to observe marks supporting Körte and Kretschmer’s interpretation, indicating the word Materan with greater clarity, along with other characters that now appear as dividing points between words, typical in Phrygian inscriptions.

Arslan Kaya
Another view of the Arslan Kaya monument, showing the lion reliefs on the sides. Credit: Ingeborg Simon / Wikimedia Commons

According to Munn, the word Materan is key to understanding the religious nature of this monument. In various Phrygian inscriptions, this term refers to the Mother Goddess, the protector and central deity in Phrygian cosmology, also revered in the neighboring region of Lydia. In this case, Materan would appear in the accusative declension, indicating it as the object of the inscribed phrase, suggesting that the monument may have been a dedication to the goddess, a testament to her importance and worship in this region. Munn’s analysis also suggests that the text may have included the name or title of the person who dedicated the monument or, alternatively, an invocation of protection to prevent damage to the structure, a common practice in ancient monuments.

The style and size of the carved letters in Arslan Kaya are also significant. Compared with inscriptions on other Phrygian monuments such as the Midas and Areyastis, the letters at Arslan Kaya are particularly tall and angular, features found in inscriptions dating to the 6th century BCE. Munn’s research suggests that the Arslan Kaya monument may have been created at the height of the Lydian Empire, when Lydia, which also revered the Mother Goddess, dominated Phrygia.

The architectural elements also point to this era. The pediment of Arslan Kaya retains vestiges of a palmette decoration, a common ornamental feature in Lydian and Phrygian architecture of the 6th century BCE. This further supports the connection between the two territories and the consolidation of the cult of the Mother Goddess as one of the most venerated deities in both cultures.

Munn’s discovery is significant not only because it recovers a fragment of Phrygian religious history, but also because it confirms the relationship between Phrygia and Lydia in terms of beliefs and cultural practices. The inscription on Arslan Kaya represents physical evidence of how the Phrygians and Lydians shared devotion to a central deity, the Mother Goddess. This shared cult reinforces the image of a Lydia politically dominating Phrygia, but also united with it through religion and the veneration of the same deity.

SOURCES

Munn, Mark. The Phrygian inscription W-03 on the Arslan Kaya monument Kadmos, vol. 63, no. 1-2, 2024, pp. 79-92. doi.org/10.1515/kadmos-2024-0005

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