Categories: History

Mount Nemrut – Sun King’s Sanctuary – Historical Documentary – Artak Movsisyan

In 62 BC, the king of Commagene Antiochus I Theos from the Armenian Orontid dynasty built a tomb-sanctuary on the top of Mount Nemrut and surrounded it with huge 8-9 meters tall statues.

The center of the tomb is represented by a mound of small stones 49.8 meters high and 150 meters wide at the base. Under the mound is the coffin of Antiochus I Theos of Commagene (69—38 BC) himself.

The edges of the rocky summit on which the tomb is located were transformed into large terraces. Two of them are decorated with five majestic seated statues. In the middle is the figure of Zeus. To its one side is the statue of Antiochus, and to the other is a statue that embodied Commagene. On the edges are the statues of Apollo and Hercules.

In 1882 and 1883, this tomb was investigated by German archaeologists Otto Puchstein and Karl Human. In 1987, the archaeological sites at the top of the mountain were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Monuments of Mount Nemrut appear in one of the episodes of the 2011 film “Samsara.”

NEMRUT: THE GREAT SANCTUARY OF THE SUN-KING

ՆԵՄՐՈՒԹ. ԱՐԵՎ-ԱՐՔԱՅԻ ՄԵԾ ՍՐԲԱՎԱՅՐԸ

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia

Regarding the Remarks of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group at the Permanent Council…

2 months ago

The Armenian Genetic Code: An 8,000-Year Unbroken Journey

While empires rose and fell and borders shifted across millennia, one remarkable constant has endured:…

2 months ago

Idea of a Deferred Referendum on the Status of Nagorno-Karabakh

Former Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and Representative of the President of Russia, Ambassador…

2 months ago

Clarifications by Former Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group

Clarifications by Former Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and Representative of the President of…

2 months ago

Meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council

Sofia, 6–7 December 2004 Statement of the Ministerial Council on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict We welcome…

2 months ago

From the Statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Vartan Oskanian

at the International Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance Durban, August 31…

3 months ago