Nemrut Dagi

Topping the karst limestone mountain of Nemrut Dagi (2,150m/7,056ft) in the southeastern Taurus 90km/56mi northeast of Adiyaman is the Hierothesion of the Kommagene King Antiochus I (69-38 B.C.), dedicated to his own glory and that of the gods. Antiochus' tomb is concealed somewhere inside the 50m/164ft high man-made burial mound, with its spectacular terraces on three sides (east, north and west). The 80m/260ft-long north terrace, lined with (collapsed) columns, served as a place of assembly and arena for processions and other rituals.

On either side of the east terrace stand reliefs of the King's ancestors, paternal (Persian) to the north, maternal (Seleucid) to the south, framing the colossal figures of the gods (heads standing