What is in the ruins of Mount Nemrut in Adiyaman? If we ask you, I don’t know. King Antiochos I of Kommagene, who lived from 69-36 BC, built a sacred site for his kingdom and a tomb in his name. It formed tumulus with a height of 50 meters and a diameter of 150 meters, raised with crushed stones. On the two terraces of Tumulus, east and west, Greek – Persian giant god statues, eagle, protector of the heavens, and protective Lion statues of the places and his own statue. Behind the thrones is the religious and social will of King Antiochos.
Will of King Antiochos I of Kommagene
The goddess of King Mithradates Kallinikos¹un and the daughter of The Mother-Loving King Antiochos Epiphanes Kallinikos, the Queen, the son of the brotherly Laodike¹, God, Adil and Epiphanes, Rome and Helen Friend, Victorious Great King Antiochos, wrote the works arising from his own graces in untouchable letters to the blessed throne bases, for his arrival to eternity.
I believed that religiosity was not only the most reliable friend of all goodness for us humans, but also the sweetest pleasure, and I had this belief as the source of both my fortunate power and the honorable action of this power. All my life, I have stood before all the people in my Royal family as a person who sees religious behavior as the most reliable means of defense and a unique source of pleasure. Therefore, contrary to expectations, I have avoided great dangers, overcome desperate situations and lived a happy life for many years.
When I took over the ancestral reign, as a result of my piet, I made the Kingdom of my throne the common home of all the gods. I honored them by making their representations in various forms according to the ancient ways of the Persians and Hellens, where the fortunate roots of my own lineage came from, slaughtering victims and organizing feasts, as has been a common custom among people since time immeas. Turning honorary feelings into concrete expression is an invention of my deserving thought.
When I decided to lay the foundations of this temple tomb near the heavenly thrones, resistant to the destruction of time, I did not want this sacred place to be an eternal rest after I traveled to the sheath that surrounds my body, which is still in good health and well-being despite my advanced age, and the heavenly thrones of Zeus Oromasdes, my beloved soul of God; I’ve decided that this is also the common throne of all the gods. Because as a result of my efforts, I didn’t want to have only those picture verses of my heroic ancestors there; Rather, I wanted a divine figure, blessed to represent the gods on this sacred hill, to see this place, which will no longer be deserted, as a testament to the religiosity I have performed in the face of the gods.
So, as you can see, I have erected these statues that they truly worthy of the gods: statues of Zeus Oromasdes¹in, Apollon Mithras Helios Hermes¹in, Artagnes Heracles Ares¹in, and my homeland Kommagene¹, which feeds everything. I had my own statue placed next to the gods who heard prayers on the same stone and on the same thrones. So I made the eternal dignity of the great gods contemporary to my own young fortune. And so I became a equitable imitator of their endless care and patronage, which they often and concretely entrusted me with in relation to royal affairs.
In order to ensure that the sacrificial ceremonies were held in various forms, I allocated sufficient land and ordered that the proceeds from them not be confiscated. I set up a continuous sacrificial service and appointed distinguished priests; I equipped them with Persian clothes; I have arranged the ceremony and all honorary services in a manner worthy of my glory and the glory of the gods.
For the continuity of the sacrificial services, I have made it a rule that all people living in my kingdom, in addition to the sacrificial rituals that have existed since time immaterial and based on a common law, celebrate the newly granted holidays in order to both fulfill their obligations to the gods and honor us. Thus, I dedict the 16th day of the month of Audnaios, the birthday of my body, and the 10th day of the month of Loos, which I was crowned, to the remembrance of the great gods on earth; Because I have described them as the origin of my fortunate reign and the cause of general happiness and prosperity throughout my kingdom.
In addition, I have dedicated two more days as a holiday to make the victims richer and the feasts more perfect, and to be celebrated once a year. In order to participate in the meetings, i.e. the festivities, I divided the people into groups by villages and cities and organized the holidays to be celebrated in the nearest cult places that everyone can easily reach. I set the rest of the time, the 16th day that corresponds to my birthday, and the 10th day that I wore my Diademi, as a day of ceremony to repeat itself every month and to be constantly celebrated by priests.
In order for these arrangements to be permanent, I have made a sacred law in accordance with the commandments of the gods and printed it on the steles that I have made untouchable; because their constant protection is a religious job for rational people; This is not only for our honor, but also for the most cherished expectations that each individual relies on for his own good fortune. It must be a vess to uphold this law for that human lineage, whichever lineage of all mankind is ensused in the heritage of this country in a twist of eternal time destiny; knowing that the revenge of the royals’ deceased descendants is severe, punishes and follows equally the hostility of religion from neglect and crime; If the law of my blessed ancestors is insulted, it gives merciless punishments. Because anything that is done religiously is easy; But the end of atheism is necessarily misery. This law made my voice heard, and the revelation of the gods gave it validity.
Both the gods and their paintings from the law to the top of the Taurus cliffs, the current priest appointed for my ancestors who have blessed me next to this sacred tomb that surrounds my body, and the priest who will take over this task in the future, should be freed from all other duties, and should perform his duty in this sacred temple tomb without hindrance and without excuses, by dedicating his duty in this sacred temple tomb to cult ceremonies and decorating in accordance with sacred statues. On our birthdays and the gods that I have ordered to be celebrated all year round every month and every year, this priest should decorate all the statues I have dedicated to the religious honors of the gods with golden wreaths, wearing the Persian garment that has been appreciated by me and the ancestral tradition of my lineage.With the income from the villages dedicated to the saintly interests of my late lineage, he should offer plenty of incense and fragrant herbs on these altars and sacrifice fattening sacrifices in the honor of the gods and us, equip them with abundant banquet material in accordance with their sacred tables, and fill the jugs with plenty of wine mixed with water. It should welcome all the local and foreign people who come here with great care and prepare a feast for the congregation that comes together, where everyone will enjoy equally.For himself, as is customary, he should reserve a share as the honorary right of the priesthood office; In doing so, he must ensure that the rest of us enjoy the feast freely, so that each person can enjoy the feast without feeling that he is being cared for, in order to receive a sufficient amount of food and drink on holy days, and eat and drink as much as he wants in the corner of his choice. They can only use the drinking trophies I have offered to the temple service as long as they are together in the holy site.
All musicians I have appointed for this purpose and those who will be appointed in the future, their sons and daughters, and all generations who will perform the same art, should be kept away from all other preoccupations; but they should do their duty with the incomes determined by me and perform their obligations without making excuses as long as the feast community desires.
No one, whether king, ruler, priest, ruler, slave to himself or anyone else, nor to do evil to one of them and to perform their duties, is permitted to do evil to the gods and to my own honor. On the contrary, priests should take care of them, kings and rulers, and all private individuals should help them. Those who behave like this will have the grace of piet in the eyes of the gods and my late ancestors.
Likewise, it will be no one’s right or place to take ownership of, sell or link the villages I have dedicated to the gods there, or to damage them in any way, or to damage them or their income, which I have designated as untouchable property of the gods. Then no one will get away with making practices that will lead to another form of offending or an insult or the elimination of the feasts and meetings of sacrifices and meetings that I have dedicated to against our reputation and reputation.
Whoever, however, disturbs or harms the sacred validity of this order or the monument of mercy affirmed by the immortal will, or attempts to change its true meaning, not only himself, but also all his descendants, until he is completely punished by my late ancestors and all the gods.
I have laid out an example of pietism, which is a sacred duty to the gods and ancestors, as on many other occasions, in front of my children and grandchildren with my works here, and I believe that they will envy these beautiful examples, continuously increase the traditional honors of our lineage and, similarly to me, add fame to the reputation of our lineage at the culmination of their own lives.
I pray that the attention and mercy of all the gods in Perss and Macedonia and Kommagene country will be on those who act in this way. Whoever, in the course of time, whether this is a king or a ruler, when he takes over this country, protects and maintains this law and worship for us, may all the late ancestors and gods be pleased with him, with my blessings; And those who defy this law and resist disrespecting the gods, all kinds of disasters will happen to you.
Source:ktb.gov.tr