Arslan Kaya’s Lost Inscription Links to Materan, the Great Mother Goddess

The legendary Arslan Kaya monument (i.e., lion rock), features a heavily damaged inscription that has been difficult to decipher for ages, and is 2,600 years old. Now, a professor and archaeologist from the USA claims to have deciphered it, saying it spells out ‘ Materan,’ referring to a Mother goddess of the Phyrgians, whose worship flourished in Turkey between 1200 and 600 BC. Apart from weathering and erosion, the monument is also heavily damaged from looters and raiders.

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Let There Be Light!

Dated to the first half of the 6th century BC, the inscription could only be rescued through capturing it in very precise light during specific times of the day, which enhanced its legibility. The research, carried out by Professor Mark Munn, a specialist in ancient Greek history and archaeology at Pennsylvania State University, has been published in the journal Kadmos, a platform for pre-Greek and Greek epigraphy.

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A view of the Arslankaya inscription at the Monument in Afyon, Turkey. (Ingeborg Simon/CC BY-SA 3.0)

“Much depends upon the favorability of the light when photographs are taken,” Munn wrote in his journal article, reporting that these favorable conditions were in existence on the morning of the 25th of April 2024. He then corroborated his images with previous images and records of the same.

The Phyrgians knew her “simply as the Mother,” Professor Munn told Live Science via email. “The Greeks knew her as the Mother of the Gods,” while the Romans called her “Magna Mater,” or “Great Mother.”

At the time the Arslan Kaya monument was built, a kingdom known as Lydia (an Iron Age kingdom in western Asia Minor that flourished between 1180-547 BC), also worshipping Materan, ruled the area where it is found. The larger inscription likely revealed who commissioned the inscription, and who Materan was to them, and there are many possible candidates since she was so highly regarded throughout the region.

Phyrgians: From the Land of Midas

The Arslan Kaya monument lies on top of an imposing rock formation in the Phrygian highlands, modern-day western Turkey. The structure had been carved into a volcanic peak, 15 meters (377.2 ft) high. There is a sculpted façade containing geometric details, and a small niche holding what remains of the figure of the Mother Goddess; at the base there lies what remains of the inscription.

Arslankaya, Phrygian monument near Afyon, Türkiye (Ingeborg Simon/CC BY-SA 3.0)

There are strong architectural and decorative similarities with monuments from the Midas region, where the Phrygians hail from. LBV Magazine reports that the relief is represented by depictions of sphinxes and lions who symbolize protection and power, typical of Phrygian religious representations. It is interesting to note that Materan was the protector and central deity in Phrygian cosmology, revealing her profound importance to these people.

When William Ramsay uncovered the monument and presented his findings to the Western world for the first time in 1884, it was thought the inscription was comprised of random letters, and was therefore patternless. A few years later, Alfred Körte suggested that the letters were ‘ μ.τματεραν,, but was admittedly uncertain. His work would form the basis of research and documentation by later historians, until the 1980s.

Dissatisfied with previous research, Munn found marks that supported Körte’s interpretation, as he had emphasized the dividing points between words – a central feature of Phyrgian inscriptions. Yet, there is one distinctive element – the Arslan Kaya inscription features tall and angular text, indicative that perhaps that the Lydian empire was at its peak of power and influence when the inscription was created.

Historians recording this era support the idea that religious patronage and political power went hand-in-hand, which is a feature of modern-day societies and nations too. Prior to the spread of organized religion, particularly Christianity and Islam a millennium and a half later, religious groupings were organized around cults. The deity known as Materan was likely used to substantiate the political domination of Lydia and their relationship with the subject people of Phrygia, in a unified continuum at whose center the cult of the Mother Goddess lay.

In a counter-argument, some historians have proposed that what Munn offers in terms of research and analysis is neither radical nor new. In fact, what Munn proposes today was loosely understood in the 19th century itself, and it is likely that debate will continue before a more decisive consensus can be established.

Top image: The Arslan Kaya inscription, very deteriorated under the figures of the pediment.               Source: Ingeborg Simon/CC BY-SA 3.0

By Sahir Pandey