Eastern Turkiye, September 9, 2026
We traveled in the area of the ancient Commagene Kingdom today. Heading north from Sanliurfa into the start of the Tarus Mountains is an area that was ruled from 160’s BC to 72 AD by the Commagenes. These kings traced their ancestry from both the Selucid Greeks and the Achaemenid Persians.
The most famous of these Kings was Antiochus I. He tried to live in the in-between of Greek/Roman world and the Persian world and succeeded for a short time. Antiochus I was betrothed to a daughter of Herod Agrippa, but when Herod Agrippa died Antiochus backed out of the agreement because he did want to convert to Judaism.
The first site was the Karakus Tumulus which is a huge tumulus mound grave for the women of the royal Commagene family. There are monumental columns with statues of an eagle and lions around the mound.
Next we stopped at the beautiful Cendere Bridge over the Cendere River. The original bridge was constructed by the Commagene’s in about 60 AD and the cities of Commagene each contributed a massive column - two at each end - in honor of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, his wife and their two sons Caracalla and Geta. Geta’s column was removed after he was assassinated by Caracalla as a part of erasing his memory. The bridge was rebuilt 200 AD and is the second oldest single arch roman bridge still standing in Türkiye.
Driving further into the mountains, we came to the remains of the Commagene city of Arsemeia. We saw some interesting carved reliefs of King Mithradates I shaking hands with Heracles and lengthy Greek inscriptions in the stones describing the god like characteristics of the king - very full of himself and he passed that on to the next kings as well!
Finally we got to our main goal - a hike up to the tumulus grave of Antiochus I - Mount Nemrut. The terraces near the top of the tumulus (which Antiochus had raised on top of one of the tallest peaks around) are filled with massive statues of Antiochus and various Roman and Greek gods and statues of eagles and lions. The heads are separated from the bodies in all cases. Antiochus considered himself as equal to the gods. His actual grave has never been found within the tumulus. The terraces are at an elevation of 7,000 feet. The views and the climb are breathtaking!!
Joel - who is making the big climb! - was up at base camp 3 today and tonight at midnight will begin the final ascent of Mount Ararat with his fellow climbers. Praying for continued safety.
We are starting to get ready for the trip for home! Tomorrow we see one last Commagene Kingdom site and then to the airport in Adiyaman to fly to Istanbul. So thankful to God for amazing experiences and smooth travels! See you all soon, PB and Margery
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The Commagene Kingdom. King Antiochus I made his own funeral tumulus on top of a mountain and put terraces of massive statues of himself on an equal footing with roman and greek gods.
