A stroke of luck allowed an expert to get a better look at the mysterious text. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
An has finally deciphered part of a mysterious inscription carved by a fabled tribe into volanic rock.
The meaning of the etching, which appears on Arslan Kaya, a 2,600-year-old stone monument in what is now western , has long escaped experts who have been hampered by the crumbling condition of the rock.
But Mark Munn, a professor of Ancient History and visited the site for the first time this April, and found the lighting was perfect for getting a clearer image of the obscured text.
The Pennsylvania State University academic wrote a paper about the inscription and identified one of the words as “Materan” an ancient Indo-European word meaning “mother goddess”.
“The Phrygian Mother is considered to be a powerful goddess ruling the natural world,” he told .
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The vast monument is about 52 feet tall. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Scholars had previously suggested they could also make out the word, though others had suggested that the message wasn’t clear.
Prof. Munn’s arrival in mid-Spring proved to be crucial, with Mr Munn explaining that, “If the light is not right, these traces cannot be distinguished from cracks in the rock”.
“With my photographs, and comparing them to the best photographs taken by earlier visitors from the 1890s and 1950s, I could confirm that the name of the Mother – ‘Materan’ – can definitely be read in the center of the inscription,” Prof. Munn added. “A few other letters can be read, but not enough to make whole words.”
But though meaning of the entire inscription couldn’t yet be revealed, there were indications of the sorts of words which could accompany it.
Prof. Munn explained that the word “Materan” is the accusative form of “Mater” this meant it was likely the object of a phrase or sentence possibly following a verb.
The insight also allowed him to give a more accurate estimate of how old the monument is, with the carvings’ style suggesting it’s from early or middle 6th century BC.
The words are those of the Phrygians, a famous ancient tribe who lived the region from around 1200 to 600 BC, as per .
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It’s among eight similar structures in the Phrygian Highlands. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
The legendary King Midas was once a monarch of Phrygia, who became a subject of the well-known myth about a king who sees everything he touches turn to gold.
The vast monument stands at about 52 feet tall and resembles a building façade featuring carved images of sphinxes and lions, according to the outlet.
An image of the mother goddess, who was one of the Phrygians’ multiple dieties but among the most revered, can also be seen standing in the doorway below the message.
Arslan Kaya is among eight similar structures that survive to this day in the Phrygian Highlands, thought to have been representations of shrines or temples of the goddess, also known as Cybele.
Arslan Kaya was first described in the 1880s by which time the inscription had already been badly obscured. Prof. Munn said he was “luckily able to see certain details that had not been seen or accurately reported before”.
His latest analysis appears to have settled the debate about the confounding letters once and for all.