Stunning archaeological find: Is there an 'underworld' under the earth?
The paintings in the strange stone carvings, which were probably made about 3,200 years ago, include details of an "underworld" sitting beneath the earth.
Relief with the twelve gods of the underworld at Yazılıkaya Rock Temple
(photo credit: KLAUS-PETER SIMON/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
During archaeological excavations at the Yazılıkaya Rock Temple in Turkey,
which began almost 200 years ago, revealed an ancient calendar and a
map of the cosmos that may raise a particularly interesting topic. The
paintings in the strange stone carvings, which were probably made about
3,200 years ago, include details of an "underworld" sitting beneath the
earth. Watch an explanation from Luwian Studies University that
researched the subject:
Cosmic Symbolism at Hittite Yazilikaya
In the temple, discovered by French archaeologist and historian Charles
Texier as early as 1834, limestone carvings depicting more than 90
different figures, including animals, monsters and gods, have been
found. It took almost 200 years to decipher the paintings, but
researchers have determined that the representations are of a cosmos
that includes the Earth, the sky and the "underworld" that show the
vitality of the creation myth.
On one wall there are drawings of the goddess of the sun and the
goddess of the storm, where one can see that gods were placed in the
painting higher than the other figures. In contrast, on the eastern and
western walls of the temple one can see the lesser people, the phases of
the moon and the seasons, signifying "cycles and rebirth," according to
the researchers.
According
to estimates, scholars estimate that in those days there were about 17
deities, each with a line marking between the gods. Also, in one of the
rooms of the temple
was a painting dedicated to the "underworld," with testimonies of the
god of the sword. "We believe the temple fully represents a symbolic
image of the universe, including its static levels - earth, sky and
underworld, as well as the cyclical processes of renewal - day and night
or summer and winter," one researcher explained in an interview in an
article published in the Journal of Skyscape Archaeology.
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