Photos of the Aslankaya Phrygian Rock temple Monument

Home  /  Classical Antiquity Photos /  Phrygian Art & Sites

Photos of the Aslankaya Phrygian Rock temple Monument, Emre Lake, near Döğer, Turkey. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams. (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

How To Download These Photos ?

Photos of the Aslankaya Phrygian Rock temple Monument

---

Photos of the Aslankaya Phrygian rock temple monument, Phrygian Valley, near Döğer, Turkey.

Dating from the 7th century BC the Aslankaya rock Temple is the most important surviving rock monument and open-air temple of the Phrygians.

The Aslankaya sanctuary was dedicated to the Mother Goddess Cybele, Known as Matar (Mother), Matar Areyastin, or Matar Kubileya / Kubeleya by the Phrygians. They believed that the Mother Goddess was in everything natural. Cybele could found in a blade of grass or in mountain rocks, anything natural.

This explains why the Aslankaya temple is in a 15 meter heigh volcanic rock standing alone in the middle of fields. The Aslankaya temple got its name because of the reliefs depicting two lions. 

The Aslankaya temple is carved out of a conical rock formation and its facade is decorated with relief sculptures. On the triangular roof over the facade are two sphinxes (winged figures with the head of a human and the body of a lion), facing one another, take place.

On the main facade, below the sphinxes in a recessed niche, there used to be a cult statue of Cybele or the Great Mother was flanked by two lions. Due to vandalism the statue of Cybele has been destroyed and the 2 standing lion reliefs badly damaged. This main facade is ornamented with relief geometrical patterns.

The Aslankaya Temple was discovered by William M. Ramsey, a Scottish archaeologist who described it in 1884 bringing it to the attention of western historians for the first time.

Unfortunately, this monuments no protection from destruction. It has been regularly susceptible to those wanting to steal it sculptures. In 1993 an explosion damaged the niche and the right side of the façade, and in 1994 the statue of the goddess Cybele was destroyed by vandals using pickaxes. Currently, we can only see this statue in old photographs.

The temple stands alone near the shores of Lake Emre next to an ancient track at GPS coordinates: 39.105499, 30.429701.