About Arsameia
Near Eski Kahta above the Kahta stream, Arsameia was a summer administrative and ancestral cult centre of the kings of Commagene. A relief showing Antiochus I shaking hands with Heracles, a long Greek inscription and a rock-cut tunnel express the dynasty's political and religious programme.
History
According to Antiochus I's inscription, Arsameia was founded by his ancestor Arsames. In the first century BCE, Antiochus arranged the site as a hierothesion—a sacred funerary and cult centre—for his father Mithridates Callinicus. Handshake reliefs along the ceremonial route emphasise the king's ties with the gods. Use changed after Commagene's annexation by Rome; the opposite Yeni Kale gained strategic importance in the Middle Ages. Arsameia is an essential part of the royal landscape around Mount Nemrut.
Highlights and principal structures
- Heracles–Antiochus handshake relief
- Great cult inscription
- Rock-cut tunnel
- Hierothesion of Mithridates Callinicus
- Ceremonial route
- Relief stelae
Historical period
Hellenistic–Roman