11 February 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Birkleyn Caves is “the Place Where The World Ends”

The Birkleyn Caves were known as “the place where the world ends” and as “the place where the water of immortality flows”.

Located 15 kilometers from the Diyarbakır city center, Lice is home to the Birkleyn Caves, where Assyrian inscriptions, reliefs, and remains of the Byzantine era can be found.

Five sections of a partially eroded cave system make up the Bırkleyn Mağarası (Birkleyn Caves). Both passages have a cave river because the main branch is a river cave, and since they are through caves, they are not usually regarded as springs. However, Bırkleyn Cave was considered to be the source of the Tigris River by the Assyrian kings who conquered this region and left behind several inscriptions and reliefs, the oldest of which are over 3000 years old.

The place where the Birkleyn waters flows underground through a natural tunnel before surfacing is called Birkleyn, or the Tigris Tunnel. In the ancient times, the place where the water disappears to flow underground was dubbed “end of the world.”

Lake Hazar, located 100 kilometers to the west of Gölardı, is the Tigris River’s official spring. This is one of the well-known river’s principal eastern tributaries. Although the Bırkleyn Mağarası is not a spring, it was long believed to be the spring of the Sebeneh-su. There are three springs in the through-cave, and the three rivers combine to form the Kara River, which is swallowed by the cave and only resurfaces 750 meters down the valley.

In 852, King Salmanassar III of Assyria sent an expedition to the Tigris River’s headwaters. He ordered his army to detour on its way back to Assyria from inner Anatolia in order to accomplish this. He also took the resurgence to be the real spring because it appears that he never ventured inside or outside the cave. The Bırkleyn Mağarası is the source he located, and he positioned inscriptions at the spring. This is considered the first hydrogeologic excursion made by man.

The lower entrance of the cave has reliefs and inscriptions of Tiglatpileser I (1114–1076 BC) and Shalmaneser III (858–824 BC). There are 3 reliefs and 5 cuneiform inscriptions belonging to Assyrian King Tiglatpileser I (1114-1076 BC) and Salmanassar III (859-828 BC) in the cave.

Shalmaneser III’s bronze bands at Tell Balawat also featured a detailed representation of this significant commemorative event. They are probably the world’s oldest cave images, dating to 850 BC. It is currently on exhibit at London’s British Museum. Additionally, his visit to the location was recounted in his annalistic texts on public monuments in Assyrian cities.

 The first information obtained from research is based on the visit of C. Lehmann-Haupt in 1862 and W. Bleck in 1898-99. In 2004, a team led by Dr. Andreas Schachner from the University of Munich visited two of the caves documented Assyrian reliefs and inscriptions, and examined all the archaeological remains in the vicinity. The survey conducted by Dr. Schachner revealed that caves were used since the Late Neolithic Age.

Bırkleyn has been the subject of legends with its history and nature and is also mentioned in the holy books. According to the legend, which is told among the people but is not based on any historical documents; Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, stayed here with his army of 15 thousand people on his way to the Persian campaign. Pliny thought it was one of the passages into the underworld.

In the same way, it is told among the people that Zülkarneyn, who is described in Surah Kehf in the Qur’an, spent a period of his life here. For this reason, the local people refer to this legend as Iskender-i Zülkarneyn. It is believed that Alexander and Zülkarneyn are the same person.

İskender’i Zülkarneyn (Alexander Dhu al-Qarnayn), lit. “The Two-Horned One”, appears in the Quran, Surah al-Kahf (18), Ayahs 83–101 as one who travels to east and west Some think he is Alexander the Great.  It is as well interpreted as the horns of the ram-god Zeus-Ammon, as it may mean that he traveled to the east and the west, from one extremity (“horn”) of the world to the other. There are about half a dozen historic people which could be Zülkarneyn.

Part of the bronze gates of Shalmaneser III from his palace at Balawat, showing his visit to the springs of Tigris river, earliest known picture of a cave. Public Domain.
Part of the bronze gates of Shalmaneser III from his palace at Balawat, showing his visit to the springs of Tigris river, earliest known picture of a cave. Public Domain.

İskender’i Zülkarneyn was embarking on an expedition, according to this legend. His head developed two horn-like tumors that started to hurt a lot. In a dream, Alexander was informed that his horns would vanish if he washed in the water of the Birkleyn caves in Lice. İskender-i Zülkarneyn came and conquered Lice. When he drank the water emerging from the caves and washed his head with the water, one of his horns immediately disappeared.

Today, the spot is a major tourist attraction where nature lovers can trek and explore the area’s natural wonders.

Cover Image Credit: Serhat Uçar- Güneydoğu Ekspress

Related Articles

Human remains found at prison sewer site are 4,500 years old in East Yorkshire

26 March 2024

26 March 2024

Archaeologists investigating the site of a new sewer to serve a jail being built at Full Sutton in East Yorkshire,...

Christians Supplied Medieval Pagans with Horses for Sacrifice for Funeral Rituals

20 May 2024

20 May 2024

In the late medieval period, pagans in the Baltic region of northern Europe imported horses from neighboring Christian nations for...

Viking Ship Burials Shrouded in Mystery on Danish Island

25 May 2021

25 May 2021

Archaeologists studying the origins and makeup of the Kalvestene burial field, a famed place in Scandinavian legend, have undertaken new...

A rural necropolis from Late Antiquity discovered in northeastern France

5 November 2022

5 November 2022

Inrap archaeologists have unearthed a small rural necropolis from the late 5th century (Late Antiquity) at Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes in northeastern France....

3D virtual reconstruction of the Celtic city gate

2 May 2022

2 May 2022

A new 3D virtual reconstruction of the Celtic gate has been made in Staffelberg, in the German state of Bavaria....

1500-year-old Elite tombs were discovered vicinity of the ancient seaport of Berenice Troglodytica in Egypt

22 May 2022

22 May 2022

Polish archaeologists have discovered a tomb complex near the ancient port of Berenice Troglodytica in Egypt. Archaeologists from the University...

3,000-year-old Treasure on the Iberian Peninsula made with material from a meteorite

7 February 2024

7 February 2024

Scientists have recently discovered that some of the pieces in the amazing Bronze Age collection known as the Villena Treasure,...

Elamite clay tablet discovered 4500 years old, in southwest Iran

4 December 2021

4 December 2021

A clay tablet, estimated to be from the Elam period, about 4500 years old, was recently discovered in southwestern Iran....

The newly discovered fossils are 200,000 years old in Denisova Cave

29 November 2021

29 November 2021

Scientists have discovered the earliest remains of a human lineage known as the Denisovans. Researchers have identified stone artifacts connected...

The largest embalming cache ever found in Egypt unearthed at Abusir

10 February 2022

10 February 2022

Archaeologists from the Czech Institute for Egyptian Science have discovered a cache of artifacts related to the practice of Egyptian...

Lady of Cao and Moche Culture

25 October 2021

25 October 2021

The Moche civilization and the Mochico culture were one of the pre-Inca civilizations that developed in the north of present-day...

The World’s Oldest Smiling Water Flask with Emoji will be on display

4 July 2021

4 July 2021

After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, the Late Hittite States was established in Anatolia and Syria. One of these...

Imperial cult temple discovered in Spello: It opens a new chapter in the Roman Empire’s transition from paganism to Christianity

6 January 2024

6 January 2024

American researchers have announced the discovery of an Imperial cult temple in Spello, Italy. The discovery was announced by Douglas...

A spectacular rare ancient Roman bronze coin depicting the moon goddess was discovered off the coast of Israel

25 July 2022

25 July 2022

A rare 1850-year-old exceptionally well-preserved bronze coin depicting the Roman moon goddess Luna has been found off the coast of...