11 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Lost Phrygian Inscription on Arslan Kaya Monument Deciphered

Professor Mark Munn of Pennsylvania State University has deciphered part of the inscription on the legendary Arslan Kaya Monument (also known as “Lion Rock”), a heavily damaged inscription that has been difficult to decipher for centuries.

The Arslan Kaya monument is carved into a volcanic rock formation approximately 15 meters high in the Phrygian highlands in present-day western Türkiye, near Lake Emre Gölü.  The 2,600-year-old monument, features figures of sphinxes, an image of the goddess flanked by lions, and a nearly erased inscription written in the Old Phrygian language.

Professor Mark Munn claims to have deciphered it, saying it spells out ‘ Materan,’ referring to a Mother goddess of the Phyrgians, whose worship flourished between 1200 and 600 BC.

This goddess, known to the Phrygians simply as “Matar Kubilea or Mother” was later revered by the Greeks as the “Mother of the Gods” and by the Romans as “Magna Mater” or “Great Mother.”

In April, Professor Mark Munn had a chance to photograph the previously indecipherable inscription on Arslan Kaya, in western Türkiye. After analyzing his imagery, Munn has published his conclusion that Arslan Kaya honors the Mother goddess Materan, the leader of the Phrygian pantheon.

This finding confirms the mention of Materan —an ancient name of the Mother Goddess, or the Mother of the Gods— on the monument, suggesting a precise dating to the first half of the 6th century BCE.

The research has been published in the journal Kadmos, a platform for pre-Greek and Greek epigraphy.

Archaeologists have been fascinated and frustrated by the text at the base of the Arslan Kaya pediment since the 19th century. Nearly all evidence of this inscription has been lost due to rock erosion, looting, and vandalism.  The surface has suffered natural wear from centuries of exposure to the elements, further aggravated in recent decades by treasure hunters using explosives, damaging the surface and fragmenting the goddess’s image in the niche Munn, however, used the mid-morning light, when shadows play on the last remnants, to photograph the inscription’s letters and compare them to earlier images dating back to the 19th century.

Famous archaeologist William Mitchel Ramsay discovered Arslan Kaya in 1884. He identified the site’s heritage based on the tall, narrow letters inscribed upon the base of its pediment, beneath two sphinxes. Throughout the next century, specialists visited Arslankaya to decipher its worn inscription, which was once a part of a much longer phrase that might have revealed the monument’s creator. French linguists Claude Brixhe and Michel Lejeune asserted in a frequently cited study 1984 that the inscription would never be read.

A view of the Arslankaya inscription at the Monument in Afyon, Turkey. Photo: Ingeborg Simon/CC BY-SA 3.0

Professor Munn asserts that the key to comprehending the monument’s religious significance is the word Materan. This term is used in a number of Phrygian inscriptions to refer to the Mother Goddess, the central deity and protector of Phrygian cosmology who is also highly esteemed in Lydia, a nearby region.

Given that Materan would be the object of the inscribed phrase in this instance and appear in the accusative declension, it is possible that the monument was dedicated to the goddess, demonstrating her significance and veneration in this area. The name or title of the person who dedicated the monument or, alternatively, an invocation of protection to prevent damage to the structure—a common practice in ancient monuments—may have been included in the text, according to Munn’s analysis.

Munn’s research suggests that the Arslan Kaya monument may have been created at the height of the Lydian Empire, when Lydia, which also revered the Mother Goddess, dominated Phrygia.

Munn, Mark. The Phrygian inscription W-03 on the Arslan Kaya monument Kadmos, vol. 63, no. 1-2, 2024, pp. 79-92. doi.org/10.1515/kadmos-2024-0005

Cover Image Credit: Ingeborg Simon/CC BY-SA 3.0

Related Articles

Archaeologists discovered a dragon made of mussel shells in in Inner Mongolia

26 August 2023

26 August 2023

Archaeologists discovered a dragon made of mussel shells earlier this week in Chifeng, North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which...

Saxon ‘London’ was Bigger Than Previously Believed

23 February 2024

23 February 2024

Archaeologists digging at the northern end of Trafalgar Square found evidence that Saxon London’s center was bigger and extended further...

Saudi Arabia’s “Gates of Hell” and Mysterious Structures

30 March 2024

30 March 2024

The region of Saudi Arabia, where the mysterious neolithic structures called the “Gates of Hell” are located, has around 400...

Uncovering a Rare Enamelled Roman Brooch in Scotland

6 March 2025

6 March 2025

Recent research by GUARD Archaeology highlights a rare enamelled Roman brooch, suggesting its potential use in a “foundation offerings ritual”...

Roman influence period artifacts discovered by history enthusiasts in northern Poland

16 March 2024

16 March 2024

Local history enthusiasts from the Wendrusz Historical and Exploration Society have discovered four fibulae, a ring, and fragments of decorations...

The Discovery of nobleman Khuwy could rewrite Egypt history

25 October 2021

25 October 2021

The mummified corpse of an ancient Egyptian nobleman named Khuwy, discovered in 2019, showed the ancient Egyptians were carrying out...

Archaeologists uncover 850-year-old 170 silver medieval coins in an ancient grave, in Sweden

27 April 2024

27 April 2024

During archaeological excavations in a medieval graveyard in Brahekyrkan on the Swedish island of Visingsö, archaeologists uncovered about 170 silver...

2000-year-old ancient Roman Road, described as the most important in Scottish history, has been discovered

3 November 2023

3 November 2023

A 2000-year-old ancient Roman road was unearthed in Old Inn Cottage’s garden near Stirling, Scotland. The site is located a...

In Lake Mendota, Wisconsin archaeologists discover the oldest canoe ever found in the Great Lakes region

23 September 2022

23 September 2022

A group of divers from Madison, Wisconsin’s Lake Mendota emerged on Thursday carrying a remarkable piece of history for the...

Lost 14th Century Church Discovered under a Tennis Court in Hungary

14 May 2024

14 May 2024

During an archaeological excavation in Visegrád, a fortified medieval castle on a hill overlooking the Danube in northern Hungary, the...

New study: Humans engaged in large-scale warfare in Europe 5,000 years ago ‘1,000 years earlier than previously thought’

3 November 2023

3 November 2023

Hundreds of human remains unearthed from a burial site point to a  warfare between Stone Age people long before the...

The Life of the Maya Ambassador Found in El Palmar was not Easy

18 March 2021

18 March 2021

El Palmar is a small plaza compound in Mexico near the borders of Belize and Guatemala. Archaeologists Kenichiro Tsukamoto and...

3D Scans reveal details of ‘unusual’ Roman burial ritual

6 June 2023

6 June 2023

Archaeologists at the University of York, have used 3D scans to study the Roman burial practice of pouring liquid gypsum...

Temple of Olympian Zeus Horse Frieze Found a Depth of 9 Meters off the Coast of Agrigento, Sicily

5 February 2024

5 February 2024

A large marble relief believed to have been part of the Temple of Olympian Zeus frieze in Agrigento, Sicily, has...

Archaeologists Discover Rare Boundary Stone From the Tetrarchy Period of the Roman Empire Contains Two Unknown Place Names

21 January 2025

21 January 2025

In northern Galilee, excavations at Tel Avel Beit Ma’akha, about 1.2 miles south of Metula, have produced a remarkable find:...