摘要: Description　　The “Yesemek Quarry and Sculpture Workshop” are located 23 km Southeast of the Islahiye district on the West hills of Karatepe (Aslanlıtepe) in the Yesemek Village. The Workshop covers an

Description

　　The “Yesemek Quarry and Sculpture Workshop” are located 23 km Southeast of the Islahiye district on the West hills of Karatepe (Aslanlıtepe) in the Yesemek Village. The Workshop covers an approximate area of 400x20 meters beginning from the watercourse of Yesemek brook rising upwards about 90 meters.

　　Karatepe, at a distance of113 kmto Gaziantep, is composed of volcanic dolerite/basalt rocks. Basalt extrusive is frequently observed on the surface ground within a large area from the Islahiye plain to the North of the Amik Plain and the surroundings of the Kirikhan District. The area is used as a quarry and a workshop probably due to the availability of high quality and thin porous basalt lodes.

　　It is accepted according to the excavation findings that the Yesemek Sculpture Workshop dates back to 900-800 B.C. within the Late Hittite States period. It is also estimated that the workshop continued manufacturing during the sovereignty of Zincirli Mound, the capital of the Samal Kingdom which was a powerful state in the Islahiye district during the first millennium B.C. Following the collapse of the Kingdom against the Assyrians during the 8th century B.C., the quarry and workshop were closed and the workers left the region.

　　It’s a high probability that all the sculptures were manufactured for the capital of the Samal Kingdom and the secondary provinces connected to the capital. The lion figures present the description characteristic of the Hittite Empire art which accordingly indicates that the Hittite Empire art tradition continued until the first millennium B.C., period of the Samal Kingdom.

　　It is known that the Late Hittite Kingdoms that were sovereign during the first 250 years of the first millennium B.C. firstly followed the Traditional Hittite Art, but later, Assurian and Arami arts were dominant. The people who ordered, manufactured and used the Yesemek sculptures were probably those communities constituted by Hittites and Luwis who used Hieroglyph, Hurs who settled in the region since the second millennium B.C. and the Sami nations of northern Syria.

　　From the findings of the excavations, it can be understood that in the production process of the sculptures, first the size of the block that would be cut from the quarry was determined and deep grooves were opened around it in order to put trees inside. The required part was cut from the rock by breaking the rock through the pressure caused by the expansion of trees after watering. These rectangle prism-shaped blocks were sculptured with special devices in order to create the desired form. Today at Yesemek Quarry one can find many block samples that were made ready to be sculptured. After this last preparation stage, the job of the quarrymen was completed and the blocks were carried to the hill in order to be drafted by the sculpture craftsmen. The rough copies which were sculptured and formed to a certain level were transferred to the neighbor cities. At this stage, the rough copies which were about500 kgto 15 tons were carried to the locations where they would be placed. The last stage was to complete the details of the sculpture according to the demands of the people who ordered them.