Image Details

E.C. Krupp

On the rock face almost directly across from the martial procession is a carving of a gigantic upright sword with its point driven into the ground (shown here, compare with photo of martial procession). The sword’s lion-ornamented hilt is topped by the head of a deity, known simply as the Sword God. The relief may be a reference to an ancient Hittite story in which the Weather God of Heaven traps eight unwelcome deities in the underworld by transforming them into swords and driving their blades into the ground. Taken together, the images of Chambers A and B present a continuous cycle of marriage, death and rebirth.