Donuktaş (literally “Pale Stone”) is a
Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in culture of ancient Rome, Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Architecture of ancient Rome, Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete ...
in
Tarsus ilçe
The Provinces of Turkey, 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the ''qadaa, kaza''.
Most provinces bear the s ...
(district) of
Mersin Province
Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...
, southern Turkey.
Location
Donuktaş is in the urban fabric of Tarsus. It is to the east of other historical places of Tarsus and to the north of Turkish state highway
D.400. Its distance to
Mersin
Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...
is about .
Exploration history
The first written document about Donuktaş dates back to 1545. According to a member of the
Venetian
Venetian often means from or related to:
* Venice, a city in Italy
* Veneto, a region of Italy
* Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area
Venetians might refer to:
* Masters of Venetian painting in 15th-16th centuries
* ...
Barbaro family
The Barbaro family () was a Patricianship, patrician family of Venice. They were wealthy and influential and owned large estates in the Veneto above Treviso.Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist art, Volume 1', Jane Turner, New York, 20 ...
, who was the
Bailo of Constantinople
A bailo, also spelled baylo (pl. / ) was a diplomat who oversaw the affairs of the Republic of Venice in Istanbul, Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and was a permanent fixture in the city around 1454.
The traumatic outcomes of ...
, Donuktaş was a palace. But according to later accounts in the 19th century, it is a
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...
. The French historian
Victor Langlois (1829–1869) in his book ''Voyage Dans la Cilicie et Dans la Montagnes du Taurus 1852-1853'' described Donuktaş as the mausoleum of
Sardanapalus
According to the Greek writer Ctesias, Sardanapalus ( ; ), sometimes spelled Sardanapallus (), was the last king of Assyria, although in fact Aššur-uballiṭ II (612–605 BC) holds that distinction.
Ctesias' book ''Persica'' is lost, but we ...
(612-605 BC), the last
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...
n king. The German archaeologist
Robert Koldewey
Robert Johann Koldewey (10 September 1855 – 4 February 1925) was a German archaeologist, famous for his in-depth excavation of the ancient city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq. He was born in Blankenburg am Harz in Germany, the duchy of Brunswick ...
(1855–1925) supported this assertion. British orientalist
William Burckhardt Barker (1810?–1856) on the other hand, believed that Donuktaş is a mausoleum of another king. However, during the systematic exploration between 1982 and 1992 by Turkish archaeologist Nezahat Baydur, Donuktaş was defined as a temple built in the 2nd century, during the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, much later than the
Neo-Assyrian Empire
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...
(911–609 BC). Originally, It was a temple of
Sandon, an ancient
Hittite deity. Later, Sandon was identified with the
Roman god
Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the Latin literature, literature and Roman art, visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these ...
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
, and the temple became a Temple of Jupiter.
[ The exploration continued after 2007 by the German archaeologist Winfried Held.Paper by Ali Akın Akyol, Yusuf Kağan Kadıoğlu and Winfried Held pg. 83 ]
/ref>
The building
The building is huge construction without a roof. It has a rectangular form oriented in northeast to southwest direction. Its length is and the width is . It is surrounded by -thick walls. The walls are about high. The building material is Roman cement.[Marsin Valiliği: ''Mersin Ören Yerleri'', İstanbul, 2009, p.87] Although the wall is presently naked, it was originally covered by marble.
See also
* Temple of Jupiter (Silifke)
References
{{Mersin Province
History of Mersin Province
Ancient Roman temples
Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey
2nd-century religious buildings and structures
Temples of Jupiter
Tarsus District