THE ANCIENT HITTITEP. 697 



it advance from the left side wall a procession almost exclusively of 

 male fig-ures, one behind the other, and in the same manner from the 

 right side wall one of female figures. The persons represented on the 

 rear wall who stand partly upon mountains, partly upon human iig- 

 ures, partly upon animals, are doubtless to be considered as divinities. 

 The god at the head of the male procession who stands upon the heads 

 of two persons, prol)abl3' priests, and has by his side an animal with a 

 pointed cap upon its head* is represented as a warrior. He turns with 

 outstretched hand toward a goddess advancing from the opposite 

 direction who stands, with a nuiral crown upon her head, upon a pan- 

 ther and has likewise by her side an animal with a pointed cap. 

 Behind her is a god standing upon a panther, the only male in the 

 female procession. We therefore see in him the "beloved" of the 

 great goddess. The entire scene has received the most divergent 

 interpretations, the most probable of which sees in it a representation 

 of the spring myth, though the interpretation does not solve all the 

 difficulties. The meeting of the sun god and the moon goddess — for 

 this is the likely interpretation of these divinities — each at the head of 

 a solemn train, seems to sjmibolize the vernal constellation of sun and 

 moon. The male procession on the left side ends with twelve per- 

 fectly identical personages who carry sickle-shaped swords and seem 

 to advance in a kind of trot. In this may be seen a representation of 

 the dancing with arms by the priests which is said to have taken place 

 in the festivals of Ma. Many of the figures have in front and al)ove 

 their heads groups of hieroglyphics that evidenth^ contain names of 

 gods and establish the sculptures as Hittite. 



Upon a rock wall, near the one just described, is found the relief of 

 pi. II. The representation, besides being absolutely unique in itself, 

 attains a special value from the circumstance that a short explana- 

 tion of it is preserved to us from antiquit}^ itself in the description 

 of the seal of the chief Hittite god, given at the conclusion of the 

 Hittite treaty (see p. 680). Our relief evidently exhibits the same 

 representation as that of the seal: The god, represented as a warrior in 

 heroic size, embraces a Hittite prince or priest. The name of the god 

 is unknown, as the Eg3q3tian has inserted the name of the F^gyptian 

 Sutech in place of the Hittite. The agreement of the relief with the 

 inscription is important, also, for the reason that it enables an ap])roxi- 

 mate dating of the Boghazkeu sculptures, which some would refer as 

 far back as 700 b. c. But as this uniijue representation is thus far 

 met with only twice, the tendency is to combine both cases of its 

 occurrence, i. e., to refer them to about the tiiirtecnth century, the 

 time of the Hittite treaty, although it nnist be admitted thattlu; artis- 

 tic execution seems to favor a later date. But as we know as yet 

 almost nothing of the art development of the Hittites, this circum- 

 stance iiRist nofoe given too much importance. 



