Berndt-Ersoz S. Phrygian Rock-cut Shrines: Structure, Function, and Cult Practice

BRILL, 2006. — 438 p. — (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 25).This volume explores the Iron Age Phrygian rock-cut monuments in Anatolia and defines their role in religion. Among other features this book questions the traditional view of the Mother goddess Kybele being the only Phrygian deity. A detailed analysis based on the monuments provides new interpretations and aspects of Phrygian religion: the Mother goddess was not alone, but rather accompanied by a Superior male god. For the first time all known Phrygian rock-cut monuments are brought together in this useful corpus with plenty of illustrations. It is a unique and significant contribution to the study of Phrygian religion and spatial conceptualization and is useful for those interested in Anatolian culture and archaeology and classical religion and archaeology.