Main Page

Bahşayiş Monument  

It is located on the rocky slope on the west bank of Kocadere stream, 1 km southwest of Gökbahçe village in Seyitgazi district of Eskişehir. It was first discovered in 1837 by J. R. Steuart. The monument takes this name from the old name of Gökbahçe village. The locals call it the Bahşiş (Tipping) Fountain despite the fact that it is not a fountain. Indeed, the monument looks more like a three-dimensional building than a façade when viewed from the side with its slightly outwardly gable roof and side walls. It is a shaft monument like the Maltaş, Değirmen Yeri and Deliklitaş monuments. The shaft is 4.5 m deep. The decorations on the lower part of the façade wall and the floor of the niche gate are quite worn out. Deep cracks starting from the bedrock split the monument horizontally into two parts. On the same slope, 10 m southeast of the monument, there are two other carved large rock blocks with their carefully flattened surfaces. Their three dimensional shapes are similar to Bahşayiş Monument. The work on them appear to have been left incomplete. There are also some rock-cut steps in the rock behind one of the blocks. Bahşayiş Monuments is estimated to date to the Late Phrygian period (550-300 BCE).


Click on the pictures for larger images.





References:
Berndt-Ersöz, S. 2006. Phrygian Rock–Cut Shrines. Structure, Function and Cult Practice, Leiden.
Berndt-Ersöz, S. 1998. 'Phrygian Rock-Cut Cult Façades: A Study of the Function of the So-Called Shaft Monuments', Anatolian Studies 48, 87–112.
Haspels, C. H. E. 1971. The Highlands of Phrygia. Sites and Monuments, Princeton.
Tüfekçi-Sivas, T. 1999. Eskişehir-Afyonkarahisar- Kütahya İl Sınırları İçindeki Phryg Kaya Anıtları, Anadolu Üniversitesi Yayınları No:1156, Eskişehir.

Image sources:
Guillaume Berggren, 1889
C. H. E. Haspels, 1971
Ertuğrul Anıl, 2020
Bora Bilgin, 2020
Tayfun Bilgin, 2020