Zey village is located on a rocky slope on the northern skirts of the Sivrihisar Mountains. About 1 km south of the village, on two sides of a narrow rocky valley, there are twelve Phrygian chamber tombs and two stepped altars carved into the high parts of the rock masses. Zey Kale, 1 km south of this area, was a Phrygian settlement.
Altar 1
It is located at the top of the rock tombs no. 8 and no. 9. The altar has three steps on the right. The rock surface at the top of the steps has been leveled to form a platform, and it has two libation pits. The rock mass behind the altar has a two-stage bench on the left and a rectangular pit on the platform in front of the bench.
Altar 2
It is above the rock tombs no. 6 and no. 7 to the west of the Altar 1. Like Altar 1, it consists of two parts. On the right is an L-shaped platform reached by a step, and on the left is a 2 m long bench. There is a square pit on the platform and two steps carved into the rock on the left side.
Rock Tomb No: 9
Zey Tomb 9 is the most spectacular in the necropolis and the only tomb that Haspels has included in the Group II tombs (see General Information). Its rectangular doorway is on the long wall, which is rarely seen in the Phrygian rock tombs. The existence of a half-moon-shaped canal and a door shaft bearing at the base of the gate passage suggests that the entrance was once covered by a flat panel door made of stone. The rectangular tomb chamber has a pitched ceiling. The triangular pediment and king post are worked in high relief. There are two klinai carefully carved from the bedrock. The bed part on the klinai is slightly hollow. Headrests are in the form of curved pillows. Ends of the bed legs are in the form of bull hooves.
References:
Tamsü, R. 2004. Phryg kaya altarları (Eskişehir-Afyonkarahisar-Kütahya illeri yüzey araştırması ışığında) Unpublished MA thesis, Anadolu Üniversitesi, Eskişehir.
Tüfekçi-Sivas, T. 2003. ‘Eskişehir-Kütahya-Afyonkarahisar İlleri 2001 Yılı Yüzey Araştırması’, in AST 20.2 285-295.
Sivas, H. 2012. ‘Phrygian Rock Cut Tombs’, in Phrygians, In the Land of Midas, In the Shadow of Monuments, eds. T. Tüfekçi-Sivas & H. Sivas, İstanbul.
Image sources:
Ertuğrul Anıl, 2020
Bora Bilgin, 2020
Tayfun Bilgin, 2020