Throne of Pelops

Yarik Kaya - Cleft Rock - "throne of Pelops" is  an altar or bench carved into the rock in the VII/VI century BC.

That Pelops and Tantalos once dwelt in my country [i.e. Lydia] there have remained signs right down to the present day. There is a lake called after Tantalos and a famous grave, and on a peak of Mount Sipylos there is a throne of Pelops beyond the sanctuary of Plastene the Mother. If you cross the river Hermos (Hermus) you see an image of Aphrodite in Temnos made of a living myrtle-tree. It is a tradition among us that it was dedicated by Pelops when he was propitiating the goddess and asking for Hippodameia to be his bride¹.

Sources:

1. Ekrem Akurgal, Ancient Civilisations and Ruins of Turkey: From Prehistoric Times Until the End of the Roman Empir, II ed., Istanbul 1970, p. 133
2. G. E. Bean, Aegean Turkey. An Archaeological Guide, London, Ernest Benn 1966,  pp. 61-63
3. Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.13.7

Bronverwijzingen

1. ↑Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 13. 7