New discovery in Dersim: two castles and two open-air temples found.

In Dersim, two castle settlements and two open-air temples were discovered.

The two castle settlements and the newly discovered two open-air temples found in Dersim during the research conducted by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serkan Erdoğan, Head of the Protohistory and Near Eastern Archaeology Department at Yozgat Bozok University Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Faculty Member Düzgün Çakırca from Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University Faculty of Architecture, were published in the 61st issue of the Pamukkale University Institute of Social Sciences Journal.

Associate Professor Dr. Erdoğan noted that his recently published research focuses on two open-air worship sites, one located at the far east of today’s Tunceli province borders and the other at nearly the far west of these borders, which are products of a common understanding. “One is the Masumu-Pak fortress located in the triangle of Hozat-Çemişgezek-Ovacık, and the other is the two fortress settlements called Aşağı Harik (Doluca) located on the banks of the Peri River east of Nazımiye. These sites host a new type of temple that we have not known until now. We believe that these temples, which should have been built in a period before the 7th century BC when Urartu dominated the region (9th-8th century BC), appear in the form of rock-cut altars with channels.

The question of whether these temples, which obviously bear local characteristics, were made for local gods/cults or for the worship of the well-known great gods of a period continues to occupy our minds. The Aşağı Harik fortress and Temple located in the current Kale Mezrası settlement is also known by the sacred place name “Moro Sur (Red Snake)” and continues to maintain its sanctity with the call of those seeking healing: “Ya Moro Sur, Tu esta) (You are here, Moro Sur).”

Emphasizing that the snake motif is a positively regarded symbol in geography, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erdoğan stated that the Moresur legend has an original and authentic structure, and that the history of this area as a sacred space dates back to ancient times.