Two sculptures of life-size lions, each weighing about 5 tons in ancient times, have been discovered in what is now Turkey. The discovery of the massive lions, along with other pieces such as a large stone basin about 7 feet in diameter, left the archaeologists with a mystery ----what were they intended for? A search of the surrounding area revealed no evidence of a Hittite settlement dating back to the time of the statues. Also, the steep size of the sculptures meant that the sculptors likely did not intend to move them very far. Summers assumes that, rather than being meant for a palace or a great city, the lions were being created for a monument to mark something else- water "I think it's highly likely that that monument was going to be associated with one of the very abundant springs that are quite close," he said in the interview, "There are good parallels   for association of Hittite sculptural traditions with water sources" Indeed one well-known monument site, known as Eflatun Pnar, holds a sacred pool that "is fed by a spring beneath the pool itself," write Yiit Erbil and Alice Mouton in an article that was published in the most recent edition of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies. The two researchers were writing about water religions in ancient Anatolia (Turkey). "According to the Hittite cuneiform texts, water was seen as an effective purifying element," Erbil and Mouton write, "used in the form of cleaning or even full baths during ritual performances, its cleaning power is self-evident." To the Hittites the natural world, springs included, was a place of great religious importance, one worthy of monuments with giant lions. "These things (water sources) were sacred, just as their mountains were sacred," Summers said. What would be the best title of the text ?
The Hittite cuneiform What were the lions intended for? A confusing archaeological find Digging up lions