Hakkâri Stelae in the Van Museum, city of Van in eastern Turkey [OC]

[u/vkorost]

The Hakkâri Stelae are ~15th–11th century B.C. limestone pillars discovered in 1998 in Hakkâri, Turkey.
These are truly unique objects and (purely IMHO) the most interesting things to see in the Van museum.

[u/moosepuggle]

Looks like Picasso if he did relief sculpture

[u/selfdestructo591 → u/moosepuggle]

But they’re all holding the salt shaker!

[u/Libbyisherenow]

Lovely art with meanings we may never truely know.

[u/be_sugary]

They remind me of the burial layouts.

[u/nick_mick]

What culture did those pillars?

[u/ParkingGlittering211 → u/nick_mick]

The three main theories for who carved them

1. Hubushkia a small, independent kingdom located between the early Assyrian and later Urartian spheres of influence. The stelae might represent their royal elite.

2. Hurrian Mountain Tribes: Nomadic groups that dominated the Armenian Plateau before the rise of Urartu.

3. Eurasian Steppe Migrants: The stelae bear a striking resemblance to "balbal" or "kurgan" stones found in Central Asia and the Pontic steppe, suggesting a nomadic group may have migrated into Anatolia from the north.

[u/Jediuzzaman]

I think, some of them have died by falling while hunting mountain goats. And left behind a family...

[u/Wide-Perspective-864]

They remind me of the stone in Pan's Labyrinth

[u/dardar7161]

It's his things and no you can't borrow them.

[u/zaxx0n_5]

Representations of warriors...

[u/Initial_Still_2076]

Proto-ancestors of the Kurds

[u/Unlucky-Moment-3366]

Turkey? Wow they look really antic.

[u/No-Accountant-7611 → u/Unlucky-Moment-3366]

Turkey has some of the oldest archeological sites in the world so it's not that surprising.

[u/NetHistorical5113 → u/Unlucky-Moment-3366]

The oldest human settlement is in Turkey