Eflatun Pınar

Eflatun Pınar

Eflatun Pınar (Turkish: Eflatunpınar, "Plato's Spring") is the name given to a spring, which rises up from the ground, and the stone-built pool monument built at the time of the Hittite Empire. The spring lies inside the Lake Beyşehir National Park, 85 km (53 mi) west of Konya, and drains into Lake Beyşehir in central Anatolia at ancient Pisidia region. During the Late Bronze Age, a sacred pool monument was built here in trachyte ashlar masonry dedicated to the sacred spring cult of ancient Hittites. The monument was interpreted as a shrine to Plato during the medieval (Seljuk) period.

Overview

Eflatun Pınar's location near the lake shore corresponds to an almost exact level with other important ruins on the opposite shore, those of Kubadabad Palace, which were built by Seljuks.

Eflatun Pınar was briefly examined by the University of Oxford archaeologist Dr. Lucia Nixon in her paper on Çatalhöyük, and she makes use of F.W.Hasluck's early-20th century work. The site remains largely unexplored to date.

References

• Dr. Lucia Nixon, University of Oxford (2001). "Eflatunpınar, Çatalhöyük and the uses of the past (Conference on Anthropology, Archaeology and Heritage in the Balkans and Anatolia)" (PDF). Swansea University.

External links

• Anthropology, Archaeology and Heritage in the Balkans and Anatolia
• Views of Eflatunpinar Hittite Spring Temple & Dam

Coordinates: 37°49′22″N 31°41′21″E / 37.82278°N 31.68917°E