Ramsay, William Mitchell: Impressions of Turkey during twelve years' wanderings (London, 1897)

68 AN EXCURSION IN PHRYGIA

hills into a great valley, once inhabited by the
people Praipenisseis. As it issues out of its narrow
glen it flows past a large tumulus, round which is
a village called Besh-Karish-Eyuk (Five-Span-
Mound). A legend which I omitted to note down
is connected with this mound. So far as I was able
to judge, folk tales are poor and uninteresting
among the Turks ; but it requires wider knowledge
and greater freedom in the Turkish language than
I possess to gather the materials for a correct
judgment on this subject.

One and a half hours across the plain brought us
to Altun-Tash (Gold-Stone), chief village of the
district, and half-way halting place between Kutaya
and Afiom-Kara-Hissar. It is full of inscriptions,
most of which are disappointing. Here we spent
two hours about noon. In the afternoon, at a
village Tchakirsaz, one hour to the east of Altuntash,
inscriptions detained us some time. One was the
quarry mark on a block of Synnadic marble,
showing that the marble of those quarries was not
merely carried to Rome, but also sold in other
directions. The others were unimportant and
difficult epitaphs, one of which had some turns of
expression, suggesting Christian origin ; but in
its fragmentary condition, certainty was impossible.
This great valley was one of the chief centres of
Christianity in Phrygia during the third century ;