At the peak of the 2150m-high Mt. Nemrut lies the tomb of King Antiochus I Theos (64-36BC). To glorify his rule, the king had these colossal of statues built of himself and the Greek/Persian gods. They were placed on two terraces facing east and west with almost identical layout, the king then ordered to fill in between an artificial 50 meter high hill with crushed rocks. He is believed to be buried here with his three wives. Due to erosion and earthquakes, the statues had collapse and the heads fallen to the ground. The site was discovered by a German engineer in 1881 and was't excavated until 1990s by American archeologists.
The mountain is inaccessible to tourists between late October and early May due to severe weather conditions and snow bound roads. The short hike was streneous because of strong wind, the grade and the condition of the road. The stone heads have been moved around and are now chained off from tourists. I hiked to the top for sunset and sunrise. We left the hotel at 2:45am in order to make it for the sunrise. Again the rest of my day was ruined because of lack of sleep.