engineering

Tombs of the kings of Pontus

Tombs of the kings of Pontus is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tombs of the kings of Pontus rather than just read about it. In short: The Tombs of the kings of Pontus (Turkish: Kral Kaya Mezarları), located in Amasya, northern Turkey, are rock-carved tombs of different sizes, forming the royal necropolis of the Pontic kings. The site was added to the tentative list in the cultural category of UNESCO World Heritage Site on April 13, 2014.

Key takeaways

Tombs of the kings of Pontus belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tombs of the kings of Pontus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tombs of the kings of Pontus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Tombs of the kings of Pontus (Turkish: Kral Kaya Mezarları), located in Amasya, northern Turkey, are rock-carved tombs of different sizes, forming the royal necropolis of the Pontic kings. The site was added to the tentative list in the cultural category of UNESCO World Heritage Site on April 13, 2014. The royal necropolis is located on the southern hillside of the 272 m (892 ft)-high Mount Harşena north of the city Amasya and the river Yeşilırmak. The monumental king tombs are carved in limestone rock formation after Mithridates I (reigned 281–266 BC) established the Kingdom of Pontus and made Amaseia (modern Amasya) the capital city. The tombs contain big stone grave chambers inside. The area is called "Valley of the Kings" in respect to the kingdom's size as the largest in northern Anatolia and its glorious past for hundreds of years during the Hellenistic period. Five king tombs are situated in the Maidens' Palace area and belong to Mithridates I (died 266 BC), Ariobarzanes (died 250 BC), Mithridates II (died c. 210 BC), Mithridates III (died c. 190 BC) and Pharnaces I (c. 155 BC). There are nine more rock-tombs inside the Amasya Fortress on the slope of the Mt. Harşena. The total number of rock-carved royal tombs around the city amounts to 21. The rock tombs are 8 to 15 m (26 to 49 ft) high. Three of the group of five tombs are reached by two separate staircases cut into the rock, and the other two tombs by a tunnel with steps. The grave chambers inside each of the five tombs are accessible only by a ladder due to their high position of the entrance. Three of the tombs have columns in the facade, one tomb with six and the other two tombs have four columns. The other two tombs without columns have rounded tops. The largest tomb, which is known to belong to Pharnaces I, has dimensions of 15 m × 8 m × 6 m (49 ft × 26 ft × 20 ft). An inscription is carved above the rock-tomb, which reads as "the phrourarch (commander of the castle) Metrodorus dedicated an altar and a flower-bed for the king Pharnaces I to the gods".

See also Mithridatic dynasty List of colossal sculptures in situ

References

Further reading Fleischer, Robert (2017). Die Felsgräber der Könige von Pontos in Amasya [The rock-cut tombs of the kings of Pontus in Amasya]. Istanbuler Forschungen, vol. 56. Tübingen: Wasmuth, ISBN 978-3-8030-1777-2.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tombs of the kings of Pontus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tombs of the kings of Pontus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tombs of the kings of Pontus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tombs of the kings of Pontus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tombs of the kings of Pontus

In research: Tombs of the kings of Pontus appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tombs of the kings of Pontus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tombs of the kings of Pontus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amasya, Buildings and structures in Amasya Province, Burial sites of Iranian dynasties, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tombs of the kings of Pontus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tombs of the kings of Pontus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tombs of the kings of Pontus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tombs of the kings of Pontus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tombs of the kings of Pontus in simple terms?

Why does Tombs of the kings of Pontus matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tombs of the kings of Pontus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tombs of the kings of Pontus.