Aniconic worship in Anatolia in the 1st millennium BC

Aniconism is a term used for one of the ways people envision and portray gods or goddesses. In aniconic worship, there is no need for the deity to be represented by figures such as human or animal. Instead of these, elements of nature such as mountain, stone, tree, water, fire or sacred space are worshiped as gods. Aniconism, which we have knowledge of especially through Near East and Aegean cultures, has been classified as material aniconism, empty space aniconism and elemantal aniconism. This study was deemed necessary due to the absence of any comprehensive and holistic study on the subject in Anatolia, which is understood to be very suitable for aniconism with its high mountain ranges, dense and diverse vegetation, rich underdround and surface water resources. In our study, worship areas such as mountains, caves, forests/trees, worship elements such as water and fire, and objects of worship such as stele, baitylos, ompahlos, wooden pillar/xoanon, stepped monument, and niche, which are dated to 1 st millennium BC in Anatolia, were examined within the scope of aniconism. All these elements included in the subject are evaluated chronologically, taking into account the cultures that have existed in Anatolia since the Prehistoric Periods and the interaction between these cultures. In addition, examples that we can define as aniconic among the data introduced to the scientific archaeological studies carried out in Anatolia by various researches to date have been examined according to the cultural regions in Anatolia.