Traces of the Place of Water in Phrygian Religious Life

Since prehistoric times, people have preferred to settle near water sources. Because of its importance forhuman life, water has been given deep meaning in different periods and cultures, considered ‘sacred’ and playing a key role in religious life, becoming the centerpiece of rituals. In the religious life of the Phrygians, one of the Iron Age civilizations in Central Anatolia, water and water sources also occupied a privileged place. However, there is currently a lack of direct information on the relationship of water to the religion and religious practices of the Phrygians. In this article, Phrygian rock monuments, sacred sites and a group of reliefs depicting the Mother Goddess Matar in the form of stelae, and the ritual actions of the goddess called Kybele and Magna Matar, who was revered as the Phrygian Goddess in the Greek and Roman Periods, in relation to water in ancient sources, question the relationship of the Mother Goddess with water resources in the Phrygians. In addition, it is suggested that the monuments with shaft, which are distinguished from other Phrygian rock-cut monuments by their round holes drilled on the back wall of the niches and the wells connected to these holes, which continue to the base of the roof of the facade, serve a different ritual in Phrygian religious practices, and the importance of water in Phrygian culture is emphasised.