EĞIL

Eğil is a nice town located in the northwest of the county of Diyarbakιr. It is a small Assyrian town dominated by a castle overlooking the Tigris River.





The excavations made in 1946 show that the province dates back to the Middle Paleolithic Age (20,000 - 15,000 BC). A lot of local caves - which were once inhabited - belong to this period. Throughout its long history, Eğil was the cradle of many civilizations - Assyrians, Urartians, Byzantine Empire, Roman Empire and Ottoman Empire.
Eğil is known as the city of prophets. Indeed, many graves of prophets such as Prophet Elyesa, Prophet Zülkifl and Prophet Harun can be found there.
There are also Assyrian kings' rock graves which still stand despite centuries. The graves and caves around them can be seen northeast of the castle on the coast of the dam. They were built by carving the rocks in the shape of Egyptian scarves.




EĞIL ASSYRIAN CASTLE
Eğil castle was built in Assyrian times in 5000 BC. It has an interesting structure. It was set on a unique rock. It is clear that the castle was very hard to conquer. It was surrounded by walls which have partially survived until today. It was used as a depot and shelter both for soldiers and civilians.




The four tunnels which can still be seen today were constructed by carving the rocks. They are thought to have been built to reach safe places in case of an emergency.

There are also nearly one hundred pits in the castle and they are thought to have been used for different purposes (like storage for instance).

In the west part of the castle there is a Cave Church. It contains many crucifixes dating from different periods. It is said that one of the followers of Jesus came to this chuch in the 1st Century. He made Eğil a center of bishops and built one of the biggest monasteries of the Middle East, as a result, Cave Church turned Eğil into a centre of belief.
On the front west part of Eğil castle the figure of an Assyrian King can be seen. There is also an inscription in front of the figure but it has faded away so it can't be read anymore.


THE LEGEND OF THE KING'S DAUGHTER
Once upon a time, a barbarian warrior looking for fame came to Eğil to conquer its strong Castle. He wanted to be considered a brave warrior. He behaved cruelly towards the people and especially towards the virgins. The weak King was helpless so he sent his delegates to the warrior to try and find an agreement. The warrior agreed that he would put an end to the war if he could spend one night with the King's daughter. The King's daughter agreed but secretly planned to kill the barbarian warrior. She went to him and pretended to be with him the way he wished her to. But suddenly, she took her dagger and killed the warrior.

THE LEGEND OF EĞIL CASTLE
Prophet Elyesa whose tomb is believed to be in Eğil is a prophet sent to the Jews. According to the legend - that has been told by local people for centuries - Prophet Elyesa and his army came to Eğil to conquer this beautiful city. However, they found out that all the sides of the castle were surrounded by deep valleys and by walls which were too high for the prophet's army to conquer it. The legend says that Prophet Elyesa prayed Allah who ordered the castle to let the army enter. The castle bowed in front of the Prophet and his army. Thus the army went into the castle and conquered it.

http://www.egil.gov.tr/haberdetay.php?detay=1&hid=163