The reason why people suddenly died near ancient ‘portal to hell’
The reason why people suddenly died near ancient ‘portal to hell’
There is an ancient temple in southern Turkey, dubbed the ‘ Portal of Hell ‘ A series of mysterious deaths have been taking place near the temple for years since any beast in contact with the temple was killed under mysterious circumstances.
Now, however, the mystery was finally solved by researchers. It was not Hades ‘ breath, the underworld’s mythological god, which felled the beasts, but a phenomenon that was much more common. There were deadly concentrations of C02 gas near the entrance to the temple in the ancient city of Hierapolis.
From ancient Greek writings, people for fear of death avoided the temple, and the ancient Greek geographer Strabo referred to it as a deadly place to set foot.
“This space is so vapoured and misty that you can hardly see the surface,” he wrote, “Any animal that passes inside meets instant death. I threw in sparrows and they immediately breathed their last and fell.”
His writings have some truth to them, as birds were found dead near the entrance recently, apparently after attempting to enter through the door. Also found on the site were columns inscribed as if in a plea to be spared from death with dedications to the gods of the underworld.
According to archaeologist Francesco D’Andria, who works on the site, the area’s lethal properties could be seen almost immediately.
“We could see the cave’s lethal properties during the excavation,” she said. “Several birds died as they tried to get close to the warm opening, instantly killed by the carbon dioxide fumes.”
D’Andria also claims they found evidence that birds were given to pilgrims to test the effects of the cave, as well noted the rumour that priests sacrificed bulls to the underworld gods while hallucinating from the toxic fumes.
The fumes of CO2 found at the site were at deadly levels, leading the archaeologists to believe that the temple sits above a fault line.
“In a grotto below the temple of Pluto, CO2 was found to be at deadly concentrations of up to 91 percent,” the study said. “Astonishingly, these vapours are still emitted in concentrations that nowadays kill insects, birds, and mammals.”