Nemrut (volcano) of the earliest trade routes. Two eruptions of Nemrut were probably witnessed by people of Urartu, an ancient state located in the eastern Turkey. These eruptions occurred c. 787 BC (period of King Menua) and c. 657 BC (period of King Rusa II), and the latter eruption might cause the sudden disappearance of the city Uaiais located 30 km east of Süphan. In the 1980s, Japanese volcanologists studied the evolution of gases inside the caldera of Nemrut. They found that the ratio of helium isotopes He/He is 1.06, which indicates volcanic activity (most of the measured helium evolved from the
Ala (Luwian goddess) Mount Hurtula (probably Mount Nemrut). Ala is probably depicted on the , along with the deer god. Ala (Luwian goddess) Ala was a Hittite and Luwian goddess of the wilderness and partner of the god Runtiya. She played only a minor role in the pantheon. "Lady Ala" (Hittite: MUNUS Ala-; Hieroglyphic Luwian: FEMINA Ala-) appears in one Bronza Age Hittite tex and several Iron Age Luwian texts. The name may derive from the Luwian adjective "ala-" ("high"). Personal names in which the goddess is invoked cannot be identified for sure on account of the shortness of the name and cannot