Guide
The Sofraz tumuli stand in the village of Sofraz, in the Besni district of Adıyaman. The Ministry dates these mound tombs only tentatively, to the Roman period in the 1st or 2nd century AD. There are two of them, about a kilometre apart, and they are built rather than carved — chambers of dressed stone buried under rubble fill and earth.
The larger mound, south-east of the village, rises around fifteen metres. Because it was built below ground level and given no stair at its entrance, a wooden stair added later is what takes you down. The tomb itself is three spaces in sequence: an outer entrance, a passage corridor, and the chamber. A long vaulted approach leads into the chamber, where two limestone sarcophagi stand against the east and west walls, both still with their lids.
The smaller mound is about four metres high. Its entrance is a passage of steps cut into the rock, followed by a tall approach of ten metres that opens into vaulted chambers of dressed stone. The sarcophagi here have lost their lids. The site is signposted at Karaağaç, 02302 Üçgöz, Besni.