Sirkeli Höyük

The Sirkeli Höyük

The Sirkeli Höyük is one of the largest tells (settlement mounds) of Cilicia with an area of ​​approximately 80 hectares . It is 40 kilometers east of the megacity Adana , northwest of the village Sirkeli in the district of Ceyhan , at the breakthrough of the Ceyhan through the Misis Mountains (Turkish: Nur Dağ ).

Location and importance of the site

Coordinates: 37 ° 0 ′ 14 "  N , 35 ° 44 ′ 43"  E

Sirkeli Höyük​

Turkey

Rock relief with Yılan Kalesi Castle in the background

Directly past Sirkeli Höyük, the most important road runs through the region, which leads to Syria in the east and to Central Anatolia in the west via the Cilician Gate . The historical significance of this route is illustrated by the construction of the medieval Yılankale Castle on the opposite bank of the river and the course of the Baghdad Railway and the modern motorway, both of which pass close to Sirkeli Höyük.

The approx. 300 × 400 meter large ruin hill consists of a 30 meter high, oval main hill and a trapezoidal saddle facing north. To the south-east and south there is evidence of an extensive lower town surrounded by a double city wall. The hilltops south and south-west of the hill also formed an intramural upper town, which also included a necropolis with chamber tombs. Workshop areas have been proven extramurally, and a suburb is attested on the opposite side of the river.

A rock ridge runs right through the hill of ruins from southwest to northeast, with two rock reliefs attached to the northeastern edge (see below).

Apparently the place was from the Chalcolithic Age (from approx. 5000 BC) through the entire Bronze Age ( 3000-1200 BC) and Iron Age (1200-300 BC) up to the Hellenistic epoch (approx AD) settled. There are some indications that it can be identified with the ancient trading and cult city Lawazantiya (Assyrian Lusanda , Greek Loandos ), the hometown of the famous Hittite Great Queen Puduḫepa , daughter of a priest of the love goddess Šawuška and wife of the Great King Ḫattušili III. (approx. 1265–1236 BC), who concluded the oldest known peace treaty with the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II . According to recent research, however, an identification with Kummanni (Assyrian Kisuatni ) is assumed.

Monuments

The place owes a key position to its location, which was expressed not least in the installation of two Hittite rock reliefs on the ruins: The better preserved shows the Hittite great king Muwatalli II (r. 1290–1272 BC) and is therefore one of the so far oldest known Hittite rock reliefs. The figure is turned to the left and wears a long robe and a round cap. The feet are clad in pointed shoes. Details of the clothing such as hems and folds can still be seen clearly. The king was depicted beardless and with long hair, and details of his face were also recognizable. Due to a splinter, the facial area is no longer visible today. As a symbol of royal dignity, the figure holds a crook in his left hand, the right hand is raised to the face , similar to the EGO sign ("I") of the Luwian hieroglyphs . A hieroglyphic inscription is chiseled out behind the figure, in which the person depicted is called Muwatalli.

Nearby there was another, antique carved relief, which in research is mostly interpreted as a representation of Kurunta (= Ulmi-Teššup), the son of Muwatalli II. It is more likely, however, that it was his brother, the one of Ḫattušili III. (approx. 1265-1236 BC) Muršili III. (= Urḫi-Teššup, approx. 1272–1265 BC), and was erased after his removal.

On the top of the relief wall, directly above the reliefs, there are several trough-like cavities, which were apparently related to the sculptures and were used for libation , the pouring out of liquids in the course of cult activities. These troughs were part of an extensive system, which, in addition to the reliefs, also included a larger stone building that leaned against the rock ridge immediately to the west of the troughs. The ensemble is interpreted as a place of worship for the Hittite great king.

Archaeological finds

Remains of the removed relief

The objects found during excavations so far show that the place was a cultural melting pot during the entire settlement period.

In addition to the Hittite rock reliefs, a column base made of stone in the late Hittite style (approx. 10th century BC) in the form of two lions, painted Middle Bronze Age (approx. 2000–1500 BC) ceramics of the so-called ›Syro -Kilikische Ware ‹, Middle Bronze Age terracottas in the North Syrian style, Hittite jugs (approx. 1600–1300 BC), numerous painted ceramic vessels from the Late Bronze and Iron Ages (approx. 1500–600 BC) influenced by Cyprus, Phrygian and Levantine fibulae (approx. 700 BC) as well as Phoenician glass beads, etc. a. in face shape. In addition, there are some objects of administration, such as seals and seals from different periods as well as numerous metal implements and weapons.

Excavations

John Garstang carried out a brief investigation on Sirkeli Höyük in 1936. He made five smaller probes. Between 1992 and 1996 excavations were carried out by the University of Munich and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences under the direction of Barthel Hrouda and in 1997 by the University of Innsbruck under the direction of Horst Ehringhaus . A large number of excavation cuts (areas) of different sizes were created, especially on the top of the main hill and in the northeast of the lower town directly above the rock face with the reliefs on the slope towards the river.

In 2006 the excavations were carried out as part of a cooperation, initially between the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen , and since 2011 the University of Bern with the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi (University of Çanakkale ) under the direction of Mirko Novák and Ekin Kozal (until 2013) and Deniz Yaşin, respectively -Meier (since 2014) resumed.

literature

• Mirko Novák, Ekin Kozal and Deniz Yaşin Meier (eds.): Sirkeli Höyük. An urban center on the Puruna Pyramos in the Cilicia plains. Writings on Near Eastern Archeology 13 . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2019. ISBN 978-3-447-11161-4
• Alexander Ahrens : John Garstang at Sirkeli Höyük, Cilician Plain, in 1936–1937: Old Photographs and New Evidence from the Renewed Excavations . In: Anatolica (Annuaire international pour les civilizations de l'Asie antérieure) 40 (2014), pp. 47–60. [DOI: 10.2143 / ANA.40.0.3036674]
• Alexander Ahrens, Ekin Kozal, Mirko Novák : Sirkeli Höyük in Smooth Cilicia. A General Overview from the 4th to the 1st Millennium BC . In: Paolo Matthiae et al. (Ed.): Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of the Archeology of the Ancient Near East, May 5 - May 10, 2008, "Sapienza", Università di Roma (6ICAANE); Vol. 2: Excavations, Surveys and Restorations, Reports on Recent Field Archeology in the Near East (Wiesbaden 2010), pp. 55-74.
• A. Ahrens, E. Kozal, Chr. Kümmel, M. Novák: News from the Hittite Empire - discoveries on the Sirkeli Höyük . In: Archeology in Germany 1/2008, p. 4.
• A. Ahrens, E. Kozal, Chr. Kümmel, I. Laube, M. Novák: Sirkeli Höyük - fortress or cult city? . In: Antike Welt 3/2009, 42–46.
• A. Ahrens, E. Kozal, Chr. Kümmel, I. Laube, M. Novák: Sirkeli Höyük - cultural contacts in Cilicia. Preliminary report on the 2006 and 2007 campaigns of the German-Turkish mission . In: Istanbuler Mitteilungen 58 (2008), pp. 67-107.
• M. Forlanini: How to infer Ancient Roads and Intineraries from heterogenous Hittite Texts: The Case of the Cilician (Kizzuwatnean) Road System , KASKAL 10, 2013, pp. 1–34.
• Ekin Kozal and Mirko Novák: Sirkeli Höyük. A Bronze and Iron Age Urban Settlement in Plain Cilicia . In: Ü. Yalçın (ed.): Anatolian Metals VI, Der Anschnitt Beiheft 25 (Bochum 2013), pp. 229–238. ISSN 0003-5238
• Ekin Kozal and Mirko Novák: Facing Muwattalli: Some Thoughts on the Visibility and Function of the Rock Reliefs at Sirkeli Höyük, Cilicia . In: E. Kozal, M. Akar, Y. Heffron, Ç. Çilingiroğlu, TE Şerifoğlu, C. Çakırlar, S. Ünlüsoy and E. Jean (eds.): Questions, Approaches, and Dialogues in the Eastern Mediterranean Archeology Studies in Honor of Marie-Henriette and Charles Gates , Alter Orient und Altes Testament 445 ( Münster 2017), pp. 371–388. ISBN 978-3-86835-251-1
• Barthel Hrouda: Preliminary report on the excavation results on Sirkeli Höyük / Southern Turkey from 1992–1996 . In: Istanbuler Mitteilungen 47 (1997), pp. 91–150.
• Horst Ehringhaus : Preliminary report on the excavation on Sirkeli Höyük, Adana province / Turkey in 1997 . In: Istanbuler Mitteilungen 49 (1999), pp. 83–140.
• Horst Ehringhaus: Gods, rulers, inscriptions - the rock reliefs of the Hittite empire in Turkey . von Zabern 2005, ISBN 3-8053-3469-9 , pp. 95-101.
• Mirko Novák, Susanne Rutishauser: Kizzuwatna: Archeology . In: M. Weeden and LZ Ullmann (eds.): Hittite Landscape and Geography. Handbuch der Orientalistik I, 125 (Leiden 2017), pp. 134–145. ISBN 978-90-04-34174-6
• Alexander Sollee, Susanne Rutishauser, Christian Hübner, Birthe Hemeier and Mirko Novák: The rediscovery of ancient Kummanni / Kisuatni: remote sensing, geophysical prospecting and archaeological excavations at Sirkeli Höyük, Turkey . In: Communications from the Natural Research Society in Bern 2018, pp. 102–125.

Web links

Commons : Sirkeli  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Sirkeli Hüyük excavation project
• Research project at the University of Bern, Institute for Archaeological Sciences

References and comments

1. ↑ Previous findings regarding the research goals. Chronology , Sirkeli Höyük, excavation project.
2. ^ E. Kozal, M. Novák: Facing Muwattalli. Some Thoughts on the Visibility and Function of the Rock Reliefs at Sirkeli Höyük, Cilicia , in: E. Kozal, et al. (Ed.): Questions, Approaches, and Dialogues in the Eastern Mediterranean Archeology Studies in Honor of Marie-Henriette and Charles Gates , Alter Orient und Altes Testament 445 (Münster 2017), pp. 371–388. For the representation see Horst Ehringhaus: Gods, rulers, inscriptions - The rock reliefs of the Hittite period in Turkey , von Zabern 2005, pp. 97–98. ISBN 3-8053-3469-9