Türkmen-Karahöyük

37.6225 33.029444444444Coordinates: 37 ° 37 ′ 21 ″ N , 33 ° 1 ′ 46 ″ E

Türkmen-Karahöyük

Türkmen-Karahöyük is an archaeological site in Turkey and is located in the Konya plain . It is located on a large hill north of the village of the same name . The ancient name of the place is unknown.

exploration

The archaeological importance of the place was first guessed in 2017 during a sighting of the hill. Therefore, in 2018 James F. Osborne started the Türkmen-Karajöyük Intensive Survey Project (TISP) and the site was examined in more detail in the summer of 2019. The area of the hill and its surroundings were systematically examined for ceramic shards and other artefacts and statistically evaluated. Based on the found ceramics and an inscription in hieroglyphic Luwian script, it could be shown that the place was an important central location from the Bronze Age to antiquity.

Findings

The Konya Plain was a well-irrigated and fertile region in ancient times, and Türkmen-Karahöyuk was located on the north bank of the now-dry Lake Hotamış. The hill rises around 35 meters above the plain and covers almost 30 hectares. The settlement also extended into the plain northeast of the hill. Whether it also extended southwards cannot be investigated because of the modern village.

Copper Age and Bronze Age

The oldest datable finds come from the late Copper Age , around 4500 BC. BC and were found at the foot of the hill. The finds from the early Bronze Age (3200–2000 BC) also come from the edge of the hill.

The finds of the Middle Bronze Age (2000–1650 BC) extend over the entire hill, so that the settlement at that time comprised about 30 hectares, which corresponds approximately to the size of other simultaneous settlements on the Konya plain. A shard with two stamps indicate a relationship with the ancient Assyrian trading center in Kültepe (level 1b).

Late Bronze Age

During the late Bronze Age (1650–1200) the place came under the Hittite Empire , but the Hittite name of the settlement is unknown. The place then developed into a city with an area of at least 125 hectares. Finds of fine pottery indicate an upper class in the place. During the Late Empire period, the place was in the border area of the Hittite Lower Country, the Hulaya River Country and Tarḫuntašša , whose borders are not exactly known. According to Michele Massa et al. Turkmen-Karahöyük could be identical to the Hittite city of Tarḫuntašša.

Iron age

During the early Iron Age (1200–600 BC) the city extended over the same area as the Hittite city, while in ancient times the lower city was smaller, so that the settlement was perhaps 50 hectares.

The most important find was an Iron Age inscription by King Hartapu from the 8th century BC. Can be dated BC.

In Assyrian sources from the 8th and 7th centuries BC The area east of the Konya Plain was called Tabal , and it is likely that Turkmen-Karahöyük also belonged to this area, which consisted of several smaller Late Hittite kingdoms, of which Turkmen-Karahöyük was one.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Michele Massa et al. A landscape-oriented approach to urbanization and early state formation on the Konya and Karaman plains, Turkey , Anatolian Studies 70 (2020): 63-66

literature

James F. Osborne: The city of Hartapu: results of the Türkmen-Karahöyük Intensive Survey Project , Anatolian Studies 70 (2020): 1–17. [doi: 10.1017 / S0066154620000046]
Petra Goedegebuure et al .: TÜRKMEN-KARAHÖYÜK 1: a new Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription from Great King Hartapu, son of Mursili, conqueror of Phrygia. Anatolian Studies 70 (2020): 29-43; [doi: 10.117 // S0066154620000022]

[1] Michele Massa et al. A landscape-oriented approach to urbanization and early state formation on the Konya and Karaman plains, Turkey , Anatolian Studies 70 (2020): 63-66