©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project

Karatepe

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Karatepe
Type:
 Mound
Altitude:
 m
Region:
 Mediterranean
Province:
 Osmaniye
District:
 Kadirli
Village:
 Karatepe
Investigation Method:
 Excavation
Period:
 Late Iron Age Middle Iron Age

     

Location: Karatepe-Arslantas is located within the borders of the Kadirli District in Osmaniye. It lies 20 km far from the district. The fortress is situated approximately 70 km northeast of the ancient city of Mopsuhestia (Misis/Yakapinar), probably once a major settlement in the region.
Geography and Environment: It is a natural hill on the west bank of the Ceyhan River, with a height of 22 m. Being one of the two fortified sites, which were strategically significant, rising on both banks of the Ceyhan River at the skirts of the Taurus Mountains delimiting the Cilician Plain, Karatepe commands the Ceyhan River on one side, the Andirin Plain on the north, and the ancient caravan road called "Akyol" running from Cilicia passing over the Taurus Mountains, and still used by the villagers and the yörüks (nomads) on the west.
History:
Research and Excavation: Karatepe was first introduced in 1946 by H.Th. Bossert and H. Çambel from the Department of the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Letters of Istanbul University. A rumour about a lion monument (Arslantaş) to the east of Kadirli reached to a team who was accompanied by Bossert during an expedition in search of the ancient Hittite caravan roads from Kayseri to Cilicia Plain over the Taurus passes, and consequently they paid a visit to the region. This visit resulted in the introduction of the remains of an Iron Age fortress, which included a stone monument called "Arslantaş" (lion stone), later on turned out to be a bull-cocle and inscribed reliefs. Following a second exploratory visit in 1947 by H.Th. Bossert and U. B.Alkim, a formal excavation was initiated by a team including H. Çambel, N. Ongunsu, M. Darga and H. Alkim under the direction of Bossert, and continued until 1951 when Bossert announced that the excavations were terminated. The next year, the excavations were continued under the direction of H. Çambel together with some Italian experts (Roman Istituto Centrale de Restauro- ICR). The architectural reliefs remained in situ and they were not transferred to the museum, holding restoration and conservation works, which was followed by installation of permanent shelters in 1957. By this way, the base for the first open air museum of Turkey was laid. In 1958, an area of ca. 19.000 acres enclosing the citadel was declared as a National Park, preserving the citadel together with its natural environment. In 1970s, the Arslantaş Dam was built over the Ceyhan River in spite of all oppositions under the leadership of Halet Çambel, and where upon intensive efforts only the crest elevation was adjusted to an appropriate level, forming a lake washing the skirts of the hills on which the Karatepe-Arslantaş fortress rises and of Domuztepe on the opposite bank with prehistoric layers. In 1987, the activities were re-iniated; artefacts were completed. Some topographic and architectural studies were carried out again between 1997 and 2002 in cooperation with the German Archaeological Institute [Çambel 2004:70-71; Özyar 2005:22-23]. An area of 19.000 acres enclosing the citadel was declared as a National Park, preserving the citadel together with its natural environment. In 2005, local people showed their love and appreciation to Halet Çambel, who continued to work in the region by spending months for 60 years and gave them the Karatepe-Arslantas Open Air Museum and the National Park by erecting her bust [Özyar 2006:107-108].
Stratigraphy: The excavations at the Karatepe citadel yielded three building levels. The first level consists of walls, entrance gates, palatial and sacred buildings. The reliefs and inscriptions belong to this level. The second building level is restricted with architectural finds, which include masonry comprising the main structure of the citadel and underlying the stone foundation walls of these structures. Among the remarkable artefacts brought to light at Karatepe are entrance gates and their related structures, and the reliefs decorating them, and the Phoenician and Hittite hieroglyphs [Darga 1992:335-337].
Small Finds: Architecture: The citadel covering an area around 195x375 m was protected by a double-wall system reinforced by massive bastions. The wall of the citadel reinforced with 28 bastions at regular intervals is approximately 4 m thick. The steep slope facing the river to the east of the citadel was enclosed by an outer wall, and linked to the citadel. This wall which was partly flooded by the reservoir waters was also reinforced with regularly placed bastions [Özyar 2005:24]. The citadel is accessed through two monumental gates from the northeast and southwest called the North Gate and South Gate, respectively. These gates reinforced by big towers were accessed through a rampart. After the rampart, comes a forecourt between the towers, which gives access into the citadel. [Özyar 2006:96]. A part of 90 m of the other outer wall, again reinforced by bastions, on the western section of the citadel linking to the South Gate and a shorter part linking to the North Gate were identified [Özyar 2005:24]. The excavations at Karatepe yielded fortification walls reinforced with bastions, two monumental gate houses accessible from north (the North Gate) and south (the South Gate), and a small bastion gate to the west. Additionally, storehouses to the east of the South Gate, and barrack buildings to the further west, and another building to the northeast were identified. The forecourt is accessed through a passageway in the North and South Gates houses [Çambel 2004:72]. Presumably, the monumental building with an inner court was the largest in the citadel. To the immediate south are a building with a row of three chambers in parallel to the fortification walls, and some structures functioning like storehouses around the South Gate. [Özyar 2006:96]. Their walls were lined with statues and orthostats standing on basalt bases. A landing was reached through a monumental wooden gate, and behind it there were two lateral rooms, again lined with statues and orthostats. Beyond the South Gate was a statue of the Storm God (Baal/July), which was standing on a double-bull socle at the time. [Çambel 2004:72]. Probably it was a sacred area used for religious ceremonies and rituals. This colossal statue, which survived to 1915, today again rises on its base following restoration works [Özyar 2006:96]. Some of the statues and ortostats used for decorations were inscribed. In both gates there was a pedestal, and statues and ortostats inscribed with Phoenician and Luwian hieroglyps as well as a Phoenician text on the statue of the Storm-God [Çambel 2004:72]. Pottery: The excavations yielded a limited number of sherds, which are local material from the Iron Age, also known from the hill. Focus has been given to the restoration works in order to exhibit the pottery finds uncovered at Karatepe so far. The pottery of Karatepe is important in dating the citadel. It is believed that the sherds recovered from the granaries recovered at the 2nd and 3rd building levels may also contribute well to the dating of the Domuztepe finds. Statue/Relief: The Hittite Culture in Anatolia disappeared as the cultural activites were only confined to the palace and a limited number of aristocrates following the destruction of Hattusa around 1200 BC. On the other hand, the Hittite traditions lingered in the Southeast Anatolia and North Mesopotamia, which became under the influence of the Hittite civilization from the second half of the 2nd Millennium BC. In this region actually occupied by the Luwian people, the art works we are familiar from Hattusa, Alacahöyük and several other Anatolian cities take various forms. In the small kingdoms consisting of dozens of city states, four main artistic styles can be observed: Traditional Hittite, Assyrian Late Hittite, Aramean-Assyrian Late Hittite, and Aramean-Assyrian-Phoenician Late Hittite [Akurgal 1997b:195]. The sculptures that were brought to light during the excavations initiated in 1947 by Bossert, and then taken over by Çambel were made of a dark grey type of basalt, and they belonged to the northeastern and southwestern gate houses. This type of stone can be found at Domuztepe on the opposite bank of the Ceyhan Rivers across Karatepe. The basalt blocks used for the orthostats at the gates of Karatepe Fortress, ancient name Azatiwataya, are not equal in size. Large blocks were used for big statues while using small blocks for orthostats with reliefs. [Darga 1992:335-347]. The reliefs, reaching up to 100 in quantity, comprise the most crowded group in the architectural context [Özyar 2005:26]. The reliefs depict several scenes; feast, musicians, sacrifice and hunting, warriors, votive carriers, figures with bull-feet, musical feast, ship scene, a parade scene towards the triad relief, women breast-feeding and carrying jugs, the god Bes, tree of life flanked by goats, players, bird-hunting etc. According to analysis by A. Özyar the figures with a size from edge to edge depict deities whereas smaller ones represent the mortals. Although many of the scenes are hardly interpreted at present, it is believed that they were known and clear to the people of the time with a common symbol [Çambel 2004:72]. It was found out that teams of two different stone masons worked at Karatepe-Aslantas. The first team (referred as Team A or I in publications) carved animated and dynamic reliefs with a certain profile and ears while the second team (referred as Team B or II in publications) incised dull and stereotypical figures as if carved out of plywood with various profiles and ears. It appears that these two teams worked partly at the same period, and partly in succesions. The repertory of the team A/I looks west-oriented while the repertory of the team B/II was mainly east-oriented. Similarly, the bilingual inscription (Phoenician and Luwian hieroglyph) should have been incised by two different teams [Çambel 2004:72]. Epigraphic Material: Based on the reliefs on the entrance gates and additionaly the bilingual text inscribed onto the body of the Storm-God, we know that the ancient name of Karatas-Aslantas was Azatiwataya. The text was insribed onto basalt by both hieroglyph system in the Luwian and by alphabetic letters in Phoenician. The inscription is repeated twice in Luwian, and three times in Phoenician. Contributed much to the deciphering of the hieroglyph text, the content of the inscription also sheds lights on the historical persons, places and events. It was dictated by the founder of the fortress, Azatiwatas, who states that Urikki, King of Danunians (Adana) supported him, and he protected the plain of Adana, and made it a land of milk and honey as well as peace, and he adds that he built fortresses in all remote areas on the borders. He also repeats his loyality to the dynasty called House of Mopsos, highlighting that he made others servants to this dynasty. The last known Late Hittite settlement with inscriptions is the Karatepe Fortress, which is dated to ca. 700 BC [Özyar 2005:26].
Remains:
Interpretation and Dating: Following the dissolution of the great Hittite Empire around 1200 BC, a number of kingdoms called Late Hittite Kingdoms in cities such as Kargamis, Sakçagözü, Malatya, Zincirli, and Tel Halaf were founded to the south of the Taurus Mountains. One of them was Karatepe, which was founded in the Plain of Adana (Cilicia) and brought to light only after 1946, where the only information was obtained from the inscriptions of the King of Adanava, Azatiwatas found at Azatiwataya (modern Karatepe-Aslantas) [Çambel 2004:70]. The architectural finds, reliefs and inscriptions at the Karatepe citadel settlement called Asatiwataya, which was founded as a border fortress against the savage northern tribes by Asatiwatas, introducing himself as the reign of Adana Plain during the Late Hittite Period (8th century BC) are usually dated to the layer 1, the latest one. According to the inscriptions, the fortress was built by the local ruler Azatiwata, and named after him as Azatiwataya. The linguists indicate that the King Azatiwatas is contemporary with Awarikku (Urikki) of Que and the Assyrain King, Tiglat-Pileser III (mid-8th century BC) referred in the inscriptions. No exact dating is available so far for earlier layers, i.e. 2nd and 3rd layers, and they were not placed chronologically prior to the reign of Azatiwatas [Darga 1992:335].


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