Temple traces found in 3,800-year-old city

A structure uncovered during excavations at Kayalıpınar — the 3,800-year-old Hittite city formerly known as 'Samuha' — is believed to be a temple belonging to Šauška.

Excavations at Kayalıpınar, conducted under the advisory of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vuslat Müller Karpe of Philipps University Marburg in Germany on behalf of the Sivas Museum Directorate, were first launched in 2005 and continue during certain periods of the year.

Excavations carried out at various times have so far uncovered legible structures from the Old Assyrian Trade Colonies, Hittite, Roman, and Byzantine periods, as well as Hellenistic, Roman, and Early Christian artefacts, along with numerous seal impressions belonging to Hittite kings, princesses, princes, and officials.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Maner, Head of Excavations and faculty member in the Department of Archaeology and Art History at Koç University, made the following statements to an AA correspondent:

"We are working in an area to develop the possibility that it could be a Temple Structure. A fragment of a Hittite-language tablet had been found in that area. It mentioned a large livestock shipment — something like 1,200 cows and 400 oxen. This year's researchers discovered this in a differentiated way.

"We believe there was worship in the area — excavations could of course yield a different result. Kayalıpınar was an important place of settlement in the second millennium BC. It was a religious centre both during the Old Assyrian Trade Colony period and the Hittite period. In the Assyrian period, cuneiform texts mention the temple of the goddess Ishtar.

In the Hittite period, they mention Šauška. For both periods, a place of worship has not yet been identified. But in fact, from all the cuneiform texts found at Kayalıpınar, we understand that religious activities and festivals were continuously held here. We therefore decided to focus on this area and plan to uncover the entire structure this summer.

During last year's excavations, very important seal impressions belonging to the period of Hattušili III, his wife, children, and the Royal family came to light. In an area we are not currently focused on, there is a seal impression of the person who carried out this large animal shipment."

News Source: AA