Kerkenes (or Kerkenes Dağı; both names are modern) is the largest pre-Hellenistic site from the

Anatolian Plateau The Anatolian Plateau () is a plateau that occupies most of Turkey's surface area. The elevation of the plateau ranges from 600 to 1,200 meters (2,000 to 4,000 ft). Mount Erciyes near Kayseri is the peak at 3,917 m (12,851 ft) ...

(

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

) – 7 km (4 mi) of strong stone defenses, pierced by seven gates, that enclose 2.5 km² (1.0 sq mi). It is located about 200 km (120 mi) east from Ankara (35.06E, 39.75N), between the towns of

Yozgat Yozgat is a city and the capital district of Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to 2019 census, population of the district is 421,200 of which 106,280 live in the city of Yozgat. History The first surveys were ...

(W) and Sorgun (E).

History

It has been suggested that this was a Hittite site in the Bronze Age, with the underlying hill being the sacred Mount Daha. An important Imperial Hittite city at Kusakli Hoyuk sits in the valley of Egrioz Su river about 8 km to the north-northwest of the city on the Kerkenes Dag. According to Gurney, the textual evidence that he assembled strongly points towards an identification of Kusakli Hoyuk with the town of Zippalanda, as mentioned in Hittite documents. The huge overlaying Iron Age construction at the site makes this very difficult to verify. The Iron Age city, apparently a planned urban space, was only briefly occupied and is extremely large. This has suggested to some that the city was an imperial foundation of non-local peoples. Although its historical context remains unclear, Phrygian remains have been found. The archaeological survey shows that the city was burned, destroyed, and abandoned. The site also contains a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

castle.

Archaeology

The site was first examined in 1903 by J. G. C. Anderson. In 1926 and 1927 H. H. von der Osten and F. H. Blackburn conducted a preliminary survey of the site and made a map of the city defences. Also in 1926, the site was visited by Emil Forrer In 1929 Erich Schmidt excavated at Kerkenes Dagh for around a week for the

Oriental Institute of Chicago The Oriental Institute (OI), established in 1919, is the University of Chicago's interdisciplinary research center for ancient Near Eastern ("Orient") studies and archaeology museum. It was founded for the university by professor James Henry Brea ...

. The international Kerkenes Project, which started in 1993 and ran until 2012, was directed by the British archaeologist Geoffrey Summers and Françoise Summers, both from Middle East Technical University (

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

). Current fieldwork is ongoing directed by Scott Branting at the University of Central Florida. Geoffrey Summers initially identified the site with the city of Pteria, which was described by

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

as belonging to the

Medes The Medes ( Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, ...

. According to Herodotus, this city was captured by the Lydian king Croesus around the year 547 B.C. The Median identification has been rejected by various scholars, including Summers himself. Nevertheless, Summers currently believes that the identification with Pteria remains correct.Geoffrey D. SUMMERS (2009)
Between Urartu and Phrygia: the North-Central Anatolian Plateau in the Iron Age.
In H. Sağlamtimur, et al. (eds) Studies in Honour of Altan Çilingiroğlu: a life dedicated to Urartu on the shores of the Upper Sea. Arkeoloji ve Sanat, Istanbul: 657-671 But rather than being a Median city, Pteria really was founded and belonged to the Phrygians. According to him, these Phrygians would have been natural allies of Media in its conflict with Lydia. For the Phrygians, Lydia was a long time opponent.

Notes

References

*K.Bittel, Legenden vom Kerkenes-Dag (Kappadokien), Orien, vol. 22-24, pp. 29–34, 1960 *M. E. F. Summers, K. Ahmet and G. D. Summers, The Regional Survey at Kerkenes Dag: An Interim Report on the Seasons of 1993 and 1994, Anatolian Studies, vol. 45, pp. 43–68, 1995

atherine Draycott et al., "Kerkenes Special Studies 1: Sculpture and Inscriptions from the Monumental Entrance to the Palatial Complex at Kerkenes Dag", Oriental Institute Publications, Volume 135, Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2008

External links

The Kerkenes Project Official SiteKerkenes Project 1993-2012Turkey Expedition, Kerkenes Archaeological ProjectArchaeology in Turkey: The Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, 1997-1999
American Journal of Archaeology Vol. 105, No. 3

{{coord, 39, 45, 00, N, 35, 03, 56, E, region:TR-66_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Archaeological sites in Central Anatolia Phrygia Former populated places in Turkey Geography of Yozgat Province History of Yozgat Province

History

Archaeology

See also

Notes

References

External links