Chatal Höyük (Amuq) is a large archaeological site in the eastern part of the

Amuq plain The Amik Valley (; ) is a plain in Hatay Province, southern Turkey. It is close to the city of Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes River). Along with Dabiq in northwestern Syria, it is believed to be one of two possible sites of the battle of Arm ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It is located in the valley of the

Orontes River The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek , ) or Nahr al-ʿĀṣī, or simply Asi (, ; ) is a long river in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Hatay Province, Turk ...

, and it was inhabited from the late 4th millennium BCE, and until about 500 BC. It was a large town during the time of the

Hittite Empire The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

. In the Iron Age it was a part of the state of Unqi, based at the nearby site of

Tell Tayinat Tell Ta'yinat is a low-lying ancient tell on the east bank at the bend of the Orontes River where it flows through the Amuq valley, in the Hatay province of Mediterranean Turkey about 25 kilometers south east of Antakya (ancient Antioch), and l ...

. Many other important archaeological sites are located in the area, such as

Alalakh Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished as an urban settlement in the Middle and Late Bronze Age ...

Tell al-Judaidah Tell Judaidah (Tell al-Judaidah, Tell Judeideh) is an archaeological site in Mediterranean Turkey, in the Hatay province. It is one of the largest excavated ancient sites in the Amuq valley, in the plain of Antioch. Settlement at this site rang ...

, and

Al-Mina Al-Mina (Arabic: "the port") is the modern name given by Leonard Woolley to an ancient trading post on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of northern Syria (region), Syria, at the mouth of the Orontes River. It is now located in Hatay pr ...

. The large

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

of Chatal Höyük is located on the left bank of the

Afrin river The Afrin River ( ''Nahr ʻIfrīn''; ; northern Syrian vernacular: ''Nahər ʻAfrīn''; ) is a tributary of the Orontes River in Turkey and Syria. It rises in the Kartal Mountains in Gaziantep Province of Turkey, flows south through the city of ...

, and it was extensively investigated by archaeologists, while the nearby lower town still remained to be excavated. While the excavations of Chatal were very thorough, nevertheless, there were big delays with the publication of the results. Only in the 21st century the complete publication was achieved by the team headed by Marina Pucci.

Excavations

Archaeologists Calvin W. McEwan and

Robert J. Braidwood Robert John Braidwood (29 July 1907 – 15 January 2003) was an American archaeologist and anthropologist, one of the founders of scientific archaeology, and a leader in the field of Near Eastern Prehistory. Life Braidwood was born July 29, ...

started their research in the Amuq valley in 1932 with the excavations at Chatal Höyuk and Tell al Judeidah. Originally, because of its large size, it was believed that Chatal Höyuk was the location of the ancient city of Kinalua (Khunalua), that was known from the textual sources in the Assyrian Annals. The Assyrians knew this area as 'the land of Pattina'. The excavations at Tell Tayinat started later in 1935, because no large public architecture was discovered at the other sites.Marina Pucci 2008, Functional Analysis of Space in Syro-Hittite Architecture. Archaeopress ISBN 9781407301808, 1407301802. (257pp) p.127 At this time it is believed that Tell Tayinat is indeed the ancient

Kinalua Tell Ta'yinat is a low-lying ancient Tell (archaeology), tell on the east bank at the bend of the Orontes river, Orontes River where it flows through the Amuq valley, in the Hatay Province, Hatay province of Mediterranean Turkey about 25 kilomete ...

Notes

Bibliography

* R. C. Haines (1970). ''Excavations in the Plain of Antioch'', Vol. II: "The Structural Remains of the Later Phases: Chatal Hüyük, Tell Al-Judaidah, and Tell Tayinat", ''Oriental Institute Publication'' 95, University of Chicago Press

* M. Pucci 2019
Excavations in the Plain of Antioch, Vol. 3.
Stratigraphy, Pottery, and Small Finds from Chatal Höyük in the Amuq Plain, Oriental Institute Publications 143 (Chicago 2019). * M. Pucci, S. Soldi, Going red in the Iron Age II. The emergence of Red-Slip pottery in northern Levant with specific reference to Tell Afs, Chatal Höyük and Zincirli Höyük, in: S. Valentini – G. Guarducci (eds.), Between Syria and the Highlands. Studies in Honor of Giorgio Buccellati & Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati, Studies on the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean 3 (Rome 2019) 352–364. * Marina Pucci 2008
CHATAL HÖYÜK PUBLICATION PROJECT.
2007–2008 ANNUAL REPORT 17

External links

* {{coord, 36.29770, 36.54560, display=title Archaeological sites in Hatay Province Syro-Hittite states Former populated places in Turkey Tells (archaeology)

Excavations

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links