Domuztepe (Aslantaş) is an archaeological site in

Osmaniye Province Osmaniye Province () is a province in south-central Turkey. It was named Cebel-i Bereket () in the early republic until 1933, when it was incorporated into Adana Province. It was made a province again in 1996. Its area is 3,320 km2, and its p ...

in southern

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 on the eastern bank of the

Ceyhan River The Ceyhan River (historically Pyramos or Pyramus (), Leucosyrus () or Jihun) is a river in Anatolia in the south of Turkey. Course of the river The Ceyhan River (Pyramus) has its source (known as ''Söğütlü Dere'') at a location called '' ...

within the

Karatepe-Aslantaş National Park Karatepe-Aslantaş National Park (), established in 1958, is a national park in southern Turkey. Situated on the banks of a dam reservoir, it contains an archaeological open-air museum. Location Karatepe-Aslantaş National Park is located in the ...

. Across the river, there is the important Hittite site of

Karatepe Karatepe ( Turkish, 'Black Hill'; Hittite: ''Azatiwataya'') is a late Hittite fortress and open-air museum in Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey lying at a distance of about 23 km from the district center of Kadirli. It is sited in the T ...

that was inhabited at the same time, starting in the ninth century BC. This site is different from

Domuztepe Domuztepe (meaning ''Pig Hill'' in Turkish) was a large, Late Neolithic settlement in south east Turkey, occupied at least as early as c.6,200BC and abandoned c.5,450BC. The site is located to the south of Kahramanmaraş. Covering 20 hectares, it ...

(Domuztepe Höyüğü (Kahramanmaraş)), the large mound of the

Halaf Tell Halaf () is an archaeological site in Al-Hasakah in northeastern Syria, a few kilometers from the city of Ras al-Ayn near the Syria–Turkey border. The site, which dates to the sixth millennium BCE, was the first to be excavated from a N ...

period (fifth millennium BC) that is situated near

Kahramanmaraş Kahramanmaraş (), historically Marash (; ) and Germanicea (), is a city in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean region of Turkey and the administrative centre of Kahramanmaraş Province, Kahramanmaraş province. After 1973, Maraş was ...

. Kahramanmaras is also located on the Ceyhan river; it is about 70km upstream from Karatepe and Domuztepe. After the construction of

Aslantaş Dam Aslantaş Dam () is an embankment dam on Ceyhan River in Osmaniye Province, southern Turkey, built between 1975 and 1984. Aslantaş Dam is situated northeast of Adana. Built for irrigation, flood control and electricity generation purposes by th ...

, Domuztepe (Aslantaş) was substantially flooded. Unlike Karatepe, which was founded in the Iron Age period, Domuztepe (Aslantaş) has a long sequence of occupation beginning with the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period (8th Millennium BC). Domuztepe is located on a natural hill. It was partly excavated in the early 1980s, before the lower parts of the site became mostly submerged by the dam lake. A fortified city of the Hittite empire period also flourished there. At that time, there was a river crossing here on the caravan route between Syria and Anatolia.

Excavations

In 1947, Th. Bossert and B. Alkım reported finding a statue base with two bulls at the site. It carries a poorly preserved hieroglyphic Luwian inscription. The find is currently at the Karatepe Museum. In 1982, a Storm God stele was discovered at the site by Halet Çambel. Also several portal lions were found. Some villas of Roman period have also been discovered. In 1958, this currently forested area was designated as a Historic National Park.Karatepe-Aslantaş Archaeological Site.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Tentative Lists An 8th century BC "Tree of Life" orthostat was found here (illustration above). Two figures, probably gods, dance around a tree of life, under a winged sun disc. It is the only sample from Domuztepe which can be called an orthostat. From the viewpoint of design and workmanship the relief must have been carved by a sculptor from a workshop of Karatepe–Aslantaş.

Notes

Bibliography

* Çambel, H. Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Vol. 2: Karatepe-Aslantaş, Berlin. 1999: 1–11, 94–95 and plts. 122–25

External sites

Domuztepe on the Ceyhan
at vici.org
Karatepe-Aslantaş (2017)
turkisharchaeonews.net {{coord, 37.291389, 36.256944, display=title Archaeological sites in the Mediterranean region, Turkey Hittite sites in Turkey Hittite cities Luwian inscriptions Former populated places in Cilicia Tourist attractions in Osmaniye Province World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey

Excavations

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External sites