Kerkenes (or Kerkenes Dağı; both names are modern) is the largest pre-Hellenistic site from the Anatolian Plateau (
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 ...
) – 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 in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yozgat Province and Yozgat District.Sorgun (E).
History
Late Bronze
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
A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or cart) is often ...
, 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.
Iron Age
The
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
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,
Phrygia
In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River.
Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...
n remains have been found. The archaeological survey shows that the city was burned, destroyed, and abandoned.
An Old-Phrygian inscription has been found at Kerkenes Daǧ. This is the Old-Phrygian inscription K-01.
Byzantine period
The site also contains a
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
castle.
View of Kale at Kerkenes.jpg, Kerkenes Castle
Kerkenes 02.jpg, Kerkenes 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 Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term '' Occident'', which refers to the Western world.
In English, it is largely a me ...
.
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
Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...
(
Ankara
Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
).
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 (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
as belonging to the
Medes
The Medes were an Iron Age Iranian peoples, Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media (region), Media between western Iran, western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the m ...
. According to Herodotus, this city was captured by the
Lydia
Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis.
At some point before 800 BC, ...
n king
Croesus
Croesus ( ; ; Latin: ; reigned:
)
was the Monarch, king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his Siege of Sardis (547 BC), defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC. According to Herodotus, he reigned 14 years. Croesus was ...
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
The Phrygians (Greek: Φρύγες, ''Phruges'' or ''Phryges'') were an ancient Indo-European speaking people who inhabited central-western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) in antiquity.
Ancient Greek authors used "Phrygian" as an umbrella term t ...
. 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, which would explain the Lydian attack on Kerkenes.
Numerous cultural similarities link Kerkenes with the city of Göllüdağ.
Çadır Höyük
Çadır Höyük is an important ancient settlement and archaeological site in Yozgat Province, Turkey 16 kilometers south of Sorgun. It lies around 70 kilometers from the Hittite capital of Hattuša. The artificial mound contains the remains of s ...
*
Cities of the ancient Near East
The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending on the interpretation of the term, either with the conquest by ...
*
Gordium
Gordion ( Phrygian: ; ; or ; ) was the capital city of ancient Phrygia. It was located at the site of modern Yassıhüyük, about southwest of Ankara (capital of Turkey), in the immediate vicinity of Polatlı district. Gordion's location at ...
*
Hattusa
Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittites, Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey (originally Boğazköy) within the great ...
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
*Catherine 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