A Site Spanning Chalcolithic to Neo Hittite
The archaeological site of Arslantepe continues to reveal its many layers of civilizations. Located in the southeast of Turkey, excavations first began at the dig in the 1930’s. They have continued intermittently through this summer. The modern name Arslantepe means “Lion Hill” in Turkish. It comes from the monumental stone lions found at the site (photo above, by Zeynel Cebeci wiki). My cover artist tucked a rendition of a similar Hittite lion statue behind Tesha on Priestess of Ishana.
This most recent season uncovered six houses from the early stage of this mound, 3600-3700 BCE. Archaeologists also examined 24 graves. However, the brief mention in this summary article from the Turkish press doesn’t specify which period the burials fit into.
Originally, the site drew French archaeologists for its distinctive Neo Hittite remains. After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, individual cities maintained features of Hittite culture, and the artwork of that period has a distinctive, almost exaggerated Hittite feel to it.
Arslantepe during the Hittite Empire
However, along with that late, post-Hittite layer, Arslantepe also flourished during the empire period. One hundred or so years before the Hittite rulers in my fiction, around 1350 BCE, a Great King named Suppiluliuma I conquered the city, called in Hittite Malidiya or possibly Midduwa. At that time, it was the central city of the kingdom of Isuwa. Unfortunately for this tiny kingdom, it held an untenable position between the growing Hittite empire to the west and the rival realm of Mittani. It threw its allegiance with the king of Mittani. Then Suppiluliuma marched in, conquered it, and used it as the launching zone against Mittani. Eventually, Mittani came under Hittite control.
From History to Historical Fantasy
In this manner, the Hittite Empire grew by absorbing many small kingdoms. The Hittites granted those states varying degrees of independence or lack thereof. In Priestess of Ishana I used in my plot that inherent tension between a lesser state (Tesha’s hometown) and its overlord, the Hittite Great King. Lawaza (historical Hittite Lawazantiya) has supplied warriors and chariots to the Great King in his war with Egarya (historical Egypt). The governor of Lawaza, Tesha’s father, believes the Great King owes him for this assistance. The Great King is eager to erase that debt and lessen Lawaza’s independence. Into that situation steps the Great King’s younger brother Hattu (historical Hattusili), loot taken from the Egaryan pharaoh (historical Ramses II), and a beautiful, smart priestess named Tesha (historical Puduhepa).
Full Recognition by UNESCO
So this archaeological site of a vassal state is intriguing to me. I haven’t visited this one, and didn’t realize how much is there until I read that UNESCO granted it World Heritage status this past July. That’s a significant marker of how valuable this dig is within the vast, continuing project of bringing the Hittite Empire out from the obscurity of being a largely forgotten empire. As one of the greatest empires of the Bronze Age, its role and culture are key to understanding the ancient world. And I have great fun bringing it to life in my fiction. I’ll never manage to visit every archaeological site in Turkey, though. I’m pretty sure it’s a true statement that nowhere else in the world is there so much active archaeology going on. Always something new to share with my readers!
Click here for article about the most recent finds:
Here for another post about Hittite monumental art and the neo Hittite art.