Kültepe

Kültepe, meaning ash-hill in Turkish, was a Bronze Age (broadly, 3300–1200 BC) settlement and trading center on the Central Anatolian plateau in modern Turkey. Its ancient name was Kaneš, or Neša. It was a major settlement in the early 3rd millennium and is particularly renowned for its regional importance in the early 2nd millennium. It lies about 20 km northeast of the modern city Kayseri, and in 2014 it was inscribed in the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey.

The site has two main areas, a circular mound and a lower town to its northeast. The mound was inhabited, with breaks, from the Early Bronze Age through the Roman Empire. The lower town, where a kārum (the Assyrian word for a trading district) was established early in the 2nd millennium BC, was occupied only from the last decades of the third millennium to the early sixteenth century BCE. This kārum appears to have served as the administrative and distribution centre of the entire Assyrian colony network in Anatolia.

More than 23,000 cuneiform tablets recovered from residences at Kültepe are the largest collection of texts found in non-administrative locales of the ancient Near East. Almost all come from the lower town's levels II (approximately 1945–1835 BCE) and Ib (approximately 1832–1700 BCE), with around 22,200 and 560 tablets. Only forty scattered tablets were found on the mound, where palaces and temples were uncovered, so no archives from the local authorities survive, if they ever existed.

Later texts tell of the local kings. Ḫurmili, Paḫanu, Inar and Waršama reigned in Kaneš during the kārum period. Pitḫana, the king of Kuššara, conquered Neša in the night, by force, but did not do evil to anyone in it. His son Anitta put down a revolt and made Neša his capital. In the 17th century BC Anitta's descendants moved their capital to Hattusa, founding the line of Hittite kings, and the inhabitants called the Hittite language Nešili, the Neša tongue.

By 1880 cuneiform tablets said to come from the site had begun to appear on the market, and Ernest Chantre worked the site for two seasons beginning in 1893. In 1925 Bedřich Hrozný excavated and found over 1000 tablets. By 1929 digging for fertilizer had destroyed a quarter of the mound. Modern archaeological work began in 1948 under Tahsin Özgüç, who led it until his death in 2005, and Fikri Kulakoğlu directed it afterwards.

Kültepe is located about 20 km northeast from the modern city Kayseri. Its ancient name is recorded in Assyrian and Hittite sources. In Assyrian inscriptions from the 20th and the 19th century BC, the city was mentioned as Kaneš (also transcribed as Kanesh); in later Hittite inscriptions, the city was mentioned as Neša (sometimes transcribed as Nesha, Nessa or Nesa. Neša derives from [Ka]neša).

The site is divided into two main areas: the circular mound (tepe, höyük) and the lower town to its northeast. The mound was inhabited (with discontinuity) from the Early Bronze Age through the Roman Empire, while the lower town was occupied only from the last decades of the third millennium to the early sixteenth century BCE. The lower town displays four levels of occupation, with only levels II (approximately 1945–1835 BCE) and Ib (approximately 1832–1700 BCE)—which roughly correspond to the Middle Bronze Age—yielding significant written records, totaling around 22,200 and 560 tablets, respectively. In contrast, only forty scattered tablets were found on the mound, where palaces and temples were uncovered, indicating that there are no surviving archives from the local authorities, if such archives ever existed. This kārum appears to have served as "the administrative and distribution centre of the entire Assyrian colony network in Anatolia". A late record, from circa 1400 BC, recounts the story of a king of Kaneš called Zipani, with seventeen local city-kings who rose up against Naram-Sin of Akkad, who ruled circa 2254–2218 BC.

During the kārum period, and before the conquest of Pitḫana, these local kings reigned in Kaneš:

Ḫurmili (before 1790 BC)

Paḫanu (a short time in 1790 BC)

Inar (c. 1790–1775 BC), then

Waršama (c. 1775–1750 BC)

The king of Zalpuwa, Uḫna, raided Kaneš, after which the Zalpuwans carried off the city's Šiuš idol. Pitḫana, the king of Kuššara, conquered Neša "in the night, by force", but "did not do evil to anyone in it". Neša revolted against the rule of Pitḫana's son, Anitta, but Anitta quashed the revolt and made Neša his capital. Anitta further invaded Zalpuwa, captured its king Huzziya, and recovered the Šiuš idol for Neša.

In the 17th century BC, Anitta's descendants moved their capital to Hattusa, which Anitta had cursed, thus founding the line of Hittite kings. The inhabitants thus referred to the Hittite language as Nešili 'the Neša tongue'.