The Lower of Bogazköy-Hattusha

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Schachner
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: from 2009 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 127610358

Based on the results of the first three stages of the project several main research targets can be defined which are at the core of the final forth stage of the project. In several areas it was possible to gain insights into the transition from the period of Assyrian trade colonies to the Hittite era allowing the revision of several previous assumptions. The ongoing research offers the unique opportunity to describe the development of an urban district within Hattusa during the first half of the second millennium BC which is impossible at most other sites in Central Anatolia, since the establishment of the Hittite Empire leads to a deep rooted change in the urban structure of the region. The excavations of this quarter of the city allow describing the way of living of the Hittite elites paying special attention to the economical strategies as reflected in archaebotanical and archaezoological finds. Moreover the question of the relationship between a recently unearthed monumental building and the surrounding dwelling quarter is a major research question, because normally a strict separation of civil living architecture and public buildings is to be observed in Hittite cities. According to the results of the third stage of the project a major open square might have an important function within the urban space. Due to the fact that in the selected area no research has been done before the question of how and when the Hittite occupation came to an end can be addressed as well. A second major focus of the project will be the completion of the excavations of two large structures of the imperial Roman period. This research will allow insights into to the relationship between the impact of the Roman imperial culture as reflected in many details of the mentioned buildings and the local developments which occur in certain aspects of the material culture. This mutual relationship can be followed for a period from the first to the fourth centuries AD.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants