Stages of urban development in Samuha. An Anatolian "Holy City" in the 2nd millennium BC.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Müller-Karpe
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 406025871

The continuation of the long-term excavation project in the Hittite site of Kayalıpınar/Samuha is intended exclusively for the evaluation and publication of previous excavation results. The focus is on the archaeological material from Palace Building D, which was built in the second half of the 14th century BC and used until its final destruction towards the end of the 13th century BC. With over five thousand pieces recorded, the pottery is the most important in terms of quantity, which is now to be analysed in regard of cultural history using statistical methods. Of particular interest here are pieces from an intermediate destruction horizon as a result of an earthquake, which probably took place at the beginning of the reign of Hattusili III. There are over a thousand sealed clay bullae from a wooden tablet archive, which are of great historical and epigraphic significance. They bear names and job titles in Anatolian hieroglyphics, and royal seals in cuneiform script. This corpus offers the opportunity to gain an isight to the personnel of the palace and the people and institutions associated with it. The planned work on these excavation finds aims to gain knowledge primarily about the heyday and the end of one of the most important Hittite sites, a "city of the deity".

• DFG Programme: Research Grants