Origin, development and afterlife of Hittite culture in the Middle Black Sea region. Excavation at Oymaagaç Höyük - Nerik/Turkey

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jörg W. Klinger
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: from 2008 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 98505886

The Oymaağaç Höyük, given its size and its favorable geographical location at the northern edge of Vezirköprü basin, surrounded by copper and silver mines, near the Kızılırmak river, holds a key position in the mountainous region of the Middle Pontides range. The site is almost certainly to be identified with the cult center “Nerik”, the coronation site of the Hittite kings of the early period, a center constantly under threat of Kaskeans from the end of the Middle Bronze Age onward. This project aims to combine the humanities approach with methods of natural and computational sciences in order to clarify the reasons for the development of a central location at this specific spot (environmental and climate reconstruction), the structure of the Hittite city layout and of the surrounding settlement system, the changes under Kaskean rule, as well as the causes of the decline and displacement of the central location towards the south to Neapolis / Vezirköprü in Roman times. Within this general framework, the uncovering of the 2500 square m large temple on the hilltop is of pivotal importance - here, archives of texts and clay bullae with historical and cultic content are to be expected, as surface finds of cuneiform text fragments and Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions indicate.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants