Archaeologists Uncover Imperial Hittite Archive

Archaeologists from the University of Pisa have been excavating at Uşaklı Höyük, an important Hittite site in the Yozgat Province of Turkey. 


The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who established an empire covering Anatolia, northern Levant, and Upper Mesopotamia1. The Hittite Kingdom is generally attributed to either Labarna I or Hattusili I during the 17th century BC and endured until 1190 BC1. The empire’s collapse led to the emergence of a number of so-called Syro-Hittite states in Anatolia and northern Syria.

The Hittites left behind a wealth of information about their civilization through cuneiform texts written in either Akkadian or in the various dialects of the Hittite confederation1. Diplomatic and commercial correspondence found in archives in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, and the Middle East also shed light on their culture1. Tablets found at Hattusa, the Hittite capital, describe Zippalanda, one of the ancient Hattic cult centers dedicated to a Hittite weather god1. The tablets record city life at Zippalanda, festivals, and rituals, and mention a temple of the storm god known as Ziplantil, Wašezzili, Wašezzil or Wašezzašu.

Archaeologists from the University of Pisa have been excavating at Uşaklı Höyük in collaboration with a Turkish Archaeological Mission1. During this season’s excavations, they discovered a circle-shaped structure from the Hittite era located north of what is probably the main temple of the city. Although its function and purpose remain a mystery, Professor Anacleto D’Agostino believes that it served a ritualistic purpose1. Previous excavations have uncovered four pieces of cuneiform script and ceramics that confirm that the mound developed during the Hittite era.

“The structure, together with other finds discovered over the years, would help to strengthen the identification of Uşaklı with the important Hittite city of Zippalanda,” said Professor Anacleto D’Agostino.

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