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Karkamış / Karkamiš

Karkamış (Kargamis, Karkemish, Carchemish) was an important settlement even before the 2nd millemium BC. City may have been first occupied by Hittites for a short while during Mursili I. The Mitanni (Hurri) city came into full Hittite control during Suppiluliuma I (c. 1330 BCE) who made it into a kingdom ruled by his son Piyasili. The city located on the Euprates river (today right at the border of Turkey and Syria) became one of the most important in the Hittite Empire during the Late Bronze Age, and reached its apogee around the 9th century BCE. The patron of Karkamış under the Hittites was Kubaba, a goddess of apparently Hurrian origins. She was represented as a dignified woman wearing a long robe, standing or seated, and holding a mirror. After the Hittite empire fell to the Sea Peoples, Karkamış continued to be the capital of an important Late Hittite kingdom, and important trade center. In the 9th century BCE, the city paid tribute to Kings Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III of Assyria, and was conquered by Sargon II in 717 BCE, in the reign of King Pisiris. In the first millennium BCE, Karkamış consisted of a high citadel mound on the River Euphrates, with a walled inner town and an outer town. Excavations revealed a processional way which led to the temple of the storm god and to a monumental stairway to the citadel. The whole complex was decorated with basalt and limestone sculptures.

Location of the city ruins was identified in 1876 by George Smith. The site was excavated initially by the British Museum, mainly between 1911 and 1914, by D. G. Hogarth, R. C. Thompson, C. L. Wooley, and T. E. Lawrence. These expeditions uncovered substantial remains of the Assyrian and Late Hittite periods, including defensive structures, temples, palaces, and numerous basalt statues and reliefs with Hittite hieroglyphic inscriptions. A good portion of the orthostats are currently in Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara. Several other artifacts are in British Museum.

36°49'46 N - 38°00'54 E Google Earth location


Click on pictures for a larger image.

The City Plan
View during first excavations
Long Wall
View of the long wall View of the long wall View during excavations Soldiers Soldiers Soldiers Inscription of Suhis II
Charioters Charioters Charioters Charioters Kubaba BONUS-tis, the wife of Suhis II Goddess - K.Bittel Kubaba Kubaba
Stairways to the Citadel
Drawing of the long wall and great stairways View of stairways View of stairways during excavations Gods on lion Gods on lion Gazelle
Herald's Wall
Herald's Wall during excavation Herald's Wall during excavation Herald's Wall during excavation Herald's Wall during excavation A camel and rider A scorpion man (girtablullu) and a divine figure killing a winged bull Gilgamesh and Enkidu are killing Humbaba Winged sphinxes attack a winged horse Bull-men (kusarikku) and lion-men (ugallu) Double headed sphinx Pair of bulls butting a voluted tree Lion attacking a bull and a calf Winged griffins carrying the firmament Contest with a lion Lion hunt Lion attacking a royal hunting cage drawn on a chariot Master of the beast (Gilgamesh)
Royal Buttress of Yariris and Kamanis
Royal Buttress and Procession way Left side of Royal Buttress Soldiers at the procession Soldiers at the procession Soldiers at the procession Soldiers at the procession
Base of a statue and Royal Buttress Soldiers at the procession Soldiers at the procession Inscription of Yariris Inscription of Yariris Yariris and Kamanis
Yariris and family Children of Yariris Yariris' son Musicians playing a string instrument, double flute and castanyets
Procession Way
Musicians Goddess Kubaba Women following ceremonial procession Women following ceremonial procession Women following ceremonial procession Women following ceremonial procession Women following ceremonial procession Bearers of sacrificial animals Bearers of sacrificial animals Bearers of sacrificial animals
Water Gate and other orthostats
Water gate during excavations Water gate during excavations Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats Water gate orthostats
Statues, Inscriptions
King's Gate and statue of Storm God King's Gate The double bull base by the long wall Statue of Storm God The double bull base The double bull base Columnbase Inscription of Katuwas Inscription of Katuwas Gateway inscriptions Gateway inscriptions Gateway inscriptions Gateway inscriptions Inscription of Yariris about his works Ashmolean Museum Doorjamb - British Museum



Image sources:
Tayfun Bilgin, 2006.
Kurt Bittel, Die Hethiter, Beck, München 1976, ISBN 3406030246.
Ekrem Akurgal, The Hattian and Hittite Civilizations, KTB, Ankara, 2001.
British Museum

Kings of Karkamış

Piyasili, or Šarri-Kušuh, son of Šuppiluliuma I, ca. 1315 BC.
[...]šarruma, son of Piyasili
Šarhurunuwa, son of Piyasili
Ini-Teššub I, son of Šarhurunwa
Talmi-Teššub, son of Ini-Teššub
Kuzi-Teshub, son of Talmi-Teššub
[...] (Fall of Hittite Empire)
(Ini-Teššub II, Tudhaliya, [...]pazitis, Ura-Tarhunzas)
[...]
Suhis I
Astuwatamanzas, son of Suhis I
Suhis II, son of Astuwatamanzas
Katuwas, son of Suhis II
Sangara
Astiruwas
Yariris
Kamanis
Sasturas
Pisiris, the last king, defeated by Sargon II, 717 BC.