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Yunus

Yunus necropolis lies just to the north of the Karkamış mound. The site has been subject to investigations first by L. Woolley in 1913 and later with the modern day excavations by N. Marchetti that started in 2011. The reaseach indicates that the site has been in use from 10th century BCE onwards and that it served as a burial place for the Neo-Hittite and Neo-Assyrian élite groups from Karkamış, and even today a section of the site continues to serve as a modern cemetery. Monumental findings from the area consists of funerary stelae and votive bases. A common type of stele is rectangular and tower-shaped, and decorated with crenellations at the top. Several of the stelae bear Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions, almost all of which have been dated to the 8th century BCE.


Click on the pictures for larger images.

Stele from Yunus (YUNUS 1) - F. Anıl, 2018 Stele fragment from Yunus (YUNUS 2) - H. Peker 2022 Stele from Yunus (YUNUS 3) - T. Bilgin, 2014 Stele fragment from Yunus (YUNUS 5) - J. D. Hawkins, 2000 Stele from Yunus (YUNUS 7) - J. D. Hawkins, 2000 Stele fragment from Yunus (YUNUS 8) - H. Peker 2022 Stele from Yunus (YUNUS 9) - H. Peker 2022 Stele from Yunus - D. Bonatz, 2000 Stele from Yunus - D. Bonatz, 2000 Stele from Yunus - OLSM 6, 2021 Votive base - OLSM 6, 2021 Votive base - OLSM 6, 2021



Literature:
Bolognani, B. Giacosa, G., Zaina, F. Excavations at Karkemish III: The Survey of the Yunus Necropolis, OLSM 6, Bologna, 2021.
Bonatz, D. Syro-hethitische Grabdenkmal, Mainz, 2000 (C18, C45).
Hawkins, J. D. Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Vol 1, Berlin, 2000: 180-87, 199 and plts. 63–67, 78. (KARKAMIŠ A5b, A15c, A16f, A18b, A19b)
Hawkins, J. D. Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, Vol 3, Berlin, 2024: 117–18 and plt. 83. (YUNUS 1)
Orthmann, W. Untersuchungen zur späthethitischen Kunst, Bonn, 1971. (Karkemis L/1, L/2)
Peker, H. Anadolu Hiyeroglif Yazılı Belgeler 1: Geç Hitit Karkamış Krallığı Yazıtları, Bologna, 2022: 43–46 and plts. 32–35.
Peker, H. "Writing outside the Big City: Two New Funerary Stelae from the Necropolis of Yunus at Karkemish," Mesopotamia LVII, 57–63.
Woolley, C. L. "The Iron Age Graves of Carchemish," AAA 26, 1939: 11–37.
(List of Abbreviations)


Image sources:
Figen Anıl, 2018.
Hasan peker, 2022.
Tayfun Bilgin, 2014.
J. David Hawkins, 2000.
Dominik Bonatz, 2000.
OLSM 6, 2021.