Carchemish (Karkemish)
Karkamiš · Carchemish · Karkemish · Karkamış
Bronze–Iron Age·Hittite viceroy, Neo-Hittite Suhi dynasty, Assyrian·🇹🇷 Gaziantep Province, Turkey / Syria border (also Syria), Turkey
About
About Carchemish (Karkemish)
The Hittite viceroy-capital and Neo-Hittite jewel whose 55-ha Inner + Outer Town straddles the Euphrates ford at Jarabulus. Carchemish fielded chariots at Kadesh (1274 BCE) and fell to Nebuchadnezzar at the 605 BCE Battle of Carchemish. Its King’s Gate with the “Royal Buttress” inscription (Suhi dynasty) and the Long Wall of Sculpture (hieroglyphic Luwian procession) are among the greatest Iron Age stone archives. Woolley and T. E. Lawrence cleared the Water Gate and goddess Kubaba temple; Turkish-Italian excavations (Marchetti) have exposed the Inner Town palatial lower terrace and unlooted EB shaft graves. The Acropolis hosts a Turkish military base.
Why it mattersImperial Hittite viceroy seat and greatest Neo-Hittite sculpture ensemble; 605 BCE world-battle pivot.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Exact Urnfield death of the Hittite empire depot at Carchemish?
- 02Is the “Great King” inscription of Uradami historic or propaganda?
Theories
- 01River ford toll economy funded 1 km of basalt sculpture
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Neolithic to medieval; peak Hittite 1400–1180 BCE Neo-Hittite 1200–717 BCE
- Period
- Bronze–Iron Age
- Culture
- Hittite viceroy, Neo-Hittite Suhi dynasty, Assyrian
- Builders
- Piyassili (Sharri-Kushuh), Suhis, Assyrian governors
- Purpose
- Euphrates toll capital and imperial ford
- Abandoned
- 717 BCE Assyrian annexation (Sargon II)
- Rediscovered
- 1878 Henderson ident; 1911–14 Woolley/Lawrence; 2011– Turco-Italian; 2020 north outer town GPR
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1274 BCE
King rides to Kadesh with Hatti
605 BCE
Nebuchadnezzar defeats Egypt at Carchemish
1911
Woolley and Lawrence begin digging; Lawrence as surveyor
2016
Palatial lower town unlooted EB graves
On the ground
Structures & features
36.8297° N · 38.0150° E · 350 m · 2 mapped features
King’s Gate and Royal Buttress
gateMonumental gate flanked by Suhis inscription and god figures
36.8299° N · 38.0147° ELong Wall of Sculpture
wall80 m procession wall with hieroglyphic Luwian orthostats
36.8294° N · 38.0152° E
Gallery