Karkamış (Carchemish)
Karkamış · Carchemish · Karkemish · Jerablus
Early Bronze Age through Iron Age II (c.3000–717 BCE); Neolithic substratum·EBA–MBA Euphrates town → Hittite viceroyalty → Neo-Hittite Luwian-Aramaean·🇹🇷 Gaziantep Province, Karkamış District / Syria-Aleppo, Turkey
About
About Karkamış (Carchemish)
Major Euphrates crossing tell (c.80 ha) where the river cuts the Turkish-Syrian border — capital of Hittite viceroyalty and later Neo-Hittite kingdom (c.3000 BCE–717 BCE). Inner citadel, walled lower town and outer town with buried palaces (Hilani), temples, 20 ha Iron Age sculpture workshops and the famous Long Wall of Sculpture now in Ankara and British Museum. Turkish-Italian excavations (Woolley 1911–, Marchetti 2011–) on the 50 m citadel mound reveal EBA palace, MBA rampart, Hittite cuneiform archive and Neo-Hittite orthostat reliefs. Much still buried under military zone and Euphrates alluvium.
Why it mattersGreatest Neo-Hittite sculpture centre; archives link Hatti–Assyria; Euphrates crossing that triggered Battle of Carchemish (605 BCE).
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Extent of unexcavated lower town under Syrian Jarabulus — geophysics pending?
- 02How Hittite viceroy PUGNUS-mili dynasty transitioned to Neo-Hittite?
Theories
- 01Hawkins Carchemish as Hittite survivor kingdom model
- 02Euphrates ford vs inland caravan control debate
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.3000 BCE EBA walled town; Hittite citadel c.1350 BCE; Neo-Hittite palace 900–717 BCE
- Period
- Early Bronze Age through Iron Age II (c.3000–717 BCE); Neolithic substratum
- Culture
- EBA–MBA Euphrates town → Hittite viceroyalty → Neo-Hittite Luwian-Aramaean
- Builders
- EBA–MBA Euphrates town → Hittite viceroyalty → Neo-Hittite Luwian-Aramaean builders
- Purpose
- Euphrates ford capital controlling Syria-Anatolia-Mesopotamia corridor
- Abandoned
- 717 BCE Sargon II Assyrian conquest; Hellenistic–Roman reoccupation
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1911–14 C.L. Woolley (British Museum); resumed 2011 Bologna-Torino (Marchetti)
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
2000
Initial work at Karkamış (Carchemish)
2015
Stratigraphy and geophysics synthesis for Karkamış (Carchemish)
On the ground
Structures & features
36.8289° N · 38.0155° E · 350 m · 3 mapped features
Citadel (Inner Town)
citadelHittite-Neo-Hittite palace and archive
36.8294° N · 38.0160° ELower Town Long Wall
palatialOrthostat sculpture wall with Hieroglyphic Luwian
36.8286° N · 38.0155° EOuter Town & Euphrates gate
gateLower town gate and river harbour
36.8280° N · 38.0148° E