Kinet Höyük North Harbour
Kinet North Harbour · Yeşilköy North Basin · Issos North Quay
MBA to Hellenistic (2000 BCE–100 BCE)·MBA Levantine → Hittite → Neo-Assyrian → Hellenistic Issos·🇹🇷 Hatay Province, Dörtyol District, Yeşilköy Coast, İskenderun Bay, Turkey
About
About Kinet Höyük North Harbour
Kinet Höyük North Harbour is the 15-ha northern basin of Kinet Höyük — identified with Issos, where Alexander beat Darius III (333 BCE). Gates's harbour trenches expose MBA Cypriot imports, Hittite warehouse with Mycenaean sherds, and a Hellenistic ashlar quay with lead-clamped blocks sealing the classical harbour before bay infill buried it. The stratified harbour anchors Cilician-Levantine maritime exchange from Bronze to Iron and the topography of Issos battlefield, linking Kinet to Troy–Ulu Burun sea routes.
Why it mattersIssos harbour — MBA to Alexander's battlefield sea wall, Cilician maritime type-site
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Issos exact battle plain — north harbour or Pinarus River?
- 02MBA harbour as Cypriot colony or indigenous?
Theories
- 01Gates harbour diachrony — MBA to Hellenistic continuity vs. harbour shift
- 02Alexander's Issos topography anchored at Kinet north basin
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.2000 BCE MBA harbour; Hittite quay 1400 BCE; Hellenistic Issos quay 333 BCE
- Period
- MBA to Hellenistic (2000 BCE–100 BCE)
- Culture
- MBA Levantine → Hittite → Neo-Assyrian → Hellenistic Issos
- Builders
- MBA merchants, Hittite harbour masters, Hellenistic Issos polis
- Purpose
- North harbour basin of Kinet Höyük (ancient Issos) — harbour of Alexander's battle site, MBA–Hellenistic stratified port 7km W Dörtyol on bay
- Abandoned
- c.100 BCE shoreline progradation
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1992–2012 Gates (Bilkent Univ.)
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1992
Gates opens Kinet north harbour, MBA Cypriot warehouse found
2004
Hittite quay Mycenaean sherds published
2012
Hellenistic sea wall with lead clamps sealing 333 BCE harbour
On the ground
Structures & features
36.8536° N · 36.1570° E · 8 m · 3 mapped features
MBA Harbour Warehouse (Cypriot imports)
storageMBA warehouse with Cypriot White Slip and Base Ring imports, 1600 BCE
36.8544° N · 36.1576° EHittite Quay with Mycenaean Sherds
harbourHittite timber-laced quay warehouse Mycenaean LH IIIA sherds 1400 BCE
36.8529° N · 36.1561° EHellenistic Ashlar Sea Wall
harbourHellenistic lead-clamped ashlar quay 333 BCE horizon, Alexander's Issos
36.8547° N · 36.1577° E