Ortaköy-Sapinuwa (Hittite Administrative Quarter)
Sapinuwa · Shapinuwa · Ortaköy Hittite City
Hittite Old Kingdom through Empire (1600–1180 BCE)·Hittite (Hatti)·🇹🇷 Çorum Province, Ortaköy District, Çekerek valley, Turkey
About
About Ortaköy-Sapinuwa (Hittite Administrative Quarter)
Ortaköy-Sapinuwa (Hittite Administrative Quarter) is a multi-period tell/ancient village in Çorum Province, Ortaköy District, Çekerek valley, Turkey — Hittite administrative and military-ritual city — second capital with tablet archives east of Hattusa Excavated evidence reveals Hittite (Hatti) cultural horizons with stone architecture. The city 900×800 m; building a palace 75×35 m, 8 m preserved preserves hittite orthostat-footed mudbrick, timber-laced, drained courtyard plan technique. Position on Çorum Province illustrates largest hittite cuneiform corpus east of hattusa — revises hittite eastern administration and scribal schools.
Why it mattersLargest Hittite cuneiform corpus east of Hattusa — revises Hittite eastern administration and scribal schools.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why Sapinuwa archives contain more Hurrian rituals than Hattusa?
- 02Was Sapinuwa winter or permanent second capital?
Theories
- 01Süel military-administrative model vs. cultic centre
- 02Hittite bilingual Hittite-Hurrian chancellery 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.1600 BCE Hittite Old Kingdom founding; floruit 1500–1180 BCE
- Period
- Hittite Old Kingdom through Empire (1600–1180 BCE)
- Culture
- Hittite (Hatti)
- Builders
- Hittite kings (labarna) and scribal administration
- Purpose
- Hittite administrative and military-ritual city — second capital with tablet archives east of Hattusa
- Abandoned
- c.1180 BCE Empire collapse conflagration
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1990–present Aygül & Mustafa Süel (Çorum University)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1990
Süel opens Ortaköy trench, Building A palace identified
2001
3000+ tablet fragments including Hurrian rituals published
2018
Magnetometry reveals lower town and dam system
On the ground
Structures & features
40.2550° N · 35.2360° E · 1020 m · 3 mapped features
Building A Palace Archive
palace75×35 m palace with tablet storage rooms
40.2552° N · 35.2362° EBuilding D Ritual-Cult Complex
templeHurrian ritual building with libation installations
40.2548° N · 35.2358° ELower Town and Dam Reservoir
hydraulicLower town street grid and Hittite dam reservoir
40.2554° N · 35.2365° E