Sapinuwa (Ortaköy – Ağılönü)
Šapinuwa · Sapinuwa · Ortaköy-Şapinuwa · Ağılönü
Hittite Empire (Old to New Kingdom)·Hittite (Nesite with Hurrian scribes)·🇹🇷 Çorum Province, Ortaköy district, Turkey
About
About Sapinuwa (Ortaköy – Ağılönü)
Hittite administrative second capital (c.1600–1180 BCE, peak 1400–1200 BCE) on two hills Ağılönü and Tepelerarası, built by Hatti kings as storehouse/forward capital during Kaskaean wars when Hattusa threatened. Aygül & Mustafa Süel excavations (1990–) uncovered 3000+ cuneiform tablets in Building A archive (Hittite, Hurrian, Akkadian — inventory lists, oracles, Maşat-like letters), massive storehouse buildings with 2-m thick walls, pithos storerooms and sealings of Tudhaliya. Confirmed as Sapinuwa by tablet colophons 1995.
Why it matters3,000-tablet archive — second largest Hittite after Hattusa/Boghazköy; proves Hittite double-capital system.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Which king moved administration here — Tudhaliya I or II?
- 02Why massive grain/oil storage — army provisioning model
Theories
- 01Sapinuwa as Hittite 'Versailles' — Hattusa religious, Sapinuwa logistical
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Hittite Old Kingdom c.1600 BCE; monumental 1400 BCE
- Period
- Hittite Empire (Old to New Kingdom)
- Culture
- Hittite (Nesite with Hurrian scribes)
- Builders
- Hittite kings Hattusili I→Tudhaliya
- Purpose
- Store-city and second administrative capital / military base against Kaska
- Abandoned
- c.1180 BCE with Hittite collapse, burnt
- Rediscovered
- 1989 tablet by farmer; 1990 Süel Ankara University excavation
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1990
Süel emergency excavation after illicit tablet sale
1995
Tablet confirms Šapinuwa — solves 100-year location hunt
c.1270 BCE
Tudhaliya oracle archive
On the ground
Structures & features
40.2730° N · 35.2630° E · 950 m · 3 mapped features
Building A tablet archive
archive75 m long storehouse with 3000 tablets in situ on floor
40.2731° N · 35.2631° EAğılönü hill pithos magazine
storageRow of 2-m pithoi with sealings
40.2729° N · 35.2629° ETepelerarası monumental stair
stairCyclopean stair between hills
40.2730° N · 35.2630° E
Gallery