non), and eastward into upper Mesopotamia. The Hittite military made successful use of chariots. By the mid-14th century BC (under king Suppiluliuma I) carving out an empire that included most of Asia Minor as well as parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia. After 1180 BC, the empire disintegrated into several inde- pendent “Neo-Hittite” city-states, some surviving until the 8th century BC.” Archaeologist Sandra Scham wrote a paper about the hieroglyphs found at Karatepe, comparing their importance to the Rossetta stone, “There are several bilingual inscriptions there that, when the site was discovered in 1946, be- came the key to unlocking the mysterious Luwian hieroglyphs and truly opening up Hittite civiliza- tion to scholars for the first time.” According to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, “The fortress of Karatepe-Aslantaş was founded in the 8th century B.C. by Azatiwa- The summer residence of King Asltawada overlooks Aslantaş Lake. tis, ruler of the plain of Adana as a frontier castle against the wild hordes lurking in the north. He Entrance Fee named it Azatiwadaya. A caravan road leading - 3 TL from the southern plains up-to the Central Anato- Getting There lian plateau, skirted it on the west, the Ceyhan river Karatepe (now the Aslantaş dam lake) on the east.” About 90 minutes from “Two monumental t-shaped gate-houses, Incirlik. Go on flanked by high towers gave access to the citadel. An entrance passage between two towers your own or led up to a double-leafed wooden gate, which swung on basalt pivot-stones, from there to Open Air Museum on the Eastern Castles Hike two lateral chambers and further on into the citadel. In a holy precinct at the inner entrance Walking to from the entrance of Karatepe Open Air Museum to the rel- with Outdoor of the southwest gate stood the monumental statue of the Storm-God. The inner walls of Rec ics, it’s easy to imagine the pilgrimage made by the ancient Neo-Hittites the gate-houses were adorned with sculptures of lions and sphinxes, inscriptions and reliefs, of Adana to reach the summer Physical depicting cultural, mythological and daily-life scenes carved on blocks of basalt. A bilingual residence of King Asitawada. Be- Difficulty - EASY text in Phoenician and Hieroglyphic Luwian, the longest known texts in these languages, was Flat paved trail low are stunning views of Lake inscribed on slabs of each gate with a third one in Phoenician on the Divine Statue, constitut- with an easy ing the key for the final decipherment of the Aslantaş framed by marvelous incline. Stroller dark colored basalt bas-relief mu- friendly. Hieroglyphs, (known in Anatolia since the rals depicting scenes of feasts, mu- 2nd mill B.C.), being thus reminiscent of the sicians, the God of Storm, and various palace activi- famous Rosetta Stone.” ties. “After the fall of the Hittite Empire (which Excavations carried out in 1946 uncovered the ruled Central Anatolia in the 2nd mill B.C.), walls and gates to the city. The inscribed bas-re- due to the invasion of the “Peoples of the liefs and statues were left in place and restored. A Sea” (around 1200 B.C.), small kingdoms roof supported by concrete columns established such as those of Malatya, Sakçagözü, Maraş, the open air museum. Kargamış, Zincirli, sprang up south of the Taurus mountain range. They were con- History quered and destroyed in the course of vari- ous Assyrian campaigns. The reign of Asati- According to Wikipedia, the free online ency- watas coincides with this period. His citadel clopedia, “the Hittites were a Bronze Age Indo- was probably looted and burnt down to the European speaking people of Anatolia. They ground by Salmanassar V around 720 B.C. or established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in by Asarhaddon around 680 B.C.” north-central Anatolia in the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height the 14th cen- Read More tury BC, encompassing a large part of Anatolia, For More About the Open Air Museum north-western Syria about as far south as the http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/belge/ mouth of the Litani River (in present-day Leba- The Storm God 2-14772/adana---historical-ruins.html Photos of Karatepe by Kelly Bortles © Outdoor Recreation 676-6044 39fss-odr.blogspot.com 39fss.com Karatepe Open Air Museum