Karkamış / Karkamiš
Karkamış (Kargamis, Karkemish, Carchemish) was an important settlement even before the 2nd millemium BC. City may have been first occupied by Hittites for a short while during Mursili I. The Mitanni (Hurri) city came into full Hittite control during Suppiluliuma I (c. 1330 BCE) who made it into a kingdom ruled by his son Piyasili. The city located on the Euprates river (today right at the border of Turkey and Syria) became one of the most important in the Hittite Empire during the Late Bronze Age, and reached its apogee around the 9th century BCE. The patron of Karkamış under the Hittites was Kubaba, a goddess of apparently Hurrian origins. She was represented as a dignified woman wearing a long robe, standing or seated, and holding a mirror. After the Hittite empire fell to the Sea Peoples, Karkamış continued to be the capital of an important Late Hittite kingdom, and important trade center. In the 9th century BCE, the city paid tribute to Kings Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III of Assyria, and was conquered by Sargon II in 717 BCE, in the reign of King Pisiris. In the first millennium BCE, Karkamış consisted of a high citadel mound on the River Euphrates, with a walled inner town and an outer town. Excavations revealed a processional way which led to the temple of the storm god and to a monumental stairway to the citadel. The whole complex was decorated with basalt and limestone sculptures.
Location of the city ruins was identified in 1876 by George Smith. The site was excavated initially by the British Museum, mainly between 1911 and 1914, by D. G. Hogarth, R. C. Thompson, C. L. Wooley, and T. E. Lawrence. These expeditions uncovered substantial remains of the Assyrian and Late Hittite periods, including defensive structures, temples, palaces, and numerous basalt statues and reliefs with Hittite hieroglyphic inscriptions. A good portion of the orthostats are currently in Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara. Several other artifacts are in British Museum. 36°49'46 N - 38°00'54 E Google Earth location
Click on pictures for a larger image.
The City Plan
Long Wall 
Stairways to the Citadel 
Karkamış (Kargamis, Karkemish, Carchemish) was an important settlement even before the 2nd millemium BC. City may have been first occupied by Hittites for a short while during Mursili I. The Mitanni (Hurri) city came into full Hittite control during Suppiluliuma I (c. 1330 BCE) who made it into a kingdom ruled by his son Piyasili. The city located on the Euprates river (today right at the border of Turkey and Syria) became one of the most important in the Hittite Empire during the Late Bronze Age, and reached its apogee around the 9th century BCE. The patron of Karkamış under the Hittites was Kubaba, a goddess of apparently Hurrian origins. She was represented as a dignified woman wearing a long robe, standing or seated, and holding a mirror. After the Hittite empire fell to the Sea Peoples, Karkamış continued to be the capital of an important Late Hittite kingdom, and important trade center. In the 9th century BCE, the city paid tribute to Kings Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III of Assyria, and was conquered by Sargon II in 717 BCE, in the reign of King Pisiris. In the first millennium BCE, Karkamış consisted of a high citadel mound on the River Euphrates, with a walled inner town and an outer town. Excavations revealed a processional way which led to the temple of the storm god and to a monumental stairway to the citadel. The whole complex was decorated with basalt and limestone sculptures.
Location of the city ruins was identified in 1876 by George Smith. The site was excavated initially by the British Museum, mainly between 1911 and 1914, by D. G. Hogarth, R. C. Thompson, C. L. Wooley, and T. E. Lawrence. These expeditions uncovered substantial remains of the Assyrian and Late Hittite periods, including defensive structures, temples, palaces, and numerous basalt statues and reliefs with Hittite hieroglyphic inscriptions. A good portion of the orthostats are currently in Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara. Several other artifacts are in British Museum. 36°49'46 N - 38°00'54 E Google Earth location
Click on pictures for a larger image.
The City Plan
Long Wall 
Stairways to the Citadel 
