In the heart of the Anatolian plateau, in present-day Turkey, an international team of Italian and Turkish archaeologists, led by the University of Pisa, has brought to light a mysterious circular construction on a Hittite site. This unique discovery, together with other findings in recent years, could confirm that the site is the ancient Hittite sacred city of Zippalanda
Skilled metalsmiths very devoted to their gods. These were the Hittites, a people who between the 17th and 12th centuries BC. it formed a powerful empire that dominated large areas of the Anatolian peninsula, in present-day Türkiye, and part of Syria. The creation of the Hittite empire is lost in myths and legends, although it is thought that its founder may have been Labarna I or Hattušili I. What is clear is that the Hittite armies even challenged the pharaohs of Egypt, facing Rameses II in the famous battle of Kadesh. But around 1200 BC. their capital, Hattuša, was destroyed, causing the fall of the great Anatolian empire.
Researchers hypothesize that the Hittite civilization collapsed due to invasions by the so-called Sea Peoples (a group of Bronze Age peoples, many of them from the Mediterranean, who moved into the Near East). Despite this, the Hittites as such did not disappear, as their legacy survived until the end of the 8th century BC. in what are known as the Neo-Hittite kingdoms. However, many aspects of their culture remain elusive.
Is it really Zippalanda?
To learn more about the Hittite world, a team of Italian and Turkish archaeologists, led by Anacleto D'Agostino of the University of Pisa, has been excavating the Uşakli Höyük site for fifteen years. In this site, during the excavation campaign conducted in 2022, archaeologists brought to light a mysterious circular construction which could help confirm that the site is actually an ancient sacred city of the Hittites: Zippalanda, the cult center of the powerful storm god Teshub. «The interpretation of this circular structure is very difficult at the moment and an extension of the work will be necessary to allow us to get an idea of what is around it», explains D'Agostino.
On the other hand, according to D'Agostino, «its location to the north of what is probably the main temple of the city, not far from the river that flows near the base of the battlements, makes us lean towards an interpretation in ritual of this discovery". The Italian archaeologist also underlined the uniqueness of the discovery, given that "there are no similar ones documented in other contemporary sites".
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