屈尔德佩：卡尼什古国之都

屈尔德佩（土耳其语的意思是“灰山”）：卡尼什王国的首都，位于两条穿越安纳托利亚的主要天然路线的交汇处；沿托罗斯山脉北侧从伊朗高原到爱琴海的东西路线与连接地中海和黑海的南北路线也在此处交汇。从这个角度看，遗址所在的萨里姆萨克利盆地历来是汇通四方的交通枢纽，附近的开赛利历史中心就是明证。

屈尔德佩，著名的“卡尼什港”，分为上城土丘和下城 ；整个土丘高21米，宽550米，其文化序列从公元前4500年的铜石并用时代晚期一直延续到罗马时代晚期。下城直径至少2.5千米，更多的可能被冲积物覆盖。下城建立于公元前2000年早期，毁弃于亚述殖民贸易时期之后。

卡尼什城：安纳托利亚地区第一个国际长途贸易中心

自上世纪早期，该遗址就成为了近东考古热点之一。尤其是在青铜时代，它是密集的长途贸易和奢侈品交易的里程碑。由已故教授、塔辛·奥兹古驰博士自1948年开启的系统发掘已经揭示了统治者宏大的宫殿与庙宇遗存，他们控制着四分之一定居于卡尼什的外国商旅；还清理出包括王室信件和政府官员名单的泥板文书。随着时间流逝，奥兹古驰对四分之一居住于下城的亚述商人越来越感兴趣。他们到安纳托利亚进行贸易交流，并留下了大量房屋居址和私人档案；目前，亚述商人的私人信件数量已超过23000封。

亚述贸易殖民之都

屈尔德佩遗址一直是公认的最大的也是最早的贸易殖民地之一，出土了成千上万的关于安纳托利亚王国和美索不达米亚之间有关贸易与经济关系的楔形文字。由于在亚述商人居所内的惊人发现，考古工作集中在当时当地统治者分配给外国商人的居住区。在富商房屋里的惊世发现转移了人们对这个既对社会文化有所依托，又可俯瞰城市土丘的遗址的兴趣。同时，对商人楔形文字档案的选择性出版也导致了解释上的偏颇。

安纳托利亚的序言：屈尔德佩–卡尼什泥板文书

屈尔德佩泥板文书是安纳托利亚平原上迄今发现最早的档案记录；实际上，楔形文字是由亚述商人传入安纳托利亚的。在屈尔德佩，安纳托利亚人第一次学会了读写。亚述商人带来的不仅是楔形文字，还有他们的文化。在与卡尼什国王达成的协议框架内，他们建立了一个贸易殖民地，在安纳托利亚进行商业贸易并纳税。国王们用征税建造了宫殿、庙宇和一堵巨大的防御工事墙。

屈尔德佩厚达21米的文化层是认识安纳托利亚的主要参考之一，有助于理解从青铜时代早期的城镇发展成为当地王国的城市中心的转变过程。因此，迄今为止在屈尔德佩出土的遗存对整个近东地区，特别是对叙利亚–美索不达米亚地区具有重要意义。从商人家及私人档案里发现的2万3千件泥板文书与城市土丘中出土的少量书面文件一起揭示了公元前19和18世纪安纳托利亚中部和美索不达米亚上游的社会、政治和经济生活，这些私人档案已于2015年被列入联合国教科文组织的世界记忆名录。这些用古亚述人方言书写的楔形文字为理解复杂的市场经济提供了独特的视角，这是世界上记载古代贸易最丰富的历史档案之一。

安纳托利亚地区国家形成和巩固的反思：屈尔德佩发掘的新视野

最近的工作借助了多学科方法，不仅解决了一些备受争议的问题，还为阐释近东社会经济体系提供了迄今为止前所未有的洞察视角。

由费克里·库拉克奥格鲁博士领导的屈尔德佩项目的新工作将重点放在城市土丘研究、独家研究与出版以往的考古资料上。

近年考古发掘的目的是了解安纳托利亚地区的，尤其是亚述商人到来之前的屈尔德佩的政治、文化和经济状况，以及这个非常复杂的系统如何以及为什么会发展。从这个方面来说，最近在遗址的工作已经到了早期青铜时代的层面，并证明了一条清楚的文化和建筑传统发展序列。

这一新任务的成果已经揭示出在安纳托利亚地区国家的出现和巩固的众多新证据，因此，有必要予以重新审视。我们现在清楚地看到了强大的卡尼什王国与叙利亚–美索不达米亚国家间的积极互动。同样地，对先前出土材料进行的新技术和考古学研究已经在寻找锡产地与利用、采购和制造复杂黑曜石容器方面取得了突破性的成果。

安纳托利亚地区宫庙建筑的出现：屈尔德佩的建筑结构

在青铜时代早期的第一和第二阶段，考古揭示出来的是最简单朴素的平面结构；但是，到了青铜时代的第三阶段，宫庙建筑的出现不仅反映出屈尔德佩建筑的发展，而且暗示着安纳托利亚中部的社会正悄然发生着变化。

在土丘的西部探沟中清理出了三座连续的宫庙建筑，一座叠压着另一座，而且每一座都是毁于大火。考虑到规模巨大，这些建筑一定曾是重要的公共建筑。无论从平面规模还是立体壮观上讲，在同时代的安纳托利亚都没有与之相匹敌的。据此，我们认为这肯定是受到了叙利亚北部或美索不达米亚的宫庙建筑的启发。既然能够建造如此宏伟的建筑，也就证明存在一个与周边邻居有着密切商业联系的强大的地方政体。事实上，在“šar tamhari”文本中，卡尼什王国就是以安纳托利亚中部强邦被提到的。

爱琴海–安纳托利亚中部之间存在广泛联系的第一个证据：爱琴海制造的器物和珠宝

此外，这些出土于宫庙建筑的陶器也表明该遗址与爱琴海之间有重要联系。青铜时代第二阶段的后期，爱琴海和西安纳托利亚的大量双耳杯（一种酒杯）取代了第三阶段早期的杯子。屈尔德佩提供了一个独特的机会来精确地确定它们的年代和功能。与此同时，屈尔德佩和爱琴海之间的陶器联系还表现在快轮制作的、类似于来自特洛伊的盘子上。已出版的研究成果认为该遗址出土的这两种盘子来自爱琴海沿岸。然而，与这一观点相反的是，在最近的发掘中发现了数百个这样的盘子。这就产生了一个问题：它们是否真的来自爱琴海。清晰的地层关系，明显的爱琴海风格的酒杯，都表明这些关系应该被加以详细的探究。

与爱琴海之间存在密切联系的另一个重要证据来自于珠宝。遗址上出土的珠宝来源广泛，从美索不达米亚的乌尔，西安纳托利亚的特洛伊，到爱琴海的波利奥克尼，也许是国王或精英之间的礼尚往来，也许是嫁妆。这些尚未公布的金银奢侈品出土于屈尔德佩的青铜时代早期墓葬中，有力地证明了这两个地区之间存在着联系（参阅特洛伊，波利奥克尼）。

最近，在这些宫庙建筑附近发现了丰富而独特的封泥和滚筒印章印痕，对这些材料的研究也将对出现在卡尼什与叙利亚、美索不达米亚的其它国际贸易中心之间最早的国际贸易研究有所启发。因此，最近的工作首次提出了关于国际贸易制度出现的确凿证据。

屈尔德佩地层研究的修正

在“北探沟”开展的调整性发掘为青铜时代早期和更早时期的划分提供了重要的层位学信息，之前由于在中央探沟发现了宫庙建筑而没有注意到这一点。 借助于更精确的考古测量和分析，专家们成功地获取到了在中央探沟所没能得到的考古信息。

对安纳托利亚中部葬俗的新见解  2014年发掘了屈尔德佩南向2千米的一处不属于青铜时代早期的墓地，清理出67座瓮棺。因勒山墓地的发掘对定居区之外的埋葬行为和习俗传统的研究具有突破性意义。 

考古学研究的多学科方法和合作 如上所述，该遗址自发掘以来的重要性是显而易见的，持续的考古工作发现了大量的遗存和书面文献。然而，早期发掘工作是按照传统的近东田野调查的方式进行的，特别强调可供博物馆展出的文物。对此，屈尔德佩遗址贡献良多。然而，尽管出土了精美的器物，但几个关键性问题并没有得到证实，如该地的发展序列，如此复杂的长途贸易体系的出现，制作精美物品所需的技术，区域环境与经济，相距甚远的两大地域—叙利亚与安纳托利亚—融合后的社会互动等。库拉克奥格鲁团队的新任务：开展新的田野工作的同时重新评估以往的发现 新的研究战略基于多学科方法并对所有愿意合作的学科开放，不论是为遗址本身的理解做出贡献，还是测试他们的研究模式。从这方面讲，近年来，第一次在现场出现了多学科的积极合作，涉及的学科有动物考古、古植物学、 孢粉学、人类学、树木年代学、树木生态学、同位素分析的古气候学、冶金考古、地球物理学、萃取冶金学、古地磁学、艺术史、文字学、金石学、古文书学。 虽然对该遗址的多学科研究仍处于起步阶段，考虑到50多年来积累的大量材料，合作的初步结果开始出现，不仅对安纳托利亚的文化和环境历史，而且对整个近东的文化和环境历史研究都有了重大突破性的成果。 值得一提的是，利用绝对年代测定法和同位素分析方法阐明了几个以前备受争议的年代序列和古气候问题。其中最具挑战性的新结果是饮食研究和流动性，明确表明在第三个千年后期，来自美索不达米亚的移民已经定居在了屈尔德佩。

安纳托利亚冶金考古越来越为人所知，部分归功于阿斯里汉·耶纳与库拉克奥格鲁，他们开展了旨在探索锡产地与青铜技术的起源的多个项目。自该遗址第一次被发现以来，在绝对年代学上，特别是在安纳托利亚和美索不达米亚的先后顺序上曾有过一些争议。借助于其它测年方法，古地磁的分析已经确定了不同阶段火灾的时间，更重要的是把著名的瓦尔沙马宫殿的时间定在了公元前1750-1740年间。最近的主要工作之一是地球物理调查，以探测上城的空间布局，特别是下城的范围，在深厚的冲积层下，土壤基质的高粘土含量使得常规勘探技术难以发挥作用。 多学科研究成果 屈尔德佩及其居民的年代和历史一直是研究或讲座的中心内容。幸亏开塞利考古调查项目提供了涵盖整个第三个千年的长序列，所以对青铜时代早期的屈尔德佩的年代序列进行了微调。在由库拉克奥格鲁博士主持的抢救性发掘中发现的一处新墓地很有希望能填补这一时期的年代数据。所有这些跨学科研究结果将在2013年以来每年举行两次的屈尔德佩国际会议(KIM)上进行讨论，并且成果发表在国际知名期刊《苏帕图》一个单独系列上。事实上，该国际会议的目的就是促进这些不同学科之间的对话。结合这些数据，可以使我们更详细的了解屈尔德佩及其环境；这些在KIM会议期间开始的交叉研究，也可以帮我们更准确地了解公元前两、三千年的屈尔德佩地区居民的生活环境。

个人简介

费克里·库拉寇格鲁，1960年出生于土耳其的萨姆松。1982年获得安卡拉大学近东考古学系学士学位，并于1985年和1997年分获硕士和博士学位。 他的学术生涯是始于1994年，当时他加入了近东考古学系，担任研究助理，目前他已成为该系教授。 目前的研究兴趣主要包括青铜时代，包括“早期青铜时代”，“安纳托利亚的亚述贸易殖民时代”“安纳托利亚城市化的诞生和发展”“赫梯文化的起源”“赫梯艺术和雕塑”。 参与了安纳托利亚地区的多项考古发掘，如Samsat, Acemhöyük, Kaman-Kalehöyük, and 屈尔德佩–卡尼什。继奥兹古驰之后，他在2016年被指定为屈尔德佩考古发掘的负责人。 发表了关于青铜时代的论文数篇，主要涉及亚述贸易殖民时期和赫悌时期。 与人合著5部，其中三部即将付梓。

Kültepe: the capital of the ancient Kanesh Kingdom

Kültepe, the ancient capital of the Kanesh Kingdom, is critically located on the meeting point of two major natural routes crossing Anatolia; it is actually the place where the East-West route running from Iranian highlands to the Aegean following the northern flanks of the Taurus ranges comes together with the North-South route joining the Mediterranean with the Black Sea. In this respect, the Sarmısaklı basin where the site is located has always been the gateway throughout history, as evidenced by the historic center of Kayseri in close vicinity of the site.

Kültepe consists of a high city mound and a lower town, the famous “karum (port) of Kanesh”; the mound, 21m. high and 550 m. wide has evidenced a long cultural sequence running from Late Chalcolithic (BC 4500) up to the late Roman period. The lower town is at least 2.5 km in diameter, and possibly larger being sealed under the alluvial fill. Lower Town had been established by the early stages of the second millennium BC and was abandoned after the Assyrian Trading Colony period.

Kanesh-Karum: the first international long-distance trade center in Anatolia

Since the early years of the last century, the site has been one of the excitements of Near Eastern archaeology, particularly of the Bronze age as the milestone in picturing the intensive long-distance trade and procurement of luxury items.

Systematic excavations at the mound were initiated by late Prof. Dr. Tahsin Özgüç in 1948 exposing monumental palaces and temples of the rulers controlling the living quarters of the foreign traders, the Karum of Kanesh. Tablets containing royal letters and the lists of palace officials were also revealed. Through time Özgüç became more interested in the quarter of the Assyrian merchants in the Lower Town exposing houses and private archives of the merchants who came to Anatolia for trade; the number of private correspondence of the merchants at present is over 23,000.

The capital city of the Assyrian trade colony

The site of Kültepe has been reputed as the biggest and one of the earliest trading colonies, and has revealed thousands of cuneiform texts on trade and economic relations between Anatolian kingdoms and Mesopotamia. Due to the fabulous finds recovered in the houses of Assyrian merchants, excavations had been focused in the area that had been allocated by the local rulers to the foreign merchant to live. Eye-catching finds recovered in the houses of rich merchants diverted interest away from the socio-cultural set up of the site and evidence of the city mound. Likewise, selective publication of the merchant’s cuneiform archives resulted in biased interpretations.

Anatolia’s prologue: Kültepe-Kanesh cuneiform tablets

Kültepe tablets are the earliest written documents ever recovered from the Anatolian Plateau; actually, the cuneiform script was introduced to Anatolia by Assyrian merchants. The Anatolian people had learned to read and write for the first time in Kültepe. The Assyrian merchants brought not only the cuneiform script to Anatolia but also their culture. Within the framework of the agreements they made with the Kanesh kings, they established a trade colony, traded in Anatolia and paid taxes. Kanesh kings, with the taxes they collected, had built palaces, temples, and a large fortification wall.

Kültepe, with its 21 meter thick cultural deposit, stands as one of the main reference points of Anatolia in understanding the transition from Early Bronze Age towns to the urban centers becoming the seats of local kingdoms. Thus, what has been so far excavated at Kültepe is of consequential significance for the entire Near East, particularly Syro-Mesopotamia. Along with the 23,000 cuneiform tablets recovered in the houses and private archives of the merchants, written documents unearthed in the city mound, though fewer, reveal the social, political and economic life of the 19th and 18th centuries BC in central Anatolia and Upper Mesopotamia. These private archives were enlisted in UNESCO World Memory List in 2015, and the cuneiform tablets written in an Old Assyrian dialect give exceptional insight into a sophisticated market economy, representing one of the best-documented historical cases of ancient trade in the world.

Reconsidering the state formation emerged and consolidated in Anatolia: the new term of Kültepe Excavations

Recent work, with its multidisciplinary approach, along with resolving some of the much-debated problems, has also provided a hitherto unprecedented insight into the social-economic system of the Near East. 

The new instalment of the Kültepe project under Dr. Fikri Kulakoğlu had its focus in the city mound and also study and publication of the previously excavated textual and archaeological material.

The aim of the excavations carried out in recent years was to understand the political, cultural and economic situation of Anatolia and especially Kültepe in the periods before the Assyrian merchants came and the modalities on how and why this very complex system developed. In this respect, recent work at the site has already reached Early Bronze Age levels, evidencing a clear sequential development of cultural and architectural traditions.

The outcome of this new undertaking has already revealed so much new evidence necessitating a reconsideration of how state formation emerged and consolidated in Anatolia. We now have a clear picture of the strong kingdom of Kanesh involved in active interaction with Syro-Mesopotamian states. Likewise, technological and archaeometry studies on the previously excavated materials have already led to ground-breaking results on the sourcing and use of tin, and procurement and making sophisticated vessels of obsidian.

The emergence of monumental buildings in Anatolia: monumental structures discovered in Kültepe

What has been exposed in the early stages of the Early Bronze Age, during EBA I and II periods are present a picture of modest simple-plan structures; however, already by Early Bronze Age III the monumental structures began appearing, reflecting not only the architectural developments at Kültepe but also giving the indications of social change taking place in Central Anatolia.

Three consecutive monumental buildings have been excavated in the West Trenches of the mound – built on top of each other, and each destroyed by violent fires. Considering even the large dimensions of these buildings, they must have been significant public buildings. At that time period, there are no known parallels in Anatolia to these either in plan-type or in monumentality; thus we assume that they must have been inspired from the monumental public buildings of Northern Syria or Mesopotamia. Even being able to erect such monumental structures evince the presence of a powerful local authority having close commercial ties with her neighbors. Actually, the name of Kanesh Kingdom is mentioned in the so-called “šar tamhari” text as a powerful kingdom in Central Anatolia.

The first evidence of Aegean-Central Anatolian relations: Aegean originated wares and jewelry

Furthermore, the ceramics from these monumental buildings demonstrate important Aegean connections. Numerous examples of double-handled cups (tankards) dating to the end of the EB II in the Aegean and Western Anatolia replaced the depas at the beginning of the EB III. Kültepe provides a unique opportunity to precisely date them and determine their function. Along with this, ceramic connections between Kültepe and the Aegean include the wheel turned plates similar to those from Troy. Two plates previously found in Kültepe were published as having been imported from the Aegean coast. However, contrary to this notion is the fact that hundreds of them have been found in recent excavations. This necessitated the question of whether they are indeed imported from the Aegean. The presence of such plates in good stratigraphic contexts in Kültepe, as well as ceramics specific to the Aegean such as the tankard and depas, indicates that these relationships should be investigated in detail.

Jewelry is another important category that shows important connections with Aegean. The jewelry found at Kultepe has wide geographic distributions from Ur in Mesopotamia, Troy in western Anatolia and Poliochni in the Aegean perhaps as a mutual exchange of gifts between kings or elites, or as a dowry. These as-yet-unpublished luxury objects were made of silver and gold and were recently found in EBA burials at Kültepe strongly attesting to the existence of relations between the two regions (i.e., Troy, Poliochni). 

Recent excavations revealed also a rich and unique collection of stamp and cylinder seal impressions in the vicinity of these monumental buildings. The study of these sealings will also enlighten the presence of the earliest international trade established between Kültepe Kanesh and the other international centers of Syria and of Mesopotamia. Accordingly, the recent work has, for the first time presented concrete evidence on the emergence of international trading systems.

Fine-grained stratigraphical research at Kültepe

In the deep “North Trench”, fine-grained excavations provided important stratigraphic information about the EBA and earlier levels since the monumental structures discovered in the Central Trench prevent reaching them. With the help of more accurate archaeo-metric measurements and analyses, specialists have been successful in obtaining data not accessible in the Central Trench.

New insight to the burial customs in Central Anatolia

In 2014, an extramural EBA Cemetery was discovered about 2 km south of Kültepe. 67 pithoi burials have been excavated. The discovery of the İnler Dağı cemetery is groundbreaking for the study of burial practices and traditions outside of settlement areas. 

Multidisciplinary approach and cooperation in the archaeological research

As briefly noted above, the importance of the site had been apparent since its recovery, with extensive excavations revealing a wealth of finds and written documents. However, early excavations were conducted in the modalities of traditional Near Eastern fieldwork with particular emphasis on the recovery of museum objects, of which Kültepe revealed great numbers. However, in spite of the glorious appearance of its finds, several critical issues had remained unattested; among them the sequential development of the site, the emergence of such a complex long-distance trade system, technologies involved in the fabrication of objects that exhibit outstanding features, environment and economy of the community and the social dynamics of the merging of two distant communities-Assyrians and Anatolians.

The new instalment of the project, led by the team directed by Dr. Kulakoğlu has developed a new research strategy, not only in the implementation of new fieldwork but in reassessing earlier finds.

The new research strategy is based on a multidisciplinary approach and cooperation being open to all disciplines that are willing to cooperate, either to contribute to the understanding of the site or to test their own modalities. In this respect, during the recent years, for the first time at the site, there has been the active collaboration of a great variety of disciplines: from zooarchaeology, palaeobotany, palynology, anthropology, dendrochronology, dendroecology, paleoclimatology to isotope analyses, archaeometallurgy, geophysics, geometallurgy, geo and archaeo-magnetism, art history, philology, epigraphy, and palaeography.

Even though multidisciplinary studies on Kültepe materials are still in an incipient stage, considering the vast amount of material accumulated over 50 years’ work, preliminary results began appearing with ground-breaking consequences for the cultural and environmental history not only of Anatolia but of the Near East in general.

In particular, the implementation of absolute dating methods and of isotope analysis have elucidated several previously much-debated chronological problems of dating and of paleoclimate. Among the most challenging new results are the dietary studies and mobility, clearly indicating that already in the late 3rd millennium, immigrants from Mesopotamia were settled at Kültepe.

The archaeometallurgy of Anatolia is becoming better known, thanks in part to the various projects carried out by Aslıhan Yener and Fikri Kulakoğlu on sourcing tin and of the origins of bronze technology. 

Since the first recovery of the site, there had been certain controversies on absolute chronology, particularly in sequencing Anatolia with that of Mesopotamia. Along with other dating methods, the implementation of archaeomagnetic analyses have now secured the date of various phases of conflagration and more significantly placing the date of the famous Waršama palace to 1750-1740 BC.

One of the major undertakings of recent excavations has been the geophysical investigations to detect the spatial layout of the upper town and particularly the extent of the lower town, which is under deep layers of alluvium. The high clay content of the soil matrix made conventional prospection technologies challenging.

Outcrops of the multi-disciplinary research

The chronology and history of Kültepe and its inhabitants were at the heart of several articles and lectures. The chronology of the Kültepe area during the Early Bronze Age has been fine-tuned thanks to the Kayseri Archaeological Survey Project which provides a long sequence covering the whole 3rd millennium. And a new cemetery found during salvage excavation by Dr. Kulakoğlu is very promising to complete our data on this period. The results of all these interdisciplinary studies are discussed at the “Kültepe International Meetings” (KIM) meetings held biannually since 2013 and the results are published in a separate series (KIM) in an internationally respected journal SUBARTU. Indeed, the aim of the Kültepe International Meetings (KIM) is to facilitate the dialogue between these different disciplines. Combining their data will give a more accurate view of Kültepe and its environment. The cross studies initiated during the KIM meetings will allow us to better understand the lives of the inhabitants of Kültepe and their environment during the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. 

Biographic Sketch

Fikri Kulakoğlu was born in Samsun, Turkey in 1960. He received a B.A. degree in the Near Eastern Archaeology Department at Ankara University in 1982, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in the same department in 1985 and 1997, respectively. His academic career started in 1994 when he joined the Near Eastern Archaeology Department as a Research Assistant, and he is presently teaching as a Professor in the same department.  His current research interests include mainly Bronze Ages, including “Early Bronze Age” and “Assyrian Trade Colony Period in Anatolia”, the “Birth and the Development of Urbanisation in Anatolia”, “the Origin of Hittite Culture” and “Hittite Art and Sculpture”.  He took part in several excavations in Anatolia, among them are Samsat, Acemhöyük, Kaman-Kalehöyük, and Kültepe-Kanesh. After Tahsin Özgüç, in 2016 he was appointed as the director of the Kültepe excavations. He is the author of several articles about the Bronze Age, and the Assyrian Trade Colony Period and Hittites. He is also the co-editor of 5 volumes; Anatolias Prologue: Kültepe Kanesh Karum, printed in 2010, Current Research at Kültepe-Kanesh. An Interdisciplinary and Integrative Approach to Trade Networks, Internationalism, and Identity, printed in 2014. Proceedings of the Kültepe International Meetings (KIM1-3) held biannually since 2013 is published by the Journal SUBARTU. Three volumes of the proceedings have already been printed up to date.