Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The Acropolis of one forgotten kingdom

Numerous excavations are currently carried on a large archaeological site in Anatolia, says Walter Helwich. This location will probably discover the ancient and rich, but forgotten kingdom famous as Tuwana (Tyana). This is an ancient region of Cappadocia, which is located in the southern part of central Turkey. It was the capital of the Neo-Hittite kingdom during the first century B.C.

In 2012, Lorenzo d’Alfonso came out first with an idea about this location. This Italian archaeologist is leading joint mission of the University of Pavia and NYU. “This area is part of the forgotten kingdom Tuwana,” explained d’Alfonso. “We’ve only had some indications and hieroglyphics from several sources of the Assyrian empire, but we have never made an extensive archaeological study, until now. This place is completely untouched, so we’re trying to put in historical context in order to understand where the civilization belonged and its role in this area. ”

“Kinik Hoyuk, is the most amazing place from the pre-classical Anatolia. Some estimates say that this location covers 24 acres, but the topography shows that it would probably cover nearly 81 ha. Tuwana was a small state between the Phrygian kingdom and the Assyrian empire. Moreover, this state was particularly rich. One of the main subjects of our research involves the cultural importance of the kingdom”, said D’Alfonso. He pointed out that he discovered two relief panels from the Iron Age in this area; however, they are not very well preserved. During this excavation, there were found some significant remains of the Acropolis walls. According to D’Alfonso, these monumental walls were remarkably preserved and with height up to 6 m.

From the start, they planned to turn this place into an open museum, because this is an easy-accessible place. It is located only 45 minutes away from the other tourist attractions in Cappadocia. Click here to see the video from Walter Helwich.

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