On to Alacahoyuk!

On to Kayseri

 

Wow!  Another great Hittite site, and we even found the hotel!  But not thanks to Emmy, our GPS, or Apple Maps!  Emmy was totally useless – and Apple Maps led us somewhere into dead end streets, and we were just about ready to turn around and head to the nearest Holiday Inn (which we had passed on the way in!) when R tried his favorite – Google Maps – and voila, he found it!!  (Of course, by that time, we were probably 100 feet away, and there was actually a small sign pointing to the hotel, but AMAZING nonetheless!)

 

So, to begin today!  First of all, I FINALLY got a good night’s sleep!  YAY!  By the time I got finished publishing the world’s longest blog (for which I apologize if I blew anyone’s computer up …) it was 10:30, and I was a space cadet!  Still dealing with jetlag!  But when my head finally hit the pillow, I don’t think it lifted again until almost 8 am this morning!  Unheard of for me, but R said I could have slept the clock around, and he wasn’t going to wake me up – he’d just check to make sure I was still breathing occasionally!  I was … 

 

Breakfast at the hotel downstairs.  It wasn’t my favorite, but it was OK.  I am really amazed at the number of people who eat vegetables and salad at breakfast time here!  Really?  I mean, I love salad – just not for breakfast!  At any rate, we finally dragged ourselves out of the hotel about 10:00 and got on the road to Alacahöyük.  Arrived there around 11, and fortunately, once again, had the site to ourselves!  (Yay!)

Ran into a few "friends" before we got to the site!

Sphynx entrance gates!

 

Excavations since 1835 have uncovered evidence of four layers of cultures that existed in Alacahöyük, which was inhabited continuously since the Chalcolithic (copper) Age. The site consists of 15 layers, marking four distinct ages: the Chalcolithic (copper), Old Bronze, Hittite and Phrygian ages:

The Chalcolithic Age: 4000-3000 BC - layers 15-9 
Old Bronze Age: 3000-2000 BCn- layers 8-5 
Hittite Age: 1800-1200 BC - layers 4-2 
Phrygian Age: Since 750 BC - in the first layer 

The first settlement in the tumulus in the Chalcolithic Age was established on an area looking to the south, and its northern parts were protected with small hills. In this period, architecture only meant stone foundations and sun-dried bricks. The roofs were covered with reeds and compressed soil. 

 

More Hittite engravings

Hittite engravings

Double-headed eagle at gateway

Overview of site in Hittite times

Note papers pinned up noting the various stratigraphic levels

What makes Alacahöyük really special, though, are the13 important kings’ tombs excavated from the Old Bronze Age.  The shaft tombs, which are believed to belong to layers five and seven are located in a special area of the city. Because of their forms, these are considered to be unique tombs of Anatolia and even the Asian frontier. These tombs belong to adult men and women. No children or babies were buried here. In contrast to the tomb types in Central Anatolia, in Alacahöyük there is uniformity in the direction of the tombs and the buried people. The gifts buried along with the dead are the richest and most varied that are found in the Aegean and the Asia frontier in the Old Bronze Age.  Among these gifts are sun disks, deer and bull sculptures, decorative pieces, fighting tools such as daggers, swords and axes, and other pieces made out of fired clay, stones, gold, silver, bronze, and copper.  We saw many of these pieces in Ankara at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, and certainly all of the gold pieces were moved there as well.  As it is, the site museum here was very small and didn’t contain too many really interesting or valuable pieces, but the site itself is wonderful!

 

The Hittite construction that forms the visible part of Alacahöyük today are formed by three layers. In this age, a defense system was formed in the shape of a circle with a diameter of 250 meters, and on this circle two main gates that were the entrances to the city are found. 

There are two sphinxes on the south-eastern door, which was the religious door of the tumulus. The heads are remarkable on the sphinx protomes that are carved on monolithic stone pillars. They have inflated bodies atop separated, short legs. There is also a double-headed eagle carrying a rabbit in his claws in the interior side of the sphinx on the east.

Overview of excavated tomb area

 

So … enough history lesson for today!  Suffice to say, if it’s Hittite, I’m there!  We had a lovely walk around the entire site.  It was only about 35 degrees out, but it wasn’t at all bitter and the sun was lovely and warm.  Then, into the small museum, for a quick look around.

Map of the site in the museum; Hittite area surrounding ancient tombs.

 

From Alacahöyük, we decided it would probably be time to head south, to Kayseri, where we will be for the next two nights.  The last time we were through these parts, we stayed at the Kayseri Hilton, which has now been turned into a Wyndham, and isn’t getting very good reviews … so, like the Tripadvisor person I tend to be, I decided to try another place, and came up with the Four Mansions Hotel.  This turns out to be a small hotel, still in the central part of town, but definitely on the “hard-to-find” scale!  At least Apple Maps couldn’t find it!  Thank goodness for my navigator’s resourcefulness in trying Google Maps!!  

 

Lovely place, and someone was thoughtful enough to have turned on the heat for us beforehand, and we have a very large room with a gorgeous, huge corner bathtub!  And there is a large walk-in shower, so we’re both happy!  Additionally, and the BEST news of all, I can get laundry done tomorrow (I’m told!) as we are definitely in need of clean clothes!  (R keeps telling me they have shopping malls here, of which I was aware, but I really don’t want to have to resort to that, unless well and truly necessary!)

 

So, I’ll close this now, and have R take a look.  Figure we’ll probably try to find dinner (hopefully here!) soon, and have a very quiet night!  Tomorrow is fairly easy for us – Kanesh/Kultepe, the site of a former Assyrian trading colony about half-hour northeast of here, and then probably the archaeology museum.  It’s not a fabulous museum, as museums go (and some of the archaeology museums here in Turkey are among the best in the world!) but I believe it has a Hittite bathtub that I saw for the first time when we were here last, so that’s always worth a visit!  Maybe I was a Hittite in a past life?!  No, then again … life on the Anatolian plateau would have been VERY cold in the winter, and I am definitely an Arizona kind of girl!

 

More later!

m

xxx

 

Just back from a very interesting and delicious dinner!  We hadn’t realized that our place didn’t really have a dining room per se, but they said they had food.  So, when we inquired, we were told they had a limited menu of local Turkish food that we could order, we decided to give it a try.  Went to the reception desk, and were given a phone menu to look at, and decide!  As I say, interesting!  There was enough back and forth that we were able to order the following – fried kofte (beef meatballs), tiny beef-filled dumplings with a tomato sauce, and cheese pide – a flatbread-like pizza with cheese … along with 4 small bottles of sparkling water – dry hotel (which isn’t unusual in this part of Turkiye, as this is a fairly religious area).  Back to our rooms, and when things were ready, they called us. 

 

We made our way into the dining room, and wow!  In addition to what we had ordered, we were presented with a lovely salad made up with various greens and shredded veggies, and a nice dressing, and we certainly had plenty to eat – and it was ALL delicious!  So happy we decided to give it a try!  For, as I told R, if we had wanted nothing but American food, we should have stayed home!  Finished just about everything, including the 4 bottles of sparkling water, and now back in the room.  We may try to find a “real” restaurant tomorrow night – or, we may not!  Time will tell, that’s for sure!  I am truly looking forward to a nice soak in my huge bathtub in the morning, before we tackle yet another archaeological site and museum!  

 

Beautiful dining room of an old refurnished mansion

So, until then, lots and lots of love!

m

xxx