View source for Kültepe

{{Short description|Human settlement}}
{{About||the village in Azerbaijan|Kültəpə|other uses|Kültepe (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox ancient site
 | name                 = Kültepe
 | native_name          = 
 | alternate_name       = 
 | image                = KültepeOberstadtPalast.jpg
 | alt                  = 
 | caption              = Hittite palace at Kültepe
 | map_type             = Turkey
 | map_alt              = 
 | coordinates          = {{coord|38|51|N|35|38|E|display=inline,title}}
 | location             = [[Kayseri Province]], Turkey
 | region               = [[Anatolia]]
 | type                 = Settlement
 | part_of              = 
 | length               = 
 | width                = 
 | area                 = 
 | height               = 
 | builder              = 
 | material             = 
 | built                = 
 | abandoned            = 
 | epochs               = 
 | cultures             = [[Hittites|Hittite]] <br /> [[Assyria]]n
 | dependency_of        = 
 | occupants            = 
 | event                = 
 | excavations          = 1906, 1925, 1948-2013
 | archaeologists       = Hugo Grothe, Bedřich Hrozný, Tahsin Özgüç, Fikri Kulakoğlu
 | condition            = In ruins
 | ownership            = 
 | management           = 
 | public_access        = 
 | website              = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
 | notes = 
}}

'''Kültepe''' ([[Turkish language|Turkish]]: {{lit|ash-hill}}), also known under its ancient name '''Kaneš''' (Kanesh, sometimes also '''Kaniš'''/Kanish)  or '''Neša''' (Nesha), is an [[archaeological site]] in [[Kayseri Province]], Turkey. It was already a major settlement at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC (Early Bronze Age), but it is world-renowned for its significance at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC (Middle Bronze Age).<ref> {{Cite Q|Q130241031|access-date=2024-09-05}}</ref>  The archaeological site consists of a large mound (also known as [[Tell_(archaeology)#Equivalents | höyük, tepe or tell]]), and a lower city, where a ''[[Karum (trade post)|kārum]]'' (the [[Assyria]]n word for trading district<ref name="karum_name">How to translate the term ''kārum'' is debated. [[Cécile Michel]] has argued against the translation 'colony' or 'trade diaspora'. She notes: "The word kārum is often translated as 'colony' or 'trading colony' by scholars; however this term is not satisfactory since it often evokes some kind of domination of a state over a foreign territory (Michel 2014). In the Old Assyrian texts, the kārum refers both to the part of the town where merchants were established and the institution represented by the assembly of the merchants who administered that center, and which had an office and officials. There is no word or expression in English that fits this definition, unlike the French expression comptoir commercial. Thus, [...] the expression 'commercial settlement' [could be] used when referring to the area where merchants were established and carried out their activities.{{Cite Q | Q130241124 | page=xviii}}</ref>) was established in the beginning of the 2nd Millennium BC. So far, 23,500 [[cuneiform]] tablets recovered from private houses constitute the largest collection of private texts in the ancient Near East.<ref name="Unesco Kültepe Tentative Liste"/> In 2014, the archaeological site was inscribed in the [[List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey (Tentative list)|Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey]].<ref name="Unesco Kültepe Tentative Liste">{{cite web |title=Archaeological Site of Kültepe-Kanesh |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5905/ |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |access-date=19 June 2018 |archive-date=27 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427071934/https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5905/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:VAM - Gießgefäß.jpg|thumb|Animal shaped rhyton from Kanesh (19th century BC) [[Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin]]]]

==History==

Kültepe is located about 20&nbsp;km northeast from the modern city [[Kayseri]]. Its ancient name is recorded in Assyrian and Hittite sources. In Assyrian inscriptions from the 20th and the 19th century BC, the city was mentioned as '''''Kaneš''''' (also transcribed as Kanesh); in later [[Hittite language|Hittite]] inscriptions, the city was mentioned as '''''Neša''''' (sometimes transcribed as Nesha, Nessa or Nesa. Neša derives from [Ka]neša). 

The site is divided into two main areas: the circular mound (tepe, höyük) and the lower town to its northeast. The mound was inhabited (with discontinuity) from the Early Bronze Age through the Roman Empire, while the lower town was occupied only from the last decades of the third millennium to the early sixteenth century BCE.<ref name=Michel2020_Women>{{Cite Q|Q130241124 | access-date=2024-09-05 | page = 8}}</ref> The lower town displays four levels of occupation, with only levels II (approximately 1945–1835 BCE) and Ib (approximately 1832–1700 BCE)—which roughly correspond to the Middle Bronze Age—yielding significant written records, totaling around 22,200 and 560 tablets, respectively. In contrast, only forty scattered tablets were found on the mound, where palaces and temples were uncovered, indicating that there are no surviving archives from the local authorities, if such archives ever existed.<ref name=Michel2020_Women/> This ''kārum'' appears to have served as "the administrative and distribution centre of the entire Assyrian colony network in Anatolia".{{sfn|Bryce|2005|p=37}} A late record, from circa 1400 BC, recounts the story of a king of Kaneš called Zipani, with seventeen local city-kings who rose up against [[Naram-Sin of Akkad]], who ruled circa 2254&ndash;2218 BC.{{sfn|Bryce|2005|p=10}}

During the ''kārum'' period, and before the conquest of [[Pitḫana]], these local kings reigned in Kaneš: 
*Ḫurmili (before 1790 BC)
*Paḫanu (a short time in 1790 BC)
*Inar (c. 1790–1775 BC), then
*Waršama (c. 1775–1750 BC)<ref>Kloekhorst, Alwin, (2021). [https://www.academia.edu/53253292/A_new_interpretation_of_the_Old_Hittite_Zalpa_text_CTH_3_1_N%C4%93%C5%A1a_as_the_capital_under_%E1%B8%AAuzzii_a_I_Labarna_I_and_%E1%B8%AAattu%C5%A1ili_I_2021_ "A new interpretation of the Old Hittite Zalpa-text (CTH 3.1): Nēša as the capital under Ḫuzzii̯a I, Labarna I, and Ḫattušili I"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007014823/https://www.academia.edu/53253292/A_new_interpretation_of_the_Old_Hittite_Zalpa_text_CTH_3_1_N%C4%93%C5%A1a_as_the_capital_under_%E1%B8%AAuzzii_a_I_Labarna_I_and_%E1%B8%AAattu%C5%A1ili_I_2021_ |date=2021-10-07 }}, in ''Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol.141, No. 3'', p. 564.</ref>

The king of [[Zalpuwa]], [[Uḫna]], raided Kaneš, after which the Zalpuwans carried off the city's ''Šiuš'' idol. Pitḫana, the king of [[Kuššara]], conquered Neša "in the night, by force", but "did not do evil to anyone in it".<ref>{{cite book |last=Kuhrt |first=Amélie |date=1995 |title=The Ancient Near East, Volume I |location=London and New York |publisher=Routledge |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientneareastc00akuh/page/226 226] |isbn=0-415-16763-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientneareastc00akuh/page/226 }}</ref> Neša revolted against the rule of Pitḫana's son, [[Anitta (king)|Anitta]], but Anitta quashed the revolt and made Neša his capital. Anitta further invaded Zalpuwa, captured its king [[Huzziya]], and recovered the ''Šiuš'' idol for Neša.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/hitol-1-R.html | title=The Proclamation of Anittas (Old Hittite) | access-date=2006-07-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303180049/http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/hitol-1-R.html | archive-date=2014-03-03 }}</ref>

In the 17th century BC, Anitta's descendants moved their capital to [[Hattusa]], which Anitta had cursed, thus founding the [[List of Hittite kings|line of Hittite kings]]. The inhabitants thus referred to the [[Hittite language]] as ''Nešili'' 'the Neša tongue'.

== Archaeology ==
[[File:Vessel_rhyton_kultepe.jpg|thumb|A vessel shaped rhyton from Kültepe]] 
[[File:AnkaraMuseum_Idol_aus_Kültepe.jpg|thumb|Artifacts in [[Museum of Anatolian Civilizations]]]] 
[[File:Cuneiform_tablet_case_impressed_with_four_cylinder_seals_in_Assyrian_and_Anatolian_styles,_for_cuneiform_tablet_66.245.17a-_loan_of_silver_MET_DP-13441-010.jpg|thumb|Clay tablet inscribed with seal impressions]] 
[[File:Cuneiform_tablet-_caravan_account_MET_DP-13441-004.jpg|thumb| Cuneiform tablet]]

By 1880, cuneiform tablets said to be from ''Kara Eyuk'' ('black village') or ''Gyul Tepé'' ('burnt mound') near ''Kaisariyeh'', had begun to appear on the market, some being thus bought by the [[British Museum]].<ref>[https://www.penn.museum/sites/journal/645/] A. H. Sayce, The Museum Collection Of Cappadocian Tablets, The Museum Journal, vol. IX, no. 2, pp. 148-150, Penn Museum, June 1918</ref> In response the site was worked by [[Ernest Chantre]] for two seasons, beginning in 1893.<ref>Ernest Chantre, Recherches archéologiques dans l'Asie occidentale : mission en Cappadoce, 1893-1894'', 1898</ref>
Hugo Grothe dug a small soundage in 1906.<ref>Hugo Grothe, Meine Vorderasienexpedilion 1906 und 1907, I (Leipzig, 1911)</ref>
In 1925, [[Bedřich Hrozný]] excavated Kültepe and found over 1000 cuneiform tablets, some of which ended up in [[Prague]] and in [[Istanbul]].<ref>Frédéric Hrozný, "Rapport Preliminaire Sur Les Fouilles Tchécoslovaques Du Kultépé (1925)", Syria, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 1–12, 1927</ref><ref>Julius Lewy, ''Die altassyrischen Texte vom Kültepe bei Kaisarije'', Konstantinopel, 1926</ref><ref>Veysel Donbaz, ''Keilschrifttexte in den Antiken-Museen zu Stambul 2'', Freiburger Altorientalische Studien, 1989</ref> In 1929 the site was visited
and photographed by [[James Henry Breasted]] of the Oriental Institute of Chicago. There had been much digging for fertilizer, which had destroyed a quarter of the mound.<ref>[https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/oic8.pdf] James Henry Breasted, EXPLORATIONS IN HITTITE ASIA MINOR—1929, ORIENTAL INSTITUTE COMMUNICATIONS, no. 8, Oriental Institute of Chicago, 1929</ref>

Modern archaeological work began in 1948, when Kültepe was excavated by a team from the Turkish Historical Society and the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums. The team was led by [[Tahsin Özgüç]] until his death, in 2005.<ref>[https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/3100542]Özgüç, Tahsin, "Kültepe (Karahöyük) Hafriyatı 1950", Belleten 17.66, pp. 251-268, 1953</ref><ref>Tahsin Özgüç, The Palaces and Temples of Kultepe-Kanis/Nesa, Turk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, 1999, {{ISBN|975-16-1066-4}}</ref> After 2005 the excavation was directed by Fikri Kulakoğlu.<ref>Üstündağ, Handan "Human remains from Kültepe-Kanesh: preliminary results of the old Assyrian burials from the 2005–2008 excavations", Current research at Kültepe-Kanesh. An interdisciplinary and integrative approach to trade networks, internationalism, and identity. Lockwood, Atlanta, pp. 157-176, 2014</ref><ref>[https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02421960/document] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621182330/https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02421960/document |date=2024-06-21 }}Cécile Michel, "Miscellaneous tablets and fragments found at Kültepe in 2012 and 2013", W. Tyborowski. Awilum sa la mase - man who cannot be forgotten. Studies in Honor of Prof. Stefan Zawadzki presented on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday, pp.153-164, 2018</ref>

* '''Level IV–III'''. Little excavation has been done for these levels, which represent the ''kārum's'' first habitation.<ref>(Mellaart, 1957)</ref> No writing is attested, and archaeologists assume that both levels' inhabitants were illiterate.
* '''Level II''', 1974–1836 BC (Mesopotamian middle chronology according to Veenhof). Craftsmen of this time and place specialised in animal-shaped earthen drinking vessels, which were often used for religious rituals. Assyrian merchants then established the ''kārum'' of the city: "Kaneš". Bullae of [[Naram-Suen of Eshnunna|Naram-Sin]] of [[Eshnunna]] have been found toward the end of this level, which was burned to the ground.<ref>(Ozkan, 1993)</ref>
* '''Level Ib''', 1798–1740 BC. After an abandoned period, the city was rebuilt over the ruins of the old and again became a prosperous trade center. The trade was under the control of [[Ishme-Dagan I]], who was put in control of Assur when his father, [[Shamshi-Adad I]], conquered [[Ekallatum]] and Assur. However, the colony was again destroyed by fire. During excavations in 2001 140 cuneiform tablets were found in this level of the karum including a new rendition of the Kültepe eponym list.<ref>Günbatti, Cahit, "An Eponym List (KEL G) from Kültepe", Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 103-132, 2009</ref>
* '''Level Ia'''. The city was reinhabited, but the Assyrian colony was no longer inhabited. The culture was early [[Hittites|Hittite]]. Its name in Hittite acquired an extra sound as "Kaneša", which was more commonly contracted to "Neša".

Some attribute Level II's burning to the conquest of the city of [[Assur]] by the kings of [[Eshnunna]], but Bryce blames it on the raid of [[Uhna]]. Some attribute Level Ib's burning to the fall of Assur, other nearby kings and eventually to [[Hammurabi]] of Babylon.

To date, over 22,000 cuneiform tablets have been recovered from the site, mainly from the ''kārum'', with only 40 found in the Upper city.<ref>E. Bilgic and S Bayram, Ankara Kultepe Tabletleri II, Turk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, 1995, {{ISBN|975-16-0246-7}}</ref><ref>K. R. Veenhof, Ankara Kultepe Tabletleri V, Turk Tarih Kurumu, 2010, {{ISBN|978-975-16-2235-8}}</ref><ref>Michel, Cécile. "The Alāhum and Aur-taklāku archives found in 1993 at Kültepe Kani", Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 53-67, 2009</ref>

Subsequent excavations attested the following stratigraphy of Kültepe:<ref>Gojko Barjamovic: ''A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period''; Copenhagen 2011. ISBN 978-87-635-3645-5, S. 231.</ref>

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" style="border: gray solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
! Upper Town Level !! Lower Town Level !! Period !! Name, Importance
|-
| align="center" | 18 || align="center" | — || Early Bronze Age I || &nbsp;
|-
| align="center" | 17–14 || align="center" | — || Early Bronze Age II || &nbsp;
|-
| align="center" | 13–11 || align="center" | — || Early Bronze Age III<br />2500–2100 BC<ref>Kulakoğlu, Fikri, & Güzel Öztürk, (February 2015). [https://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/kulakoglu343 New evidence for international trade in Bronze Age central Anatolia: recently discovered bullae at Kültepe-Kanesh], in: Antiquity, Issue 343, Volume 89: "Two monumental structures, a building and a temple, were unearthed in Levels 12 and 11b of EBA III (c. 2400–2100 BC)."</ref> || ''Kaneš''; first written as ''Ga-ni-šu'' ki{{sfn|Powell|Yener|Barjamovic|Kulakoğlu|2023|loc=Introduction: "The late part of the Early Bronze Age at Kültepe is represented by three phases, the last of which consists of two secondary sub-phases (EBA III = Kültepe Levels 13-11a-b) [...] The name Kaneš for the site is first attested during this period (wr. ''Ga-ni-šu'' ki, cf. Archi, 2017)"}}<br />Level 12 temple (''megaron'') and Level 11b ''building with pilasters''<ref>Kulakoğlu, Fikri, & Güzel Öztürk, (February 2015). [https://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/kulakoglu343 New evidence for international trade in Bronze Age central Anatolia: recently discovered bullae at Kültepe-Kanesh], in: Antiquity, Issue 343, Volume 89: "[T]he Kültepe Level 12 temple, which is called a ''megaron'' with its rectangular plan and which contains a long hall andÖztür a porch in front, approaches that of the largest and best-known ''megaron'' of Troy II in western Anatolia [...] The so-called 'building with pilasters' (Özgüç 1986: 34) is dated to Level 11b."</ref>
|-
| align="center" | 10 || align="center" | IV || Middle Bronze Age<br />2100–2000 BC|| Beginning of urban development
|-
| align="center" | 9 || align="center" | III || Middle Bronze Age<br />2000–1970 BC|| &nbsp;
|-
| align="center" | 8 || align="center" | II || ''[[Karum (trade post)|kārum]]''-period<br />1974/1927–1836 BC || ''Kaniš''; Anatolian center of Assyrian trade
|-
| align="center" | 7 || align="center" | Ib || ''kārum''-period<br />1832/1800–1719 BC || ''Kaniš''; Assyrian trading center
|-
| align="center" | 6 || align="center" | Ia || Old Hittite period || ''Neša''; the place no longer has a central function
|-
| colspan="4" align="center" | ''Settlement gap''
|-
| align="center" | 5–4 || align="center" | — || Iron Age<br />9/8 century BC || important central location in the [[Neo-Hittite states|Neo-Hittite]] state [[Tabal (state)|Tabal]]
|-
| colspan="4" align="center" | ''Settlement gap''
|-
| align="center" | 3 || align="center" | Graves || Hellenistic Age || ''Anisa''; [[Polis]]; Coin finds from 323 BC
|-
| align="center" | 2–1 || align="center" | Graves || Roman Age || insignificant settlement; Coin finds up to 180 AD
|}

Recently, in "a small cell-plan structure cutting the walls of the monumental building [o]f Kültepe [Level 13], dated to the second half of the 3rd Millennium BC, statuettes made of alabaster with various attributes and ritual vessels in unprecedented forms were found in situ," and inside a "monumental building [d]iscovered in 2018 [which] contains a room called the 'idol room,' [a] collection of the largest number of idols and statuettes ever discovered in the ancient Near East [was found]."<ref>Öztürk, Güzel, and Fikri Kulakoglu, (2023). [https://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ASOR-2023-Abstract-Book%20Print.pdf "New Discoveries on Alabaster Idols and Statuettes of the 3rd Millennium BC at Kültepe: A Comparative Analysis to Understand the Typology, Context And Meanings of Ritual Objects"], in: 2023 ASOR Abstract Booklet, pp. 76-77.</ref>

[[File:Itur-ili_-_Business_Letter_-_Walters_481462_-_View_A.jpg|thumb|Around 20,000 clay tablets were found at the site of Kültepe]]

=== ''Kārum'' Kaneš ===
The quarter of the city that most interests historians is the ''kārum'', a portion of the city that was set aside by local officials for the early Assyrian merchants to use without paying taxes as long as the goods remained inside the ''kārum''. The term ''kārum'' means "port" in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], the ''lingua franca'' of the time, but its meaning was later extended to refer to any trading colony whether or not it bordered water.

Several other cities in Anatolia also had a ''kārum'', but the largest was Kaneš, whose important ''kārum'' was inhabited by soldiers and merchants from [[Assyria]] for hundreds of years. They traded local tin and wool for luxury items, foodstuffs, spices and woven fabrics from the Assyrian homeland and [[Elam]].

The remains of the ''kārum'' form a large circular mound 500&nbsp;m in diameter and about 20&nbsp;m above the plain (a tell). The ''kārum'' settlement is the result of several superimposed stratigraphic periods. New buildings were constructed on top of the remains of the earlier periods so there is a deep [[stratigraphy]] from prehistoric times to the early Hittite period.

The ''kārum'' was destroyed by fire at the end of levels II and Ib. The inhabitants left most of their possessions behind, as found by modern archaeologists.

The findings have included numerous baked-clay tablets, some of which were enclosed in clay envelopes stamped with [[cylinder seal]]s.<ref name="Strupler2021_Sealing">{{Cite conference | last1 = Strupler | first1 = Néhémie | title = An Overview of Sealing Practices at Kültepe | book-title = Cultural Exchange and Current Research in Kültepe and its Surroundings Kültepe | date = 2021 | publisher = Brepols | pages = 181–196 | location = Turnhout | url = https://hal.science/hal-03440315v1/file/Strupler2021--KIM4_10_N%C3%A9h%C3%A9mie%20Strupler_Manuscript.pdf | access-date = 2024-09-05 | archive-date = 2024-09-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240911140218/https://hal.science/hal-03440315v1/file/Strupler2021--KIM4_10_N%C3%A9h%C3%A9mie%20Strupler_Manuscript.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> The documents record common activities, such as trade between the Assyrian colony and the city-state of [[Assur]] and between Assyrian merchants and local people. The trade was run by families rather than the state. The '''Kültepe texts''' are the oldest documents from Anatolia. Although they are written in Old Assyrian, the [[Hittite language|Hittite]] loanwords and names in the texts are the oldest record of any Indo-European language.<ref>[[Calvert Watkins|Watkins, Calvert]]. "Hittite". In: ''The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor''. Edited by Roger D. Woodard. Cambridge University Press. 2008. p. 6. {{ISBN|978-0-511-39353-2}}</ref> Most of the archaeological evidence is typical of Anatolia rather than of Assyria, but the use of both cuneiform and the dialect is the best indication of Assyrian presence.

=== Dating of Waršama Sarayi ===
At Level II, the destruction was so total that no wood survived for [[dendrochronology|dendrochronological studies]]. In 2003, researchers from [[Cornell University]] dated wood in level Ib from the rest of the city, built centuries earlier. The dendrochronologists date the bulk of the wood from buildings of the Waršama Sarayi to 1832 BC, with further refurbishments up to 1779 BC.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.arts.cornell.edu/dendro/TUBA-ARCaptured.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-07-03 |archive-date=2007-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927050504/http://www.arts.cornell.edu/dendro/TUBA-ARCaptured.pdf }}</ref>
In 2016 new research using radiocarbon dating and dendrology on timber used in this site and the palace in Acemhöyük show the likely earliest use of the palace as not before 1851–1842 BC (68.2% hpd) or 1855–1839 BC (95.4% hpd).<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0157144|pmid = 27409585|pmc = 4943651|title = Integrated Tree-Ring-Radiocarbon High-Resolution Timeframe to Resolve Earlier Second Millennium BCE Mesopotamian Chronology|journal = PLOS ONE|volume = 11|issue = 7|article-number = e0157144|year = 2016|last1 = Manning|first1 = Sturt W.|last2 = Griggs|first2 = Carol B.|last3 = Lorentzen|first3 = Brita|last4 = Barjamovic|first4 = Gojko|last5 = Ramsey|first5 = Christopher Bronk|last6 = Kromer|first6 = Bernd|last7 = Wild|first7 = Eva Maria|bibcode = 2016PLoSO..1157144M|doi-access = free}}</ref> In combination with the many Assyrian objects found here, this dating shows that only middle or low-middle chronology are the only remaining possible chronologies that fit these new data.

==See also==
*[[Hittite sites]]
*[[Cities of the ancient Near East]]
*[[List of archaeologically attested women from the ancient Mediterranean region]]
*[[Short chronology timeline]]
*[[Tahsin Özgüç]]
*[[Old Assyrian Period]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}



==Sources==
{{Refbegin|2}}
*Albayrak, Irfan, "The Toponym Balīhum in the Kültepe Texts", Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 28-34, 2009

* {{Cite book|last=Akurgal|first=Ekrem|author-link=Ekrem Akurgal|title=The Hattian and Hittite Civilizations|year=2001|location=Ankara|publisher=Ministry of Culture|isbn=978-975-17-2756-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZ1tAAAAMAAJ}}

* {{Cite book|last=Bachvarova|first=Mary R.|chapter=Manly Deeds: Hittite Admonitory History and Eastern Mediterranean Didactic Epic|title=Epic and History|year=2010|location=Chichester|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|pages=66–85|isbn=978-1-4443-1564-6|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AnXbhhN_kpIC}}

* {{Cite book|last=Barjamovic|first=Gojko|author-link=Gojko Barjamovic|title=A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period|year=2011|location=Copenhagen|publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press|isbn=978-87-635-3645-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hB9feN_sbx4C}}

* {{Cite book|last=Bryce|first=Trevor R.|author-link=Trevor R. Bryce|title=Life and Society in the Hittite World|year=2002|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-924170-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-MTDAAAQBAJ}}

* {{Cite book|last=Bryce|first=Trevor R.|author-link=Trevor R. Bryce|title=The Kingdom of the Hittites|year=2005|orig-date=1998|edition=2nd revised|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-927908-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMHmCwAAQBAJ}}

* {{Cite book|last=Bryce|first=Trevor R.|author-link=Trevor R. Bryce|title=The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire|year=2009|location=London-New York|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-15907-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwwNS0diXP4C}}

* {{Cite book|last=Bryce|first=Trevor R.|author-link=Trevor R. Bryce|chapter=Hittites and Anatolian Ethnic Diversity|title=A Companion to Ethnicity in the Ancient Mediterranean|year=2014|location=Chichester|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|pages=127–141|isbn=978-1-4443-3734-1|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vm28AwAAQBAJ}}

* {{Cite book|last=Burney|first=Charles A.|author-link=Charles A. Burney|title=Historical Dictionary of the Hittites|year=2004|location=Lanham|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6564-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74IJytg2XuUC}}

* {{Cite book|last=Gilan|first=Amir|chapter=Epic and History in Hittite Anatolia: In Search of a Local Hero|title=Epic and History|year=2010|location=Chichester|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|pages=51–65|isbn=978-1-4443-1564-6|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AnXbhhN_kpIC}}

* {{Cite journal|last=Gilan|first=Amir|title=In Search of a Distant Past: Forms of Historical Consciousness in Hittite Anatolia|journal=Anadolu|year=2018|volume=44|pages=1–23|url=http://dergiler.ankara.edu.tr/dergiler/14/2306/24019.pdf|archive-date=2024-03-09|access-date=2021-01-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309091938/http://dergiler.ankara.edu.tr/dergiler/14/2306/24019.pdf|url-status=live}}

* {{Cite book|last=Glatz|first=Claudia|author-link=Trevor R. Bryce|title=The Making of Empire in Bronze Age Anatolia: Hittite Sovereign Practice, Resistance, and Negotiation|year=2020|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-49110-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPwAEAAAQBAJ}}

* {{Cite book|last=Goodnick-Westenholz|first=Joan|author-link=Joan Goodnick Westenholz|title=Legends of the Kings of Akkade: The Texts|year=1997|location=Winona Lake|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-0-931464-85-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izhhWQEJkrQC}}

* {{Cite book|last=Goodnick-Westenholz|first=Joan|author-link=Joan Goodnick Westenholz|chapter=Historical Events and the Process of Their Transformation in Akkadian Heroic Traditions|title=Epic and History|year=2010|location=Chichester|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|pages=26–50|isbn=978-1-4443-1564-6|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AnXbhhN_kpIC}}

*Mellaart, J., Anatolian Chronology in the Early and Middle Bronze Age, 1957, ''Anatolian Studies'', vol.7, pp.&nbsp;55–88

* {{Cite Q | Q130245408}} <!-- Michel 2014 -->

* {{Cite Q | Q130241124}}  <!-- Michel 2020 -->

* {{Cite conference | last1 = Strupler | first1 = Néhémie | title = An Overview of Sealing Practices at Kültepe | book-title = Cultural Exchange and Current Research in Kültepe and its Surroundings Kültepe | date = 2021 | publisher = Brepols | pages = 181–196 | location = Turnhout | url = https://hal.science/hal-03440315v1/file/Strupler2021--KIM4_10_N%C3%A9h%C3%A9mie%20Strupler_Manuscript.pdf }}

*Tahsin Özgüç, Kültepe, Yapi Kredi, 2005, {{ISBN|975-08-0960-2}}

* {{cite journal |last1=Powell |first1=W. |last2=Yener |first2=K. A. |last3=Barjamovic |first3=G. |last4=Kulakoğlu |first4=F. |display-authors=1 |date=December 20, 2023 |title=Tin isotopes reveal changing patterns of tin trade, connectivity and consumption from Anatolia and Central Asia at Kültepe |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=162 |issue= |article-number=105917 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2023.105917 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440323001978 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=December 28, 2023 |access-date=December 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231228155506/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440323001978 |url-status=live }}

*Veenhof, K. R., Kanesh: an Old Assyrian colony in Anatolia, in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East ed. by J. Sasson, Scribners, 1995

*Veenhof, Klaas R.. "Some displaced Tablets from Kārum Kanesh (Kültepe)", Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 10-27, 2009
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/66.245.5b Cuneiform tablet case - Metropolitan Museum of Art]

{{Former settlements in Turkey}}
{{Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kultepe}}
[[Category:Populated places established in the 3rd millennium BC]]
[[Category:1893 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Hittite cities]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in the Central Anatolia region]]
[[Category:World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey]]
[[Category:Tells (archaeology)]]
[[Category:Ancient Assyrian cities]]
[[Category:Early Ceramics in Anatolia]]