Shapinuwa and Çorum Museum

View of Ortakoy

Shapinuwa

Building A Shapinuwa

Another view of Building A

Cobblestone paving Building A

Following on from previous posts on Hatussa and Alca Höyük, here are some more photos from our trip to Turkey last year. Shapinuwa was an important Hittite military and religious centre and is located about 3km south west of modern Ortakoy in central Anatolia.  It was only discovered relatively recently and excavations commenced there in 1990, with over 4,000 cuneiform tablets discovered to date. Çorum museum is the main museum in the district and has finds from Boğazkale (Hattusa), Alca Höyük as well as many other areas.

If you’re at all interested in visiting Hittite sites and museums in Turkey, a really great guide book to have is Anatolia: On the Trail of the Hittite Civilization, edited by Nurhayat Yazici, text and photos by Ali Kiliçkaya and Erdal Yazic, published by Uranus  - www.uranus.com.tr. This book has heaps of information, maps, illustrations and colour photos and is highly recommended, it definitely brings these amazing sites to life. 

Storage jars in Building B

Another view of the cobblestone paving Building A

Shaft grave display Corum Museum

Huseyinde Vase Corum Museum

Beaked jug

Relief of King Tudhaliya

Bronze axe heads and cloak pins

Seal of Muwattalli II

Seal of Hattusili II Puduhepa

Clay cuneiform tablet and bronze stylus

Stone mace head

Stone axe head

Bull head pottery

Goat head pottery

Bronze spearheads, arrowheads and shield boss

Painted zebra on pottery

Gold coin of Alexander the Great

Model Hittite fort