Acemhöyük (Purušhattum)

Acemhöyük lies in the town of Yeşilova, about 18–20 km from Aksaray. According to Kültür Portalı it was Anatolia’s foremost metal-production centre 4,000 years ago, and it is identified with the famous city of Purušhattum named in Akkadian and Hittite texts.

One of the largest mounds in Anatolia, it consists of a mound 700×600 metres across and 20 metres high, surrounded by a Lower Town. It was the first archaeological site to be excavated in Aksaray.

History

The city grew from the Early Bronze Age II (around 2500 BC) and reached its peak in the Assyrian Trade Colony Period. Of the many cities named in cuneiform texts from Kaniš-Neša (Kültepe), only three were ruled by a “Great King”, and Acemhöyük is believed to have been one of them.

An Akkadian-period text tells how the King of Akkad marched on Purušhattum after merchants complained about it; philologists agree that this city was Acemhöyük. In the 18th century BC a violent fire of unknown cause engulfed the whole city. It was rebuilt twice but abandoned in the 17th century BC; the last settlements lasted from the 6th century BC to the early Roman period.

The mound’s present name comes from three nomadic groups brought from Iranian Azerbaijan after Sultan Selim I’s Chaldiran campaign, who settled at its foot.

The Sarıkaya and Hatipler palaces

The Great King lived in the Sarıkaya Palace in the south of the mound. Covering 3,600 m², with two storeys and about 50 rooms on its surviving ground floor, it is the best-preserved and richest building of its age in Anatolia. The Hatipler Palace, very similar to it, is the second monumental building.

Clay bullae (sealed lumps of clay) found in the palace document Acemhöyük’s wide political and trade ties, including seal impressions of Shamshi-Adad I of Upper Mesopotamia, King Aplahanda of Carchemish and Dugedu, daughter of King Yahdun-Lim of Mari.

Finds

Excavations yielded stamp and cylinder seals, pottery, traces of textiles, beads, gold jewellery, ivory pieces and a game board. Silver and copper ingots were stored for use as currency when needed. Some finds are displayed in Aksaray Museum and others in Niğde Museum.

A group of ivory furniture fittings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, known as the “Pratt ivories”, has been shown by comparison with pieces from the Sarıkaya Palace to have been looted from Acemhöyük.

Excavation history

Excavations began in 1962 under Prof. Nimet Özgüç and were continued from 1989 by Prof. Aliye Öztan. Özgüç identified at least 12 levels from the Early Bronze Age and the Assyrian Trade Colony Period on the mound, and found that the Lower Town was inhabited only during the Trade Colony Period.

Getting there from Neva Apart

Neva Apart is in Aksaray city centre, a few minutes’ walk from the Zinciriye Madrasa and the Grand Mosque; the distances below are measured from our aparthotel.

Acemhöyük is in Yeşilova, west of Aksaray — about 20 km from Neva Apart, a 20–25-minute drive. Stop on the way to Sultanhanı and Lake Tuz.

Tips for your visit

The mound is an excavation site; outside digging seasons visitor arrangements may be limited. Visit Aksaray Museum first to see the finds.

Opening hours and admission fees change seasonally; please check the official sources of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism (muze.gov.tr, kulturportali.gov.tr) before you set off.

Other places nearby

• Aksaray Museum – Home to a 10,500-year-old skull bearing the earliest known brain surgery, the Ihlara and Çanlı Kilise mummies and the Luwian Aksaray Stele — 10,000 years of local history.
• Sultanhanı Caravanserai – Built in 1229 under Sultan Alaeddin Kayqubad I, with a 13 m marble portal and a kiosk mosque in its courtyard — the largest medieval caravanserai in Turkey.
• Lake Tuz (Salt Lake) – Turkey’s second-largest lake: walk on a dazzling white salt crust in summer, watch flamingo colonies and sunsets, reached from Aksaray via Eskil.
• Grand Mosque of Aksaray (Ulu Cami) – Built in 1408–1409 for Mehmed II of Karaman, Aksaray’s Grand Mosque pairs a Seljuk-style carved portal with a pointed-arched stone prayer hall.

Sources

• Kültür Portalı – Acemhöyük (T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı)
• Wikipedia – Acemhöyük

Image credits

• General view of the Acemhöyük settlement mound – Ingeborg Simon, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
• Lower-town excavations at Acemhöyük in Yeşiltepe – Laszlovszky András, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons