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Alacahoyiik

The oldest settlement of the Chalcolithic Age (6000-3000 BC) is at Alacahoyiik; 45 km from (Torum, 35 km from Bogazkale and 210 km from Ankara. Alacahoyiik was a very important centre of cult and art in the Bronze and Hittite periods; Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods have also been identified. Here are found temples, monumental buildings, private houses, streets, canals, city ramparts, one monumental gate with a sphinx relief, orthostades, and another with potem dating to the Hittite Empire. The length of Sphinx Gate is 10 meters built with blocks of andesite on a limestone base. The outer surfaces of the big blocks on two sides of the outer entrance were decorated with sphinx figures. On the left tower, a standing bull on a pedestal represents “the Tempest God of Sky”. There are figures depicting the king and queen praying in front of the altar, on the next block in front of a cult object are to be found sacrificial goats and rams. Two people one playing guitar and another carrying “riton” (ceremonial drinking glass) are depicted on the next block. On the last block, there is a huge bull on two wheels facing right. The most important works of this age are the “Alacahoyiik Bronze Age King Graves” (2500-2000 BC). These are important for our 4f understanding of native Hittite civilization. There was a reserved area for intramural (within the city limits) burials. Rectangular graves laid with stones on four sides are closed with wooden beams and sacrificed sheep heads and legs were placed over the roofs. The gifts for the dead made from silver, electrum, copper, bronze, iron and valuable stones shows that they were wealthy and from important families. The works found in the Alacahoyiik graves are exhibited in the Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum.