Discovery Unveils Private Homes at Assyrian merchant colony in Anatolia
Archaeologists working at the renowned Kultepe archaeological site in central Turkey have achieved a significant breakthrough, uncovering private residences on the main mound for the first time in decades of excavation.
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"The newly discovered houses predate the arrival of Assyrian merchants by several centuries, challenging earlier assumptions that only grand structures occupied the summit of Kultepe. Professor Kulakoglu explained that Kultepe has been home to successive monumental buildings since at least the third millennium BC, with palaces and temples being destroyed and rebuilt multiple times throughout its long history. "This shows Kultepe has been a major center not only during the Assyrian merchants' time but long before, from around 6,000 years ago," he noted.
The discovery represents what Kulakoglu describes as "a new event" for the archaeological team. The presence of private homes among the palaces suggests a more complex urban layout than previously understood. These residential structures contained distinctive ceramics and architectural elements that set them apart from other areas of the settlement, indicating possible social stratification among the inhabitants. The houses likely belonged to administrators, craftsmen, and other professionals who worked within the monumental complexes but needed to live nearby."
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The results of a study show that scribes did not always refine their clay, barely used fire to harden the texts, and that tablets made in the workshop coexisted with others brought from outside.
Gary Manners
