LATE BRONZE AGE OF ISTANBUL
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-04-01

lIstanbul is situated at the crossroads of two continents and major sea lanes between the Black Sea basin and the Aegean. How-ever, until the excavations of Bathonea on the shores of the Küçükçekmece Lagoon Lake started in 2009 no evidence for human existence had been recovered from the 2nd millennium BC.Materials:Two  Hittite  type  iron  figurines,  one  lead  figurine  and  a  number  of  Hittites  ceramics  fragments  belonging  to  fourteen  distinct  pitchers had been recovered in the excavations of İstanbul Küçükçekmece Lake Basin Bathonea excavation’s from the sectors 8-24. III. level of sectors are ∇+9.50- ∇+9.06 m. Additionally, a well-known Cyprus White Slip II ceramic piece from 2. Millennium BC,  two  Mycenaean  ceramic  fragments  and  further  Balkan  ceramics  from  the  same  era  were  also  recovered  from  the  same  context .Besides architecture, a crate shaped warehouse and some walls were found. The architectural traces were came from under 30 cm of sea sand.Goals and Methods:In order to answer the questions of how these artefacts might have reached the region, it is necessary to examine the relations of  the  Hittites  with  West  Anatolia,  as  recorded  in  their  texts,  and  to  compare  the  findings  with  the  archaeological  material  of  West Anatolia.It is obvious that the Hittites were closely interested in Western and Northwestern Anatolia since the early years of the Kingdom. The most remarkable information about the Hittites’expansion to the Northwest Aegean and Marmara region is recorded in the Tuthalia I/II text, declaring war with the Aššuwan Confederacy. In the aftermath of this event, Hittites seem to have established close relations with Troia and annexed the region to the south of Marmara, declaring the king of Masa Land as vassal. The Hittites may also have passed into Thrace over the sea from this region.


Author(s): Aydingun, Sengul (Kocaeli University)