Gözlükule
Encyclopedia
Gözlükule is a tumulus
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

 within the borders of Tarsus
Tarsus, Mersin
Tarsus is a historic city in south-central Turkey, 20 km inland from the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Turkey with a population of 2.75 million...

 city, Mersin Province
Mersin Province
The Mersin Province is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital is the city of Mersin and the other major town is Tarsus, birthplace of St Paul...

, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. It is now a park with an altitude of 22 metres (72.2 ft) with respect to surrounding area.

History

Initially settled in the Neolithic Period, Gözlükule became an important settlement and a port during the 2nd millennium BC
2nd millennium BC
The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age.Its first half is dominated by the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Babylonia. The alphabet develops. Indo-Iranian migration onto the Iranian plateau and onto the Indian subcontinent propagates the use of the chariot...

.

It was located at the intersection of the main road systems, one following the Mediterranean sea side, the other following valleys through Toros Mountains to Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

n plateau. Eventually the city of Tarsus was established just north of Gözlükule. But Gözlükule was still active as the port of Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...

. In 41 BC Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...

 entered Tarsus using the port of Gözlükule.

In later years, the coastline moved to south because of the sediment carried by the Berdan River
Berdan River
The Berdan River, also called the Tarsus River , is a river in Mersin Province, south Turkey. The historical city of Tarsus is by the river.- Geography :...

 and Gözlükule lost its importance as a port.

Archaeology

Before the official excavations began, the tumulus had been partially damaged. During French
Franco-Turkish War
The Franco-Turkish War or Cilicia War was a series of conflicts fought between France and Turkish National Forces directed by Turkish Grand National Assembly from May 1920-October 1921 in the aftermath of World War I...

 occupation of Tarsus following the first world war, a French battalion had been deployed on Gözlükule. It is believed that this operation resulted in some depredation.

The initial excavations between 1934 and 1939 were carried out by
a team from Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....

 and the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...

 led by Hetty Goldman.
She was the first officially sanctioned woman archeologist. After being interrupted by the Second World War, some
additional work went on from 1947 to 1949. The stratification
recovered at the site is important in Bronze Age Anatolian
chronology.

In 2001, Boğaziçi University
Bogaziçi University
Boğaziçi University is a public university located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey. It has five faculties and two schools offering undergraduate degrees, and six institutes offering graduate degrees...

 began to work at the site, with excavations beginning in 2007.

The finds

  • Neolithic age: Pieces of plaster, obsidian
    Obsidian
    Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth...

     tools, arrowheads, spears, ceramic

  • Chalcolithic age: jars, pots, water jags,

  • Bronze age
    Bronze Age
    The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

    : Bronze weapons, stamps, ruins of adobe buildings, city wall


  • Ancient age
    Ancient history
    Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...

    : A part of the treaty signed between Telepinu
    Telepinu
    Telipinu was a king of the Hittites ca. 1460 BC . At the beginning of his reign, the Hittite Empire had contracted to its core territories, having long since lost all of its conquests, made in the former era under Hattusili I and Mursili I -- to Arzawa in the West, Mitanni in the East, the Kaskas...

     the king of Hittites
    Hittites
    The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...

     and Isputahsu
    Isputahsu
    Isputahsu was a king of Kizzuwatna, probably during the mid 15th century BC . He signed a treaty of alliance with the Hittite king Telepinu....

     of Kizuwatna (vassal of Hittites), the stamp of Isputahsu, the stamp of Puduhepa
    Puduhepa
    Puduhepa was a Hittite tawanannas was married to King Hattusili III. She has been referred to as "one of the most influential women known from the Ancient Near East."...

    , the Hittite queen, a crystal sculpture.

External links

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