Hasankeyf Citadel and Upper Town

Hasankeyf

Türkiye · Batman

Ancient cityExcavation ongoing
Approximate period300 CE — 1,970 CELate Roman, Byzantine, Medieval and Ottoman See on the map ↓

In brief

Excavations at Hasankeyf document construction in the citadel and historic city across different periods. The given coordinate marks a documented excavation location near the Great Palace.

What was found?

  • 1Late Roman walls

    These are the remains of U-shaped walls built with large stone blocks. According to researchers, they may help identify the location of the Roman garrison described in written sources.

  • 2Great Palace

    These are palace remains north of the Citadel. According to researchers, the architectural features suggest the Artuqid period; since no inscription has been found, the construction date and the person who commissioned it are not known with certainty.

  • 3Small Palace

    This is a palace structure in the Citadel–Upper Town where excavation and clearance work has been carried out. It is among the principal remains of the fortress's palace architecture.

  • 4Great Mosque

    This mosque was built over the remains of an ancient structure. Its inscriptions show that the building was repaired and altered in later periods.

What does it point to?

The palaces, mosque, and defensive walls show that the fortress combined administrative, worship, and protective functions in different periods. According to researchers, the newly discovered walls provide concrete evidence of Hasankeyf's place in Roman frontier defense.

What did it teach us?

  1. Provided architectural evidence for the possible location of the Late Roman military structure.
  2. Showed that the Great Mosque stood over the remains of older structures and was altered over time.
  3. Documented the presence of administrative and religious buildings from different periods in the Citadel.

Latest news / selected archive

In 2024, the remains of a U-shaped stone-block wall associated with a Late Roman military structure were uncovered in the citadel.

Record

Culture
Roman, Byzantine, Artuqid, Ayyubid, Aq Qoyunlu and Ottoman
First modern dig
1986
Team / historical
Zekai Erdal / Mardin Artuklu Üniversitesi
Coordinates
37.7097°, 41.4083°

Sources

  1. artuklu.edu.tr
  2. kvmgm.ktb.gov.tr
  3. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı — Hasankeyf'te gezilecek yerler

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