Sapinuwa

Šapinuwa

Türkiye · Çorum

Ancient cityExcavation ongoing
Approximate period1,400 BCE — 1,200 BCEHittite; remains from later periods are also present See on the map ↓

In brief

Sapinuwa near Ortaköy is one of the Hittites' political and religious centers. Thousands of tablets and tablet fragments found here provide information about royal administration and religious practices.

What was found?

  • 1Multilingual tablet archive

    More than four thousand tablets and fragments were found in languages such as Hittite, Hurrian, Hattic, and Akkadian. The royal archive covers subjects such as administration, religion, and divination.

  • 2Building A

    A rich tablet archive was uncovered in this monumental building with foundations of large stone blocks. The building allows the documents to be assessed together with their architectural contexts.

  • 3Ağılönü stone pavement and offering pits

    Pits associated with religious offerings were found in front of the monumental stone pavement. According to researchers, they are archaeological traces of ritual practices in the city.

  • 4Monumental building with L-shaped rooms

    The building's long, L-shaped rooms were uncovered. Whether it was a public building, temple, or administrative building has not yet been determined.

  • 5Animal remains on the stone pavement

    The skeleton of a young animal and a cattle skull were found on the floors of the rooms. According to researchers, they may be associated with animal offerings during different phases of the building.

What does it point to?

Şapinuva's archive shows that royal administration and multilingual religious traditions came together in the same city. According to researchers, the ritual areas and animal remains can be compared with practices known from written texts; the function of the new building remains an open question.

What did it teach us?

  1. It revealed that Şapinuva was a capital used by Hittite royalty and an important archival center.
  2. It documented the use of different languages within the same royal archive in the Hittite world.
  3. It provided an opportunity to investigate purification and offering practices by studying written documents and archaeological remains together.

Images

Sapinuwa3
Klaus-Peter Simon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Latest news / selected archive

In 2026, it was reported that a cattle skull placed on stone paving had been found in one of the L-shaped rooms of the monumental building discovered in 2024.

Record

Culture
Hittite
First modern dig
1990
Team / historical
Önder İpek / Hitit University
Coordinates
40.2550°, 35.2360°

Sources

  1. hitit.edu.tr
  2. aa.com.tr
  3. en.wikipedia.org

Nearby excavations


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12.000

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