Scientists gather for Kültepe excavations

KAYSERİ - Anadolu Agency

During the three-day meeting, the data on Kültepe, provided by different scientists working in the ancient city for long years, will be examined. AA Photo

The first International Kültepe Meeting started yesterday in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri. The purpose of the meeting was to examine the data provided by different scientists working in the ancient city Kültepe for long years.

Professor Fikri Kulakoğlu, the head of the Kültepe-Kaniş-Karum excavations and a member of the faculty of Ankara University’s Archaeology Department, said that excavations in Kültepe began in 1948, adding that they had organized the meeting to share interdisciplinary data about the excavations.

Kulakoğlu said, “We bring the scientists who have worked in the area for 65 years for the first time. They will present some 40 notices during the three-day meeting. Nearly 25,000 cuneiforum tablets and many archaeological artifacts have been so far found during the excavations. This is a big area where scientists work on written documents and organic remains like bone and plants. The number of scientists increases in such a big area. This is a very rare meeting attended by scientists from all around the world.”

The honorary head of the Kültepe-Kaniş-Karum excavations, Professor Kutlu Emre said that Kültepe was the only site in the world with thousands of cuneiform tablets. “Written documents shed light not only on Anatolia but also on the northern Mesopotamia,” he said.