Beycesultan Höyük
Beycesultan · Beyce Sultan
Late Chalcolithic to Middle Bronze to Byzantine·Western Anatolian (Troy I prelude → Hittite Luwian)·🇹🇷 Denizli Province, Çivril Plain (upper Meander), Turkey
About
About Beycesultan Höyük
Multi-period mega-tell (c.4000 BCE Late Chalcolithic to 1200 BCE Byzantine, peak EBA–MBA) dominating Çivril Plain on Meander headwaters, excavated 1954–59 by Seton Lloyd & James Mellaart then 2007– by Eşref Abay (Ege University). Famous for Level V (c.1900 BCE) burnt palace with frescoed hall and wine jars, Level II Hittite-Luwian administrative buildings, and Chalcolithic shrine buildings — key Western Anatolian sequence linking Aegean-Troy to inland Hittite world. 35 m high, largest tell in western Anatolia.
Why it mattersMaster Western Anatolian stratigraphy 2000 years; Arzawa palace frescoes bridge Aegean-Anatolian; Meander corridor trade.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Which Arzawa-Mira capital was it — Masa or Kuwaliya?
- 02Fresco style — Minoan influence or shared?
Theories
- 01Upper Meander palatial polity independent of Hatti until Muršili II conquest
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.4000 BCE Chalcolithic shrine village; palace c.1900 BCE
- Period
- Late Chalcolithic to Middle Bronze to Byzantine
- Culture
- Western Anatolian (Troy I prelude → Hittite Luwian)
- Builders
- Arzawa-Mira kings (Hittite sphere)
- Purpose
- Upper Meander palatial capital and wine/ textile centre
- Abandoned
- c.1200 BCE Bronze collapse; reoccupied Classical-Byzantine
- Rediscovered
- 1954 Lloyd-Mellaart 6 seasons; 2007 Abay resumes
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1954
Lloyd-Mellaart Level V palace discovery
2007
Abay Ege University re-excavation with geophysics
On the ground
Structures & features
38.2500° N · 29.7800° E · 870 m · 3 mapped features
Level V Burnt Palace (1900 BCE)
palaceFrescoed megaron palace with 40 pithoi
38.2501° N · 29.7801° EChalcolithic shrine building
shrineTwin shrines with platform altars
38.2499° N · 29.7799° ELevel II Hittite gate
gateMBA fortified gate with Luwian pottery
38.2500° N · 29.7800° E
Gallery