Hüseyindede Tepe
Hüseyindede Tepe · Huseyindede Tepe · Yörüklü Tepe
Old Hittite (1700–1500 BCE)·Hattian–Hittite·🇹🇷 Çorum Province, Sungurlu District, Yörüklü village, Turkey
About
About Hüseyindede Tepe
Old Hittite cult complex (c.1700–1500 BCE) 2 km south of Yörüklü, Sungurlu, renowned for two monumental relief vases: Vase A with a procession of dancers, musicians and bull-leapers (earliest bull-leaping image predating Knossos), and Vase B with thirteen figures, two somersaulting over a bull. The small hilltop shrine (temple with courtyards and altar) was surveyed 1997 and excavated by Yıldırım, producing tablets and offering vessels, linking İnandık relief ware to a network of northern Hittite ritual centres.
Why it mattersBull-leaping vase proves Old Hittite acrobatics contemporary with Minoan Crete; pair with İnandık defines northern relief-ware horizon.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Direct contact or independent invention of bull-leaping between Hattusa and Knossos?
Theories
- 01Hattian fertility cult absorbed into Hittite storm-god ritual with dance theatre
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. 1700 BCE (Old Hittite / Karum Ib late)
- Period
- Old Hittite (1700–1500 BCE)
- Culture
- Hattian–Hittite
- Builders
- Old Hittite cult personnel
- Purpose
- Ritual hilltop enclosure with offering ceremonies (bull rites, dance)
- Abandoned
- c. 1500 BCE (sealed under later fill)
- Rediscovered
- 1997 survey (T. Yıldırım); vases identified surface; excavated 1998–2002
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1997
Surface survey finds relief vase sherds
1998
Temple courtyard excavated
2000
Vase A restored (Mus. Anatolian Civ.)
On the ground
Structures & features
40.1300° N · 34.3400° E · 850 m · 2 mapped features
Temple courtyard
courtyardCentral courtyard with altar and vase findspot
40.1302° N · 34.3402° EVase A findspot
findspotCollapse where bull-leaping vase shattered
40.1299° N · 34.3400° E