Tilmen Höyük (Tilmen Palace Mound West Terrace)
Tilmen Höyük West · Tilmen Palace Mound · Islahiye Tilmen
Late Chalcolithic through Neo-Hittite (4000–700 BCE)·Amanos piedmont → Yamhad (Alalakh) → Hittite → Neo-Hittite·🇹🇷 Gaziantep Province, İslahiye District, Amanos foothills, Turkey
About
About Tilmen Höyük (Tilmen Palace Mound West Terrace)
Tilmen Höyük (Tilmen Palace Mound West Terrace) is a multi-period tell/ancient village in Gaziantep Province, İslahiye District, Amanos foothills, Turkey — Amanos gateway kingdom capital with MBA palace and later Hittite/Neo-Hittite citadel Excavated evidence reveals Amanos piedmont → Yamhad (Alalakh) → Hittite → Neo-Hittite cultural horizons with basalt architecture. The mound 400×300 m, 22 m high; palace 60×40 m, lower town 20 ha preserves basalt orthostat-footed mudbrick palace, stone glacis, timber-laced technique. Position on Gaziantep Province illustrates best-preserved mba syro-hittite palace in turkey — luwian-hurrian basalt orthostats and chronology.
Why it mattersBest-preserved MBA Syro-Hittite palace in Turkey — Luwian-Hurrian basalt orthostats and chronology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Tilmen = Hittite Zalpa vs. separate Amanos capital?
- 02Palace destruction — Old Hittite vs. Yamhad?
Theories
- 01Alkim Yamhad–Hittite palatial continuity vs. break
- 02Amanos gateway polity autonomy debate
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; EBA fortified town 2800 BCE; MBA kingdom 2000–1600 BCE; Hittite annexation 1600 BCE
- Period
- Late Chalcolithic through Neo-Hittite (4000–700 BCE)
- Culture
- Amanos piedmont → Yamhad (Alalakh) → Hittite → Neo-Hittite
- Builders
- Amanos Yamhad princes, Hittite garrison
- Purpose
- Amanos gateway kingdom capital with MBA palace and later Hittite/Neo-Hittite citadel
- Abandoned
- c.700 BCE Assyrian annexation
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1959–1972 Alkim (Istanbul Univ), resumed 2003–present Marchesi (Bologna)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1959
Alkim opens Tilmen palace, orthostat lions found
1972
MBA palace and Hittite level published (KBO context)
2015
Bologna geophysics maps 20 ha lower town
On the ground
Structures & features
37.0301° N · 36.7042° E · 560 m · 3 mapped features
MBA Palace with Basalt Orthostat Lions (Level IIc)
palaceYamhad-period palace with basalt lion orthostats
37.0302° N · 36.7043° EHittite Citadel and Glacis Sector
fortificationHittite stone glacis and citadel wall
37.0299° N · 36.7041° ELower Town Street Grid (20 ha)
settlementLower town orthogonal street and workshop grid (geophysics)
37.0303° N · 36.7045° E