Kültepe: one of the World’s most amazing open-air museums

Kültepe (Kanesh), the largest city mound in Anatolia, is located 22 km northeast of modern Kayseri on the road leading to Sivas. This worldwide famous open-air museum first attracted attention in 1881. 

The primary importance of Kültepe lies in the fact that the earliest written documents in Anatolia were discovered here. The clay tablets were written in an ancient dialect, using cuneiform script, the majority being commercial and economic. 

Karum, one of the most important divisions of Kültepe, was discovered in 1925. Excavations have been carried out by the Institute of Turkish History and the Headquarters of Museums and Monuments since 1948. 

Ancient monuments dating back to Assyrian, Late Hittite, Hellenistic, Roman Persian, and Tabal periods have been dug out. The numerous finds, which were brought to light in Kültepe, are among the finest works of art exhibited in the Archaeological Museums in Ankara and Kayseri.

The mound of Kültepe was inhabited in the 4th century B.C. and dates from the Chalcolithic Age to the end of the Roman period. With its spacious buildings, large alabaster idols, figurines, and painted pottery, Kültepe was one of the significant Anatolian cities in the Early Bronze Age. (2.500-2.000 B.C.).