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Over a dull weekend in early
spring a group of six from Ankara made a two-day walk from Kerkenes to
Hattusa. Of the 73 km only the final stretch followed a modern road. The
aim, apart from exercise and fresh air, was to get a feel for Hittite
landscape. The terrain was easy with nowhere that the Hittites could not
have taken carts. In reverse, it was striking that the Kerkenes Dag stood
out from the top of the first ridge, and from every ridge thereafter.
When the Great King went from his capital to the sacred mountain of Kerkenes,
probably Mount Daha, the next point on the horizon, in a direct line,
was the snow-capped Erciyes Dag. Included in this issue is a short report
on an Imperial Hittite stone and sculpture quarry located 20 km ENE of
Kerkenes surveyed in 2002 by Erol Ozen, then Director of the Yozgat Museum,
and Geoffrey Summers. Perhaps some 600 years older than the city at Kerkenes
these prowling lions, although unfinished, exude life and strength. At
Kerkenes, in an exceptionally dry year the ground remained damp just long
enough for resistivity survey of the Iron Age Palatial Complex. The surprising
results are presented here. Work at the Cappadocia Gate was undertaken
before completion of a monograph while Scott Branting dug seven test trenches
to develop modelling of streets and traffic flows. Noel Siver, assisted
by Tiffin Thompson, have all but finished joining the smashed sandstone
fragments of stone idols and architectural elements. Restoration of selected
pieces was begun. The new workshop for stone mending and restoration was
completed in September. |