Essays on Ancient Anatolia and its Surrounding Civilizations.

• Author: Yakar, Jak
• Position: Review

Edited by H. I. H. PRINCE TAHAKITO MIKASA. Bulletin of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan, vol. 8. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 1995. Pp. vii + 243. DM 118.

The present volume consists of twelve articles, including a lengthy preliminary report by Masao Mori and Sachihiro Omura on the 1989-1993 excavations at Kaman-Kalehoyuk that summarizes the stratified settlement remains discovered in the north and south sectors of the mound. The three main strata, made up of thirty-one architectural levels in the north sector, cover the Ottoman period, as well as the Iron and Bronze Ages. As for the southern sector of the mound, it was mainly occupied in the Iron Age and the Ottoman periods.

The sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Ottoman settlement of stratum I, which includes two cemeteries and a number of well-preserved four or five room houses unearthed especially in the north sector, was apparently abandoned by its inhabitants peacefully. The Iron Age occupation in the north sector, stratum II a-d, is represented by fifteen building levels. In stratum III the second millennium settlement with its three occupational phases, namely the Hittite empire period (IIIa), the Old Hittite period (IIIb), and the Assyrian colony period (IIIc), produced a total of fourteen building levels. While in the Old Hittite period the settlement seems to have expanded rather quickly, in the following phase (IIIA), for unexplained reasons it had shrunk in size.

The Iron Age glyptic finds from stratum II at Kaman-Kalehoyuk, presented by Masako Omura, include stamp seals made of ivory, bone, horn, crystal and various stones. The two main Iron Age groups identified so far include the Phrygian and Achaemenid seals. The former is characterized by their two-layered section and the style of animal engraving on the seal surface. Belonging to this group is an ivory stamp seal with a lion-shaped handle dated to the first half of the seventh century B.C. The Achaemenid period stamp seals similar to those from Bogazkoy and Gordion include an impressive crystal seal conical in shape with a heraldic composition. It depicts a king or hero holding two lions by their hind legs. The sixth- or fifth-century B.C. seal in question is locally made, but considering its strong resemblance to seal impressions found on clay tablets from Persepolis the stylistic Persian influence on Anatolian seal cutters becomes obvious.

Hideo Akanuma reports on the results of metallurgical...