Beycesultan

A tell on the upper Meander River of southwestern Anatolia (western Turkey) which has yielded evidence from the Chalcolithic to Late Bronze Age and of a culture contemporary with the Hittite empire. It is thought to have been the capital of the 2nd-millennium BC state of Arzawa. From the Chalcolithic, there was a cache of sophisticated copper tools and a silver ring, the earliest known use of that metal. Buildings that were religious shrines have been uncovered, almost unknown in Anatolia at those times. Rectangular shrine chambers were arranged in pairs, with ritual installations recalling the Horns of Consecration and Tree, or Pillar, cults of Minoan Crete. A palace building at the same site, dating from the Middle Bronze Age (c 1750 BC), Beycesultan's most prosperous period, had reception rooms at first-floor level, also in the Minoan manner. In common with most other Bronze Age buildings in Anatolia, its walls were composed of a brick-filled timber framework on stone foundations. The private houses of this period at Beycesultan were all built on the megaron plan. The whole settlement and a lower terrace on the river was enclosed by a perimeter wall. The town was violently destroyed and though it was rebuilt, it remained relatively poor into the Late Bronze Age.

A tell site on the Meander River in southwestern Anatolia, with a long occupation sequence through the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. The most prosperous period for Beycesultan was the Middle Bronze Age (early 2nd millennium bc), with a large and elaborate palace, rather like those of the Minoans in Crete. A separate enclosure housed other public buildings, and a temple of this phase has also been excavated. The whole settlement and a lower terrace on the river was enclosed by a perimeter wall. This town was violently destroyed and although the settlement was rebuilt it remained relatively poor into the Late Bronze Age. It is likely that Beycesultan was a major city of the state known to the Hittites as Arzawa.