Ortaköy

The city of Sapinuwa

The ruins of the Hittite city of Sapinuwa are located near the village of Ortaköy (40°15'10''N 35°14'15''E) in Turkey, 55 km southeast of the modern city of Çorum and 60 km east of ancient Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Kingdom of Hatti. Archaeological excavations at this site began in 1990 under the direction of Aygül and Mustafa Süel and, after the premature death of the latter, continued under the direction of Professor Aygül Süel (University of Çorum).

Sapinuwa was already known before the discovery of the archaeological vestiges at Ortaköy thanks to its mention in many Hittite tablets from both Hattusa and the city of Tapikka (Maşat Höyük). It was founded by the Hittite king Tuthaliya II/Tashmi-Sharri in the first half of the 14th century BCE and was a royal residence during his reign. The site remained an important centre in the Hittite Kingdom in the following century.

Ancient Sapinuwa occupies an area of about 9 km² and was therefore one of the largest cities in the Near East during the Late Bronze. In the Tepelerarası area, four monumental architectural buildings have been identified. The Building A, located at the highest point of the site and with an extension of about 2500m², was the residence of the king and the royal family. The Building B contains a large number of pithoi for the storage and preservation of foodstuffs. Buildings C and D most likely had a religious character and served for the celebration of cult ceremonies. Artisanal workshops destined to the production of metal objects were uncovered in Area G. Of particular significance was the discovery of moulds for casting miniature figures that were used to adorn wooden furniture and boxes. Finally, in the adjacent Ağılönü area, a paved stone terrace of about 2000 m² was brought to light, which was probably part of a cultic complex.

The cuneiform tablets

Archaeological excavations have unearthed about 4000 cuneiform texts, making this the largest group of Hittite documents found outside Hattusa. The tablets belong to different textual typologies and are written in various languages, including Hittite, Hurrian, Akkadian, Sumerian, and Hattic, paralleling the documentation found in the Hittite capital.

Of particular interest are the letters of international correspondence exchanged between the Hittite court and the rulers of the other superpowers of the time, such as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and even the Mycenaean potentate of Ahhiyawa. The internal correspondence provides information on the administrative structure of the Hittite Kingdom and the relations between dignitaries and officials responsible for administration and military defence. The tablets in Hattic and Sumerian, on the other hand, testify that the collections at Sapinuwa also included texts from the oldest religious and cultic traditions. These texts are still largely under study. Additionally, the epigraphic documentation of Sapinuwa counts ca. 200 impressions of Hittite royal or state officials seals.

The texts in Hurrian language

Over 650 Hurrian tablets have been found in Sapinuwa in the Building A. The presence of such a great number of Hurrian texts is due to the interest that the ruler Tuthaliya II had in Hurrian cultural and religious traditions. After the annexation of the kingdom of Kizzuwatna, which had long been under the political control of Mittani, and the arrival at court of the Kizzuwatnean princess Nikka-madi, wife of Tuthaliya I, the Hittite royal family began to appreciate Hurrian culture, especially through the documents that the Hittite rulers had transferred from Kizzuwatna to Hattusa. Tuthaliya II is the first ruler to have a Hurrian name, Tashmi-Sharri, and both his wives, Sadandu-Heba and Tadu-Heba, have Hurrian names.

The study of Hurrian texts from Sapinuwa is carried out by an international team – composed of G. Wilhelm, M. Giorgieri, and S. de Martino and coordinated by A. Süel – and it is supported by the Centro Scavi Torino. Two conferences were held in Turin (2013 and 2017) on these tablets and more broadly on the city of Sapinuwa.

A large group of tablets contain different versions of a Hurrian purification ritual, which was already known from the texts found in Hattusa. The ritual is identified in the colophons as itkazi, a Hurrian word derived from the term itk- “to purify”.

The texts from Sapinuwa have improved our understanding of this ritual. The itkazi was most likely celebrated for the first time in occasion of the wedding of Tuthaliya II to Tadu-Heba, after the death of the king’s first consort. It was intended to purify the king’s and queen’s bodies and perhaps also to ensure that the couple would be able to produce offspring. This ritual was created and composed at the king’s orders for his marriage, with the advice of experts in Kizzuwatnean rituals. The archetype of this ritual was written in Hurrian on twenty-two tablets. The itkazi enjoyed great popularity in Hittite Anatolia, so that other versions appeared that could be celebrated by figures other that the king following a simpler procedure. Three other versions are known: a ten tablets version in Hittite and Hurrian intended for any person of either sex; a version in Hittite and Hurrian called the “Great itkazi Ritual”; and a reduced version in Hurrian.

Characteristic of this ritual are the long litanies pronounced by the ritual performer, in which the deities are invoked to ensure the success of the purification process. In these litanies, the same words are obsessively repeated, often in different positions within the sentences. The differences and errors found in the texts preserving these rituals are therefore also evidence of the difficulty to memorise these long recitations.

The “Great itkazi Ritual” contains a long list of rivers and springs whose pure and transparent water is invoked in the purification rites. This part of the ritual is clearly of Mittanian derivation, which is confirmed by the toponyms mentioned. The cities and mountains near the invoked springs and rivers were in fact all located in the territory of the Mittani Kingdom, in the area between Nineveh, the upper Khabur and western Syria. Thus, the ritual preserves the remnants of the literary and religious tradition of Mittani that had been adopted by Kizzuwatnean ritualists and had come to Sapinuwa through them.

Bibliography

DE MARTINO S.

2016, “The Tablets of the itkalzi Ritual”, Die Welt des Orients 46, 202-212.

2017, “The Composition and Transmission of the itkalzi Ritual”, Mesopotamia LII, 21-30.

DE MARTINO S. - SÜEL A.

2015, The Third Tablet of the itkalzi Ritual (Eothen 21), Firenze.

2017, The “Great itkalzi Ritual”. The Šapinuwa Tablet Or 90/1473 and its Duplicate ChS I/1 5 (Eothen 22), Firenze.

DE MARTINO S. - MURAT L. - SÜEL A.

2013, “The Eleventh Tablet of the itkalzi Ritual from Šapinuwa”, Kaskal 10, 130-148.

GIORGIERI M. - MURAT L. - SÜEL A.

2013, “The kaluti-List of the Storm-God of Šapinuwa from Ortaköy (OR. 90/175) and its Parallels from Boğazköy”, Kaskal 10, 169-181.

SÜEL A.

1998, “Ortaköy – Šapinuwa Tableterenin Tarihlendiilmesei”, in S. Alp, A. Süel (eds.) Acts of the IIIrd International Congress of Hittitology, Ankara, 551-558.

2009, “Another Capital City of Hittite State:Šapinuwa”, in F. Pecchioli-daddi, G. Torri, C. Corti (eds.), Central-North Anatolia in the Hittite Period, Firenze, 193-205.

2017, “Workshops Found at Tepelerarası Area of Ortaköy-Šapinuwa”, Mesopotamia LII, 75-84.

SÜEL M. -SÜEL A. - DE MARTINO S.

2018, “Šapinuwa (Ortaköy)”, in Reallexikon der Assyriologie 15, 417-419.

WILHELM G. - SÜEL A.

2013, “The Hittite Hurrian Offering Ritual for Tašmišarri OR. 97/1”, Kaskal 10, 149-168.