Kültepe Excavation with Korean Researchers Uncovers Hellenistic Mosaic After 78 Years

Joint research findings by the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Ankara University
Four cultural layers also discovered in the same area
Structure far larger than a typical residential complex identified
"Evidence that can demonstrate an actual city existed"
Deeper layers to be excavated after establishing a chronology

A view of the Kültepe ruins in Türkiye / Korea Heritage Service.

A clue to the nature of a Hellenistic-era city has emerged at the Kültepe archaeological site in Türkiye, known as a Bronze Age commercial center. Research had previously focused on the Bronze Age, leaving the city's appearance in later periods relatively little known. A joint research team from the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Ankara University in Türkiye has found mosaic remains that help fill this gap, marking the first such discovery since excavations began in 1948. Four cultural layers were also found in the same area. The findings were presented at the Koreana Hotel in Seoul on October 27.

Mosaics at the Cuneiform Tablet City of Kültepe

Kültepe is an ancient city site 20 km northeast of Kayseri in central Türkiye. Its name means a hill formed in layers as people repeatedly resettled there after fires, earthquakes and floods. The site was inhabited from around 3000 BCE through the Roman period. Before the Hittite Empire, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Kanesh (Nesha). The Upper City, on the hill, contained palaces and temples, while the Lower City below had a district known as a "karum," where merchants stayed and traded.

Mosaic building site after investigation / Korea Heritage Service.

What brought Kültepe to the world's attention was the merchants' records. Assyrians engaged in long-distance trade from 2000 to 1650 BCE left behind more than 23,500 cuneiform tablets. The records were inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2015. In a document Türkiye submitted to UNESCO seeking to add the site to its Tentative List of World Heritage, they are described as the earliest written records in Anatolia and the largest body of private documents in the ancient Near East. "Kültepe was part of one of the world's oldest international and organized long-distance trade networks," said Fikri Kulakoglu, a professor at Ankara University. "The people of Anatolia first learned to read and write here."

Professor Kulakoglu currently leads the excavation team at the site. The team began joint excavations with Korean researchers last year, and during this year's second excavation, it discovered mosaic remains believed to be part of a building. The area lies east of Warshama Palace, the main palace in the Upper City. A corner of the mosaic remains has been identified, measuring 163 cm from east to west and 165 cm from north to south. Related traces found nearby suggest that it originally covered a larger area. The floor was built on a base of broken stone and fine soil, topped with small river pebbles (pebbles collected from a river). Local media reports say pottery fragments and lime were also used.

The use of river pebbles for flooring is related to pebble mosaics that date back to the eighth and seventh centuries BCE in Asia Minor. The technique became sophisticated enough to depict mythological scenes in Olynthus, Greece, around 400 BCE. However, its use declined from around the third century BCE as the practice of cutting and setting stones spread. Further analysis is needed to determine whether the Kültepe remains belong to this tradition.

Kultepe Ruins, Hellenistic-period Cultural Layer / Korea Heritage Service.

Four cultural layers dating from the Hellenistic period, 323 to 30 BCE, were also identified in the area where the remains were found. Traces of daily life appeared layered on top of one another, including building remains, floors, walls, rows of stones, waterways and entrances. "This was not a single building from a specific point in time; rather, the same space appears to have been repeatedly renovated and reused over a period of time," Professor Kulakoglu said.

Clues Uncovered by Korean Researchers

Historical records indicate that Hellenistic-era Kültepe had large buildings such as an assembly hall, as well as mansions belonging to wealthy people. However, no archaeological evidence had been found to support this. Excavations had not been conducted systematically in terms of stratigraphy or urban settlement, and the work had been confined to a narrow area, making it impossible to show the coherence of the city as a whole. The research team says this excavation can demonstrate that an actual city existed, rather than merely a large residence or temple. "We have uncovered important buildings and evidence of urbanization that had not been found before," Professor Kulakoglu said. "Although we have examined only one area, we have identified a structure far larger than a typical residential complex."

From left: Umut Gorgulu, Head of the Excavation and Survey Division at the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, Türkiye's Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Bulent Gonultas, Deputy Director General of the same directorate; and Fikri Kulakoglu, professor at Ankara University. Photo: Korea Heritage Service.

From the Chalcolithic period before the Bronze Age through the Seljuk and Ottoman periods, Kültepe was a commercial center at the crossroads of trade routes. "During the Hellenistic period, it was part of a trade network linking Athens, Thasos in the Aegean Sea and Cyprus," Professor Kulakoglu said. Mazaca, a city that became the center of the Kingdom of Cappadocia in the late third century BCE, was also located in the area of present-day Kayseri, about 20 km southwest of Kültepe.

The site's evolution as a commercial center is reflected in the four cultural layers discovered in this excavation. "The strata provide evidence of the developments that took place in Kültepe during the Hellenistic period," Professor Kulakoglu stressed. "They show how the site was formed, changed and eventually came to an end."

Excavation at the Kultepe archaeological site / Korea Heritage Service.

The findings came from joint research by Korea and Türkiye. The two countries established a framework for cooperation by signing a memorandum of understanding and a joint academic cooperation agreement in 2024. In May last year, Korean researchers used geophysical surveys and three-dimensional (3D) aerial mapping to determine the approximate location of the remains. They have now completed the second excavation and are documenting key artifacts with high-precision 3D scanning.

Bulent Gonultas, deputy director general of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums at Türkiye's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, expressed his gratitude, saying, "The technical expertise, experimental work and analytical experience of the Korean research team enabled us to obtain scientific and academic data." Professor Kulakoglu also said, "Thanks to Korean specialists in various fields, we are making steady progress in our work to understand Kültepe's urbanization."

Excavation survey at the mosaic building site / Korea Heritage Service.

The investigation is still at an early stage. The excavated area accounts for 3% to 4% of the entire site, and the mosaic floor identified so far measures only about 1.6 m by 1.6 m. The same applies to the four cultural layers. The artifacts and dates associated with each layer must be established through analysis. The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage plans to combine these findings to establish a chronology for Kültepe's Hellenistic period and develop criteria for distinguishing its cultural layers. "Further research is needed to determine the building's size and nature," said Park Yunjung, head of the Archaeological Research Division. "After completing the investigation of the Hellenistic cultural layers, we plan to excavate deeper layers containing remains from the Kingdom of Kanesh and the Hittite period."

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