Kültepe (Kanesh Karum)

It is located at the 3rd kilometer of a road branching off from the Kayseri-Sivas highway at the 22nd kilometer. This world-renowned open-air museum first attracted attention in 1881, and in 1925, Karum, one of the most important parts of Kültepe, was discovered. Excavations carried out in the area since 1948 have revealed that the oldest settlement in the mound dates back to the Late Chalcolithic Age (3000-2500 BC), followed by the Old Bronze, Hittite, Phrygian, Hellenistic, and Roman eras. The Karum site surrounds the eastern and southeastern slopes of the mound and was inhabited by Assyrian merchants who came to Anatolia for trade between 1950-1650 BC. The architectural remains of large religious and official buildings, houses, shops, and workshops unearthed in the mound and the Karum area are exhibited as an open-air museum.

Karum Kanesh, the famous trade center of the ancient world, has four building levels (I-IV), the last of which has two phases (a-b). Around four thousand years ago, Northern Mesopotamian/Assyrian merchants established international trade relations in Anatolia, allowing Anatolia to open up to the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia. During this period, Anatolia learned writing from the Assyrians and raised its cultural level. The cuneiform tablets written in the ancient Assyrian language discovered on levels II and I provide detailed information about the trade between Anatolia and Assyria. These are considered the oldest written documents of Anatolia.