©The Archaeological Settlements of Turkey - TAY Project

Kinet Höyük

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Kinet Höyük
Type:
 Mound
Altitude:
 m
Region:
 Mediterranean
Province:
 Hatay
District:
 Dörtyol
Village:
 Yesil
Investigation Method:
 Excavation
Period:
 Middle Iron Age Late Iron Age New Assyrian Empire Period

     

Location: The site lies in the village of Yesil to the northwest of Dörtyol; 30 km north of Iskenderun. It is located on the eastern shore of Iskenderun Gulf; 500 m from the sea.
Geography and Environment: Deliçay Stream flows to the south of it. It extends in an area of 3.3 ha and it is 26 m in height.
History:
Research and Excavation: During the 19th century, it was associated with the Issos Plain in which Alexander the Great defeated the Persian King Darius in 333 BC, however no excavation was conducted at Kinet Köyük until 1992. The excavations which were initiated with the cooperation of the Museum of Hatay in 1992 have been conducted under the direction of M. H. Gates of the Bilkent University since 1993 while the studies on medieval period has been led by S. N. Redford of the Georgetown University [Graves-Helwing 2001:483; bilkent.edu.tr/~arkeo/kinettr.html 21.6.2007, 11:00]. It is listed in the registered archaeological preservation zones inventory prepared by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Stratigraphy: The excavations have disclosed cultural history of this ancient port city. Kinet had been occupied from the Late Neolithic until the Hellenistic Period (5000-50 BC), and after a long period of abandonment it was reused as a port by the Crusaders during the Middle Age. The excavations mainly focused on the EBA (2500- 2000 BC), MBA (1650-1550 BC), LBA/Hittite Period (1400-1200 BC), Iron Age (1200-400 BC) and Medieval strata of this long span of occupation [Gates 2004:405]. The occupation from the Early Bronze Age until the Middle Iron Age (8th century BC) includes an area on a low terrain to the north of the mound. The period from the Late Iron Age until the Hellenistic Period (7th-1th centuries) and during the Middle Age (12th-14th centuries AD) is represented only on the mound. Also, the fortification walls belonging to the period from the Persian Period until the early Hellenistic Period (4th-3th centuries BC) and to the Medieval Citadel have survived to the present day. The Bronze And Iron Age levels of Kinet have been exposed in the trenches on the eastern and western slopes of the mound. The hilltop trenches shed light on later periods (Middle Age, Hellenistic and Persian Periods) of Kinet. Some further soundings were carried out on the coastal line to the north of the mound, and they yielded levels which are contemporary with the EBA and Middle Iron Age levels of the mound, and which have been completely obscured by a layer of eroded soil at present [bilkent.edu.tr/~arkeo/kinettr.html]. The Middle Iron Age (Period 8) level dating to the 8th century BC was exposed on the western slope of the mound. Termed as Kinet III:2, this phase bears intense Neo-Assyrian characteristics.
Small Finds: Architecture: The architectural features of the Middle Iron Age level bear traces of Assyrian influence in terms of diverse orientations of walls or walls with narrow niches or use of a various size and forms of stones for foundations. The structural differences reveal the presence of two main phases for now. The earlier construction phase of Period 8 is represented by freely scattered rooms around a cobble-paved courtyard. Very few of the walls are parallel or perpendicular as they were added depending on the conditions. At present, the walls provide an assymmetrical layout. Almost each of the rooms includes an oven, and there are industrial wastes in the courtyard, which suggest that this area can be associated with workshops. The architectural layout is more consistent during the late phase. A large addition to the southwest of the structure constitutes a new doorway, providing access to the rooms on the south side. An open area with a square plan was built instead of workshops. Nevertheless, the random construction approach adopted during the earlier phase again continued during this phase. Thus, some walls were erected with mudbrick without stone foundations while some doorways and spaces were only filled with bricks [Gates 2004:406-407]. A three-roomed burnt structure was uncovered in Period 9. Having a 1 m wide wall, floor of one of these rooms was thickly plastered. A nonlocal mortar including rubblestones, soil and potsherds without being tempered with plants was used for the wall. The plastered floor of the largest room, which is 5.5. m wide is located in a level lower than the north and south ones. It appears that the structure had been entirely cleaned prior to the fire, and it was trimmed for nearly 1 m for the construction at Period 8 [Gates 2004:407-408]. Pottery: The bowls and spouted vessels with black and red geometric decorations are specific to Cyprus and Cilicia during the Middle Iron Age (9th-8th centuries BC). These vessels reflect a limited cultural share and a trade network with the Northeastern Mediterranean region. This commercial base expanded to have included Greece and East Agean within the following two centuries. Among the outcomes of this intense international share is the fashion for imitation of East Agean types of forms in fine table vessels. The samples include painted plates and double handled wine cups, locally produced but inspired from Rhodes-Ionia. The "Samian Bottle" was not imported from Agean cities, but probably from Sidon in Phoenicia [bilkent.edu.tr/~arkeo/kinettr.html]. The pit from the Period 9 dating to the Middle Iron Age on the western slope of the mound yielded 5 or 6 storage jars, 2 amphorae, a double handled Agean type of amphora, red washed potsherds and rim fragments of two Greek geometric bowls [Gates 2004:408]. Metal: The Middle Iron Age of Kinet is poor in small finds because the rooms belonging to the late phase of Period 8 were empty or emptied prior to the fire. However, two bronze fibulae recovered from these rooms are noteworthy. The smaller one is of rare Thesselian type, which is uncommon further east than Gordion. The larger one is an unique fibula having the shape of a naked woman or a goddess holding her breasts [Gates 2004:407]. Seal: A cylindrical ceramic seal from the Neo-Assyrian Period was found in the courtyard of the domestic structure dated to the Middle Iron Age. This is the third seal recovered from this complex [Gates 2004:407]. In 2006, two cylinder seals were discovered together in the thick leveling fill of Middle Iron Age Period 8. One of the seals, made of "Egyptian blue", represents a pair of large birds running with wings outstretched and heads turned back; astral symbols are in the upper field. It is in the Neo-Assyrian style of the 10th-8th century BC, contemporary with the context in which it was found. This is the fourth Neo-Assyrian cylinder seal found at Kinet, and reinforces previous evidence for an official Assyrain presence at the site. The second, haematite seal is older by six centuries and illustrates ywo presentation scenes in which an interceding deity escorts a kingly figure who approaches a god. Material, composition and drillwork identify it with th class of Mitanni Elaborate Style seals that evolved from Old Babylonian glyptic. Since it was lying beside the Neo-Assyrian seal, it may have been an heirloom belonging to its Iron Age owner, and need not have reached Kinet at the time it was manufactured, in late Bronze I [Gates 2008:288-289]. Epigraphic Material: A Phoenician inscription of nine lines was identified on one of the storage jars uncovered in a pit of Period 9. It was inscribed below the rim before the jar was fired. There is a Luwian or Hurrian name referred in the inscription. The storage jar is dated to the second half of the 8th century BC, and this inscription is critical as it is the first onomastic reference of Kinet Höyük [Gates 2004:408].
Remains:
Interpretation and Dating:


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