Main Page
Türkçe

Sakçagözü

Ruins of the Late Hittite city state are located at Coba Höyük near the village of Sakçagözü (Sakçegözü) about 50 km west of Gaziantep. The original name of the city is not known. The site was first noted by Karl Humann and Felix von Luschan in 1883 and first excavations were carried out in 1908 and 1911 by John Garstang of the University of Liverpool. A large palace complex with a gateway decorated with orthostats and statues were uncovered. Several other orthostats found mostly near surface in secondary locations are believed to be part of an outer wall/gate structure. The finds have been dated to the 8th century BCE. In 1939 most of them were transferred to Ankara where today they are displayed in the Anatolian Civilizations Museum. The Lion Hunt orthostat (first image at the bottom row) is in the Pergamon Museum.

Click on the pictures for larger images.

The gateway during excavations
J. Garstang, 1908 J. Garstang, 1908 Gate plan of Sakçagözü - adapted from W. Orthman (USK, 1971)
The left wing of the gateway
T. Bilgin, 2014 B. Bilgin, 2022 B. Bilgin, 2022 T. Bilgin, 2014 T. Bilgin, 2006 T. Bilgin, 2014 B. Bilgin, 2022 B. Bilgin, 2022
Double sphinx columnbase
J. Garstang, 1908 J. Garstang, 1908 T. Bilgin, 2006 T. Bilgin, 2006 T. Bilgin, 2006 B. Bilgin, 2022 B. Bilgin, 2022
The right wing of the gateway
T. Bilgin, 2014 B. Bilgin, 2022 B. Bilgin, 2022 B. Bilgin, 2022 B. Bilgin, 2022 T. Bilgin, 2014 T. Bilgin, 2014
Other orthostats
Aslan avı - T. Bilgin, 2010 B. Bilgin, 2022 B. Bilgin, 2022 J. Garstang, 1908 T. Bilgin, 2019



Literature:
Genge, H. Nordsyrisch-südanatolische Reliefs, København, 1979. (v.1: 150–53 and v.2: Figs. 77, 78, 82, 84, 100)
Orthmann, W. Untersuchungen zur späthethitischen Kunst, Bonn, 1971. (Sakçagözü)
Ussishkin, D., "The Date of the Neo-Hittite Enclosure at Sakçagözü," BASOR 181, 1966: 15–23.
(List of Abbreviations)

Image sources:
Tayfun Bilgin, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2019.
Bora Bilgin, 2022.
John Garstang, AAA 1, 1908.