Alalakh

Alalakh (Tell Atchana; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze Age, c. 2000-1200 BC. The city contained palaces, temples, private houses and fortifications. The remains of Alalakh have formed an extensive mound covering around 22 hectares. In Late Bronze Age, Alalakh was the capital of the local kingdom of Mukiš. The first palace was built around 2000 BC, and likely destroyed in the 12th century BC. The site was thought to have never been reoccupied after that, but archaeologist Timothy Harrison showed, in a (2022) lecture's graphic, it was inhabited also in Amuq Phases N-O, Iron Age, c. 1200-600 BC. It is located in Amik Valley, about from the modern Syria–Turkey border. Lake Amik was an ancient lake in this area. Human settlements in Amik Valley goes back to the Neolithic period as early as 6,000 BC. Many other ancient archaeological sites are located in this area, such as Tell Tayinat, which was recently excavated. Tell Atchana is located only about 700m southeast of Tell Tayinat within the flood plain of the Orontes River, where the river enters the Amuq Plain. Alalakh was founded by the Amorites (in the territory of present-day Turkey) during the early Middle Bronze Age in the late 3rd millennium BC. The first palace was built c. 2000 BC, contemporary with the Third Dynasty of Ur. Chronology of Alalakh, related to other sites in the Amuq Lake region, is as follows: According to recent excavations led by archaeologists K. A. Yener and Murat Akar, the whole Middle Bronze Age in Alalakh lasted c. 2100-1650 BC, as part of a re-urbanization period in Anatolia as well as in the Near East and Levant. Middle Bronze II began around 19th century BC, in Yener's Period 8 (Woolley's level VIII), in which a palace and a temple, as well as intramural burials, were found.