The Šapinuwa Excavations and the Ortaköy Archive
Šapinuwa (Ortaköy) is a Hittite city about 3 km south-west of the town of Ortaköy, 53 km south-east of Çorum. For the city’s history, location and a short introduction see Şapinuva, and for visiting see the Šapinuwa Visitor Guide. This page describes the excavation process, the excavation areas and the archive from the sources.
How the city was found and the dig began
According to the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, the decision to excavate came from on-site research after the Çorum Museum bought two cuneiform tablets found at Ortaköy in 1990. Aygül Süel’s entry in the Türkiye Tourism Encyclopedia says the city was found in a long-running surface-survey project led by Süel and Mustafa Süel, which aimed to locate the geographical names in Hittite cuneiform sources and the roads linking Hattusa to the surrounding provinces. That the city’s Hittite-period name was Šapinuwa was established by reading the tablets found in the dig; Süel writes that scholars had previously placed Šapinuwa south and south-east of Boğazköy, and that the discovery reshapes historical geography.
Directors and institutions
| Period | Directed by |
|---|---|
| 1990-1991 | Excavation under the Çorum Museum Directorate (Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism) |
| 1992-2018 | Scientific team on behalf of Ankara University; led by Aygül Süel and Mustafa Süel |
| 2019 to date | Scientific team on behalf of Hitit University; led by Aygül Süel |
Süel’s entry describes the first work in 1990 as a rescue excavation under the scientific direction of Aygül Süel.
The city and its setting
According to Aygül Süel the city, on present knowledge, spreads over about nine square kilometres, made up of a lower and an upper city. The Hittite city was built on a plateau sloping from north-west to south-east; rather than settling in existing villages, the Hittites terraced the land and built the city. The east-west trade route along the Kelkit-Yeşilırmak valley passed in front of the city. According to Süel, at the beginning of the 14th century BCE the Great King Tuthaliya II/III and Queen Taduhepa ruled here, and the city was also used by Mursili II in the 13th century BCE. The Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism adds that after the Hittite period part of the city was used by the Romans as a burial ground.
Excavation areas
The Tepelerarası area
According to Süel’s entry, the first digs were made at building A, at almost the most commanding point of the city, where the richest tablet archives of the Hittite age were found. Building A is monumental and symmetrical in plan, currently spreads over 5,000 square metres and has at least two storeys beyond its basement. Building B covers 1,200 square metres and contains more than 70 large jars used for food and drink. Buildings C and D are called religious buildings; at the entrance to building D a man carrying a bow and spear is shown on an orthostat, and bronze axes and sickles inscribed in cuneiform with “Great King” were found inside.
In area G, south of the zone, metal workshops with bellows, hearths, blowpipes, crucibles, moulds and slag have been uncovered; many miniature figural clay moulds came from here. İpek and colleagues (2023) write that these workshops, identified in 2014-2021, date to the first half of the 14th century BCE and that a silver signet ring was found there in 2015 (Hittite seals).
The Ağılönü area
According to Süel, Ağılönü is an area arranged for ritual purposes in the city. A stone pavement of nearly 2,000 square metres, measuring 100 x 20 metres, has been uncovered there; it survives in 12 courses.
The Ortaköy archive
The Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism writes that up to 4,000 cuneiform tablets were found in the dig, while Süel speaks of nearly 5,000 tablets and fragments. According to Süel this is the second-largest Hittite cuneiform archive discovered in Anatolia after Boğazköy. The tablets contain administrative, religious and divination texts in languages such as Hittite, Hurrian, Hattic and Akkadian; letters addressed to the Great King and the queen show that a royal couple was present at Šapinuwa.
Süel notes that the city was an important religious centre for purification rituals. The tablets of the itkalzi purification ritual state that the ritual was performed in the city of Zithara and that the originals of the tablets were brought from Šapinuwa; colophons of Boğazköy texts contain phrases meaning “we copied these tablets from the originals in the land of Šapinuwa”. For the Boğazköy archive see Boğazköy cuneiform tablets.
A more recent source, an A Haber report of 8 October 2026, speaks of 4,533 cuneiform tablets and tablet fragments in the formal application for the UNESCO Memory of the World Register; tablets and fragments are not counted separately. The Şapinuva Excavation Directorate prepared the application on behalf of Hitit University, the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism coordinated it, and it was submitted through the UNESCO Turkish National Commission. An Anadolu Agency report of August 2026, by contrast, says “about 4,000 tablets”.
Sources
- Aygül Süel (2020), “Şapinuva (Ortaköy) Örenyeri Kazısı” (Excavation of the Šapinuwa (Ortaköy) Site), Online Türkiye Turizm Ansiklopedisi. https://turkiyeturizmansiklopedisi.com/sapinuva-ortakoy-orenyeri-kazisi
- Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, “Kazı Alanları” (Excavation Sites). https://corum.ktb.gov.tr/TR-58773/kazi-alanlari.html
- Önder İpek, Aygül Süel, Murat Aydın, Semih Gerçek, “Ortaköy’de Ele Geçen Bir Hitit Mührü” (A Hittite Seal Found at Ortaköy), Höyük, 2023, issue 11, pp. 17-30. https://hoyuk.gov.tr/tam-metin/80/tur
- A Haber, “Çorum’da binlerce yıllık tarihi keşif! Beş dilde yazılmışlar, UNESCO için ilk adım” (A thousands-of-years-old discovery in Çorum! Written in five languages, the first step for UNESCO), 8 October 2026. https://www.ahaber.com.tr/galeri/yasam/sapinuvadaki-4-bin-533-tablet-icin-unesco-basvurusu
Frequently asked questions
When did the Šapinuwa excavations begin?
According to the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism and Aygül Süel's entry in the Türkiye Tourism Encyclopedia, the excavation began in 1990 as a rescue dig after the Çorum Museum bought two cuneiform tablets found at Ortaköy.
How many tablets are in the Ortaköy archive?
The sources give different figures: the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism speaks of up to 4,000, while Aygül Süel's entry in the Türkiye Tourism Encyclopedia speaks of nearly 5,000 tablets and fragments.