Boutique

In excavations between 1907 and 1912 realized in in the central Anatolian township Büyükkale as well as other parts of the region, tens of thousands of cuneiform clay tablets from the Hittites were found. These tablets, known as the Bogazköy Royal Archives, consist of official correspondence and contracts, as well as legal codes, procedures for cult ceremonies, oracular prophecies and literature of the ancient Near East. Buried underground for more than 2000 years, tablets have had damages and needed conservation so that they can last for many years to come. For this reason, they were sent to Berlin between 1915-1917 with the condition that they would be returned when the work is completed. After the break of the World War II, most of the tablets were kept in Germany and exhibited at the Museums of Berlin. However, as a result of painstaking negotiations and long-drawn out efforts, 7500 tablets were brought back to Turkey in 1987. Thirty-thirty-five thousand tablets have been extracted from the excavations to date and are the most important collection in the world in terms of number of tablets. One particularly important tablet, currently on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, details the terms of a peace settlement reached after the Battle of Kadesh between the Hittites and the Egyptians, which is considered as the example of the earliest known international peace treaties. Today, these tablets are under the preservation of Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Istanbul Archeology Museums and Çorum Museum. Dated to 2000 BC, the bronze mountain goat figurine used in the Hittite Goat was thought to have belonged to the Hittite period, and at some time ago it was smuggled illegally out of Turkey. It was later repurchased from a gallery in France and brought back to Turkey on January 15, 2018. Hittite Goat’s glass is handmade produced; all the relief patterns seen on the beige marble base are decorated by applying antiquated paints.