The 3,800-year-old seal found during the seasonal excavations in Tepebağ Mound, which has been one of the uninterrupted settlements of Adana from the Early Bronze Age to the present, helps us understand the commercial relations of the city in history.
The ceremony of the goddess of love and fertility Ishtar, and the god of air, is on the seal of Northern Syria origin.
The excavations carried out under the supervision of Adana Archeology Museum Directorate, the contributions of the Metropolitan Municipality and Osmaniye Korkut Ata University Archeology Department Assoc. Dr. İrfan Tuğcu, continue with 8 archaeologists, 1 restorer and 16 workers.
The seal was found in the mound, which is thought to be in the same place as “Uru Adaniya”, one of the most important cities of the Cilicia region, mentioned in the Hittite written sources.
Adana Museum Director Nalan Çopuroğlu Yastı told AA that during the season excavations that have been going on since 2013, work has been carried out in a total of 21 trenches in the mound. She explained that the excavations in the area, which has been a settlement since the Early Bronze Age, continued in 12 trenches this year. He stated that they are trying to unearth artifacts that will shed light on the political, economic and cultural structure of the city in the past with excavations.
Yastı stated that the seal found reflects the importance of the region in international trade of the period.
About the seal: “There are beautiful depictions and it is a cylinder seal that came out very well. There is a ceremony of the goddess Ishtar and the god of the air together on it. A few people worshiping her were engraved on the seal. This is actually a very important work. From the discovery of this seal in Tepebağ, we understand that there was a very important commercial network between Anatolia and Syria in the 1800s BC and that Adana was a very important station on this trade route. It shows that it was an important trade center or a very important center in interstate commercial relations in the past years.” Said
Yastı said that the excavations in the mound continue and they expect to find important artifacts in the lower layers. She stated that the excavations will continue until the end of the year this season and that the artifacts from the excavations are exhibited in a special section of the Adana Museum.