Citatio: A. Süel, ortakoey.net/: OKT (2025-12-15)

Introduction to the OKT Project

Ortaköy-Šapinuwa | The excavation transliterations of the cuneiform tablets

Ortaköy-Šapinuwa

The Hittite city of Šapinuwa is located three kilometres southwest of Ortaköy District in the southeast of Çorum Province. Situated in the valley of the Özderesi, a tributary of the Çekerek River, this Hittite city lies on the most important road stretching from Central Anatolia to the northeast and ultimately to the Caucasus.

Numerous written sources and extraordinary archaeological discoveries in the region indicate that Šapinuwa was one of the most important cities of the Hittite Empire and served as the capital of the Hittite State. The royal couple Tutḫaliya II and Queen Taduḫepa ruled in Šapinuwa. Research conducted by Aygül Süel determined that the name of the Hittite city of Ortaköy during its era was Šapinuwa. Numerous cuneiform tablets and tablet fragments uncovered in this city provide particularly good documentation of the Middle Hittite period.

The Hittite city of Ortaköy was discovered by Aygül Süel and Mustafa Süel as a result of their surface surveys in the region and was brought to the attention of the scientific world. Archaeological excavations began in this Hittite city in 1990 under the direction of Aygül Süel and Mustafa Süel and continue to this day. Between 1990 and 2018, excavations were carried out by a team led by Aygül Süel and Mustafa Süel on behalf of Ankara University (Ankara), and between 2019 and 2020 on behalf of Hittite University (Çorum). These excavations uncovered many important architectural remains, workshops, and sacrificial pits.

While a large part of this city, spread over an area of 9 square kilometres, still awaits discovery, three archives were found in building 'A' and one archive in building 'B' in the Tepelerarası region of the Hittite city of Šapinuwa. Tablets belonging to the archives were found scattered in buildings 'C' and 'D'. In an area close to these buildings, a large number of tablets belonging to a different archive have been found scattered, not currently associated with any particular architecture. Additionally, tablets have been discovered in the Ağılönü region, 600 metres away from the Tepelerarası region.

Most of the cuneiform texts found at Ortaköy-Šapinuwa are written in Hittite. The archive also contains a significant number of Hurrian, Hittite, and Akkadian texts. The discovery of ritual texts at Ortaköy, previously known from the Boğazköy texts and recorded as having been written in the city of Šapinuwa, has considerably expanded the corpus of Hurrian religious texts. The documents found also include Hittite building ritual texts, Sumerian scholarly texts, and various Akkadian texts; the Akkadian texts come from both the scholarly and diplomatic fields.

The Ortaköy-Šapinuwa Excavations have been continuing since 2021 under the leadership of Önder İpek from Hittite University.

Selected publications: history & archaeology of Ortaköy-Šapinuwa

The excavation transliterations of the cuneiform tablets

The deciphering, philological organisation, linguistic analysis and historical interpretation of the more than 4,500 cuneiform tablets and fragments found in Ortaköy-Šapinuwa will occupy more than one generation of Hittitologists.

The foundation for this work was laid by the excavation epigraphist, who prepared the first transliterations of newly found tablets and fragments. Since 1990, Aygül Süel has undertaken this task at Ortaköy-Šapinuwa, meticulously preparing the excavation transliterations of the Ortaköy texts each year. These excavation transliterations have formed the basis for all subsequent publications of cuneiform texts from Ortaköy, prepared by Aygül Süel over the years, partly in collaboration with various colleagues.

Although these transliterations were initially prepared by hand, most have been digitised by the Ortaköy team. Digital online text collections offer new opportunities to comprehensively present Aygül Süel's transliterations. These transliterations will form an important basis for all future work on these texts, whether presented in digital print or in printed form. The OKT (Ortaköy Excavation Transliterations) database, prepared by Aygül Süel and her team, serves precisely this purpose.

Excavation transliterations always represent the first provisional decipherments of cuneiform tablets or fragments. This provisional nature applies to all the transliterations presented here. However, the current digital publication of the Ortaköy excavation transliterations in a searchable format will be an important step towards preparing the full philological editions of the texts.

As part of her ongoing editorial work on cuneiform texts from Ortaköy-Šapinuwa, Aygül Süel will continuously develop the transliterations presented here. Although the final, annotated editions will continue to be published in book and article form, it is envisaged that the OKT (Ortaköy Excavation Transliterations) database will serve as an easily accessible reference point for Hittitologists and all other researchers interested in the Hittites, their history and culture, to the rich material contained in the Ortaköy texts.

Selected publications of the Ortaköy texts