Karatepe Aslantaş to become new face of Turkey

The Karatepe Aslantaş Archaeological Area, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List last week, is set to become the new promotional face of the southern province of Osmaniye and Turkey.

The Karatepe Aslantaş Open Air Museum, located within the borders of Kadirli district and which has survived for centuries, hosts thousands of local and foreign visitors throughout the year.

The archaeological works that have been carried out in the area since 1946 unearthed an inscription belonging to the late Hittite period ruler Asativatas, sculpture and tools used by people of that period.

The most important feature of the region in terms of history was the presence of a key that allowed the reading of the Hittite hieroglyphs, which were found during the excavations and which were not fully resolved before.

Thanks to the key, while Hittite writings can be read in the world, all of the hieroglyphic writings dating back to 2,000 B.C. in Anatolia could also be read with this key.

The work was initiated by the Kadirli District Governor's Office and Kadirli Education and Culture Foundation (KA-VAK) for the 2,700-year-old historical region to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the report was sent to the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

As a result of these works, the Karatepe Aslantaş Archaeological Area was included of the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List as one of the five cultural assets from Turkey.

"Halet Çambel, the archaeologist we lost six years ago, is the biggest contributor to this region. He made great efforts to uncover this place and turn it into a museum. We commemorate him," Kadirli Governor Ahmet Arık said.

Arık said that the listing of the museum is a great opportunity in...