Karatepe
Karatepe (Turkish, 'Black Hill'; Hittite: Azatiwataya) is a late Hittite fortress and open-air museum in Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey lying at a distance of about 23 km from the district center of Kadirli. It is sited in the Taurus Mountains, on the right bank of the Ceyhan River. The site is contained within Karatepe-Aslantaş National Park.
For other uses, see Karatepe (disambiguation).Location
History[edit]
The place was an ancient city of Cilicia, which controlled a passage from eastern Anatolia to the north Syrian plain. It became an important Neo-Hittite center after the collapse of the Hittite Empire in the late 12th century BC. Relics found here include vast historic tablets, statues and ruins, even two monumental gates with reliefs on the sills depicting hunting and warring and a boat with oars; pillars of lions and sphinxes flank the gates.
Namesake[edit]
In the 2004 exploration of Mars, "Karatepe" was the name given to a site designated for entering the Endurance Crater to investigate the layering of the bedrock.