Arslantepe Mound
The Arslantepe Mound is a 30-meter-high archaeological site located in the Malatya Plain, 12 kilometers southwest of the Euphrates River. Archaeological evidence at the site indicates that it was inhabited from at least the 6th millennium BC to the late Roman period. The earliest strata of the Early Uruk period are characterized by adobe houses from the first half of the 4th millennium BC. The most prominent and prosperous period of the site was the Late Chalcolithic period, during which the so-called palace complex was built. Extensive evidence also confirms the presence of the Early Bronze Age, the most prominent of which is the Royal Tomb Complex. Archaeological strata then extend to the Old Assyrian and Hittite periods, including the Neo-Hittite period. The site demonstrates the processes that led to the emergence of state societies and complex bureaucratic systems that predate writing in the Near East. Many exceptional metal objects and weapons have been unearthed at the site, including the earliest swords known to date in the world, indicating that organized forms of combat began to become the prerogative of the elite, who displayed these swords as instruments of their new political power.