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The Hittite Connection

The following is a part of an article written by German archaeologist Manfred Korfmann (the University of Tübingen) who has led the excavations at the site of Hisarllk/Troy in northwestern Turkey for the past 16 years:

Although Troy is in Anatolia, Carl Blegen, who directed excavations at the site in the 1930s, regarded Troy VI/VIIa as a Greek settlement. The idea of a Greek Troy, one that had also been entertained by Schliemann, became firmly established. These excavators had come from Greece to Troy, both literally and figuratively, and later returned to Greece, and were biased, most likely unconsciously, in their outlook. However, until the 1930s there was very little archaeologically within Anatolia that might have been compared with Troy, and certainly not in western Anatolia.

We know today, from our own excavations and even from earlier ones, that in all main respects, Bronze Age Troy had stronger ties with Anatolia than with the Aegean. We've learned this from the tons of local pottery and small finds, such as a seal with a local hieroglyphic inscription, as well as the overall settlement picture, mud-brick architecture, and cremation burials. Research by Anatolian specialists has shown that what we today call Troy was in the Late Bronze Age the kingdom of Wilusa, powerful enough to conclude treaties with the Hittite Empire; even the Egyptians seem to have been familiar with the city. Furthermore, according to Hittite records, there were political and military tensions around Troy precisely during the thirteenth and early twelfth centuries B.C.--the supposed time of Homer's Trojan War.

for full article please see archaeology.org

The Etruscans: A Population-Genetic Study

By themselves, DNA sequences cannot tell us who the Etruscans were and where they came from, but they can provide crucial information on two related questions:

1. Were the Etruscans a single population, or were they simply a set of individuals who shared a language and a culture but not a common ancestry?

2. What are the genetic relationships between the Etruscans and modern populations, and do these relationships suggest any genealogical or migrational links between the Etruscans and other Eurasians?

To address the above questions, we obtained from museums and public collections fragments of 80 well-preserved skeletons from 10 Etruscan necropoleis (fig. 1), covering much of Etruria in terms of both chronology (7th to 2nd centuries B.C.) and geography.
…
To better compare the Etruscan gene pool with those of contemporary Italy, we treated these populations as hybrids among four potential parental populations, from the four corners of the area considered in this study (table 2). The likely contributions of each parental population, or admixture coefficients, are similar for the three modern Italian populations, but Etruscans differ in two aspects: they show closer relationships both to North Africans and to Turks than any contemporary population. In particular, the Turkish component in their gene pool appears three times as large as in the other populations.

for whole of the report please see: journals.uchicago.edu

The Voice of Anatolia and The Sixth Continent by The Fisherman of Halicarnassus (Cevat Sakir Kabaagacli)

Born in Crete, Cevat Sakir spent his childhood in Athens, Istanbul due to his fathers profession. After having his studies in London where he studied history, he returned to Istanbul where he earned his living by his writings. He was soon sentenced because of his writings critiquing the ruling government and he was sent into exile to Bodrum where he had to spend his days in the castle in custody during the day time. This was turning point in his life. But his punishment soon turned into a reward. He fell in love with this small town with its people. He soon became one of locals and joined to them. He was spending all his time with local fishermen and sponge divers to whom he helped great deal for he export of sponges. But his main concern was beautification of this town. He was ordering new plans and flower seeds from abroad and planting wherever he could till the day he left Bodrum. Finding himself in one of the greatest cities of antiquity, Halicarnasus,the birth place of Herodotus, the father of history, Cevat Sakir soon started writing about the history of Anatolia and Mythology. He was the first author who tried to prove the roots of Western Civilisation had started in Anatolia. He wrote many books on Anatolian Legends and Civilisations. He became a pioneer for Blue Voyage. His writings guided locals and foreigners for this dreamlike journey to history and beauty of Turkish Coastline. He used a nickname which he liked so much "The fishermen of Halicarnassos". He got married and he had four children. When his children grew up, because of their education, Cevat Sakir had to leave Bodrum. He sold his house and his boat and spend his last weeks by planting seeds and plant all over Bodrum. Cevats life ended in Izmir in October 1973. He is buried in a simple tomb in Bodrum on a hill overlooking the city to which he devoted his life for it and for its people.

"TROIA - wie es wirklich aussah" by Birgit Brandau, Hartmut Schickert, Peter Jablonka

The first two authors are thoroughly familiar with all aspects of the Troia Project since many years, the third is a longtime Troia-excavator and responsible for the special Troia-VR project.

Lavishly illustrated and solidly narrated : a fascinating time travel through the variations in the history of the legendary city that attracted generations of scientists.

For the first time Troia has been reconstructed based on the latest scientific results. Modern computersimulation provides images of imposing quality for each historic building phase. Recent photographs of today´s ruins are contrasted with exactly matching computer images. The narrative tells the history of the various epochs from the onset of settlement through the Troia of "Priam´s Treasure" and Homer´s time to the Roman empire.

"Troia - Archäologie eines Siedlungshügels und seiner Landschaft" by Manfred Korfmann

A long awaited presentation of the Troia-research addressing the general public had been conceived by Manfred Korfmann. Under editorial guidance by two team members (Diane Thumm, M.A. and Stephan Blum, M.A.) it is now available from the publishing house Philipp von Zabern.