ARSLANTEPE (1961-2011)

This is the web official sito of ITALIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION IN EASTERN ANATOLIA, of the Sapienza University of Rome, working at the site of Arslantepe since 1961. Here you can find the results and ongoing projects of the archaeological activity in the Malatya plain, Eastern Turkey. Two are the main research projects carried out: the excavations at Arslantepe and the survey of the Malatya plain.

Arslantepe (“hill of the lions”) is in the modern village of Orduzu, in the southeastern area of the large Malatya plain, an oasis within the mountain chain of the Anti-Taurus. The site is only 6km away from the modern city of Malatya and 15km west of the Euphrates river. The events that the excavations by the Italian Archaeological Expedition in Eastern Anatolia (MAIAO) have brought to light in the 50 years of activity have not only marked the history of the region in which the site is found, but also represent some of the fundamental steps in the origins of our own civilization.