Murat Akar
Mustafa Kemal University, Antakya

Post-earthquake response at Alalakh: a world heritage initiative at the bronze age capital (Hatay, Türkiye)

Abstract

Remnants of the past decay once humans abandon their settlements and cities, and this decomposition forms the archaeological record of Anatolia and the Near East. But as the remains deteriorate, everything that surrounds them changes: landscapes and people. This temporal boundary between past and present is broken when human agency steps in. The contradictory concepts of digging up the past and preserving it form a duality. The very act of unearthing causes an irreversible act that imposes a dilemma upon archaeologists; where and when should they stop digging; what should they preserve and what should they not preserve. This decision-making process is subjective and informed by individual or organizational agendas.

This talk addresses these contradictory concepts by focusing on a tell site that was first explored in the 1930s, then left to decay through environmental and anthropogenic stresses over the last century. This legacy Bronze Age capital city of the Kingdom of Mukish, Alalakh (now called Tell Atchana), located near the Orontes River in the Amuq Valley, is currently under study and reparation by a team of archaeologists, conservators, and cultural heritage specialists to preserve the mud brick monuments that were severely damaged during the February 6th Kahramanmaraş earthquakes.