Neo-assyrıan materıal culture remaıns at murat höyük: an amulet and a dımpled goblet

Murat Höyük is located on the bank of the Murat River in Solhan district of modern Bingöl province in Eastern Anatolia. This study presents two archaeological finds of the Middle Iron Age – an amulet bearing divine symbols and a “dimpled goblet” – from the second settlement phase of the site. Threatened by the construction of Aşağı Kaleköy hydroelectric dam, Murat Höyük was registered by Erzurum Regional Board of Cultural Heritage Preservation in 2018 and immediate action was taken for salvage excavations. Murat Höyük Excavations were conducted by a team of specialists under the directorship of Elazığ Museum during a single, long and intensive field season in 2019 prior to the inundation of the mound. Four main settlement phases (I-IV) were documented at Murat Höyük, where Phase II dates to the 9th – 6th centuries BC. The two unique finds presented in this study provide evidence for the inhabitants’ interactions with neighboring cultures during a period when the site was under the domination of the Urartian Kingdom.