Barış Gür, a professor of archaeology at Dokuz Eylül University in İzmir, has published a historical novel (in Turkish) titled The Two Priests of the Locust God, set in western Anatolia in the thirteenth century BCE. The story takes place during the reign of the Hittite Great King Ḫattušili III and leads readers from Apasa (later Ephesus) via Millawanda (Miletus) and the port of Ura to the Hittite capital, Hattusa.

The novel follows two men from a village near Apasa whose lives take them across Anatolia. Along the way, they encounter the political tensions between Arzawa and the Hittite Empire, experience long-distance trade in the eastern Mediterranean, and gain insights into temple economies, caravan trade, and everyday life in Late Bronze Age society.

Particularly noteworthy is the careful integration of the fictional narrative with current archaeological and historical knowledge. Numerous places, political entities, and institutions are known from Hittite texts and archaeological research. Millawanda is portrayed as an important harbor with close ties to the Mycenaean world, while Hattusa appears as the religious and administrative center of the Hittite Empire. Themes such as deportations, international trade networks, temple administration, and the incorporation of foreign deities into the Hittite pantheon closely reflect the available textual and archaeological evidence.

Although the story itself is fictional, the novel offers an unusually vivid picture of the cultural and political landscape of western Anatolia immediately before the end of the Bronze Age. Works of historical fiction focusing on this period – and especially on the Luwian lands – remain rare.

Barış Gür. 2026. The Two Priests of the Locust God. Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları, Istanbul.