A

Achaea

name for Mycenaean Greece

Achaeans

collective name for all Greek-speaking people used by Homer

Achilles

hero of the Greek mythology and great warrior of the Trojan War

Acropolis

a city’s citadel, mostly built on nearby elevated ground

Adramyttion

ancient city at the Gulf of Edremit in the northwest of Asia Minor; settlement that predates present-day Edremit

Aegean

part of the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Asia Minor

Aegean Prehistory

branch of archaeology that deals with the Bronze Age cultures around the Aegean Sea

Aeneas

Greco-Roman mythological figure and second most famous Trojan hero after Hector

Afyon (also Afyonkarahisar)

city in present-day Türkiye, ca. 250 km southwest of Ankara situated on a high plateau

Agora

central meeting place of a city in ancient Greece

Ahhiya, Ahhiyawa

Hittite name for Mycenaean Greece

Ajax or Aias

son of King Telamon, mythological Greek hero

Akkadian cuneiform

script system from the Middle East that was adopted by the Hittites

Akrotiri

excavation site and Minoan settlement on the volcanic island of Thera (Santorini)

Alaca Höyük

settlement mound near the Turkish town of Boğazkale in central Anatolia

Alaksandu

King of the Luwian state of Wiluša (possibly Troy) during the 13th century BCE

Alexandria Troas

Ancient port city, located in the Troad about 30 km south of Hisarlık

Amarna

Ruins on the right bank of the Nile (more correctly Tell el-Amarna), capital and seat of government under Akhenaten (Egyptian name: Achet-Aton)

Amarna letters, Amarna correspondence

large body of correspondence written in Akkadian cuneiform that had been found in the palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten (Achet-Aton)

Amenhotep III, Amenophis III

Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty; Reign approximately 1388-1351 BCE

Amenmesse

Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th dynasty; Reign approximately 1203-1200 BCE; also called Messuwy

Amnisos

Minoan port city on the north shore of Crete

Anatolia, also called Asia Minor

the territory of present-day Türkiye with the exception of Thracia

Ancient History

the entire historical time span from 2000 BCE to 600 CE

Ancient Near East

Egypt and Near East (synonymous for Middle East) until the time of the Persian conquest (539/525 BCE)

Ancient Oriental Studies

branch of historical research that covers the cultures of the ancient Near East from the first emergence of cuneiform texts (fourth millennium BCE) to their disappearance (around the birth of Christ)

Ancient times

historical term that covers the cultures of the Mediterranean and the Near East from the end of Prehistory (mid-fourth millennium BCE) to the Middle Ages (from the sixth century CE)

Antalya

city on the Mediterranean coast of Türkiye

Antenor

aged Trojan hero; according to various sources traitor to the city of Troy

Antioch on the Orontes

ancient Syrian city (today city of Antakya, Türkiye)

Antiquity

Greek and Roman history (also called classical antiquity)

Apaša

capital of the Luwian kingdom Arzawa, many researchers assume it had been located in the area of the antique city of Ephesus

Aphrodisias

ancient city in Caria, a region in the southwest of present-day Türkiye

Apodoulou

Minoan settlement in central Crete

Apollo

Olympian deity in Greek and Roman mythology

Argives

inhabitants of the Argolis in the northeast of the Peloponnese peninsula from the Bronze Age citadels of Mycenae, Tiryns, Argos, Mideia, and Nafplio

Argolic Gulf

bay southwest of the Argolis

Argolis or Argolid

Greek region in the northeast of the Peloponnese peninsula, heartland of the Mycenaean culture

Argonauts

group of heroes in Greek mythology who went on an adventurous sea voyage in search of the Golden Fleece

Argos

modern city and Mycenaean kingdom, located in the Argolid on the Peloponnese

Arisbe

ancient city in the Troad, mentioned by Homer

Aristotle

Greek philosopher (384-322), pupil of Plato

Arnuwanda I

Hittite emperor (reign: -1375 BCE)

Arnuwanda III

Hittite emperor (reign: 1215-1214 BCE)

Arzawa

kingdom in the west of Asia Minor during the second millennium BCE, alternatively enemy or vassal state of the Hittite kingdom

Arzawa provinces

the regions of Šeḫa, Mira, und Ḫapalla in addition to the Arzawa area itself

Ashdod

ancient port city at the eastern Mediterranean coast (present-day Israel)

Ashkelon

ancient port city at the eastern Mediterranean coast (present-day Israel)

Asia

Egyptian term for the northwestern part of Asia Minor (corresponds with the name Aššuwa)

Asia Minor

area of present-day Türkiye without the European part (also called Anatolia)

Assos

ancient city, located on the southwestern coast of the Troad in the northwest of Asia Minor

Aššuwa league

short-lived confederation of petty states located in the northwest of Anatolia during the time of the Hittite Emperor Tudhaliya I (15th century BCE)

Assyria

kingdom on the Tigris River in northern Mesopotamia that had been powerful during the second millennium BCE, capital Aššur or Ashur

Athribis

ancient Egyptian city, located in the Nile Delta

Atlantis

A city described in Plato’s work Critias as a historic place that was destroyed by a united Greek army

Aurichalcite

rare mineral that consists mostly of copper and zinc, together the two chemical elements also form the alloy of brass

Avaris

ancient Egyptian city in the eastern region of the Nile Delta

Axios

Greek name of a river that flows into the Aegean Sea near present-day Thessaloniki in the Greek region of Macedonia

B

Babylonia

region on the lower reaches of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris; major power in the Near East during the second millennium BCE

Ballı Dağ

summit south of the plain of Troy; in the 19th century it was assumed to be site of ancient Troy

Benoît de Sainte-Maure

12th century French-speaking author from Saint-Maure in the county of Touraine, France, who became well-known because of his Roman de Troie, a novel about the Trojan War

Beşik Bay

natural bay, approximately 10 km south of Hisarlık

Beycesultan

archaeological mound in western Anatolia

Beyköy

tell settlement north of the Turkish city of Afyon

Biga peninsula

part of Asia Minor that belongs to the present-day Turkish province of Çanakkale

Bija

Egyptian chancellor at the time of Siptah and Twosret (1193-1187 BCE)

Bithynia

Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor

Boğazkale

Turkish village, located 150 km east of Ankara near the remains of ancient Hattuša

Bosporus

strait between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea

Bronze Age

cultural era of the Old World whose begin and end differ from one region to the next, in the Eastern Mediterranean it lasted from 3000 to 1200 BCE

Büyük Menderes River

river in western Asia Minor (called Maeander in ancient times, Großer Mäander in German)

Byzantium

predecessor city of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul)

C

Calvert, Frank

English amateur archaeologist (1828-1908) who drew Heinrich Schliemann’s attention to the location of ancient Troy on hill Hisarlık

Canaan

historical term (common from 1500 to 1200 BCE) for the region along the eastern Mediterranean coast; originally used only for the part under Egyptian domination

Çanakkale

provincial capital in Türkiye, located on the southern shore of the Dardanelles

Çandarlı

village located on a spit of land at the Aegean coast in Türkiye’s Izmir Province

Cape Uluburun (Grand Cape)

spit of land in the Antalya province in southern Türkiye, in 1982, a merchant ship dating from around 1300 BCE was discovered off the coast of Uluburun

Carchemish or Karkemish

Ancient Near Eastern city on the Euphrates River at the border between Syria and Türkiye

Caria

ancient landscape in the southwest of Asia Minor

Carians

Luwian people who had resided in southwestern Asia Minor in the landscape of Caria; allies of the Trojans in the Trojan War according to Homer

Carthage

ancient city on present-day's Tunisian Mediterranean coast, founded by Phoenician settlers in the 9th century BCE

Çatalhöyük

settlement from the Neolithic period with several thousand inhabitants, situated on the Anatolian plateau in present-day Türkiye; since 2012 part of the UNESCO world heritage

Catalogue of Ships

list of Greek troops with ships, leaders, and places of origin of the warriors that is part of Homer’s Iliad

Chania

Minoan port city in the north of Crete

Chronicle of Fredegar

early medieval world chronicle from the 7th century, written in Latin

Çine-Tepecik

Late Bronze Age fortified settlement with defensive tower, located in southwestern Türkiye

Classical archaeology

archeological sub-discipline that deals with the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean, especially the Greek and Roman

Classical philology, classical studies

branch of linguistics that is dedicated to the research of Latin and Ancient Greek and the study of written records and historical sources of the Greek and Roman Antiquity

Codex Venetus A

most famous passed down manuscript of Homer's Iliad, from the 10th century

Constantine the Great

Roman emperor (reign: 306-337)

Constantinople

predecessor city of Istanbul, also please see Byzantium

Cretan hieroglyphs

script signs from the Minoan period that had been used from about the 20th to 15th century BCE in Crete

Critias

unfinished work by Greek Philosopher Plato that describes changes in landscape and ancient cultures

Croesus

last king of Lydia, famous for his wealth and generosity (reign: ca. 555-541 BCE)

Crypro-Minoan syllabary

syllabic script that had been used in Bronze-Age Cyprus from about the 15th to the 12th century BCE

Cuneiform Luwian

writing system that had been used by the Hittites to write texts in Luwian, it differs only marginally from the usual Hittite cuneiform script

Cybele

goddess who had originally been worshiped in Phrygia (Asia Minor), later in Greece, Thrace, and Rome as well

Cyclades

Greek island group in the Aegean Sea

Cyclopean masonry

Late Bronze Age architectural style for protective walls that were built of uncut slabs of stone with up to two meters side length

Cyzicus

Greek city on the southern coast of the Marmara Sea; today called Balız, located near Erdek in the Turkish province of Balıkesirs

D

Dardanelles

strait between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara (ancient name: Hellespont)

Dares of Phrygia (Dares Phrygius)

author of a report on the fall of Troy that had been written by the second century at the latest

Deir el-Medina

Egyptian artisan village near the Valley of the Kings in Western Thebes

Didyma

ancient sanctuary with famous Apollo temple, located in the west of present-day Türkiye

Diktys of Crete (Dictys Cretensis)

author of a report on the fall of Troy; the text exists in a Latin version from the fourth century

Dio Chrysostom

Greek orator, writer, and philosopher (first century CE) from Prusa (present-day Bursa)

Diodorus Siculus

Greek historian (first century BCE) from Sicily

Dionysius of Halikarnassus

Greek scholar and historian (first century BCE)

Dodecanese

group of Greek islands in the Eastern Aegean

Dor

Ancient city on the Mediterranean coast, located in present-day Israel, about 30 km south of Haifa

Dörpfeld, Wilhelm

German architect and archaeologist (1853-1940); directed excavations in Troy after the death of Heinrich Schliemann

Dümrek

river that runs through the Troad and flows into the Scamander (ancient name Simoeis) near Hisarlık

E

Eceabat

Turkish city on the northern shore of the Dardanelles

Edremit

city on the Turkish Mediterranean coast (at the Gulf of Edremit) in the western province of Balıkesir

Egyptology

academic discipline that explores all aspects of the ancient Egyptian culture until the end of Roman rule in the 4th century CE

Ekron

ancient Philistine city-state in present-day Israel

Epano Englianos

archaeological site of the Palace of Nestor at Pylos on the southern part of the Peloponnesian west coast

Ephesus

important Greek city on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, about 70 km south of Izmir

Epic Cycle

collection of ancient Greek hexameter verses that tell the story of the Trojan War and had been passed down orally for a long time

Etruria

ancient landscape and heartland of the Etruscans in central Italy

Etruscans

ancient people that had settled in Etruria in northern central Italy, their presence in the area can be verified for the time after the beginning of the 9th century BCE

Euboea

second-largest Greek island, separated from the mainland by the narrow Gulf of Euboea

Eusebius of Caesarea

Christian theologian and historian of late antiquity (ca. 260–340)

Evans, Arthur

British archaeologist (1851-1941), considered to be the discoverer of the Minoan culture, became well-known because he had excavated the Minoan palace of Knossos on Crete

F

Forchhammer, Peter Wilhelm

German philologist and archaeologist (1801-1894) at the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel

Forrer, Emil

Swiss assyriologist and hittitologist (1894-1986), devoted himself to the decipherment of Hittite and Luwian writings

G

Gallipoli

peninsula that is located in the European part of present-day Türkiye, borders on the Dardanelles in the south and on the Gulf of Saros in the north

Gaza

ancient port city on the Mediterranean coast (today located in the Gaza Strip)

Gediz

river in western Türkiye that drains into the Gulf of Izmir about 30 km north-west of Izmir, it formed an about 20-km wide river delta

Geoarchaeology

research discipline dedicated to the reconstruction of ancient environments and correlations between landscape and human settlement

Gergis

ancient city located in the Troad

German new humanism or Neuhumanismus

movement within the humanities that emerged in Germany in 1750, it rediscovered the ideas of classical antiquity

Gournia

ancient Minoan port city on the north coast of eastern Crete

Greek Dark Ages

period between the 12th and 8th century BCE in ancient Greece, during which, among other things, the knowledge of script had been lost

Greek Philology

scientific discipline dedicated to the ancient Greek language and literature

Guido de Columnis, Guido delle Colonne

judge and writer from the Sicilian province capital of Messina, ca. 1220-1290

H

Hama

Syrian city on the Orontes River that has been settled since the 5th millennium BCE

Hammurabi

name of the last ruler of Ugarit (around 1200 BCE)

Hanay Tepe

Bronze Age settlement in the southeastern part of Troas, a few kilometers south of Hisarlık

Hapalla

Hittite name for a state located west of central Anatolia

Hatshepsut

Egyptian queen (1479-1457 BCE)

Hatti

name of the Hittite kingdom

Hattians

people in central Anatolia before the arrival of the Hittite tribes (also called Proto-Hattians)

Hattic

language of the Hattians, the indigenous population of central Anatolia

Hattuša

capital of the Hittite kingdom; near the present-day village of Boğazkale, 150 km east of Ankara

Hattušili III

Hittite king in the 13th century BCE (reigned ca. from 1266-1236 BCE)

Hau-nebut

Egyptian term for “inhabitants of the Aegean”

Hector

figure of Greek mythology; eldest son of Priam and commander-in-chief of the Trojan army

Helen

wife of Menelaus, prince of Mycenae and later king of Sparta; according to legend, she followed the Trojan prince Paris to Troy, hereby causing the Trojan War

Hellespont

ancient name of the Dardanelles

Hephaestus

Greek god of fire and metal arts

Heracles

hero of Greek mythology

Heraclides

descendants of Heracles in Greek mythology

Hermos

ancient name of the Gediz river

Herodotus

Greek historian (484-430)

Hesiod

Greek poet (8th/7th century BCE)

Hieroglyphic Luwian

Indo-European language of central Anatolia (ca. 17th to 8th century BCE) that has used pictorial script signs

Hieronymus

please see Saint Jerome

Hisarlık

name of a tell on the eastern edge of the plain of Troy; since 1870 excavation site of the fortress of Ilion, residence of the kings of Troy

Hittite hieroglyphs

early, misleading term for Hieroglyphic Luwian

Hittites

people who had been native to central Anatolia in the 2nd millennium BCE and had spoken an Indo-European language

Homer

first poet of the West, author of the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey (probably 8th century BCE, his actual existence is disputed)

I

Ida Mountains

mountain range, located in the Troad in northwestern Türkiye (Turkish Kaz Dağı)

Idomeneus

in Greek mythology a king of Crete and participant in the Trojan War

Ilias

epic tale by Homer that covers a time period near the end of the Trojan War

Ilion, Ilios

name of the royal fortress of Troy used by Homer

Ionia

term for the central west coast of Asia Minor that had been settled by Greeks during early Iron Age

Iron Age

cultural epoch of the Old World; here the time after 1200 BCE

Isidor of Seville

Roman Catholic bishop and historian of late antiquity, who gathered and compiled the knowledge of antiquity that had still been available (560-636)

Išuwa

ancient kingdom, located on the upper Euphrates in Anatolia

Ithaka

island in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece; home of Odysseus according to Homer

J

Jason

Greek mythological hero, leader of the Argonauts

John Malalas

Roman historian of late antiquity and author of a Christian world chronicle (ca. 490-570)

Joseph of Exeter (Latin Josephus Iscanus)

cleric and Latin poet of the 12th century from Exeter in Devon county, England

K

Kadesh, Qadesh-on-the-Orontes

major Syrian city of the 2nd millennium BCE; site of an important battle between Hatti and Egypt in 1274 BCE

Kadıkalesi

settlement mound on the Aegean coast of Türkiye

Kaniš

please see Kültepe

Karamenderes

please see Skamander

Karkiya

Late Bronze Age petty state in western Anatolia, later presumably Caria

Karnak

Temple and main house of the God Amun-Ra in ancient Thebes, near present-day Luxor

Kaş

city in southern Türkiye, ca. 180 km southwest of Antalya

Kaška

please see Kaškians

Kaškians or Kaška

ancient Near Eastern people who had settled in northwestern Anatolia, perpetually hostile towards Hatti

Kaymakçı

Late Bronze Age citadel, located west of Lake Marmara Gölü in the present-day Turkish province of Izmir

Kesik

artificial incision into the coastal mountains 5 km west of Hisarlık, ca. 500 m long and 30 m deep (in Turkish “Kesik” means cut)

Kesik Tepe

mound near Hisarlık

Kızılırmak

Türkiye’s longest river; runs through eastern central Anatolia in a great arc (ancient name: Halys)

Kizzuwatna

Hittite name for the Cilician plains

Knossos

Minoan city and largest Minoan palace on Crete

Kom al-Samak

altar at the ancient Egyptian palace complex of Malqata on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes

Korfmann, Manfred

German archaeologist (1942-2005) specialized in prehistory; professor at the University of Tübingen, in 1988 he became excavation director at Troy

Korinth

Greek city on the Isthmus of Corinth, which connects the Peloponnese to mainland Greece

Kültepe

important Bronze Age settlement and trading city in central Anatolia (also called Kaniš or Neša)

Kythira, Cythera

Greek island opposite the southeastern tip of the Peloponnese

L

Lake Copais

artificially drained lake at present-day Gla, originally an important Mycenaean settlement in Boeotia, Greece

Laodicea

ancient city on the river Lycus in Phrygia, in the southwest of present-day Türkiye

Larissa, Larisa

ancient city, mentioned by Homer, that is located on the Hermus river (today Gediz) in an area of Asia Minor called Aeolis

Lasithi

region in the east of Crete

Lesbos

Greek island in the Aegean Sea opposite the coast of Asia Minor

Levant

coasts and hinterland of the states located on the eastern Mediterranean coast

Libya

in Late Bronze Age the land west of Egypt that had been settled by Libyan people

Linear A

script system that had been used on Crete from ca. the 17th to the 15th century BCE next to the Cretan hieroglyphic script, from which it had probably derived

Linear B

Mycenaean syllabic script that had been deciphered, in use from ca. the 15th to the 12th century BCE, first in Crete, later on the Greek mainland as well

Little Iliad

part of the Epic Cycle that originated in the 7th century BCE, of which only fragments have been passed down

Livius Andronicus

earliest known Latin poet (around 280–207 BCE)

Lukka

Egyptian name of a people viewed as hostile by the Egyptians, they had settled in the southwest of Anatolia (presumably Lycia)

Lunisolar calendar

A calendar that combines monthly lunar cycles with the solar year; every second or third year a thirteenth intercalary month is added.

Luwian cuneiform script

please see Cuneiform Luwian

Luwian hieroglyphs

please see Hieroglyphic Luwian

Luwians

Indo-European people who had settled in western Anatolia during the time of the Hittite kingdom

Luwili, Luwian

term for the Luwian language

Luwiya

early Hittite name for the area that had been settled by Luwian-speaking people

Luxor Temple

ancient Egyptian temple, located in present-day Luxor on the east bank of the Nile River

Lycophron

Greek grammarian and poet from the city of Chalcis on the island of Euboea (ca. 320–280 BCE)

Lydia

area on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor

Lykia

ancient Greek name of an area in the southwest of Asia Minor (in Hittite probably Lukka)

M

Macedonia

historical area, located on the southern Balkan peninsula, presently part of the territory of Greece and the Republic of Macedonia

Macestus (Susurluk Çayı)

river in the northwest of present-day Türkiye

Magliano Disc

circular lead disc, 8 cm in diameter, engraved with Etruscan script in a spiral pattern, discovered in Magliano, present-day Tuscany

Maidos

tell settlement in present-day Eceabat, located on the north shore of the Dardanelles

Malia

Minoan palace, situated on the northern coast of Crete

Marmara Sea

inland sea of the Mediterranean (ancient name: Propontis), connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles

Maša

Late Bronze Age petty state in western Asia Minor (in antiquity probably Mysia)

Medinet Habu

Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III in Western Thebes, built around 1170 BCE

Mellaart, James

British prehistorian (1925-2012) who discovered various Neolithic tells in Türkiye, in charge of the excavations in Çatalhöyük and Beycesultan

Merneptah

Egyptian pharaoh (ca. 1213-1203 BCE)

Messara, Mesara

coastal plain in southern Crete

Messenia

region in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese, known because of Nestor, King of Pylos

Messui

please see Amenmesse

Metonic cycle

a period of almost exactly 19 years (235 synodic months) after which the lunar phases recur at the same time of the year.

Midaion

largest yet to be excavated tell settlement in western Asia Minor

Midas

emperor of Phrygia in the 2nd half of the 8th century BCE

Middle Ages

historical period from the end of antiquity to the beginning of modern times in European history (ca. 6th–15th century)

Middle East

Southwest Asian subcontinent that includes the following regions and territories: Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Syria, the Arabian and the Sinai Peninsula, and the Armenian and Iranian highlands

Milet

ancient Greek city on the west coast of Asia Minor

Milos, Melos

Greek island in the Aegean Sea

Minoan culture

Bronze Age culture on Crete, considered Europe’s earliest advanced culture

Minos

Cretan king during Minoan times

Mira

Hittite name of a state west of central Anatolia

Mitanni

late Bronze Age petty state in the north of present-day Syria

Monastiraki

archaeological site from Minoan times on Crete that had been abandoned after 1700 BCE

Mount Lebanon

once densely forested mountain range that runs about 160 km parallel to the Mediterranean coast

Muršili II

Hittite emperor (reign: ca. 1318-1290 BCE)

Müsgebi

Mycenaean settlement and burial ground on the Aegean coast of western Asia Minor

Muwattalli II

Hittite emperor (reign: ca. 1290-1272 BCE)

Mycenae

important Bronze Age site on mainland Greece

Mysians

the inhabitants of Mysia, a region in northwestern Asia Minor.

N

Naevius

Roman poet (270–201 BCE)

Navarino Bay

bay near the Greek city of Pylos

Nea Kameni

uninhabited Greek island of volcanic origin, set in the caldera of Thera (today called Santorini)

Nergal

A Mesopotamian god rimarily associated with war, death, and disease, who reigned over the Mesopotamian underworld.

Neša

please see Kültepe

Nešili

one of a number of terms for the Hittite language (also: Hittite, Nešite)

Nešite, Neshite

one of a number of terms for the Hittite language (also: Hittite, Nešili)

New Palace Period

time period of the Minoan culture (ca. 1700-1430 BCE), during which a highly sophisticated architecture had developed

Niḫriya

city and state by the same name that is known from historical sources, located in southeastern Anatolia

Nişantaş inscription

8,5 m wide and longest known Luwian hieroglyphic inscription so far, found in Hattuša (Nişantaş = marking stone)

Non-Homeric Troy reports

all written history about the Trojan War, except for the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer

Nostoi (Returns of the Greeks)

part of the Epic Cycle that covers the homecoming of major Greek heroes like Agamemnon and Menelaus after the Trojan War

Nubia

area in the south of Egypt, whose inhabitants had been of dark skin color

nuwaʿum

term used by Assyrian merchants of Asia Minor to describe the Luwians

O

Odysseus

Greek mythological hero

Odyssey

epic tale by Homer, in which the adventures of King Odysseus of Ithaca on his return from the Trojan War are told

Old Palace Period

epoch of the Minoan culture during which the first palaces had been established (around 1900–1700 BCE)

Old World

historical term for Europe, Africa, and Asia combined (before the European discovery of the Americas)

Olympia

sanctuary of Zeus in the northwest of the Peloponnese, Olympic venue of antiquity

Onuphis

place in ancient Egypt, located in the Nile Delta

Orichalkos

Modern Greek for brass

Orontes

abundant river in Libanon and Syria

Otranto

port city in the region of Calabria, Italy

Ottoman Empire

empire of the dynasty of the Ottomans from about 1299 to 1923

Ovid

Roman poet (ca. 43 BCE – 17 CE)

P

Palace of Nestor

archaeological site of a major Mycenaean palace and administrative center on the hill of Epano Englianos north of Pylos in the western Peloponnese

Palaic

Indo-European language belonging to the Anatolian language group, of which only fragments have been preserved

Papyrus Harris I, also called Great Harris Papyrus

one of the oldest and best preserved hieroglyphic papyri (40 meters in length) reports, among other things, doings and achievements of Ramesses III (today exhibited in the British Museum)

Paris

Greek mythological figure; son of the Trojan King Priam

Pausanias

Greek writer of the 2nd century from Asia Minor who wrote a detailed travel report on Greece

Pefkakia Magoula

archaeological site at the port city of Volos in the Thessaly region in mainland Greece

Pelasgians

term for prehistoric non-Greek-speaking groups in Greece, which probably originate from the Troad

Peleset

a tribe, hostile towards Egypt, that is mentioned in the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III in Medinet Habu

Peloponnese

peninsula in the south of mainland Greece, heartland of the Mycenaeans

Pergamon

ancient Greek city in the west of Asia Minor near the Aegean coast

Petras

Minoan site in northeastern Crete

Phaistos

Minoan palace on Crete

Phaistos Disc

circular clay disc of about 15 cm in diameter with a spiral arrangement of characters that had been found in the Palace of Phaistos on Crete

Philhellenism

intellectual movement influenced by German new humanism that evolved in the 1820s in Europe and enthusiastically embraced all things Greek

Philistines

Near Eastern people mentioned in the Bible that, most likely coming from the Aegean, had settled in the coastal areas of Canaan in the 12th century BCE

Philoxenus

Greek poet (435–380)

Phoenicians

ancient people who had lived mainly in Phoenicia in the area of present-day Lebanon and Syria on the Mediterranean coast

Phrygia

ancient name of a region in western central Asia Minor; named after the Phrygians, who had immigrated from the Troad and Thrace the 12th century BCE

Pınarbaşı

location at the south end of the plain of Troy; in the 19th century it had been considered the site of the Bronze Age city

Pisidia

Hittite name for a state west of central Anatolia

Plato

Greek philosopher (427-347)

Pliny

actually Gaius Plinius Secundus; better known as Pliny the elder (23-79); Roman writer; author of a natural history in 37 books

Plutarch

Greek writer (46-120)

Poseidon

in Greek mythology god of the sea and brother of Zeus

Prehistory

research branch of archaeology, also called ancient or early history, that deals with the history of mankind from the emergence of the first stone tools to the advent of written documents, the latter differs widely throughout the various regions

Priam

Greek mythological figure, king of Troy during the time of the Trojan War

Priam’s Treasure

Extensive depot find from the 3rd millennium that was discovered and wrongly attributed to the ancient King Priam by Heinrich Schliemann

Proklos

Greek philosopher (412–485)

Prusa

ancient name of the present-day city of Bursa in northwestern Türkiye

Ptolemaeus Chennos

Greek writer (1st century)

Puduhepa

wife of the Hittite King Hattusili III and mother of Tuthalija IV (13th century BCE)

Pylos

Late Bronze Age palace of Nestor in the southwest of the Peloponnese

Pyrgos

town in the southwest of the Messara plain on Crete

Q

Quintus Smyrnaeus

ancient Greek poet (probably third century CE); author of Posthomerica, an epos in which he drew upon the archaic stories of the Epic Cycle

R

Ramesses I

Egyptian pharaoh and founder of the 19th dynasty (reign: 1292-1290 BCE)

Ramesses II

Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th dynasty (reign: 1279-1213 BCE)

Ramesses III

Egyptian pharaoh of the 20th dynasty (reign: 1182-1151 BCE)

Rhodos

Greek island off the southwestern coast of Asia Minor

Rhytion

city near Pyrgos, Crete, in the southwest of the Messara plain

Roman Empire

territories that had been dominated by Rome between the 8th century BCE and the 7th century CE

S

Saint Jerome, also known as Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

Roman church father, saint, scholar, and theologian (347-420)

Saïs

Greek name of an ancient Egyptian town in the Western Nile Delta; site of an important battle between Egypt and the Sea Peoples in 1208 BCE, capital during the reign of the 26th dynasty

Samothrace

Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea near the Dardanelles

Sanctuary of Trajan

temple at the highest point of the Acropolis of Pergamon

Santorini

archipelago in the south of the Cyclades, centered around the main island of Thera

Sappho

Greek lyric poetess (late 7th century)

Sardis

capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia in the west of present-day Türkiye

Scamander

river that originates in the Ida Mountains and crosses the Trojan plain (also called Skamandros or Karamenderes); according to Homer, the gods called the river Xanthos

Scheria

A land first mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as the home of the Phaeacians and the last destination of Odysseus before his return to Ithaca

Schliemann, Heinrich

German businessman and amateur archaeologist, who conducted the first excavations at Hisarlık, where he discovered the ruins of Ilion, the royal citadel of Troy

Sea Peoples

confederation of peoples who had attacked Egypt in the late 13th and early 12th century BCE

Šeḫa (also Šeḫa River Land)

Hittite name for a state west of central Anatolia

Seneca

Roman poet and writer (4 BCE – 65 C)

Seti I

Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th dynasty (reign: 1290-1279 BCE)

Seti II

Egyptian pharaoh of the 19. Dynasty

Setnakhte

first Egyptian pharaoh of the 20th dynasty; father of Ramesses III

Shasu

Egyptian name for a nation of semi-nomadic people who lived in Syria and Canaan

Sherden

Egyptian name for a people that is mentioned in connection with the so-called Sea Peoples

Sigeion

port city during the 4th century BCE, located west of Illion

Simoeis

please see Dümrek

Siptah

Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th dynasty

Skamma andros

please see Scamander

Skepsis

ancient Greek city, located in the Troad

Socrates

Greek philosopher and Plato’s teacher (469–399 BCE)

Solon

Greek statesman und poet (ca. 640–560 BCE)

Sophocles

Greek tragedian (496–406 BCE)

Sphinx

in the arts, mythological figure with the body of a lion and the head of a man

Spratt, Thomas

English vice admiral, cartographer and geologist (1811–1888)

Stesichorus

Greek lyric poet (630–555 BCE)

Strabo, Strabon

antique Greek historian and geographer (ca. 63 BCE–23 CE)

Stratigraphy

the investigation of layer sequences in order to identify found horizons for dating in archaeology and geoarchaeology

Šuppiluliuma I

Hittite emperor (reign: 1343–1320 BCE), considered to be the founder of the new kingdom

Šuppiluliuma II

last Hittite emperor (reign: 1205–1192 BCE)

Syria

area between Euphrates and Mediterranean Sea south of the mountains of Anatolia

T

Tarhuntašša

undiscovered city in the south of central Anatolia, after the Battle of Kadesh (1275 BCE) it had temporarily become the capital of the Hittite kingdom

Telamon

Greek mythological figure, king of Salamis and participant in the first Greek attack on Troy

Telemachus

Greek mythological figure, son of Odysseus

Tell

settlement mound created through repeated human settlement (Turkish: Höyük)

Tell Deir Alla

settlement mound in present-day Jordan

Tell el-Fara

settlement mount in the Nile Delta, Egypt

Tenedos

island off the coast of the Troad (today the Turkish island of Bozcaada)

Teshub

The Hurrian weather god; depicted in Yazılıkaya as the highest deity of the Hittite pantheon

Teucrians, Tkr

term commonly used for the people of Troy after 1200 BCE

Texier, Charles (1802–1871)

French historian, architect and archaeologist, first European to see the ruins of Hattuša during his travels through Asia Minor in 1834.

Thalassocracy

state or group of states that bases its power on maritime trade and has a fleet at its disposal

Thebes

Greek name for the former capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom; present-day Luxor

Theoclymenus

Greek mythological figure

Thera (Santorini)

volcanic island in the Aegean Sea; an outbreak in the late 17th cent. BCE destroyed the settlement of Akrotiri

Therasia, Thirasia

Greek island in the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea

Theseus

Greek mythological hero, king of the Mycenaean kingdom of Thessaly

Thessaly

geographic region and Mycenaean kingdom in eastern Greece

Thracia

region on the European side of the Dardanelles

Thucydides

Greek historian (460–400 BCE)

Timaeus

title of a dialogue by the Greek philosopher Plato

Timaeus from Tauromenium

ancient Greek historian (345–250 BCE)

Time of history

time period during which humanity possessed the ability to read and write

Tiryns

Bronze Age archaeological site and citadel, located in the Argolid

Tjeker

one of the Sea Peoples

Tragliatella

Italian town, where an Etruscan wine jug, engraved with a labyrinth and the name “Truia” (Troy) was found

Trajaneum

please see Sanctuary of Trajan

Troad, Troas

ancient name of the landscape around Troy southeast of the Dardanelles, separated from the rest of Anatolia by a mountain range

Trojan War

term for a fatal early-historical conflict between the united Greeks and a coalition of western Anatolian states in Greek mythology and ancient texts

Tros

king of Troy in Greek mythology

Troy

location in Greek mythology; since Heinrich Schliemann, Troy has been generally equated with the Bronze Age archaeological site on the hill Hisarlık in the northwest of Asia Minor

Troy debate

controversy among German prehistorians with respect to the exploration and significance of Troy

Tukulti-Ninurta I

king of Assyria (reign: 1234–1197 BCE)

Tumulus

grave mound or burial mound

Tušratta, Tushratta

king of Mitanni (reign: ca. 1370–1350 BCE)

Tuthalija IV

Hittite emperor (reign: 1236–1215 BCE)

Twosret

female Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th dynasty (reign: 1193–1185 BCE)

Tyre

important Phoenician city on a small island off the coast of present-day Lebanon

Tyrrhenians

a people of northwestern Asia Minor that had been closely related to the Etruscans, mentioned by ancient Greek historians

U

Ugarit

ancient trading hub, located at the Mediterranean coast on present-day Syrian territory, capital of a state by the same name

Uluburun shipwreck

sunken sailing ship from the Late Bronze Age that was found in 1982 near Cape Uluburun off the southwestern coast of Türkiye

Underworld

Also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in many religious traditions and myths

Uwas

Cretan petty king

V

Ventris, Michael

English architect (1922–1956) who in 1952 deciphered the Linear-B script

Villanovan culture

earliest Iron Age culture of northern Italy that had its center in present-day Tuscany

Virgil, Vergil

Roman poet (70–19 BCE)

W

Walma

Hittite name for a state west of central Anatolia

Wiluša

late Bronze Age state in western Asia Minor that had been mentioned in Hittite texts; possibly Troy

X

Xanthos

please see Scamander

Xenophon

Greek writer (430–354 BCE)

Y

Yazılıkaya

Hittite rock sanctuary near Hattuša dating to ca. 1230 BCE; considered one of the holiest places of the Hittite kingdom, contains over 90 bas-reliefs on vertical limestone faces.

Yerkapı

Turkish for “gate in the ground,” is name of the postern that leads through the rampart below the highest point below of Hattuša.