A Hittite King at Yalburt Spring: Archaeology and Cultural Heritage in the Countryside (Yalburt Pınarı’nda Bir Hitit Kralı: Kırsal Alanda Arkeoloji ve Kültürel Miras Sergisi) Ömür Harmansah

https://www.academia.edu/175386745/A_Hittite_King_at_Yalburt_Spring_Archaeology_and_Cultural_Heritage_in_the_Countryside_Yalburt_P%C4%B1nar%C4%B1_nda_Bir_Hitit_Kral%C4%B1_K%C4%B1rsal_Alanda_Arkeoloji_ve_K%C3%BClt%C3%BCrel_Miras_Sergisi_?email_work_card=title With the official permission and institutional support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s General Directorate of Cultural Assets and Museums, an archaeological exhibition titled “A Hittite King at the Yalburt Spring: Archaeology and Cultural Heritage in the Countryside” has been curated to take place in Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum’s Stone Monuments Hall between 20 July and 23 August 2026. Curatorial team of the exhibition are Professors Ömür Harmanşah and Peri Johnson of University of Illinois Chicago, School of Art & Art History, with the substantive support of the administration and the archaeological experts of Ankara Anatolian Civilization Museum. In the Fall months of 1970, a sacred pool monument with carved Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscription of the Hittite Empire (1650-1175 BCE) was discovered at Yalburt Yaylası, an upland pasture of Konya Province, Ilgın district. This exhibition addresses the history of salvage excavations at this important archaeological site between 1970 and 1975, carried out by the leadership of Raci Temizer, who was the director of Ankara Museum at that time, and his team. His team included several important figures of Turkish archaeology and ancient history, including Mahmut Akok, Aliye Öztan, Levent Zoroğlu ve Kemal Balkan, who have dedicated their lives to Anatolian archaeology. At the same time, the exhibition also aims to share with museum visitors the results of Yalburt Yaylası Archaeological Landscape Research Project, carried out under the leadership of Dr. Ömür Harmanşah and Dr. Peri Johnson. Using videos, photographs, archaeological finds, field drawings, field notebooks, field forms, panels, and other objects of field experience, the exhibition carries the stories of fieldwork and stories from antiquity to the gallery space. Additionally the exhibition delivers the experience of archaeologists with archival documents and videorecordings to the museum. In the exhibition, visitors are able to enjoy artifacts from both the Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum and Akşehir Museum. This exhibition is part of a series of temporary exhibitions and publications that the Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum is putting together reflecting on the legacy data of past museum excavations. The exhibition is financially and institutionally supported by University of Illinois Chicago’s (USA) Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the College of Architecture, Design and the Arts in addition to the Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum.