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Lost Castle from a Battle That Changed Anatolia May Have Been Found
In September 1176, a large Byzantine army advanced into Anatolia with siege engines, supply wagons and ambitions of restoring imperial control over the region. Along its route, the soldiers passed the lost castle now associated with Myriokephalon before entering a confined valley where Seljuk forces launched an attack that changed the balance of power in…
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Turkic Runiform Signs Discovered Beside a Medieval Church in Central Turkey
Angular symbols associated with early Turkic writing traditions have been discovered on a rock beside a medieval church in the Binbir Kilise archaeological region of central Turkey. The carvings were recorded during the third season of surveys across Karadağ, an extinct volcanic massif north of Karaman. Researchers identified both runiform characters and tamgas linked to…
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Medieval Graves in Malazgirt May Hold Clues to the Aftermath of the 1071 Seljuk-Byzantine Battle
The 1071 Battle of Malazgirt was fought between the Seljuk army of Sultan Alp Arslan and the Byzantine forces of Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes for control of eastern Anatolia. The Seljuk victory did not transform the region overnight, but it weakened Byzantine authority in the east and became one of the defining turning points in…
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A Jewel of Power: Pearl-Inlaid Ivory Archer’s Ring from an Artuqid Palace Stuns Archaeologists
Archaeologists working at Hasankeyf have uncovered an object so rare that it has no known parallel in medieval archaeology. During the 2025 excavation season, a luxuriously decorated ivory archer’s ring (zihgir)—inlaid with pearls, silver, and turquoise—was discovered within the Great Palace complex, immediately raising questions about power, identity, and elite display in medieval Anatolia. An…
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Unearthed Gate Reveals Konya’s Hidden Seljuk Defense Line Against the Mongol Threat
Beneath the busy streets of modern Konya, archaeologists have uncovered the foundations of a monumental gate once built to shield the Seljuk capital from Mongol invasions. The find confirms the existence of the long-debated outer fortifications constructed under Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat in the early 13th century — a discovery that rewrites the defensive map of…