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Archaeologists discover secret tunnel in ancient Hittite castle
The Week ^ | October 19, 2015 | Jeva Lange, Hurriyet Daily News

Posted on 10/21/2015 1:33:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

The excavation of a mountain castle in central Turkey has revealed a secret tunnel, built by the Hittites around 4,000 years ago. Geval Castle, on Takkel Mountain in Central Anatolia, sits over 5,500 feet above sea level and once offered a strategic 360-degree vantage point for a population that regularly faced assaults from the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Thracians throughout their history. As a result, Hittites were master underground builders, although the exciting discoveries at Takkel Mountain appear to be the first of their kind.

"We have discovered secret tunnels in the castle. We have cleaned there and revealed a [328-foot to 492-foot] part of the tunnel. We believe that it is almost [984 feet long]. This tunnel becomes integrated with the cistern [...] This tunnel is connected to the cistern through a secret way," Necmettin Erbakan University History of Arts Prof. Ahmet Çaycı told Hurriyet Daily News.

Gevale Castle has many such cisterns, which were used to supply water to the fortress. Researchers can make assumptions about the population of the area by measuring the sizes of the cisterns and calculating how many people lived at the castle based on the available water supply. However, the tunnel notably established a connection with the outside world. "It is closed with a vault that looks like part of the land," Çaycı said. "But when you go deeper, you understand that it is a tunnel."

(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: 19thdynasty; 25thdynasty; aegean; anatolia; archaeology; boghazkoy; castle; catastrophism; emilforrer; gevalcastle; godsgravesglyphs; hattusa; hattusas; hittite; hittites; takkelmountain; trojanwar; turkey
Geval Castle, on Takkel Mountain in Central Anatolia

Geval Castle, on Takkel Mountain in Central Anatolia

1 posted on 10/21/2015 1:33:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: 75thOVI; Abathar; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; ...
One of *those* topics. Interesting, a water-gathering technology familiar from Thebes, Jerusalem, etc etc.



2 posted on 10/21/2015 1:35:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Starbuck’s . . .


3 posted on 10/21/2015 1:35:51 PM PDT by Fester Chugabrew (Diversity is Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sharing the same jail cell.)
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

4 posted on 10/21/2015 1:35:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Well I guess they're not secret anymore, are they?

...bunch of big mouthed archaeologists cannot shut up about anything!

It reminds me of the old saying: Two archaeologists can keep a secret -- as long as both of them are dead.

5 posted on 10/21/2015 1:40:31 PM PDT by WayneS (Yeah, it's probably sarcasm...)
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To: SunkenCiv

“Geval Castle, on Takkel Mountain in Central Anatolia”

Cleverly disguised as a big pile of dirt.


6 posted on 10/21/2015 1:44:30 PM PDT by PLMerite (The Revolution...will not be kind.)
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To: PLMerite

It’s about 4,000 years old.


7 posted on 10/21/2015 1:45:36 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("Who wants to hear you sing about tragedy?" Fall Out Boy)
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To: SunkenCiv

Eloi on the surface castle and Morlochs in the cave Or just that the Hittites were Troglodytes at heart?


8 posted on 10/21/2015 1:47:27 PM PDT by JimSEA
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To: WayneS

They know where all the bodies are buried.


9 posted on 10/21/2015 1:49:56 PM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
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To: Tax-chick

“It’s about 4,000 years old.”

When I’m 4,000 years old, a pile of dirt is all I’ll be, too.


10 posted on 10/21/2015 2:01:47 PM PDT by PLMerite (The Revolution...will not be kind.)
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To: SunkenCiv

That’s a castle? Looks like a hill.


11 posted on 10/21/2015 2:04:59 PM PDT by ducttape45 (Obama's legacy - Christianity outlawed, America shamed, morality destroyed. Need I say more?)
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To: ducttape45

That’s a castle? Looks like a hill.

Probably used Mud Brick


12 posted on 10/21/2015 2:06:30 PM PDT by butlerweave
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To: ducttape45

Actually it looks a lot like the Roman hill forts in Britain. I climbed one while in Wales in 2008.


13 posted on 10/21/2015 2:18:11 PM PDT by EvilCapitalist (1 of 172)
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To: JimSEA

I blame Gozer.


14 posted on 10/21/2015 2:18:20 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: Army Air Corps

Who you gonna call???


15 posted on 10/21/2015 2:25:05 PM PDT by JimSEA
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To: SunkenCiv
Well they dang sure had the high ground :)
16 posted on 10/21/2015 2:27:52 PM PDT by The Cajun (Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Mike Lee, Louie Gohmert....Nuff said.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Hobbits would love it!


17 posted on 10/21/2015 3:15:20 PM PDT by huldah1776
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To: SunkenCiv

Rock-hewn cisterns unearthed at Geval Castle, Turkey. Credit: Selcuklu

4000 year old hidden tunnel - source

18 posted on 10/21/2015 4:07:37 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (Fair Dinkum!)
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To: EvilCapitalist

My daughter loves to do that sort of thing. She visited England a couple of years ago and she loved it immensely. Me? I’d probably lose my balance and roll all the way to the bottom of the hill/castle.


19 posted on 10/21/2015 5:36:10 PM PDT by ducttape45 (Obama's legacy - Christianity outlawed, America shamed, morality destroyed. Need I say more?)
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