Explore Ancient Anatolia

Sacred Tree of Life at late Hittite fortress and open air museum in Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey. The concept of a tree of life has been used in science, religion, philosophy, and mythology. A tree of life is a common motif in various world theologies, mythologies, and philosophies. It alludes to the interconnection of all life on our planet and serves as a metaphor for common descent in the evolutionary sense. The term tree of life may also be used as a synonym for sacred tree.

Suppiluliuma I was king of the Hittites, ca. 1344–1322 BC. He achieved fame as a great warrior and statesman, successfully challenging the then-dominant Egyptian empire for control of the lands between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. Suppiluliuma then took advantage of the tumultuous reign of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and seized control of Egyptian territory in Syria, inciting many Egyptian vassals to revolt. The Deeds of Suppiluliuma, compiled after his death by his son Mursili, is an important primary source for the king's reign. One of Suppiluliuma's letters, addressed to Akhenaten, was preserved in the Amarna letters (EA 41) archive at Akhetaten. It expresses his hope that the good relations which existed between Egypt and Hatti under Akhenaten's father Amenhotep III would continue into Akhenaten's new reign.

Purushanda (also variously Purushkanda, Purushhattum or Burushattum) was an ancient city-state in central Anatolia, lying south of the Kızılırmak River in what is now modern Turkey. Its site has yet to be discovered. It may have been situated south-east of Lake Tuz, possibly on the mound of Acemhöyük approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north-west of the city of Aksaray. Another possible location is the mound of Karahöyük near Konya.

The Proto-Human language is the hypothetical ancestor of all the world's languages, between 200,000 years ago, the age of Homo sapiens, and 50,000 years ago, the age of behavioral modernity at which Homo sapiens began to demonstrate an ability to use complex symbolic thought and express cultural creativity. These developments are often thought to be associated with the origin of language.