states, including Carchemish, Malatya, Zinjirli, and Karatepe, that extended into northern Syria and were known to the Assyrians as Hatte. Neo-Hittite language was written in the old hieroglyphic script, indicating that there was actually a commingling of Hittites and peoples of the old kingdoms of Kizzuwadna and Arzawa, vassals of the Hittites. But the most powerful of all Anatolian Iron Age kingdoms was Urartu. Emerging from a confederacy of petty principalities centered around and north of Lake Van, it came to control the eastern Anatolian highlands, areas of modern Armenia, and northwest Iran. Urartians revived literacy about 850 b.c. using their own Hurrian language, which they adapted to the cuneiform script.

The archaeological picture for the early Iron Age (ca. 1200–850 b.c.) is not coherent, though it seems the break with the late Bronze Age was not as abrupt as once thought. Then, in the eighth century b.c., there appears to have been a radical change in settlement patterns compared to the second millennium b.c., with the foundation of many hilltop sites and the abandonment of settlements in the plain.

The citadel at Gordion, the Phrygian capital in the eighth century b.c., was defended by a massive mud-brick wall, which enclosed a palace complex that comprised a series of megaron structures facing a courtyard. The largest of these, the Terraced Building, had a wooden gallery along three sides, supported by rows of wooden posts. Timber was extensively used in the construction of buildings, some of which had gabled roofs. Certain smaller buildings, also of a megaron plan, were located behind the complex and had mosaic floors of red, black, and white pebbles arranged in geometric patterns, perhaps to imitate carpet designs. A number of burial mounds outside the settlement, including the great royal tomb (possibly that of the legendary king Midas), contained a rich assemblage of grave goods that attest to outstanding achievements in woodworking, bronzeworking, and weaving. No fewer than six different kinds of wood were used for furniture and other wooden items. Remnants of a variety of textiles—carpets, tapestries, and garments—have survived and show that linen, hemp, wool, and mohair were woven. Cast-bronze bowls, heavy safety-pin brooches, and great cauldrons on iron stands are testimony to the existence of a mass-production facility.

Neo-Hittite archaeology is dominated by the study of inscribed and relief-decorated orthostats (upright stone roof supports) in basalt and limestone that were incorporated into gateways and important buildings. Chiefly religious in nature, these orthostats reveal at least three different styles—Traditional, Assyrian, and Aramean—each of which displays a high degree of artistic syncretism. Those at Karatepe are famous for bilingual inscriptions in Phoenician and Luwian hieroglyphics, the comparison of which led to the decipherment of the hieroglyphs. Equally important are the finely executed reliefs at Carchemish. Much of our understanding of neo-Hittite cities derives from military architecture, which displays many of the characteristics of earlier cultures. Urban centers generally conformed to the surrounding mountain terrain and were fortified with massive walls. Gates protected by guardian creatures gave access to a palace complex constructed according to a Bit Hilani plan—a rectangular architectural form, often two-storied, that was entered through a pillared gateway leading to a large throne room surrounded by a number of smaller rooms.

In Anatolia the recovery of Urartu’s past has focused on the area around Lake Van, where recent investigations at Karagündüz are shedding light on Urartu’s obscure origins and work at Ayanis is exposing the unplundered citadel built by Rusa II in about 651 b.c. The majority of known sites are fortified cities strategically positioned on precipitous rocky ridges, each crowned by a citadel and surrounded by a lower town that was protected by an outer wall. The most visually spectacular fort is the citadel of Van, once known as Tushpa, constructed by Saduri I. Masonry was a highlight of Urartian architecture, distinguished by two types: an older semicyclopean style that featured basalt blocks as large as 6 meters long and 75 centimeters high and a later masonry of the ashlar style that used smaller, finely dressed blocks up to 1 meter long. Urartian fortresses contained a