Prehistory & Antiquity

Anatolia is one of the cradles of human civilization. Göbekli Tepe (near Şanlıurfa) — erected around 9,500 BC — is the oldest known monumental structure in the world, 6,000 years older than Stonehenge. Çatalhöyük (near Konya) was one of the first city foundations (7,500 BC).

The Hittites (1600–1178 BC) established a great empire from Hattuşa (near Çorum) that rivaled Egypt. The Treaty of Kadesh (1259 BC) between the Hittites and Egyptians is the oldest known peace treaty in the world — a copy hangs in the UN headquarters in New York.

On the Aegean coast, Greek city-states emerged that contributed to the flowering of ancient culture: Miletus (birthplace of philosophy — Thales, Anaximander), Ephesus (Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World), Halikarnassos (Mausoleum, another wonder), and Troy (setting of Homer's Iliad). Alexander the Great conquered Anatolia in 334 BC and spread Hellenistic culture.

The Romans made Anatolia their richest provinces: Pergamon, Ephesus, Antioch, and Side flourished. Christianity spread from here — Paul traveled through Anatolia, the Seven Churches of Revelation were all located in present-day Turkey, and the Council of Nicaea (325 AD, in today's İznik) formulated the Christian creed.