摘要: Justification of Outstanding Universal Value　　The long biography of this complex site consists of a continuity of fortifications over several millennia shifting their locations on the banks of the Pyr

Justification of Outstanding Universal Value

　　The long biography of this complex site consists of a continuity of fortifications over several millennia shifting their locations on the banks of the Pyramos/Ceyhan River. The 8th century BC fortress has two unique features that mark the property to be of outstanding universal value. The monumental gates of the fortress are engraved with (1) bilingual writing and (2) friezes of sculpture. The writing is inscribed in alphabetic Phoenician and Anatolian Hieroglyphic Luwian and displays the earliest known bilingual narrative on an architectural monument in the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean and represents the beginning of a visual genre used in the Graeco-Roman Period and well beyond until modern times. The engraved friezes depict scenes of cult, worship, mythology as well as historical scenes, many of these unparalleled. The images derive from a multitude of traditions and illustrate the cultural milieu of the formative period in which the visual world of the ancient Greeks developed. The reliefs and sculpture found at Karatepe, executed in a mixture of styles and iconographic traditions related to, though sufficiently distinct from, other known monuments of southeast Anatolia and northern Syria, provided an independent picture of the same cultural diversity as was reflected in the two languages of the inscriptions.

　　H. Theodor Bossert began excavations at Karatepe-Aslantaş in 1947 and decided to end the project in 1952. Halet Çambel, at the time a junior member of the team, argued against deserting the site without any protection. She considered that what had been already exposed was too important and fragile to be left unprotected and that more intensive and systematic survey of the site would reveal several hitherto unrecovered inscribed and sculptured pieces. The conventional practice during those years was to transport most important pieces to the museum and to abandon the rest of the site without any concern. Çambel insisted that the presence of Karatepe-Aslantaş depended on its natural setting and all that had been exposed should be protected in its authentic natural and cultural environment. Karatepe-Aslantaş at that time was in complete isolation with the exception of villagers who made their living from the forest. As early as 1952 Çambel realized that the protection of the site would only be possible with active cooperation of the local population. Thus, she insisted that all cultural heritage deserves to be viewed in a humanist perspective that is integrated in the life of the local communities. In the following years she developed the village not only in terms of education by installing school but also ensured sustainable economic development by initiating abandoned traditional crafts and introducing new ones such as carpentry. Thus, thorough time the local community became the active and volunteer custodian of the site. This mutual interaction of Çambel with the local community not only safeguarded the future of the site but also provided her a local team of volunteers who brought in fragments of the inscriptions and sculptured pieces that had been scattered all around the valley due to natural events. This local contribution almost doubled what had been found during Bosserts excavations. Çambels vision was to protect ancient remains in their natural environment provided by sustainable management made possible by cooperation with local communities, intuition decades ahead of her time. In this respect, she already laid out the basic principles of ICOMOS 40 years before they were officially formulated. Thus, the prospect of Çambels approach is an outstanding universal value being one of the earliest successful implementations of the principles of cultural heritage management, by developing local awareness, sustainable development thereby linking the natural and cultural landscape.

　　Criterion (ii): The long bilingual text inscribed alongside hundreds of engraved images in form of a continuous frieze built into the walls of two monumental gates of an Iron Age fortification, the property bears witness to a cultural dialogue in Cilicia, which was foundational to the development of ancient Greek visual and writing culture.

　　The text is a 75 clauses long first person historical narrative in monumental form. This is one of the earliest versions of a monumental literary genre which continues in later periods and cultures as in the well-known Bisutun Inscription of Darius I dating to the Persian Period (Kermanşah, Iran) or the deeds or res gestae of Augustus preserved in the Temple of Augustus (Ankara, Turkey) dating to the Roman Period. The Karatepe res gestae is recorded in two different scripts and languages. One version of the inscription is in alphabetic writing and in Semitic Phoenician, to date the longest preserved text in the early from of this language between the Levant to Iberia. The other version is in one of the earliest recorded Indo-European languages, Luwian, and was written in Anatolian Hieroglyphs, a script developed to record this language. The Karatepe bilingual text was pivotal, in the sense of a Rosetta Stone, to conclude the decipherment of Anatolian Hieroglyphic writing after its discovery in the 1940’s. Karatepe alphabetic Phoenician was composed in times when Greek speakers began to adopt alphabetic writing via their encounter with alphabetic Phoenician as a writing culture.

　　The images depict human figures interpreted as deities, mixed beings, and humans in scenes of worship, cult and funerary rites. Text and images together make up the memorial monument of a historical dynasty where script, language and selected visual narratives are combined to define and delineate local identity. This is the only preserved monumental art and inscription in situ that portrays the cultural encounters and diversity characterizing the Iron Age in the Eastern Mediterranean world, otherwise mainly recognized through the mobility of material culture in form of portable luxury goods such as ivory objects or silver vessels.

　　Along with its ancient remains, the Karatepe-Aslantaş project exemplifies one of the earliest cases of a mutual interaction between an archaeological team and local communities. The successful running of the Karatepe-Aslantaş project that lasted for decades resulted in an interchange of human values among the local and the archaeological community, solely based on Çambels vision.

　　Halet Çambel convinced locals of the utmost importance of the site not only as a single archaeological monument but with its surrounding natural habitat. She inspired village women to carry on their traditional crafts such as weaving kilims by using natural dyes and men to develop their wooden craftsmanship. Within a decade, Karatepe kilims and wooden artefacts produced a stable income and Çambel organized local villagers to participate in tourism fairs. At present, the Karatepe kilim has become a brand name. To save the forest Çambel convinced the local community to abandon keeping goats and to rather turn to keeping sheep with the added benefit of producing good quality wool for weaving. Furthermore, Çambel organized school and craftsmen workshops. In the final analysis, the villagers of Karatepe benefited both in economic and social ways from their interaction with the site and its environment without having to change their traditional way of living. This is not only a first in the concept of sustainable cultural heritage, but a first in its implementation on a universal level.

　　Criterion (iii): The settlement complex of Karatepe-Astantaş/Domuztepe located on the banks of a major Taurus stream bears testimony to a continuum of a tradition connecting resource rich highlands with urban centers of the lowlands, and the Mediterranean harbours of the latter connected all involved to the open sea and the world beyond. The settlement has an exceptional location linking overland routes, most prominently the Akyol, with mobility on and along the ancient Pyramos River. The remains of the 8^th century BC fortress of Karatepe-Aslantaş exemplify one moment in time of the stratified continuity where in the monumental writing and images we witness how this tradition contributed to the identity of one particular Iron Age city-state. The languages and civilizations of the region have changed and disappeared in time, yet this way of life still persists in the rural area surrounding the site in spite of changes in mobility due to modern technology.

　　Criterion (iv): Karatepe-Aslantaş castle settlement, ancient Azatiwataya, is an outstanding example of the architectural and technological development in Late Hittite Period with its site selection and architectural design. In particular, its northern and southern fortification gates, still standing in situ, with sculptures and inscriptions are rare examples of their kind.

　　In order to consolidate and sustain the values of the site, in 1952 Halet Çambel made three decisions to guide her in future: protecting the site, protecting the environment and respecting the local community. Çambels vision considered that the Karatepe-Aslantaş area is more than the sum of archeological remains. She conceived its location in a particular landscape as its defining feature. She also recognized that the local community was well adopted to that specific environment and had developed a culture particular to that specific region. The initial step to actualize her vision was to find means for preserving what had been exposed, at that time near impossible to achieve. She brought in experts from Italy for conservation and to plan a protective shelter which in spite of all odds was built in 1962. The conservation and restoration of inscribed and engraved basalt blocks in situ stands as the earliest practice in an open air environment and the shelter is the earliest example not only in Turkey but in the world. Thus, both the consolidation and reintegration of the archaeological remains as well as  the protective shelter combined stands as one of the earliest outstanding examples of sustainable cultural heritage preservation and management, before even this current terminology for such practices was developed.