A Special Exhibition at the ISAC Museum

Opening September 17, 2026

Six years ago, Hartapu was little more than a name. Then, in 2019, an inscribed stone pulled from an irrigation canal in central Türkiye introduced the world to a king who claimed to have conquered Phrygia—one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient world. Suddenly, a ruler and a kingdom largely unknown to history demanded a place on the map of Iron Age Anatolia. The stone was found at Türkmen-Karahöyük, a massive tell rising 35 meters above the Konya Plain, that must have been Hartapu’s capital. Though the site had gone largely unnoticed by archaeologists, it is one of the largest Iron Age sites in Anatolia—and excavations launched in 2024 by ISAC and Bilkent University (Ankara, Türkiye) are only beginning to reveal the city’s historical development.

Hartapu ruled in the eighth century BCE, during a period of intense rivalry between great powers—Phrygia to the west, the Neo-Assyrian Empire to the east—and his kingdom sat squarely between them. The exhibition tells his story through ancient inscriptions, archaeological finds, and new technologies, including 3D printing and advanced imaging, that are transforming how scholars study the past. Contemporary works by artist SaraNoa Mark offer a counterpoint, reflecting on how the ancient impulse to mark a landscape and assert an identity endures into the present.

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This exhibition is supported by ISAC members and ISAC Museum visitors; it is curated by James Osborne and organized by the ISAC Museum: Susan Allison, Rob Bain, Denise Browning, Laura D’Alessandro, Marc Maillot, Helen McDonald, Kiersten Neumann, Josh Tulisiak, Alison Whyte, and Elisheva Yardeni, with contributions from Çağlayan Bal.