Beycesultan

Beycesultan is an archaeological site in western Anatolia, located about 5 km southwest of the modern-day city of Çivril in the Denizli Province of Turkey. It lies in a bend of an old tributary of Büyük Menderes River (Maeander River),HistoryBeycesultan was occupied beginning in the Late Chalcolithic period. This large mound is almost 1 km in diameter and 25 m high.The settlement increased in size and prominence through the 3rd millennium, with notable religious and civil buildings. Development peaked early in the 2nd millennium with the construction of a massive palace and associated structures. The palace was abandoned and then destroyed circa 1700 BC. To this point, the orientation of Beycesultan was strongly influenced from the west, mainly the Aegean and Crete.After a few centuries of semi-abandonment, Beycesultan began to rise again, this time more influenced by the Hittite regions of Anatolia. Though smaller than the earlier city, the site was of impressive size. This second flowering of Beycesultan was completely destroyed circa 1200 BC as were many locations in Anatolia at that time.The site was also the occupied, to a lesser scale, in the Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman period. It has been hypothesized that is the Byzantine town and bishopry "Ilouza" (Ιλούζα), and possibly the Hittite Wilusa.