2 women found burned in ancient Oylum palace fire

KİLİS – Anadolu Agency

Two 3,900-year-old female skeletons from the Bronze Age have been unearthed at Oylum Mound in the southeastern province of Kilis. 

Oylum is located three kilometers away from the Syrian border and is one of the largest mounds in the southeastern Anatolian region in terms of its size. Excavations have been carried out by a team from the Cumhuriyet University Archaeology Department. Sixty people, 25 of whom are academics, are working at the site. 

Excavations head Associated Professor Atilla Engin said they were almost done with the excavations this year. He said they compiled important data during the work, and added, “We worked particularly in the layers of the Mid Bronze Age. We can say that the big monumental structure that was unearthed in previous years was a palace.”

Engin said the structure had at least three floors, and continued: “The most important part of the palace is the area where the king lived with his family and was called seraglio. The structure was exposed to a severe fire. We think that the fire was caused by an attack. We unearthed some parts of the palace and found 3,900-year-old female skeletons. We think they burned to death in the palace.”

Engin said a large portion of the palace was still underground. 

He said they would begin a new project to protect the palace, and Oylum Mound could become an open-air museum in future. 

“We have found housings and narrow streets here. The dead people were buried inside the houses,” he said.