Guide
Sapinuva, in the Ortaköy district of Çorum, was one of the principal administrative centres of the Hittites, standing at a strategic point both politically and geographically, and serving as an important military and religious centre. How much weight it carried is shown by a letter of the great king found in the excavations at Masat Höyük in Tokat: it orders that as soon as the tablet arrives, 1,701 soldiers are to be sent from Ishupitta without delay and brought within two days to the city of Sapinuva, into the presence of His Majesty.
Most of the correspondence found here consists of letters addressed to the great king and queen, which shows that a royal couple resided at Sapinuva. The queen who was at the city alongside the great king Tudhaliya III was Taduhepa, who after Tudhaliya's death governed the country together with king Suppiluliuma I. The city was also a place where the army command and troops were permanently stationed. Sapinuva, together with the cities in its administrative district, extended over a wide area, and with two separate temples built for two storm gods, a queen's palace, an army command and a municipal organisation, it appears as a thoroughly organised city. The site is three kilometres from Ortaköy and sixty from Çorum.
