The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest

permanently settled regions in the world. Various ancient Anatolian populations

have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic until the Hellenistic period.
[12] Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger
Indo-European language family.[49] Given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite
and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical
centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated.[50] The European part of
Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has been inhabited since at least 40,000 years ago,
and is known to have been in the Neolithic era by about 6000 BC.[13] The spread of
agriculture from the Middle East to Europe was strongly correlated with the
migration of early farmers from Anatolia about 9,000 years ago, and was not just a
cultural exchange.[51] Anatolian Neolithic farmers derived a significant portion of
their ancestry from the Anatolian hunter-gatherers.[52]

Göbekli Tepe is the site of the oldest known man-made structure in the world, a
temple dating to circa 9600 BC,[48] while Çatalhöyük is a very large Neolithic and
Chalcolithic settlement in Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to
5700 BC. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date.[53]
Nevalı Çori was an early Neolithic settlement on the middle Euphrates, in
Şanlıurfa. The Urfa Man statue is dated c. 9000 BC, to the period of the Pre-
Pottery Neolithic, and is defined as "the oldest known naturalistic life-sized
sculpture of a human".[54] It is considered to be contemporaneous with Göbekli
Tepe. Troy was first settled in the Neolithic Age, with inhabitation continuing
into the Byzantine period. Troy's Late Bronze Age layers are considered potential
historical settings for the later legends of the Trojan War.[55][56][57]

The Sphinx Gate of Hattusa, the capital of the Hittites

The Temple of Zeus in the ancient city of Aizanoi in Phrygia

The earliest recorded inhabitants of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians, non-
Indo-European peoples who lived in Anatolia, respectively, as early as c. 2300 BC.
Indo-European Hittites came to Anatolia and gradually absorbed the Hattians and
Hurrians c. 2000–1700 BC. The first empire in the area was founded by the Hittites,
from the 18th through the 13th centuries BC. The Assyrians conquered and settled
parts of southeastern Turkey as early as 1950 BC[58] although they have remained a
minority in the region.[59]

Following the collapse of the Hittite empire c. 1180 BC, the Phrygians, an Indo-
European people, achieved ascendancy in Anatolia until their kingdom was destroyed
by the Cimmerians in c. 695 BC.[60] The most powerful of Phrygia's successor states
were Lydia, Caria and Lycia.The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern
Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world. Various
ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic
until the Hellenistic period.[12] Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian
languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family.[49] Given the
antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have
proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages
radiated.[50] The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has been
inhabited since at least 40,000 years ago, and is known to have been in the
Neolithic era by about 6000 BC.[13] The spread of agriculture from the Middle East
to Europe was strongly correlated with the migration of early farmers from Anatolia
about 9,000 years ago, and was not just a cultural exchange.[51] Anatolian
Neolithic farmers derived a significant portion of their ancestry from the
Anatolian hunter-gatherers.[52]

Göbekli Tepe is the site of the oldest known man-made structure in the world, a
temple dating to circa 9600 BC,[48] while Çatalhöyük is a very large Neolithic and
Chalcolithic settlement in Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to
5700 BC. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date.[53]
Nevalı Çori was an early Neolithic settlement on the middle Euphrates, in
Şanlıurfa. The Urfa Man statue is dated c. 9000 BC, to the period of the Pre-
Pottery Neolithic, and is defined as "the oldest known naturalistic life-sized
sculpture of a human".[54] It is considered to be contemporaneous with Göbekli
Tepe. Troy was first settled in the Neolithic Age, with inhabitation continuing
into the Byzantine period. Troy's Late Bronze Age layers are considered potential
historical settings for the later legends of the Trojan War.[55][56][57]

The Sphinx Gate of Hattusa, the capital of the Hittites

The Temple of Zeus in the ancient city of Aizanoi in Phrygia

The earliest recorded inhabitants of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians, non-
Indo-European peoples who lived in Anatolia, respectively, as early as c. 2300 BC.
Indo-European Hittites came to Anatolia and gradually absorbed the Hattians and
Hurrians c. 2000–1700 BC. The first empire in the area was founded by the Hittites,
from the 18th through the 13th centuries BC. The Assyrians conquered and settled
parts of southeastern Turkey as early as 1950 BC[58] although they have remained a
minority in the region.[59]

Following the collapse of the Hittite empire c. 1180 BC, the Phrygians, an Indo-
European people, achieved ascendancy in Anatolia until their kingdom was destroyed
by the Cimmerians in c. 695 BC.[60] The most powerful of Phrygia's successor states
were Lydia, Caria and Lycia.