ABSTRACT
The term Anatolia, derived from the Greek word for "east," is commonly used to denote the Asian territory of modern Turkey in pre-Classical antiquity. Anatolia is divided into two geographical zones, the coast and the interior. The coastal zones have a moderate climate, with cool, rainy winters and hot, rainless summers, whereas the interior plateau, at an elevation of 1,000m, has a continental climate with snowy winters and dry summers. The geographical distinctions between the two areas have been accompanied by cultural differences even down to the modern day. Cities of the coast have looked across the seas for their livelihood, while the interior has depended on its conservative self-contained farming and craft traditions. The two best-known cities of Bronze Age Anatolia illustrate well the dichotomy between these two regions: Troy, in the coastal region of north-west Anatolia, and Hattusha, the capital of the Hittites, in the central plateau (Figure 8.1).
