Çatalhöyük

I sit in a sunny, flat land. I look like a big, bumpy hill. But I have a secret. I am not just a hill. I am a town made of many, many houses. My houses are made of mud bricks and snuggled together, just like a honeycomb in a beehive. Isn't that silly? The most curious thing about me is that I have no streets or roads. People didn't walk on the ground. They walked on my rooftops. To go home, they climbed down special ladders through a hole in the roof. I am Çatalhöyük, one of the very first big towns in the world.

A very, very long time ago, happy families lived inside my cozy houses. This was long before kings or castles, around the year 7500 BCE. Their homes were so special. They all shared walls, like they were giving each other a big, long hug. This helped everyone stay safe and warm. Inside their homes, the people loved to make art. They painted beautiful pictures right on their clean, white walls. They painted big, strong animals like bulls with giant horns and pictures of people dancing and having fun. The people here were some of the very first farmers in the world. They grew yummy food like wheat and peas in the fields all around me. They also gathered berries and nuts. Life was busy and full of sunshine, friends, and family who all lived together, sharing stories and meals.

After all my people left, I fell asleep under a blanket of earth. For thousands of years, I was hidden and quiet. Then, one day, in the year 1958, some friendly explorers found me. They were called archaeologists. With soft brushes and careful hands, they gently woke me up. They brushed away the dirt to find my houses and the beautiful paintings inside. Today, people from all over the world visit me to learn how the first big communities lived. I am a special place that shows how long people have loved making art, building homes, and living happily together.