What is…
Carchemish

also known as: Karkemish , Karkamış, Karkamış Antik Kenti, or Karkamis

Hebrew: כַּרְכְּמְישׂ —transliteration: Karkemish —meaning: fortress of Chemosh

This is an ancient city in northern Syria on the west bank of the Euphrates (Jeremiah 46:2; 2 Chronicles 35:20), not, as was once supposed, the Circesium at the confluence of the Chebar and the Euphrates, but a city considerably higher up the river, and commanding the ordinary passage of the Euphrates.

It is probably identical with Hierapolis.

It was the capital of the kingdom of the northern Hittites.

Ancient caravans involved in trade with Syria, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia crossed the Euphrates River here.

Biblical significance of ancient Carchemish

• Strategic Hittite/Neo-Hittite city on Euphrates (mentioned Isaiah 10:9 as Assyrian conquest example)
• Marked end of Egyptian power in Levant, rise of Babylonian dominance
• Site of decisive Battle of Carchemish (605 BC): Nebuchadnezzar II defeated Pharaoh Necho II's Egyptian army (Jeremiah 46:2)
• Pivotal in God’s judgment on nations, enabling Babylonian conquest of Judah
• Symbol of Divine sovereignty over empires (Jeremiah 46)

The Babylonian army, under Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar, here met and conquered the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt (607 BC). It is mentioned in monuments in 1600 BC and down to 717 BC.

Winged bull stone carving found at Carchemish

Archaeology summary

• Location: 90-hectare site on Euphrates west bank, in Syria, near Jarablus, on the modern Turkey-Syria border
• This strategic trade/military hub and capital city is rich in Neo-Hittite art and inscriptions.
• Occupation: Spans Neolithic/Chalcolithic to Byzantine/Abbasid; peaks in Late Bronze (Hittite viceroy capital) and Iron Age (Neo-Hittite kingdom)
• Early excavations (1878–1920): British Museum (Hogarth, Woolley, T.E. Lawrence); uncovered fortifications, palaces, temples, monumental Neo-Hittite basalt reliefs (processions, lions), Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions, orthostats.
• Key discoveries: Katuwa's Palace (c. 900 BC) with orthostats, mosaic floors; Sargon's inscribed cylinders (717 BC conquest); destruction layers from 605 BC Babylonian battle; cuneiform tablets, statues, seals.
• Recent work (2011–present): Turco-Italian team (post-mine clearance); expanded palace exposures, new sculptures, stratified urban sequence from Late Bronze to Achaemenid.

Part of the excavated ruins of ancient Carchemish