As a fencer taking part in the Berlin Games in 1936, she was one of the first Turkish women participating in Olympic Games. Mavi Boncuk |
Halet Çambel (Berlin 27 August, 1916 - Istanbul, January 11, 2014) was without a doubt the best known Turkish archaeologist. She was one of the most important researchers for primeval and ancient history and the most knowledgeable Turkish Hittite expert.
Halet was born as the third child of Hasan Cemil Çambel and Remziye Çambel. Her mother, Remziye Hanım, is the daughter of the former Grand Vizier and the current Turkish ambassador, Ibrahim Hakkı Paşa, in Berlin. Her father, Hasan Cemil Bey, is the Turkish military attaché for Germany and a good friend of Atatürk. After the First World War the family lives in Switzerland, Austria and Tyrol for some years, because of the treaty of Sèvres and the following occupation of the Ottoman empire. They are only able to return to Turkey after the founding of the Turkish republic.
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On returning to Istanbul after the Olympics, she began her association with Nail Çakırhan, a Communist poet who became a celebrated architect. They were married for 70 years until his death in October 2008.After World War II she began studying with German professor Helmuth Bossert. She played a key role in the understanding of Hittite hieroglyphics by discovering a tablet with the Phoenician alphabet, which permitted philologists to decipher the inscription. In 1947 she and professor Bossert began excavating Karatepe, the walled city of 12th century BCE late Hittite king Azatiwadda, located in the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey.
Çambel has also been active in promoting the preservation of Turkey's cultural heritage. In the 1950s she resisted the government's attempt to move the artifacts from Karatepe to a museum. The government eventually agreed and in 1960 established an outdoor museum (with some buildings designed by her husband) on the site. She also fought efforts to dam the Ceyhan River, which would have flooded many archaeological sites. She was able to have the proposed water level reduced sufficiently to save the sites.
In 2004 Çambel was one of the recipients of the Prince Claus Awards. The jury report cited her "for conducting rescue excavations of endangered heritage sites, introducing stone restoration and ensuring proper conservation of significant cultural heritage in Turkey," for founding a chair of prehistoric archaeology at Istanbul University, and "for her dedicated scholarship and for her unique role in expanding the possibilities for interaction between people and their cultural heritage."