I visited this WHS in Spring 2021. If you're travelling by car between Goreme National Park and Nemrut Dagi, the Arslantepe Mound near Malatya is a rather convenient stopover point. Knowing that this site was up for inscription in Summer 2021, I made an extra effort to visit the Arslantepe Mound which shows the interaction between Eastern Anatolia and Mesopotamia.

The Arslantepe Mound is a Late Hittite large mud-brick complex of several buildings. Unlike Gobeklitepe and Catalhoyuk, which have circular elevated boardwalks around and above the sites at quite a distance, Arslantepe (at least when I visited) had wooden boardwalks and textile carpets which go through the corridors with walls which still have visible sections with white plaster, and red and black wall paintings. This is quite impressive when considering that they were done around 3350-3000 BC. A very kind security guard revealed the red and black paintings which were covered by white curtains. Apart from the peculiar wall paintings, another highlight were the decorative coloured geometric engravings, technically described as lozenge-shaped stamps applied to wet plaster. Several detailed information boards shed light on what you're seeing during your visit. In front of the site's entrance, there's also a reconstruction of an Early Bronze Age I Arslantepe House (2900-2800 BC).

Arslantepe (Lion Hill), also known as Melid, was an ancient city on the Tohma River, a tributary of the upper Euphrates rising in the Taurus Mountains. It is dubbed as Arslantepe, the origins of power, due to the complex systems for its time, such as the cretulae, an early administrative system, preceding the invention of writing, for controlling transactions by using clay sealings as an ancient form of receipt. The main highlight of the site are the wall paintings or murals; stylised figures evoking symbols and images of power, which are evidence of the complexity of the ideology of those days. The wall paintings of stylised figures in the central room of the store complex probably represent a big male figure and a smaller female figure standing before a table or altar with raised arms and under a roof or canopy decorated with vegetal elements and volutes. The huge eyes and red and black hair in the form of "flames" springing from their heads give these figures a striking appearance, suggesting they may represent gods or shaman masks. Another extensive group of paintings were in the inner part of the palace corridor: two oxen, possibly tied to a yoke, pull a chariot or a plough driven by a man outside a building schemetically sketched behind this scene. This section is in a much more precarious position and the crumbling mud-brick walls are supported by wooden posts.

Apart from the now inscribed Arslantepe Mound itself, a wealthy array of tools, jewellery, swords (probably some of the earliest in the world), pottery, figurines, sculptures, orthostats and remains were found which are currently on display in the Malatya Museum which is worth visiting. Replicas can be seen before entering the Arslantepe Mound site. The two lion statues on both sides of the entrance gate, and a king's statue against it, are exhibited at the Ankara Anatolian Civilisations Museum. The Arslantepe Mound is highly important as it shows a continuous settlement and stratigraphy for Eastern Anatolian settlements and civilisations from the Late Chalcolithic Age until the Islamic Ages. Even though I wouldn't recommend visiting Gobeklitepe, Catalhoyuk and Arslantepe in a row, I think that all three sites deserve being inscribed for different reasons.