The ruins of the ancient settlement uncovered at Mt. Kerkenes in Yozgat belonged to the lost ancient city of Pteria, said the Yozgat Museum in a written statement. The statement, released by Yozgat Museum Director Mustafa Akkaya to the Yozgat Governor's Office, said the archaeological evidence showed that Mt. Kerkenes is what a Greek historian once mentioned as the lost ancient city of Pteria. Excavations have been ongoing in the area since 1993 by a team led by Geoffrey Summers and Scott Branting, academics at Middle East Technical University. He said Kerkenes was a first degree archaeological site and the largest Iron Age settlement area in Anatolia. “Kerkenes is supposed to be a part of Phrygian culture. The ancient city of Pteria implied a date later than that of the Phrygian period in Kerkenes; however, the establishment of the ancient city couldn't be wholly realized and it served as a settlement area only for a period of 50 years. The founder of the city chose this particular location due to its geographical convenience for defense and travel routes. The administrative, religious and military structures in the city indicate that it was originally established for long-term settlement. But archaeological surveys show that the city was burned, destroyed and abandoned due to the long-running war between the Medes and the Lydians in central Anatolia,” he said. Noting that the war, also known as the Battle of the Eclipse, between the Medes and the Lydians ended with a solar eclipse on May 28, 585 B.C., which was perceived as an omen that the gods wanted the fighting to stop, he said the ancient city of Pteria was built after the war and that the Battle of the Eclipse actually helped to promote Kerkenes to the world. Akkaya said Mt. Kerkenes is surrounded by seven kilometers of stone walls containing seven gates that enclose 2.5 square kilometers, adding: “The ancient city of Pteria was invaded many times by the Mede and Lydian empires. Thus, the establishment of the city was never completed