Nerik (Hittite: Nerikka) was a city in the bronze age north of the Hittite capitals Hattusa and Sapinuwa. The Hittites saw it as a holy place, dedicated to the storm god who was the son of Wurusemu, sun goddess of Arinna. The weather is associated or identified with the Zaliyanuberg near Nerik, responsible for bringing rain to the city.
Nerik was founded as Narak in Hattisch, as shown by tablet CTH 737 from the Hattusa archives. This shows a Hattian spell for a festival there. Under Hattusili I the Hettieten Nerik took over. They maintained the spring festival called "Puruli" in honor of the storm god. The participants recited the myth of killing Illuyanka.
Nerik was destroyed under Hantili I and the Hittites moved the Puruli festival to Hattusa. During the reign of Tudhaliya I the location of Nerik was occupied by the barbarous Kaskians.
During the reign of Muwatalli II, his brother and governor Hattusili III conquered Nerik and rebuilt it as the High Priest. To celebrate this, Hattusili named his first-born son Nerikkaili (even though this was skipped for succession). When Muwatalli's son Mursili III became king, he gave another governor after seven years. Hattusili rebelled and became king himself.
Nerik disappeared from the writings when the Hittite kingdom fell, around 1200 BC. Possible excavations
In 2005 Rainer M. Czichon and Jörg Klinger of the Freie Universität Berlin started excavations at Oymaağaç Höyük, "on the eastern side of Kızılırmak, 7 km northwest of Vezirköprü" (coordinates 41 ° 12 '25 "N, 35 ° 25 '12 "OL). So far this is the northernmost place in Anatolia with Hittite remains - including "three fragments of tablets and a bulla with the stamp of the scribe Sarini". No unambiguous identification has been published so far, but the name of their website (www.nerik.de) shows their confidence.
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