At the request of Atatürk, the founder of Turkey, the efforts to establish a Hittite museum began in 1921.The comprehensive collection of works was carried out with the “Eti Museum”, which was opened on October 1, 1921 in the Ankara castle. However, this was a rather small place,it resembled a warehouse rather than a museum. In addition, it was closed to public visits,it could only be visited by scientists conducting studies in the field of history. For these reasons, it was proposed to repair the Mahmut Pasha Bedesteni and Kurşunlu Han, located southeast of the Ankara castle, and move the museum here. Restoration began in 1938, and the first part of the museum was opened to the public in 1943. İn 1948, all the artifacts found in the other museum were moved here, but the restoration work was completed in 1968.   Many artifacts belonging to Anatolian civilizations, especially the Hittites, are exhibited in the museum. There is a map of the city of Çatalhöyük, which is exhibited in the museum and is considered to be the oldest map of the world, dated to 6200 BC