Kussara and Morewood School

Massimo Forlanini, the expert of the geography of old Anatolia stated that Kussara was probably situated southeast of Kanesh presumably north of Luhuzzadia/ Lahu(wa)zzandiya, between Hurama and (modern day Gürün). Perhaps on a road, which was crossing another road to the north in the direction of Samuha. From the Old Assyrian trade tablets we know that a palace and an Assyrian trade station existed in the city. The language or dialect of Kussara is not found or described in the old texts. The Kings of Kusshara became the Kings of Kanesh in the Karum IB period of Kanesh. Hattusili I and Hattusili III mentioned the origins of the Kings of the land of Hatti: Hattusili (I), Great King, King of Hattusa, Man of Kussar, in the Land of Hattusa . No other town or land was ever mentioned by a King of Hattusa as the origin of the Kings of Hattusa. Because the Kings of Kussara and their clan formed the base of the Old Kingdom of the Hittites, Nesili(Hittite) was anyhow the language of the ruling officials. Probably the language of Kussara was Indo-European. Otherwise much more non Indo-European elements had to be found in the Nesili language by the linguists. Craigh Melchert concludes in the chapter Prehistory of his book The Luwians (2003–17): "Hittite core vocabulary remains Indo-European". Because there is a great geographic difference between the basin of the upper stream of the Kızılırmak River, the centrum of the Upperland of Hittite Anatolia and the Anti-Taurus Mountains area of Kussara we can expect a great number of differences in culture, languages and dialects between these regions.

Morewood School and Kussara

The Morewood School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Originally located on 4 acres (1.6 ha) around 1825, the lot has been reduced to 1 acre (0.40 ha). History

Named after the Morewood family who owned "Broad Hall", the current Pittsfield Country Club, the schoolhouse was built around 1843. According to a record book retained by the Berkshire County Historical Society kept by Jesse Oliver Howard, who attended the school in 1865, the original school house burned in June 1841 when several class mates started a fire in the playground during the noon time recess. When Jesse Howard attended the school, the pupils ranged in age from 4–16 years old sitting in benches with no backs. Until 1925, water was drawn from the Howard brook in the wood next to the school. Morewood educated the children of the local early families such as the Howards, Luces and Melvilles. Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick and three other novels while living with his family in the nearby Arrowhead farm from 1850-1863.

Horace Mann accepted the position of First Secretary of the State Board of Education in Massachusetts in 1837 when Edward Everett was governor. He took office at a time when glaring weaknesses existed in public education in Massachusetts. He went to Pittsfield in the Berkshire Hills, in western Massachusetts to hold a "teachers’ institute," or convention. He reached the town, in the morning, only to find that no arrangements had been made, and that the little red schoolhouse in which the institute was to be held was in no presentable condition.

When Governor Everett saw the condition of the schoolhouse, both he and Mr. Mann were determined to conquer what the secretary called "the arctic regions of Pittsfield" (because of its lack of interest); so, while the secretary was "putting things to rights", the governor made a raid on the nearest dwelling house, borrowed two brooms, and when the aroused and curious inhabitants strolled into the schoolhouse, they stood open-eyed with wonder to see the governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the secretary of the State Board of Education sweeping and dusting the schoolroom, so that everything might be presentable when the hour for the institute arrived.

Several of the schools that he established still remain standing today in Berkshire County. It is very likely the Morewood School, the only surviving one room "red school" house, is the same school used for Horace Mann's historical teacher's institute.

The school house has the longest continuous use as a school in New England, seeing continuous use for 130 years. It was used as Pittsfield's USA Bicentennial Headquarters in 1975. The building was sold to Bob and Karen Clydesdale in 1984 and modernized while retaining the unique Greek revival exterior design features. It is now used as a vacation rental cottage. See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
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