 The main purpose of his journey to Turkey was to take part at the archaeological excavations under the leadership of German Kurt Bittel in Hattusa (formerly Boğazköy, today Boğazkale), the capital of the Hittite Empire (c. 1600 BC–c.1178 BC).During his stay in Turkey, he was appointed professor of "Linguistics and Art of Ancient Asia Minor" at Istanbul University in April 1934.