Hattusas

Former capital of one of the world's oldest empires, with the art and architecture placed in a heady mountain setting, Hattusas is central Turkey's most remarkable ancient city.

The Hittites were an unknown civilisation when Hattusas was first excavated over a century ago by German archaeologists and their name is taken from a Biblical reference. However, hints of a great civilisation in the north of Asia Minor were suggested by unknown alphabets and obscure references found in Egypt's famous Amarna Letters, correspondence between the immediate predecessors of Tutankhamen.

A link between Hattusas and the Amarna Letters was firmly established in 1905 when Hugo Winckler discovered a vast royal depository of clay tablets in the Hittire city, including the world's oldest known peace treaty between the Hittites and Ramesses the Great of Egypt. The battle that prompted the peace is famously displayed at Abu Simbel, where Ramesses presents himself as having won the inconclusive battle of Kadesh. This indicates what a mighty power the Hittites once were and archaeologists soon discovered that they had commanded much of what is now Turkey and Syria.

However, its road to greatness was not assured. The first settlers probably arrived in the valley in the early second millennium BC and by the 18^th century BC, Assyrian merchants from the south had established a trading colony.

Trade helped make the city grow, but it also inspired envy in neighbours in the 17^th century BC. A thin layer of carbon is testimony to the destruction wrought by king Anitta from Kushar. So enraged was he by Hattusas that he cursed its remains, beseeching the weather god to strike down anyone who tried to resettle the remains.

It seems that this curse was not enacted by the deity, for a generation later Hattusili I refounded the city and became the first in a line of great kings who forged an empire. Some of his successors shifted the capital, but it remained the chief city for most of the empire, which was at its peak between c1400 and 1160 BC, when the city was destroyed, with only some minor resettlement later. 

Hattusas reflects its history as an imperial capital with the monuments that remain to its history, both in the site and nearby. The relief-flanked Sphinx Gate at Alacahoyk is an old monumental entrance and location of a spectacular find of gold and bronze objects, now in the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations in Ankara. Over in the main site of Hattusas, the Lion Gate in the south-west of city, complete with remains of a stone wall, is a perfect photo opportunity.

Other artworks testify to the beliefs of this ancient empire, such as the relief of the Twelve Hittite Gods of the Underworld in the nearby Yazılıkaya, a holy shrine of Hattusa. Other holy images found here include gods and even kings dating back to the 13^th century BC. Yet the chief religious sites are in Hattusas, including five temples, the most spectacular being Temple I. This is near to the Slope House, a large multi-storey building.

The ancient remains sits on a spur of a hill, high above the modern village of Bogazkoy, with the original citadel of Buyukkale commanding the area.

Although largely unheard of by many tourists, the Hittites were an important empire and this is attested to by the fact that Hattusas is now a UNESCO world heritage site.

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