Hattusa - capital of the Hittite Empire

The archaeological site of Hattusa has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986, and yet in Europe it is relatively unknown. Situated in modern day Turkey, Hattusa was once the capital of the Hittite Empire.

The Hittites

The Hittites were an ancient people, and are mentioned in the Old Testament.

From the 18th century BC onwards they engineered an Empire centred on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia. An aggressive race, the Hittites conquered much of the surrounding area, peaking in the 14th century BC. At that time the Empire controlled upper Mesopotamia, north-western Syria and Anatolia.

Traditionally there are three distinct periods to the Hittite Empire; the Old Hittite Kingdom (1750-1500BC); the Middle Hittite Kingdom (1500-1430BC); and the New Hittite Kingdom (1430-1180BC).

The Old Hittite Kingdom peaked during the 16th century BC, due mainly to their enhanced iron weaponry, and the Empire even sacked the city of Babylon. Initially the rulers Pithana, and his son Anitta, had their dynastic capitals at Kussara and Nesa respectively, but a century after the start of the Old Hittite Kingdom, Labarna II move the capital of the Empire to Hattusa.

The Lion Gate - Bernard Gagnon - CC-BY-SA-3.0

Hattusa

Situated near the modern-day village of Boazkale, Hattusa is 150km east of Ankara. The site is roughly 2km by 1km in area, and situated on a high rocky plateau.

The surrounding countryside provided the inhabitants of Hattusa with copious amounts of rich agricultural land, and pasture from the hills. As a result the people were provided with wheat, barley and lentils, as well as clothing made from sheep’s wool. Domesticated animals also provided meat, and although there was hunting of deer, this was mainly a pastime for the nobility of the city. Nearby woodland also provided the primary building material.

Archaeological evidence shows that there was a settlement at the site of Hattusa, from the 6000 BC. This settlement is supposedly some of the earliest representation of the indigenous Hatti people.
The real development of the site commenced in about 1900 BC, when merchants from Assyria created a trading colony. Evidence from excavations appears to indicate that the new city was burnt to the ground in about 1700BC. King Anitta from Kushar has been blamed for this act, and an inscribed curse has been found to support this assertion.

Within fifty years the burnt ruins had been reborn. Labarna II chose the site for his capital and private residence. At the same time a change of language occurred, as Hattic was replaced by Hittite. In conjunction with this Labarna changed his name to Hattusili I, meaning ‘the one from Hattusa’. Labarna and subsequent rulers built up Hattusa until it was worthy of the title of capital of the Hittite Empire.

Over time the city grew to 180 hectares, and there were distinct inner and outer sections. There have been estimates of a city population of 50,000 at Hattusa’s peak.

The inner section covered some 80 hectares, and contained the citadel with temples and administrative buildings.

South Gate of the Yerkapi - Bernard Gagnon - CC-BY-SA-3.0

The outer section of 100 hectares lay predominantly to the south of the inner city. In this section there were a further four temples, each set in there own courtyard. The majority of the area though was set aside for residential buildings.

Both sections of the city were surrounded by massive walls, the courses of which are still visible today. At some points the walls have been estimated to be twenty-six feet thick. There were also elaborate gateways set into the walls, and they were often decorated with images of soldiers, lions and sphinxes. Beyond the walls there are the remnants of a number of cemeteries, enclosing numerous cremation burials.

A series of Hittite kings used Hattusa as their capital, although on a number of occasions the capital moved because of invasion threat. The city though was eventually destroyed in about 1200 BC, and coincided with the collapse of the Hittite Empire. Civil war and an external threat from Grecian tribes weakened the Hittites and it eventually collapsed. All that remained were city states, some of which survived into the late 8th century BC. The site of Hattusa was eventually abandoned in about 800BC.

Rediscovering Hattusa

The site was rediscovered in 1874, though it wasn’t until 1893-94 that Ernest Chantre commenced the first excavations. Much of Hattusa was timber built therefore the most obvious remnants are the stone built temples and palaces. The majority of the excavations have been undertaken by German archaeologists in conjunction with their Turkish colleagues.

There have been some notable discoveries at the site. In the digs of 1906-1912 a large number of clay tablets were uncovered. Once they writing on the tablets were deciphered, it was discovered that they held details of the royal archives. The tablets provided details of official correspondence, legal codes, religious text and literature of the Hittite Empire. There has now been some 30,000 tablets or part tablets now uncovered, although one of the most important shows a peace treaty with Egypt, under the leadership of Rameses II, from about 1283 BC.

There have been almost continuous excavations on the site since the end of World War II. Some of the most recent work has been on reconstruction of the city walls, rather than restoration or further excavations.

Alongside Persepolis, this is another of the archaeological sites in the Middle East that is a must for all those interested in ancient history. Though there is perhaps less evidence readily visible than in many sites in Egypt, the images and decoration on the “Lions’ Gate” and “Royal Gate” are worth a look at.

Copyright - First Published 2nd March 2008