My Journey to Hattusa, the Capital of the Hittites - Part 2

Hello my friends. I am continuing to tell you about my Hattusa adventures. My relatives and friends who see the photos say this place does not look like Turkey at all. The reason for this is that the Hittite capital is located in the Black Sea region. The Black Sea is fierce, the center of unexpected storms and sudden fog. Not for nothing did ancient Greek sailors call this sea that sinks their ships the inhospitable sea. Of course, later fearing the wrath of the sea gods, they replaced it with the hospitable sea, which carries the exact opposite meaning. As you can see this place does not have predictable weather conditions like the Mediterranean. And if your impression of Turkey consists of popular cities like Istanbul or Antalya as it is for the majority, I can tell you that there are other beautiful places here with a harsh climate but lush green nature. Also unlike the Ancient Greek and Roman cities we are used to in the Mediterranean, Hattusa belongs to a completely different world.

As our Hattusa tour continued, we stepped off the paths followed by the main crowd of tourists and climbed towards other less known temple ruins that seemed lost. During our climb, we came across incredibly large megalithic wall fragments and polygonal stonework along the way. How massive blocks one and a half meters high and weighing at least 10 tons were placed there is still a complete puzzle. There are circular holes and finely carved step-like engravings on the stones. These suggest that this place was once a sacred ritual area or a power point where massive blocks were set.

According to what the guides explained, when French traveler Charles Texier first discovered this place in 1834, he guessed it was an ancient city. In the excavations carried out by German archaeologists in 1906, Hugo Winckler found the massive royal archive consisting of thousands of cuneiform clay tablets. These tablets proved that this place was the Hittite capital, Hattusa. The Hittites, mentioned in correspondence with Egypt and even in the Torah, were masters of ironworking and their swords were among the most feared weapons of the period. I find this civilization very mysterious. In the following days I had the opportunity to examine them in a separate section at the Ankara museum that I visited. I want to mention the artifacts there in my future posts as well.

Moving towards the top, we arrived at the Lion Gate. This structure is one of the five main gates located on the walls of Hattusa. The two magnificent stone lion reliefs on it symbolize the city and royal power. The presence of the lions here was no coincidence. According to Hittite belief these lions were magical guardians that kept evil spirits and enemies away. The legends told about these stone lions eyes glowing and them roaring when night falls make this symbol of the city even more mysterious.

We reached the highest point of the walls and arrived at the Sphinx Gate and the mysterious underground tunnel right beneath it. This postern is approximately 70 meters long and at a height where a person can comfortably pass through. It goes under the walls and leads outside. In this dark tunnel, the stone blocks are arranged with a locking system. This was not just a military exit. I had read on Reddit that theories were mentioned about this tunnel being a sacred passage opening to the underworld in a ritualistic sense, symbolizing death and rebirth.

Immediately after, we reached the Kings Gate. This is a monolithic portal built with massive and huge stone blocks away from decorations, inspiring a feeling of power and fear in those who see it.

Towards the end of our trip, we reached Nisantepe and the nearby Hieroglyphic Chamber No 2. This rock chamber is protected behind iron bars. The Luwian hieroglyphs and reliefs here are considered one of the latest written documents shedding light on the collapse period and final wars of the Hittite Empire.

We completed our mysterious journey in Hattusa. I did not want to leave here at all. But I was also very curious about Yazilikaya, the open-air temple where gods were carved into the rocks, located just 2 kilometers away. So I left here and went to visit Yazilikaya. I will mention that temple in my next posts too. See you in the next post.