Hattusa

Hattusa

Hattusa, also called Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. It was an important city that existed in two different time periods. Today, the ruins of Hattusa are near the town of Boğazkale in modern Turkey, close to the Kızılırmak River.

The site was first found by a French archaeologist named Charles Texier after he visited it in 1834. Many archaeologists have explored the area over the years. In the early 1900s, the German Oriental Society and the German Archaeological Institute began careful excavations, which still continue. In 1986, Hattusa became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, showing it is very important to the world.

History

The earliest signs of people living at the site of Hattusa go back to the 6th millennium BC during the Chalcolithic period. Later, around the end of the 3rd millennium BC, the Hattian people set up a settlement there and called it Hattush. Traders from Assyria, based in Kanesh (modern Kültepe), created a trading area in the lower part of the city.

Excavations show that the city was destroyed around 1700 BC. King Anitta from Kussara claimed to have done this but the city was rebuilt anyway.

In around 1650 BC, the Hittite king Labarna moved the capital to Hattusa and took the name Hattusili. The capital moved a few times after that due to attacks, but was brought back to Hattusa by king Mursili III in the mid-13th century BC, where it stayed until the end of the Hittite kingdom in the 12th century BC.

At its height, the city covered 1.8 km² (440 acres) and had both an inner and outer part, surrounded by thick walls built during the rule of Suppiluliuma I. The inner city held a citadel with important buildings and temples. The royal area, called the acropolis, stood on a high hill now named Büyükkale (Great Fortress). The city had over 6 km (3.7 mi) of walls.

The outer city had grand gates with carvings of warriors, lions, and sphinxes. It also had four temples, along with other buildings and homes. Outside the walls were places for burials. Today, experts think the city had around 10,000 people. Most houses were made of wood and mud and have disappeared, but the stone walls of temples and palaces remain.

The city was destroyed around 1200 BC during a time when many places were falling apart, known as the Late Bronze Age collapse. Digs show that Hattusa was slowly left over many years as the Hittite empire ended. Some think a drought may have happened at this time. Signs of fire were found, but this likely happened after the royal family and leaders had already left. New communities settled in the old city shortly after.

Archaeology

In 1833, a French archaeologist named Félix Marie Charles Texier went to Turkey and found big ruins near a town called Boğazköy in 1834. He measured the place, drew pictures, and made a map. Many other explorers visited after him, like the German geographer Heinrich Barth in 1858. In 1861, Georges Perrot dug at the site and thought Boğazköy was the Hittite capital, Hattusa. In 1882, a German engineer named Carl Humann made a full map of the site.

In 1893–94, Ernest Chantre dug at Boğazköy but had to stop because of a sickness. He found pieces of clay tablets with writing in the Akkadian language and the Hittite language. Between 1901 and 1905, Waldemar Belck visited the site many times and found more tablets.

In 1905, Hugo Winckler began digging at Boğazköy for the German Oriental Society and found many clay tablets at the royal fortress, Büyükkale. He continued digging until World War I started. The tablets from these digs were published later.

Work started again in 1931 under Kurt Bittel, focusing on different layers of history. This work lasted until World War II began in 1939.

Excavations continued in 1952. Peter Neve took over in 1963 and led the work until 1993. They focused on the Upper City area. In 1994, Jürgen Seeher took charge until 2005. From 2006, Andreas Schachner led the work, focusing on restoring the site for visitors.

During the 1986 digs, a large metal tablet was found near the Sphinx Gate. It had writing about an agreement between two kings from the 13th century BC. It is kept at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. In 1991, a bronze sword was found, and in 1990–91, many sealed pieces of clay were found in the upper city.

Cuneiform royal archives

Forty old business documents written in Akkadian were found from the early 2nd millennium BC. By the middle of the 2nd millennium, writers in Hattusa used styles from Syria, Mesopotamia, and Hurria. They wrote many texts in Akkadian and Sumerian.

One of the most important discoveries was the cuneiform royal archives of clay tablets from the Hittite Empire’s New Kingdom period, known as the Bogazköy Archive. These tablets include official letters, contracts, laws, ceremonies, and stories from the ancient Near East. One important tablet, now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, describes a peace agreement made after the Battle of Kadesh between the Hittites and the Egyptians under Ramesses II, in 1259 or 1258 BC. A copy is at the United Nations in New York City.

Although about 30,000 clay tablets were found at Hattusa, archives have also been found at other places in Anatolia, such as Tabigga (Maşat Höyük) and Sapinuwa (Ortaköy).

Sphinxes

A pair of sphinxes found at the southern gate in Hattusa were taken to Germany in 1917 for repairs. The better-preserved one was returned to Turkey in 1924 and put on display in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, but the other stayed in Germany. It was shown at the Pergamon Museum until it was moved to the Boğazköy Museum near the Hattusa ruins, where the two sphinxes were put back together close to where they were originally found.