Product Code Database
Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittites in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey (originally Boğazköy) within the great loop of the Kızılırmak River (Hittite: Marashantiya; Greek: Halys River).
Charles Texier brought attention to the ruins after his visit in 1834. Over the following century, sporadic exploration occurred, involving different archaeologists. The German Oriental Society and the German Archaeological Institute began systematic excavations in the early 20th century, which continue to this day. Hattusa was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1986.
A carbonized layer apparent in excavations attests to the burning and ruin of the city of Hattusa around 1700 BC. The responsible party appears to have been King Anitta from Kussara, who took credit for the act and erected an inscribed curse for good measure:
though in fact the city was rebuilt afterward, possibly by a son of Anitta.Hopkins, David C., "Across the Anatolian Plateau: Readings in the Archaeology of Ancient Turkey", The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 57, pp. v–209, 2000de Martino, Stefano, "Hatti: From Regional Polity to Empire", in Stefano de Martino, ed., Handbook Hittite Empire: Power Structures, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, pp. 205–270, 2022
In the first half of the second millennium BC, around the year 1650 BC the Hittite king Labarna moved the capital from Neša to Hattusa and took the name of Hattusili I, the "one/man from Hattusa".Bryce, Trevor R., "The Annals and Lost Golden Statue of the Hittite King Hattusili I", in Gephyra 16, pp. 1-12, November 2018 After the Kaskians arrived to the kingdom's north, they twice attacked the city and under king Tudhaliya I, the Hittites moved the capital north to Sapinuwa. Under Muwatalli II, they moved south to Tarhuntassa but the king assigned his younger brother, the future Hattusili III as governor over Hattusa.Glatz, Claudia, and Roger Matthews, "Anthropology of a Frontier Zone: Hittite-Kaska Relations in Late Bronze Age North-Central Anatolia", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 339, pp. 47–65, 2005 In the mid-13th century BC Hittite ruler Mursili III returned the seat to Hattusa, where the capital remained until the end of the Hittite kingdom in the 12th century BC (KBo 21.15 i 11–12).Otten, Heinrich, Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazköi 21 (insbesondere Texte aus Gebäude A), Berlin 1973
At its peak, the city covered and comprised an inner and outer portion, both surrounded by a massive and still visible course of walls erected during the reign of Suppiluliuma I (–1322 BC (short chronology)). The inner city covered an area of some and was occupied by a citadel with large administrative buildings and temples. The royal residence, or acropolis, was built on a high ridge now known as Büyükkale (Great Fortress).Güterbock, Hans G., "New Excavations at Boghazköy, Capital of the Hittites", Archaeology, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 211–16, 1953 The city displayed over of walls, with inner and outer skins around of thick and of space between them, adding of the total thickness.Lewis, Leo Rich; Tenney, Charles R. (2010). The Compendium of Weapons, Armor & Castles. Nabu Press. p. 142. .
To the south lay an outer city of about , with elaborate gateways decorated with reliefs showing warriors, lions, and sphinxes. Four temples were located here, each set around a porticoed courtyard, together with secular buildings and residential structures. Outside the walls are cemeteries, most of which contain cremation burials. Modern estimates put the population of the city around 10,000; in the early period, the inner city housed a third of that number. The dwelling houses that were built with timber and mud bricks have vanished from the site, leaving only the stone-built walls of temples and palaces.
The city was destroyed, together with the Hittite state itself, around 1200 BC, as part of the Late Bronze Age collapse. Excavations suggest that Hattusa was gradually abandoned over a period of several decades as the Hittite empire disintegrated. It has been suggested that a regional drought occurred at that time.Manning, S. W.; Kocik, C.; Lorentzen, B.; et al, "Severe multi-year drought coincident with Hittite collapse around 1198–1196 BC", Nature 614, pp. 719–724, 2023 Signs of final destruction by fire have been noted,Bryce, Trevor (2019). Warriors of Anatolia: A Concise History of the Hittites. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 264. . but this destruction probably occurred after the city had already been abandoned by the Hittite royal family, elites, and state apparatus. (2025). 9789652660268, Emery and Claire Yass Publications in Archaeology. ISBN 9789652660268 Agricultural communities with a material culture distinct from the Hittites settled in the remains of Hattusa as early as the 12th Century BC.
Ernest Chantre opened some trial trenches at the village then called Boğazköy, in 1893–94, with excavations being cut short by a cholera outbreak. Significantly Chantre discovered some fragments of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform. The fragments contain text in both the Akkadian language and what later was determined to be the Hittite language.Alaura, Silvia, "Rediscovery and Reception of the Hittites: An Overview", Handbook Hittite Empire: Power Structures, edited by Stefano de Martino, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, pp. 693-780, 2022Boissier, Alfred, "Fragments de tablettes couvertes de caractères cunéiformes, recueillies par M. Chantre et communiqués par M. Menant", Comptes rendus des séances de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 39 (4), pp. 348‒360, 1895 Between 1901 and 1905 Waldemar Belck visited the site several times, finding a number of tablets.
In 1905 Hugo Winckler conducted some soundings at Boğazköy on behalf of the German Oriental Society (DOG), finding 35 more cuneiform tablet fragments at the site of the royal fortress, Büyükkale.Crüsemann, Nicola, "Vom Zweistromlandzum Kupfergraben.Vorgeschichte und Entstehungsjahre (1899–1918) der Vorderasiatischen Abteilung der Berliner Museen vorfach-und kulturpolitischen Hintergründen, Jahrbuchder, Berliner Museen 42, Beiheft(Berlin:Gebr.MannVerlag), 2001 Winckler began actual excavations in 1906, focusing mainly on the royal fortress area. Thousands of tablets were recovered, most in the then unreadable Hittite language. The few Akkadian texts firmly identified the site as Hattusa.Winckler, Hugo, "Nach Boghasköi! Ein nachgelassenes Fragment", Der Alte Orient XIV/3, Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1913 Winckler returned in 1907 (with Otto Puchstein, Heinrich Kohl, Ludwig Curtius and Daniel Krencker), and briefly in 1911 and 1912 (with Theodore Makridi). Work stopped with the outbreak of WWI.Seeher, J, "Die Adresse ist: poste restante Yozgat Asie Mineure", Momentaufnahmen der Grabungskampagne 1907 in Boğazköy. In: J. Klinger, E. Rieken, C. Rüster (eds.), Investigationes Anatolicae: Gedenkschrift für Erich Neu, Wiesbaden, pp. 253-270, 2010Alaura, Silvia, "NachBoghasköy!” Zur Vorgeschichte der Ausgrabungen in Boghazköy-Hattušaund zu denarchäologischen Forschungenbis zum Ersten Weltkrieg Darstellung und Dokumente, 13. SendschriftDOG, Berlin:Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, 2006 Tablets from these excavations were published in two series Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazkoi (KB0) and Keilschrift urkunden aus Boghazköi (KUB). Work resumed in 1931 under prehistorian Kurt Bittel with establishing stratigraphy as the major focus. The work was under the auspices of the DOG and German Archaeological Institute (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut) and lasted 9 seasons until being suspended due to the outbreak of WWII in 1939.Bittel, Kurt, "Reisen und Ausgrabungen in Ägypten, Kleinasien,Bulgarien und Griechenland 1930–1934", Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften und Literatur Mainz, Jg. 1998, Nr.5, Stuttgart:Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998 Excavation resumed in 1952 under Bittel with Peter Neve replacing as field director in 1963 and as director in 1978, continuing until 1993.Bittel, Kurt, "BOĞAZKÖY: The Excavations of 1967 and 1968", Archaeology, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 276–79, 1969 The focus was on the Upper City area. Publication of tablets was resumed in the KUB and KBo.Jürgen Seeher, "Forty Years in the Capital of the Hittites: Peter Neve Retires from His Position as Director of the Ḫattuša-Boğazköy Excavations" The Biblical Archaeologist 58.2, "Anatolian Archaeology: A Tribute to Peter Neve" (June 1995), pp. 63-67.P. Neve, "Boğazköy-Hattusha — New Results of the Excavations in the Upper City", Anatolica, 16, pp. 7–19, 1990 In 1994 Jürgen Seeher assumed control of the excavation, leading there until 2005, with the focus on the Büyükkaya and non-monumental areas including economic and residential spaces.Seeher, Jürgen, "Büyükkaya II. Bauwerke und Befundeder Grabungskampagnen 1952–1955 und 1993–1998", Boğazköy-Hattuša 27, Berlin:de Gruyter, 2018 From 2006 on, while some archaeology continued under new director Andreas Schachner, activities have been more focused toward restoration and preparation for tourist operations.Schachner, Andreas, "Hattuscha.Auf der Such enach dem sagenhaften Großreich der Hethiter", München: C. H. Beck, 2011Schachner, Andreas, "Hattusa and its Environs: Archaeology", in Hittite Landscape and Geography, Handbuch der Orientalistik I/121, eds. MarkWeeden, and Lee Z. Ullmann, Leiden/Boston: Brill, pp. 37‒49, 2017Schachner, Andreas, "Die Ausgrabungen in Bogazköy-Hattusa 2018", Archäologischer Anzeiger. AA. Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, no. 1, 2019
During the 1986 excavations a large (35 × 24 cm, 5 kg in weight, with 2 attached chains) inscribed metal tablet was discovered 35 meters west of the Sphinx Gate. The tablet, from the 13th century BC, contained a treaty between Hittite Tudḫaliya IV and Kurunta, King of Tarḫuntašša. It is held at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara.H. Otten, "Die Bronzetafel aus Boğazköy: Ein Staatsvertrag Tuthalijas IV", Studien zu den Boğazköy-Texten, Beih. 1, Wiesbaden, 1988Zimmermann, Thomas, et al., "The Metal Tablet from Boğazköy-Hattuša: First Archaeometric Impressions*", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 69, no. 2, pp. 225–29, 2010 During 1991 repair work at the site a Mycenae bronze sword was found on the western slope. It was inscribed, in Akkadian, "As Duthaliya the Great King shattered the Assuwa-Country he dedicated these swords to the Storm-God, his lord".Hansen, O., "A Mycenaean Sword from Boǧazköy-Hattusa Found in 1991", The Annual of the British School at Athens, vol. 89, pp. 213–15, 1994Cline, E. H., "Aššuwa and the Achaeans: The 'Mycenaean' Sword at Hattušas and Its Possible Implications", The Annual of the British School at Athens, vol. 91, pp. 137–51, 1996 Another significant find during the 1990-91 excavation season in the "Westbau" building of the upper city, was 3400 sealed bullae and clay lumps dating from the 2nd half of the 13th century BC. They were primarily associated with land documents.van den Hout, Theo, "Seals and Sealing Practices in Hatti-Land: Remarks À Propos the Seal Impressions from the 'Westbau' in Ḫattuša", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 127, no. 3, pp. 339–48, 2007
One of the most important discoveries at the site has been the cuneiform royal archives of clay tablets from the Hittite Empire New Kingdom period, known as the Bogazköy Archive, consisting of official correspondence and contracts, as well as legal codes, procedures for cult ceremony, oracular prophecies and literature of the ancient Near East. One particularly important tablet, currently on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, details the terms of a peace settlement reached years after the Battle of Kadesh between the Hittites and the Egyptians under Ramesses II, in 1259 or 1258 BC. A copy is on display in the United Nations in New York City as an example of the earliest known international peace treaties. Replica of Peace Treaty between Hattusilis and Ramses II - United Nations
Although the 30,000 or so clay tablets recovered from Hattusa form the main corpus of Hittite literature, archives have since appeared at other centers in Anatolia, such as Tabigga (Maşat Höyük) and Sapinuwa (Ortaköy).
|
|
