Student Reader's History Notes » Bogazkale

Bogazkale: Timeline

Levi Clancy — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:49:32 +0000

Period or Event	King	Time-Frame	Overview
Paleolithic			Very few traces of civilization in any of northern Anatolia
Mesolithic			Very few traces of civilization in any of northern Anatolia.
Neolithic			Very few traces of civilization in any of northern Anatolia’s mountainous and forested geography. However there are traces in the south, for example in Catal Huyuk and the Konya Plain.
Chalcolithic		6000-3000 BC	First settlements include one on the Büyükakaya ridge and near Yarikkaya. Settlement across northern Anatolia increased very slowly.
Early Bronze Age		3000-2000 BC	Coherent zones of habitation with trade were established. Toward the end of the Early Bronze Age a Hattian settlement was established at Bogazkale, beginning the site’s continuous occupation. Remnants of Hattian settlements have been found under the fill of the Hittite Lower City, and on the high ridges of Büyükkaya and Büyükkale.
Middle Bronze Age aka Karum Period		2000-1700 BC	Fortifications were laid out on Büyükkale, indicating this is where the Hattian rulers lived. Hattian settlement stretched from the slope of Büyükkale to the area where the Great Temple of the Hittites was later erected. Hattian occupation grew to the point that an Assyrian karum was established sometime in the 19^th/18^th centuries BC just to the north. This was one of several at Hattian centers. The Assyrian traders kept their residential quarters separate from the Hattians, although the Assyrians were nonetheless protected and taxed by the Hattian rulers. With the Assyrians arrived writing (Akkadian cuneiform) as business necessitated documentation. Transactions were recorded on tablets, along with the name of the Hattian city Hattush.
Hattusha Destroyed		~1700 BC	At the start of the 2^nd mill BC, Central Anatolia saw frequent conflict between the autochthonous Hattians and immigrant Hittites seeking to consolidate their power. A ~1700 BC burn layer at Hattush is corroborated by an inscription by King Anitta of Kushar, describing his defeat of King Piyushti of Hattush: “At night I took the city by force; I have sown weeds in its place. Should any king after me attempt to resettle Hattush may the Weathergod of Heaven strike him down” ².
Old Hittite Kingdom		~1650-1400 BC	Heralding from Kushar, in ~1650 BC the Hittite king Hattushili I chose to preside from Hattian Hattush, marking the beginning of the Hittite Hattusha ¹. Hattushili reintroduced cuneiform writing, which had fallen out of use when the Assyrian trade network disintegrated, thus ensuring a legacy of 30,000 clay tablets spanning laws, contracts, correspondences, cult procedures, oracular prophecies and ancient Near East literature.
Hattusha Destroyed		1400 BC	Under the reign of Hittite king Tudhaliya III the city “was burned to the ground” according to a cuneiform text ³. This is contemporaneous with a recension of Hittite power, the extent of Hittite hegemony contracting to just the Central Anatolian plateau ¹.
Hittite Empire		1400-1180 BC	Hittite king Shupiluliuma I led the Hittites to defeat the Mitanni, their mighty opponent straddling north Mesopotamia and south Anatolia.
	Shupiluliuma I

Bogazkale: Hattusha Lower City

Levi Clancy — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:10:41 +0000

The Lower City (aka Old City) of Hattusha stretched from the northwestern wall bounding the modern village of Bogazkale all the way southeast to the tip of Büyükkale. The the south and southwest, the Lower City is bound by the Postern Wall.

Structure

Time Period

Overview

Abschnittsmauer

In use during the Hittite empire, the abschnittsmauer was an inner city wall that protected the Great Temple and adjacent settlement. It was 7m thick and adhered to the box system (kasternmauer): an outer and an inner wall (each ~1.5-2m thick) were connected every several meters by transverse walls, forming enclosed box-shaped spaces that were then filled with rubble. Each 20-25m segment of curtain wall was adjoined by a tower that was 3-4m thicker than the curtain wall and protruded at the front.

For security reasons, Hittites kept limited access to their city walls. Only every sixth or seventh tower had a door to get in from the ground outside. Every tower had two doors on its upper story to access the adjacent curtain walls; the curtain walls were only accessible from the towers. Tall rectangular windows were built into the towers on the front, back and two sides protruding from the curtain walls. The tower roofs were accessible via a ladder. To stabilize each story of the towers, an encircling anchorage of large timbers (ringanker) was installed; in the reconstruction, this is visible as a bulging line between each story.

The roof was made of a dense layer of poplar logs, covered by a layer of mud, covered by a 10-12cm thick layer of impermeable earthen çorak. The outer surface of the roof was divided into sections, each slightly sloped to guide rain water to drains. Drains were made of timber halves. These kinds of roofs are still used in Anatolian villages. After heavy rains they require re-sealing and re-sloping; snow must be quickly removed or else trapped melted water will permeate the roof.

Reconstruction of the abschnittsmauer. View from outside the city. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/07.

Reconstruction of the abschnittsmauer. Tower first story. View from inside the city. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/05.

Reconstruction of the abschnittsmauer. Tower second story. View from inside the city. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/05.

Reconstruction

2005 – ?

Sponsored by JT International, a 65m long section of the abschnittsmauer was reconstructed during eleven months, broken into three campaigns between 2003 and 2005. No original brickwork of Hattusha’s city walls remains. Instead, the reconstruction relied upon clay models from the Hittite period and preserved mudbricks elsewhere in Hattusha. To build the bricks, clay-rich soil, straw and water were mixed in large pits; the straw was a temper to prevent cracking during drying. Wood slats were arranged into a grid of 45×10 rectangles; the mixture was poured into the frame; the surfaces were smoothed; and the frame was removed. The bricks were left in the sun to dry for 10-12 days. This prepared mud bricks of the same average size as those preserved in burnt ruins at Hattusha. Approximately 64,000 bricks were produced for the reconstruction of the wall. Mud bricks are sturdy yet rain-sensitive. The walls were dampened and a thin layer of plaster (the same mixture used for the bricks) was hand-applied. With each brick weighing ~34kg, and the weight of the mortar and plaster, nearly 2500 tons of material was used to reconstruct the mud brick wall.

Aerial view of Lower City. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/06.

View of the Lower City residences with reconstructed Abschnittsmauer in distance. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/06.

Temple 1, the Lion Basin. Side view. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/07.

Lower City

3^rd/2^nd MIll BC – ?

The oldest traces of settlement in the Lower City date to the Late Early Bronze Age (straddling the 3^rd and 2^nd millennia BC) by Hattians of local origin. Also excavated were remnants of a karum of the 19^th and 18^th cent BC. When the Hittites established themselves in the lower city, they built a temple with storerooms, and an adjacent residential area. The residences’ house walls were built of sun-dried mud-bricks partially supported by a timber frame; their flat roofs were made of timbers plastered with mud. These multi-room houses contained ovens, open fireplaces and sometimes even clay bathtubs. Water for consumption was carried from neighborhood fountains. A drainage system whisked away sewage via mains beneath streets and alleys.

Temple 1

Temple 1 (Great Temple) is the largest building structure in Hattusha. The temple itself is 65x42m; including its storerooms it is 14,500m². Its construction date is unknown, but it was likely in use during the Hittite Empire. The Temple Building lacks a staircase, indicating it was only one story. Monolithic doorsills mark doorways, aiding to determine the Great Temple’s 82 ground-floor rooms. The storage depots likely had stairwell access to two or even three stories, meaning the storage magazines contained a maximum of 200 storerooms.

Some of the Great Temple’s wall socles were fashioned out of limestone blocks up to 1.5m high and up to 5m long, weighing 20 tons or more. The walls themselves were timber frame construction filled with mudbrick. They were then covered with mud plaster, in areas worked into designs in relief and likely painted lavishly. The roof was made of timbers sealed with mud. Many dowel holes remain, as do the low sills of large windows. The Great Temple was likely kept shuttered, however, due to its sanctity.

Temple 1, the Lion Basin. Approaching view. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/07.

Temple 1, gateway to the Temple complex. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/07.

Temple 1, the Green Stone. Büyükkaya in distance. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/07.

Temple 1 Features

Feature	#	Overview
Lion Basin	1	Originally 5.5m long and carved from a single limestone block. Chisel marks reveal that Byzantine or Roman stonemasons had cut into the block to haul away some pieces. It originally had four lions, one at each corner. Served as either a water basin or base for a large statue.
Gateway	2	The gateway to the temple area has three large thresholds; upon passing through, the thresholds to the left and right must have sheltered the temple guards.
Green Stone	3	A block of green nephrite-type stone common to the region. Once stood elsewhere, as it now is beneath the original surface of the temple storeroom (it is much lower than the nearby doorway). A cruder and smaller green stone is present in Temple 5 in the Upper City.
Water Basin	4	Chiseled from a limestone, perhaps for cultic rituals,
Entrance	5	The entrance to the Inner Court was a narrow passage in the soutwest side. The pivots of doors remain, as well as abrasion from the opening and closing of the heavy wooden doors.
Inner Court	6	At 27x20m, the Inner Court was paved with large flat stones, surrounded by high walls and open to the sky.
Altar	7	Near the far end of the Inner Court is a freestanding socle of gabbro (rather than limestone), a hard blackish-green igneous rock. It likely was an altar.
Stoa	8	A stoa was at the far end of the Inner Court, of which only the gabbro column bases remain. The stoa led to several antechambers and then to the Holy of Holies.
Holy of Holies	9 10	Access to the Holy of Holies was permitted only to the King, Queen, High Prests and certain temple priests. It contained two cult chambers, indicating the Great Temple was dedicated to two deities. These deities were likely the most revered deities, the Weather God of Hatti and the Sun Goddess of Arinna. The gabbro socles were exactly fitted together, sometimes even interlocking. Only the foundations of the western chamber remain; nearly the entire wall socle of the eastern chamber remains, which measures 8x10m.
Other Rooms		Other rooms in the Great Temple were likely for rituals, priestly dressing rooms, storage for cultic objects, sacrificial live animals and also bureaucracy. Regarding bureaucracy, the temples were economically important and used wax-covered pieces of wood for archives; there were even wood-roster scribe job positions. These rooms were empty when excavated.
Storerooms	11	The rooms along the northwest side were empty except for the remains of hundreds of large pottery vessels that were sunk into the ground (some of which still remain). Each vessel held up to 2,000 liters are would have included grains, beans, oil and wine for the temple provender. Mane vessels’ shoulders were scratched with indications of their contents and purpose. The storerooms along the opposite side of the Great Temple served as archives, evidenced by the thousands of cuneiform tablets and fragments.
Street	12	A paved street that runs along the southwest side of the Great Temple and led to the South Gate of the inner city wall. Under the street was a sewage canal to service the immediate locale.
Complex 1	13	Complex 1 (aka Southern District) is a 5300m² building complex that was walled-in with only one entrance. It was completely cleared out when Hattusha was deserted, although cuneiform tablet found in Complex 1 mentions a House of Operations (e-gish-kinti). A House of Operations’ tasks usually involved priests, musicians, singers and bother clay-tablet and wood-roster scribes. Complex 1 likely contained storerooms, cult chambers, workshops and ateliers.
Grotto	14	Just southwest of Complex 1 is a small walled grotto that collected water from a spring. The original lintel is in the Bogazkale Museum. A stele found in the area (now at Museum of Anatolian Civilizations) indicates cultic roles for the spring and grotto.

Temple 1, storerooms with large pottery vessels. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/05.

Temple 1, drain off the Inner Court. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/05.

Paved street alongside southwest side of Temple 1; leads to South Gate. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/07.

House on the Slope

?-13^th Cent BC

In the Old City of the Hittites there were many structures terraced into the slope between the royal citadel of Büyükkale to the Great Temple. One such structure is the House on the Slope, which was a two-storied 32×36 m structure. One room alone in the upper story measured 13×17 m. This grand scale suggests it had an official use. The building was destroyed by fire at the end of the 13^th cent BC. Remnants of the mudbrick walls have survived to present. A comprehensive clay tablet archive was recovered from the ruins of the first story.

Kesikkaya

Kesikkkaya (meaning cut rock) is a rock outcropping with a natural cleft. A Hittite structure once stood atop it, as evidenced by step-like ledges and rows of bore holes. Kesikkaya was used as a source of stone for the Lower City; Roman and Byzantine quarrying is evidenced by scarring high up Kesikkaya.

House on the Slope. Southwest view. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/05.

Kesikkaya. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/07.

Bore holes and steps atop Kesikkaya. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/07.

Postern Wall

16^th Cent BC – ?

The oldest fortification of Hattusha is the Postern Wall, which protected the Lower City on the south and southwest. It followed the valley’s natural contours all the way up to Büyükkale. The Postern Wall was likely erected by Hittite king Hantili, as a tablet from Hattusha’ cuneiform archives alleges that he built fortifications for Hattusha which “earlier had no protection whatsoever” — this likely meant that his fortifications paled earlier attempts. In typical Hittite fashion it was built with casemate walls. Eight posterns beneath the wall were situated 70-180m form each other to connect the inside to the outside. The posterns were of corbeled masonry. Their precise function is unclear, although they have been sally ports; postern is from Latin posterula, meaning back- or side-door). The Postern Wall was renovated and remodeled in the centuries after its construction.

Grain Silo

Old Hittite Era – ?

In the Old Hittite Period a subterranean grain silo was built next to the Postern Wall (note that Büyükkaya is home to a separate silo). The complex was ~118m long and 30-40m wide, containing two rows each containing 16 compartments. The walls (but not floors) were made of ~1.5m thick mud-brick tiles; outside surfaces were insulated with thick layers of clay to keep out moisture. The compartment was then lined with a thick layer of straw. Grain was poured up to the rim of the compartment. Atop this was placed straw and then loamy soil to create a hermetic seal. Though the height of the compartments is unknown, though their capacity was realistically 7-9,000m³. This could suffice 20-30,000 people for a year (barring beer brewing) and must have served as not just a reserve, but as a treasury important to the Hittite king’s economic power.

During the 16^th cent BC the silo complex was engulfed in flames that consumed exterior structures. Some grain burned, but due to low oxygen levels much of it was just charred. Excavations not only uncovered preserved mud-bricks, but also layers over one meter thick of preserved grain, the only find of its kind in the ancient Near East. Most of the grain was barley, but various seeds of weeds and other plants were also present; these likely grew in the fields and made their way into the harvest.

Postern Wall, view of the postern nearest to Kesikkaya. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/07.

Grain silos. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/07.

Kizlar Kaya. Southwest view. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/06.

Kizlar Kaya

Kizlar Kaya (Maiden’s Rock) gained its name by a rumor of a relief of a young girl on the rock face. Roman and Byzantine masons removed stone blocks from Kizlar Kaya, though its configuring is largely preserved. Atop Kizlar Kaya is a platform with bore holes, benches and altar-like spaces that indicate a structure may have existed.

Lower West Gate

Hittite Empire

The West Gates are part of the west side of the Upper City fortification wall. However, they are more proximal to the Lower City. Unlike the gates in this fortification — the Lion and King Gates — these West Gates have no aesthetic other than attractive parabolic arches. The Lower West Gate is atop a street that runs parallel to the Postern Wall, indicating that the path was in use during the Old Hittite Period long before the West Gates were actually built.

Upper West Gate

Hittite Empire

The Upper West Gate accessed to a high ridge of the Upper City that has not been fully excavated.

Lower West Gate. Southeast View. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/06.

Lower West Gate. Door pivot. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/06.

Lower West Gate. Fossil on northeast corner. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/09/06.

	Seeher, Jürgen. 2006. Hattusha Guide: A Day in the Hittite Capital. Ege Yayinlary: Istanbul. (also available online)

Kadesh Treaty

Levi Clancy — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:21:04 +0000

Kadesh Treaty, ~1269 BC. Akkadian on Terracotta from Hattusa. Museum of the Ancient Orient Bo. 10403+6549+6674. Image by L. M. Clancy, 2009/08/28.

The Kadesh Treaty was established ~1269 BC between Hittite king Hattusilis III and Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, and is the earliest known equitable peace treaty. Ramses II’s reign began with hostility against the Hittite Empire, culminating in the mutually devastating Battle of Kadesh. The overextended Hittites lost the critical Mitanni region; and Egypt’s defeat prompted its Levantine vassals to revolt. Nearly six years after the Battle of Kadesh, Egypt and the Hittites allied for: non-aggression to avoid further ruin; and mutual military aid to thwart the encroachment of the Sea Peoples.

Two Egyptian and three Akkadian versions of the treaty are known to exist. One Egyptian version was carved into the walls of the temple of Amon at Karnak; another was carved into the walls of the Ramesseum, though it embellished Egypt’s peacemaking role. The three Akkadian versions are much closer to the formal agreement; these were excavated at Hattusha by joint Turkish and German teams (led by Hügo Winckler and Teodor Makridy). One of these Hittite tablets are at Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; two are at the Istanbul Archaeological Museums. Below are excerpts from the treaty:

Treaty of Rea-Mashesha-Mai Amana the great king, the king of the land of Egypt, the valiant, with Hattusilis, the great king of the Hatti land for establishing good peace and good brotherhood worthy of great kingship forever.

These are the words of Rea-Mashasha-Mai Amana: Now I have established good brotherhood [and] good peace between us forever. In order to establish good peace [and] good brotherhood in the relationship of the land of Egypt with the Hatti land forever.

Thus: Behold, as for the relationship between the land of Egypt and the Hatti land, since eternity the god does not permit the making of hostility between them because of a treaty [valid] forever.

If an enemy from abroad comes against the land of Egypt and Rea-Mashesha-Mai Amana, the king of the land of Egypt, your brother sends to Hattusilis, the great king of the Hatti land, his brother saying: “come here to help me against him” to Hattusilis, the king of the Hatti land shall send his footsoldiers [and] his charioteers and shall slay my enemies.

Bogazkale: Yazilikaya Overview

Levi Clancy — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:56:35 +0000

Yazilikaya (written rock) is the largest known Hittite rock sanctuary. It may have been a place for celebrating the arrival of the New Year each spring. It was established in its present form by Hittite king Tudhaliya IV.

Feature	Overview
Building	A substantial building blocked outside entrance to Chamber A.
Chamber A	Chamber A was carved in high relief with the Hurrian Pantheon. It depicts two processions, with male deities on the left (two exceptions) and female deities on the right. Luwian hieroglyphs provide each deity’s name above its projecting hand. The two processions meet at the back wall at Chamber A’s main scene, a meeting of the Storm God Tesup and the Sun Goddess Hepat. Opposite the main scene is the largest relief in the chamber, a portrayal of Hittite king Tudhaliya IV.
Chamber B	Through a narrow passage is Chamber B, a late 13^th cent BC memorial dedicated to Tudhaliya IV by his son Supiluliuma II. Chamber B was buried until the late 19^th cent, keeping its reliefs well-preserved. The Chamber B reliefs depict: the 12 Gods of the Underworld; Nergal, god of the Underworld; a cartouche with the name of Tudhaliya IV; and the god Sarruma guiding Tudhaliya IV. The limestone block near the entrance was likely a base for a statue of Tudhaliya IV. Niches in the chamber could have held offerings.