1650BCc. 1650–1180 BC · Hattusa, Boğazkale

Hattusa, capital of the Hittite Empire

The Lion Gate at Hattusa: two carved stone lions flank a passage through the massive city wall — Photo: Bernard Gagnon. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Hattusa, Hittite kings ruled an empire that stretched across Anatolia into Syria and rivalled Egypt. After the Battle of Kadesh the two powers agreed one of the earliest known peace treaties, and the Hittite copy was found in the city's archives. Thousands of clay tablets from Hattusa revealed the oldest written Indo-European language. The city was abandoned around 1180 BC.

Sites

Site 1: Hattusa: Lion Gate, King's Gate and Great TempleCarved city gates, a rebuilt stretch of mudbrick wall, temple foundations and a tunnel under the ramparts.Map ↗
Site 2: Yazılıkaya rock sanctuaryOpen-air shrine with a procession of Hittite gods carved into the rock.Map ↗
Site 3: Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, AnkaraHittite tablets, reliefs and finds from Hattusa and Alacahöyük.Map ↗

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