ANCIENT HITTITE CAPITAL - HATTUSA TURKEY
[Music] hello from ankara we're driving about 200 kilometers east to explore an ancient capital of the hittite empire hattusa let's go [Music] now [Music] the archaeological site of hatusa or hatusha is located in the northern central anatolia in the village of bulesco more than 3 000 years ago it was a capital of hidites one of the oldest indo-european civilizations which ruled the majority of what today is turkey along with the northern part of syria in the 17th century bc the king hatushilli the first whose name means the one from khatusha began to build an empire which lasted for over 500 years [Music] we're beginning our journey at the rock sanctuary of yasilikaya located around four kilometers from hatusa over 90 carvings adorning the sacred place date back to the 13th century bc yazilikaya literally means rock with writings [Music] it now consists of two open chambers a and b made of natural rock at the focal point of chamber a we can see two most important deities the storm god and the sun goddess [Music] horizontal reliefs on the side walls present a procession of gods male deities on the left and female on the right all facing the same direction as if they were slowly walking towards the supreme couple [Music] however the largest figure in the chamber represents the king to talia iv as he probably finished the construction of this sacred place and naturally didn't want to be forgotten already here we might notice egyptian influences as above the king's right hand his name and full title are displayed in a form of cartouche [Music] it suggested that the sanctuary might have been a house of the new year's celebration where each spring ceremonies took place to honor all the gods [Music] we're now in the chamber bee called the tuttaliya chamber tuttralia iv was one of the most important kings of the hittite empire interestingly the reliefs on the walls are much better preserved than in the chamber a that's because it was partly filled with earth and wasn't excavated until 1937. we're looking now at the line of gods of the underworld as this chimba might have been a burial place of tottalia the fourth [Music] on the opposite wall we can see the god sharoma with a significantly smaller totalia under his arm sharoma was a god of mountains often represented as a bull he was a son of the mighty stone god probably totally chose him as his protector to support him during the journey to the underworld by the way hitaites didn't have a strict religious calendar they usually connected with gods either to thank them when something good happened or ask them for help in hard times i've noticed that in contrast to other ancient civilizations the indo-european ones almost always regarded the storm gods as one of the most if not the most important ones might it be connected with the climate of their place of origin the vast pontic caspian step [Music] we're now in hatusa in the lower city in the 14th century bc this place teamed with life priests civil servants merchants and craftsmen all lived here in houses made of timber and mud interestingly many houses had a drainage system and some of them even featured bathtubs made of clay [Music] the most significant building of the lower city erected on a large artificial platform was obviously a religious one the great temple or temple one was the largest edifice in hatusa it measured 65 by 42 meters passing the gateway the paved street of the temple leads to the central shrine along the way there are limestone water basins which presumably were used in libation rituals the site also features enormous blocks with dowel holes some of the blocks reach even five meters in length and weigh around 20 tons they served as a support for the walls which no longer exist as they were made of timber frame filled with mud brick in one of the storerooms stands a controversial green stone matt this is specially for you its mystery has been brilliantly covered by the ancient architects channel which i highly recommend [Music] however unique this stone may be i've gotta tell you that i saw a lot of smaller green stones and pebbles all over the place [Music] the courtyard where most ceremonies took place led through several anti-chambers to the holiest part of the temple two cult chambers which only the king and queen had access to this is the lion basin used for libation rituals or nuts it's also possible it was a monument base featuring four crouching lions [Music] originally it was carved from one block of limestone the whole temple complex covered an area of around 14.5 000 meters square the magazines surrounding the temple alone had 82 rooms [Music] since the 16th century bc this wall protected the old city of hittites [Music] and these are the oldest fortifications of hatusa they were originally up to eight meters wide and protected by the towers built at intervals of 12 to 20 meters [Music] ah [Music] heading up we are passing by hot to miss cliffs of sarikala which means yellow fortress [Music] and there it is [Music] in the 13th or 14th century bc on the top of the 60 meters hierarchy outcrop hittites erected a fortress guarding the other city there's also a theory claiming that it was a significant religious place used particularly for worshiping the dead [Music] we reached one of the most iconic places in hatusa the lion gate one of the majestic gates on the southern part of the city wall these huge polygonal limestone blocks instantly caught my attention it's still unknown why some blocks fit perfectly are trimmed and smoothed whereas others are highly irregular and stick out from the wall [Music] these two magnificent lions each carved out of the single monolithic block maybe because of their tongues look i don't know tired and quite harmless to me perhaps if i'd seen them thousands of years ago with black pupils and undamaged i would have been more scared nevertheless they are beautifully crafted especially their main and whiskers [Music] [Music] the first traces of small settlements were found in this area on mountain slopes and rocky outcroppings and date back to the 5th millennium bc it wasn't until 2 000 years later in the third millennium bc during the early bronze age that small settlements evolved into religious political and trade centers probably due to discovery and processing of the mineral sources metals and wood these settlements were established by hattians hittite's predecessors who named the site hatush [Music] we encountered another insane structure known as the complex of ionically the artificial terrace measures 28 by 25 meters the wall reaches 7 meters in height and some blocks weigh up to 3 tons the purpose of this structure hasn't been found out yet but it's possible that it had ritual meaning as well as circular [Music] we're now at the highest and southernmost point in the city this artificial hill is called yerkapa meaning gate in the earth and includes a 71 meters long cobalt tunnel built of extremely large boulders interestingly enough the floor was initially covered with a white layer to enhance visibility [Music] [Music] just take a look at how huge this gateway is [Music] at the top of this 30 meters high hill stands the sphinx gate [Music] this is the best example of mesopotamian influence on hittite art both figures remind me of the assyrian protective diety la masu from dur sharokin but instead of having a bull's body they have a body of a lioness however as you know i'm an egyptomanic and when i saw these beautifully chiseled rosettes above the sphinx's head i instantly thought about the egyptian two feathers crown [Music] this whole artificial hill along with its magnificent sphinxes probably wasn't built as a strictly defensive point [Music] it was some kind of a monument which demonstrated the power of hittites and aimed to impress travelers approaching the city from the south [Music] the assyrians who traded with hattians and introduced them to cuneiform writing on clay tablets founded the city of kanish or nesha around kilometers to the southeast of hatush the region grew in power their syrian traders were paying taxes and were protected by the hachian laws in return but in 1700 bc anita the king of kusha the city location still remains unknown defeated hathyan king destroyed and burned the city of khatush and chose the city of kanish as his capital [Music] the king's gate located on the eastern side of the sword and city wall actually does not represent a king not a warrior the size of the breast made some scholars believe that it actually maybe she not he but finally after closer investigation and discovery of a hair depicted on the chest it was decided that this 2.25 meters high sculpture was
a god probably sharoma as he features horns on the helmet the attribute of the hittite gods the oldest text in hittite language and actually the oldest in the european text altogether is the so-called anita text written on the tablet with a cuneiform script after destroying and burning hatosh anita cursed the city saying quote at night i took the city by force i have sown wheats in its place should any king after me attempt to settle hatosh may the weather god of heaven strike him down unquote however we can see that the curse didn't stop hitting kings from creating an extensive two-square kilometer city which was a capital of a mighty hittite empire this militaristic society was one of the most powerful of the late bronze age along with egyptians babylon and assyrians they were repeatedly mentioned in the bible hittites are actually initiators of the iron age as they were the first producing advanced iron goods which were softer and lighter than those made of bronze [Music] we're now seeing remains of the bujuk color the royal castle located in the highest point of the old city it served as a residence of the hittite kings he died high status among dominant powers of the time presents the story of zananza son of shupe luluma the first he almost became an egyptian pharaoh in the fourteenth century bc tutankhamun's without wife anna krassenamoon wrote a letter to shubi luluma my husband has died and i have no son they say about you that you have many sons you might give me one of your sons to become my husband i would not wish to take one of my subjects as a husband i'm afraid after this successful journey of shrubiluluma's emissary zananza was sent to egypt but never reached the egyptian border dying during the journey it's still unknown what exactly happened and how he died [Applause] [Music] just to keep you informed the circular route around the site is around six kilometers in total three kilometers uphill and three downhill i'm glad that it's not the other way around [Music] this is the hieroglyphic chamber too built by the last king of hittites superluluma ii around 1200 bc it was unfortunately extremely hard to film reliefs and inscriptions adorning its inside walls led the scholars to believe that it was a kind of symbolic gateway to the world of the dead after reaching its peak under the rhine of superluluma the first and then his son murshilli in the end of the 14th century bc the hittites were continually invaded by the assyrians later on the sea peoples took over trade routes on the mediterranean the hittites were also invaded by the phrygians and the kashkas finally in 1180 bc hatusa was burned down the fall of the hittite empire was a part of the late bronze age collapse a time of disruption of trade and diplomatic relations the disappearance of writing systems destruction and death on a large scale the mediterranean civilizations either collapsed hittites mycenaeans leavened or remained but significantly weakened assyria or egypt hatusa was completely abandoned for more than 300 years to be then settled by the phrygians thank you for watching if you liked it you might also enjoy my previous video from there include and playlists from greece and egypt links below i am still exploring turkey so if you want to stay up to date with new episodes please subscribe to my channel [Music] and see you on another ancient site [Music] you
2021-12-02 01:00
