Hattusas

   The capital of the Hittite nation and empire, located in north-central Anatolia about 130 miles (209 km) east of modern Ankara. The site of Hattusas (or Hattusa, modern Boghazkoy or Bogazkale) was inhabited in the third millennium B.C.or earlier. But it did not become the Hittite capital until around 1750 b.c. It was located in a hilly region, presumably to make it more defensible, near a small, well-watered plain. Hattusas was divided into two major sections - the Lower City and Upper City. The older of the two was the Lower City, built on and around a royal acropolis, or fortified hill, featuring a palace and the temple of the principal Hit-tite deity, the Storm God, who was similar in many ways to the Mesopotamian god Adad, the Hebrew god Yahweh, and the Greek god Zeus. Much of the early city was destroyed circa 1380 b.c. Less than a century later extensive rebuilding programs took place, and the city expanded nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) southward, forming the Upper City. Hattusas was destroyed again, circa 1190 b.c., and thereafter remained deserted for several centuries.

   Excavations of the Upper city were undertaken in the twentieth century by a German team led by archaeologist Peter Neve. The work revealed twenty-six temples and thousands of clay tablets bearing the Hittite language expressed in Mes-opotamian cuneiform characters. Excavators also uncovered a number of spectacular gates in the city's defensive walls, the most famous of which were the Lion's Gate, Sphinx's Gate, and King's Gate.

   See also: cuneiform; Hittites; languages