Hattusha: the Hittite Capital
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How it came to be
Hattusha lies near Boğazkale in Turkey, about 150 km east of Ankara. Hattians founded a settlement called Hattush here late in the 3rd millennium BC, and Assyrian merchants kept a trading quarter in the 19th and 18th centuries BC. Around 1700 BC King Anitta of Kussara burned the town and carved a curse on any king who resettled it, calling on the Storm God of the Sky to strike him.
Even so, around 1650 BC King Labarna moved his capital here from Nesha and took the name Hattusili. Under Suppiluliuma I in the 14th century BC massive walls went up, and at its height the city covered 1.8 km². Its enclosing wall runs more than 8 km, and the upper city has over 100 towers and gates such as the Lion Gate, the King's Gate and the Sphinx Gate. In the 13th century BC the Hittites made a peace treaty with Ramesses II of Egypt.
The city fell with the Hittite state around 1200 BC and was abandoned over several decades. Excavations since 1906 have uncovered palaces, temples, fortifications and about 20,000 clay tablets. UNESCO listed Hattusha, with the rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya 2 km to the northeast, in 1986.
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