Yazilikaya was the first stop on our tours today. After driving for about three hours, we arrived at the site, and piled out of the bus. When I had done research on Hattusas, Yazilikaya was always associated with the information. I thought this rock sanctuary was actually in the site of Hattusas, but I was wrong. It is near, on one of the rock outcrops near the site of Hattusas. Yazilikaya means “inscribed rock” and was once used as a temple and ritual area. The New Year and spring celebration festivals and rituals took place at Yazilikaya. This rock sanctuary depicts much of the Hittite pantheon of Gods. There are two main chambers which are open to the public, chamber A and chamber B. Chamber A was actually discovered in 1834 by Charles Texier, who thought these were Iron Age inscriptions (Texier believed the site of Hattusas was Pteria, so he thought he would tie this into his theory).

 Chamber A is very weathered because it was exposed for so long, so the inscriptions and reliefs are worn and hard to discern. Chamber B, however, was not exposed and was actually filled in, which preserved the inscriptions very well. I could tell the difference between the exposures when looking at the remaining reliefs. I was actually amazed at how clear the reliefs from chamber B were. I found it interesting how large this site was as a single ritualistic area when you compare it to some of the temples at Hattusas (not Temple 1, but the temples in the Upper City) and from Alacahoyuk. I also thought the proximity to Hattusas was interesting, because of the amount of temples at Hattusas. Yet, this site was important enough that they would perform the spring ritual here.

Hattusas was after Yazilikaya, and the site I am doing my presentation and paper on. This site was found in 1834, and excavations first started in 1906. Hattusas is the site that I have to research, present and write a paper on for the landscape Archaeology portion of this trip. I am also going to make a map of the site for my GIS course final.  There have been about 5 different people directing the excavations, so preservation techniques vary. It was pretty amazing to see how big this site really was. When you look at a map, or read about the different components of the site, you do not get a good idea of how large and far apart the different parts are. I do not think I will ever be able to imagine the site the same way as before visiting it. I did get to see the parts of the site I had been reading about, but we also we went to parts that I had not read about. I had thought I had looked up a lot of information, but it seems like there is always more to find. I just feel that I could have been more prepared, but I can not change the past. The only thing I can do is look up the information, so that I am informed in the future.  On of my favorite parts of visiting Hattusas was being able to walk through the only open part of the postern at Yerkapı. I also liked looking at the side of Yerkapı. It allowed me to see exactly how a 35 degree slope survives 2400 years.

Alacahoyuk was the last site of the day. It was presented to the public very nicely. There were signs for just about all the finds, and the site had flowers growing wild everywhere. The sight of the red poppies (at least I think they were poppies. I’m not exactly sure, because I do not know a lot about the varieties of flowers) and purple wildflowers are forever going to be incorporated with my memory of this site. I am also going to think about Turkish school children, whom seemed to swarm this site. As we were climbing through the postern, I could hear the children tramping down the stairs and running through the narrow tunnel. As I could only move as fast as the people in front of me, I was slightly afraid that some of the children were going to run into the back of me. Alacahoyuk is a Hittite (and pre-Hittite) site, with a temple, and a Sphinx Gate. It was interesting to see the reliefs and the gate with a similar style to Hattusas, but on a smaller scale, which seems to me like a much more likely spot for people to actually live.  

One might wonder why as a US citizen, the Hittite empire means anything to me. Well, this empire, which was smaller than the Mesopotamians and Egyptians was able to challenge and win battles against both. They were able to manipulate their landscape to help them gain power. At the same time, we can look at their collapse and other internal problems to determine what can be applied to todays governments. Through the study of the past, a better future can be possible.

Location: Selvi Hotel, Cadnkiri cad. No: 16, Ulus-Ankara, Turkey