South Castle (Ḫattuša)
Coordinates: 40 ° 0 ′ 47.5 ″ N , 34 ° 37 ′ 9.3 ″ E
Research describes a building complex in the Hittite capital Ḫattuša as the southern castle . The wall remains that were first found there are parts of a Phrygian fortification. The site is known, however, because of a chamber excavated underneath with an inscription in Luwian hieroglyphics , which is one of the latest documents from the time of the Hittite Empire.
location
The excavation site of Ḫattuša is located near Boğazkale in the district of the same name in the central Turkish province of Çorum . The southern castle complex is located in the east of the city, south of the Büyükkale royal castle .
To the south-east of this are the two eastern ponds , which together with the southern ponds served to supply the city with water, but also had ritual significance. In the west today the road from Königstor leads past, through which one can visit the site. On the opposite side of the street is the rock Nişantepe with the rock inscription called Nişantaş of Šuppiluliuma II. , The last known great king of the Hittite Empire.
Phrygian castle
The layout of the south castle has approximately the shape of an elongated rectangle, the dimensions of about 90 × 170 meters and oriented from southwest to northeast. Only foundations that are up to four meters thick have survived from the outer walls. The Iron Age (Phrygian) fortification walls with towers and battlements, as well as the Hittite buildings, made of timber framework and mud bricks, were built on these bases made of rubble stones. In the interior of the castle, the foundation walls of various buildings - residential houses, workshops and storage rooms - have been preserved. In the northwest was probably the only gate of the castle, through which you can still enter the site today.
Hittite cult complex
During the excavations carried out by the German Archaeological Institute in Ḫattuša under Peter Neve between 1988 and 1992, parts of a cultic complex related to the ponds to the east came to light.
overview
After initially assuming that the ponds were fed by springs in the higher area, Andreas Schachner and Hartmut Wittenberg determined in an investigation in the 2010s that on the one hand this would have meant technical problems and probably would not have been sufficient. Instead, they assume a filling by seepage from groundwater horizons, which were cut by the Hittite engineers. The ponds served on the one hand to supply the city with water, on the other hand they had a cultic function as described below.
The pond adjoining the south castle had an area of about 6000 m². On the northwest side there was a dam about 30 meters wide, on the sparse remains of which the Phrygian fortification wall was later built. In the middle to the west of the dam, in the axis of the pond, there was a four by five meter complex of indefinite function, of which only the lower row of stones remains.
At the corners of the pond were two chambers with a parabolic vault made of neatly worked limestone blocks that tapered inward. Chamber 1 is aligned with the western corner of the pond, Chamber 2 with the north corner. Parts of both chambers were preserved in situ under the Phrygian castle wall, individual stones were built into the wall as spoilage so that they could be reconstructed not only graphically but also structurally after the uncovering. The same applies to the retaining wall on both sides of Chamber 2 as well as to parts of the same in Chamber 1. The two chambers are considered to be the oldest known stone vaulted buildings in the ancient Orient.
Votive vessels, which were found in large numbers at the bottom of the pond, the two vaulted chambers and a temple clearly demonstrate the cultic character of the entire complex. In the English-language specialist literature, it is referred to as the Sacred Pool Complex .
Hieroglyphic Chamber
While Chamber 1 is unadorned, Chamber 2 has two reliefs and an inscription in Luwian hieroglyphics. As the works were buried under the remains of the fortifications until they were discovered, both the reliefs and the inscription are very well preserved.
Reliefs
On the left, eastern side, directly at the entrance, the image of a warrior is integrated into the wall. The stone block was built into the Iron Age wall and could be used again in its original place. The antique broken left upper corner could also be attached again to fit. Like some reliefs from the Hittite Empire - for example the Fıraktın rock relief - this is only outlined and may not have been completed. The execution cannot be compared with the masterly craftsmanship, for example the figure at the King's Gate. The figure steps to the left and thus looks at the visitor to the sanctuary. The beardless figure wears a pointed cap with three horns on his head. The clothing of the upper body is not recognizable because of the lack of elaboration, underneath he wears the short skirt of the warrior and on his feet shoes with curved tips. He is holding a bow carried over his shoulder in his left hand and a spear in his right. These clothing and equipment often appear on rock reliefs from the Hittite Empire, including Hatip , Hemite , Karabel, and Hanyeri . They are usually named by inscriptions, here too the symbols for Šuppiluliuma can be found in the top left between the spear and the head. It is obvious that Šuppiluliuma II. , From the end of the 13th to the beginning of the 12th century BC, was here. The last great king of the empire, whose deeds are described in the inscription on the other side of the chamber. Since the king is endowed with the crown of horns as a symbol of divinity, which in Hittite iconography mostly points to deceased rulers, the British Hittite scientist John David Hawkins believes it is also possible that Šuppiluliuma's ancestor Šuppiluliuma I should be honored with the image.
A figure in a long cloak is depicted on the back wall of the approximately four-meter-deep chamber. This relief is also very flat. In his left hand the sitter holds a curved stick, which Neve interprets as a lituus . The right hand, stretched forward, holds a cross-shaped object reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian ankh symbol . The double wing sun, with which the figure is crowned, identifies him as a sun god, similar to relief 34 from the nearby Yazılıkaya sanctuary . In front of the rear wall, a rectangular pit about 50 centimeters deep was found, from which a trench cut into the rock below the pond level runs parallel to the north side of the pond to the east. The function of the pit and the trench has not yet been clarified.
inscription
On the right, western wall of the chamber, the inscription is carved on six blocks as a raised relief. It consists of six lines and runs bustrophedon from top right to bottom right, whereby the last line is only about half the length. The type of inscription has various peculiarities that make reading difficult despite the excellent state of preservation. This includes a very logographic character, the lack of endings in nouns and verbs as well as the lack of line and word separators. John David Hawkins , who published the inscription in 1995, sees this as a strongly archaic style.
According to Hawkins' translation, the author, who is described as Šuppiluliuma, great king, hero, describes various campaigns. With the help of the sun goddess of Arinna , the weather god of Hatti, the weather god of the army, the sword god as well as Sauska and various other gods, he subjugated the countries Wiyanawanda , Tamina, Masa, Luka and Ikuna. All of these areas can be found in the west and south-west of Anatolia on the borders of the empire. He also founded a number of cities, of which only the names Tihihasa and Tarahna can be deciphered. Then there is talk of a mountain, of the submission of Tarḫuntašša and the founding of other cities, as well as of the sacrifices made there. In the final sentence he reports that he has created a divine earth path here this year . This designation, in hieroglyphics DEUS.VIA + TERRA, corresponds exactly to the well-known cuneiform expression DINGIR.KASKAL.KUR , with which, among other things, sinkholes , natural tunnels, caves at springs or places where watercourses disappear into the earth, i.e. places that are viewed as the entrance to the underworld. It is therefore obvious that Šuppiluliuma wanted to build a symbolic entrance to the underworld here for cult purposes.
temple
On the forecourt of Chamber 2, in the northern part of the Phrygian south castle, the remains of two buildings have come to light. While only a corner in the foundation walls of the eastern one was preserved, the western one still clearly shows the typical layout of a temple with an inner courtyard, vestibule and main room. It was referred to as Temple 31 in continuation of the sequence of numbers in Ḫattuša .
literature
- John David Hawkins : The Hieroglyphic Inscriptions of the Sacred Pool Complex at Hattusa (Südburg). (= Studies on the Boǧazköy texts . Supplement 3). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-447-03438-6 .
- Jürgen Seeher : Hattuscha leader. A day in the Hittite capital . 2. revised Edition. Ege Yayınları Publishing House, Istanbul 2002, ISBN 975-8070-48-7 , pp. 84–96.
- Ömür Harmanşah: Place, Memory, and Healing: An Archeology of Anatolian Rock Monuments , Routledge, 2014 ISBN 9781317575726 , pp. 59–65.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jürgen Seeher: Hattuscha guide. A day in the Hittite capital. 4th, revised edition. Ege Yayınları, Istanbul 2011, ISBN 978-605-5607-57-9 pp. 48-49.
- ↑ Andreas Schachner, Hartmut Wittenberg: On the water reservoirs in Boğazköy / Hattuša and the question of their filling In: Florian Klimscha, Ricardo Eichmann, Christof Schuler, Henning Fahlbusch (eds.): Water management innovations in the archaeological context - From the prehistoric beginnings to the Ancient metropolises . Publishing house Marie Leidorf GmbH. ISBN 978-3-86757-385-6 pp. 245-255.
- ↑ Jürgen Seeher : Hattuscha guide. A day in the Hittite capital . 2. revised Edition. Ege Yayınları Publishing House, Istanbul 2002, ISBN 975-8070-48-7 , p. 86.
- ^ John David Hawkins : The Hieroglyphic Inscriptions of the Sacred Pool Complex at Hattusa (Südburg). (= Studies on the Boǧazköy texts . Supplement 3). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-447-03438-6 , p. 19
- ↑ John David Hawkins: Hittite Monuments and their Sanctity In: Anacleto D'Agostini, Valentina Orsi, Giulia Torri (Eds.): Sacred Landscapes of Hittites and Luwians Firenze University Press 2015, ISBN 978-88-6655-903-0 , p 7.