Hattusa

Long ago, a great city was built.

It was the home of Hittite kings. The city had very thick walls.

These walls kept the people safe.

Many people lived in the city. They built big temples and homes. Some homes were made of mud bricks.

Later, the city was left empty. A long dry time may have caused this. The people moved away.

Many years later, people found the ruins. They found old clay tablets. These tablets had writing on them.

Today, we can still see the stones. We can learn about the past there. It is a special place to visit.

Hattusa was a great capital city. It belonged to the Hittite Empire.

The city is in modern Turkey. It sits near a big river.

People lived there a long time ago. Around 1650 BC, a king named Labarna moved the capital there. The city grew very large. It had an inner city and an outer city.

Huge stone walls protected the people. The walls were very thick. The inner city had big temples and palaces. Some gates had art on them. They showed lions and sphinxes.

Around 1200 BC, the city was lost. The Hittite empire fell apart. A long drought, or a time with no rain, may have caused this. People slowly moved away.

Many years later, workers found the ruins. They found clay tablets with writing. This writing was called cuneiform.

These tablets helped us learn about the Hittites. Today, Hattusa is a special world heritage site. We can still see the stone walls and temples.

Hattusa was a very important capital city. It belonged to the Hittite Empire during the late Bronze Age.

Today, the ruins are located near Boğazkale in modern Turkey. The city sits near a large loop of the Kızılırmak River. This place was home to many people for a long time. People first lived there during the Chalcolithic period.

Later, the Hattian people called the site Hattush.

The city was built to be very strong. It had a large inner city and a large outer city.

Huge walls surrounded both parts of the city. These walls were very thick to keep people safe. The inner city held a citadel with many big buildings. It also had important temples and administrative offices. The royal residence was built on a high ridge called Büyükkale.

The outer city had many gates. These gates were decorated with carvings of lions and sphinxes.

Many different leaders ruled Hattusa over the years. Around 1650 BC, King Labarna moved the capital here. He took the name Hattusili after moving. Other kings, like Tudhaliya I, had to move the capital elsewhere for a while. This happened because of attacks from the Kaskians. Later, King Mursili III brought the capital back to Hattusa. It stayed the capital until the empire ended in the 12th century BC. The city was once home to about 10,000 people.

Around 1200 BC, the Hittite Empire began to fall apart. This period is called the Late Bronze Age collapse.

Scientists think a long drought might have caused this. A drought is a time when there is very little rain. Because of this, people slowly left the city over many years. Some fires also burned the city during this time. Eventually, different groups of people moved into the old ruins.

Archaeologists began to find the city again in the 1800s.

A French explorer named Charles Texier found the ruins in 1834. Later, many researchers worked to study the site. They found thousands of clay tablets with cuneiform writing. These tablets told stories about the Hittite language. In 1986, Hattusa became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This means the site is protected for the whole world to see.

Hattusa was the powerful capital of the Hittite Empire during the Late Bronze Age.

Today, the ruins of this ancient city are located near Boğazkale in modern Turkey. The site sits within a massive loop of the Kızılırmak River. Hattusa served as a center of political and religious life for many centuries. It was a place where kings ruled and important trade occurred. Its discovery has helped historians understand a lost civilization. In 1986, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The city was built with a very complex and strong defense system. It consisted of two main parts: an inner city and an outer city.

Massive walls surrounded both sections to protect the people. These walls were built with double skins. There was an inner wall and an outer wall. The space between them was filled with material to make them very thick. This design created a total thickness that made the city very hard to attack.

The inner city was a highly organized administrative center. It contained a citadel with large buildings used for government work. Important temples were also located within these walls. The royal residence was known as the acropolis. It was built on a high ridge called Büyükkale.

To the south, the outer city held about 7,000 people. This area featured elaborate gateways. These gates were decorated with stone reliefs of lions, warriors, and sphinxes. The outer city also contained four temples with courtyard porticos and many residential structures.

Hattusa has a long history of shifting power and leadership. The earliest traces of people on this site date to the 6th millennium BC. By the end of the 3rd millennium BC, the Hattian people called the site Hattush. In the 18th and 19th centuries BC, Assyrian merchants established a trading post in a separate quarter of the lower city. Around 1700 BC, the city was burned and ruined. King Anitta of Kussara claimed responsibility for this destruction. However, the city was eventually rebuilt, possibly by Anitta's son.

In the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, the Hittite kings made Hattusa their permanent home. Around 1650 BC, King Labarna moved the capital from Neša to Hattusa. He even took the name Hattusili to show he was the "man from Hattusa."

The capital moved several times due to conflict. The Kaskian people attacked the city from the north. Because of these attacks, King Tudhaliya I moved the capital to Sapinuwa. Later, King Muwatalli II moved the seat south to Tarhuntassa. Eventually, King Mursili III returned the capital to Hattusa in the mid-13th century BC.

At its height, the city was home to approximately 10,000 people.

The empire eventually fell during the Late Bronze Age collapse around 1200 BC. Scientists believe a severe, multi-year drought may have contributed to this collapse. As the Hittite state disintegrated, the city was gradually abandoned over several decades. While some fires damaged the city, most destruction happened after the royal family had already left. Eventually, new agricultural communities settled among the old ruins.

Modern discovery of Hattusa began in the 19th century. In 1834, French explorer Charles Texier brought attention to the ruins. He made maps and drawings of the site. In 1886, Georges Perrot suggested that Boğazköy was indeed the Hittite capital.

Excavations in the early 20th century led to amazing finds. Hugo Winckler and others discovered thousands of clay tablets. These tablets were written in cuneiform, a way of using wedge-shaped marks. They contained texts in both Akkadian and the Hittite language. These writings allow us to read the history and laws of the Hittite people today.