This is our experience visiting Yazilikaya, a Hittite sanctuary in Türkiye.

Yazilikaya It is the great sanctuary of ancient Hittite capital of Hatusa, so that the two sites form a group and as such it is registered in the list of the World Heritage of the Unesco 1986 since.

There are about three kilometers between both places so they are easily visited one after the other, on the peninsula of Anatolia, Türkiye.

Hatusa It was an immense city surrounded by walls, where remains of palaces, temples and other structures are preserved, scattered over a vast area, and from where the view extends to the distant horizon.

But Yazilikaya we find quite the opposite.

It is a relatively small place, two crevices in the rocks whose walls are largely covered with reliefs.

Curiosities of the history of Yazilikaya

Yazilikaya is actually a double rock art gallery in which the works are not painted but carved.

Si Hatusa was the capital of an empire which is still little known and its visit is a journey through numerous questions, in Yazilikaya All that feeling of mystery multiplies.

The complex transmits an intense emotion, the result of an unusual and solitary enclave and some enigmatic reliefs that represent gods, kings and different characters with symbols that are difficult for us to understand.

Fortunately archaeologists and scholars have revealed many of the mysteries of the hitites and thus we can decipher the meaning of these works.

In any case, we are in what would be the most sacred place for the Hittites in the 13th century BC

It is also the best preserved and the largest known, an impressive place despite its small size and can be enjoyed even if not much is known about it. hittite pantheon.

Si en Hatusa rituals were celebrated in honor of Teshub y liver (The God of heaven and Goddess of the sun) in the closed area of ​​the Great Temple, Yazilikaya The ceremonies took place outdoors and in the presence of the entire Hittite pantheon.

In this rock sanctuary commemorated the New Year, which took place in spring, and other rites related to the cycles of life, which were associated with natural phenomena, were also performed.

What to see on a visit to Yazilikaya (our experience)

During the experience of our visit, upon arriving at the place the first thing we found were the remains of different structures that reproduce the model of others hittite temples.

In some way these buildings separated the true temple from the rest of the world, although there are hardly any remains of these structures, the lower part of the walls and the foundations.

The entrance was through the lowest part of the enclosure. Some steps led to a main patio, from where you could access the two galleries, and the whole formed a kind of ceremonial path.

There is a total of 83 figures, 66 on the call Gallery A and 17 in the Gallery B, which is later than A, joins it through a corridor carved into the rock.

The reliefs They are best seen on clear days and at certain times, depending on the incidence of the sun's rays.

That is why it is advisable, as far as possible, to access the Gallery A between 11:00 and 13:00 and at Gallery B between 12:00 p.m. and 13:00 p.m.

Reliefs of gods in Gallery A of Yazilikaya

Upon entering the Gallery A You can see the great processions of divinities, the gods on the left wall and the goddesses on the right.

Both converge in the central panel, in the figures of the main gods, Teshub y liver. The gallery measures about 30 meters in length.

The gods and goddesses They have their names engraved in hieroglyphic characters on cartouches located next to their hands, which has made it possible to identify them.

The order in which they are found implies their hierarchical situation, showing in total 42 male and 20 female divinities.

In the central relief appears Teshub located on two mountain gods. In front of him, the great goddess Hepat He rides on his consecrated mount, the lion, which in turn rests on four mountains. Both divinities appear next to a bull wearing a pointed cap.

Behind god Teshub two gods appear on symbolic mountains.

Behind the goddess Hepat is Sharouma —son of the main couple, also on a lion— and two goddesses, the daughters, on a two-headed eagle.

Many of these gods are of non-Hittite origin since they tended to assimilate the deities of the people with whom they were related.

The gods on the left wall wear conical hats, earrings, short tunics, and pointed shoes, while the goddesses on the right wear long skirts and a cylindrical headdress.

Un special relief, on the right wall, is completely different from the rest.

Represents the king Tudhaliya IV on two mountains, she wears a long dress and a round hat and carries a curved staff in her left hand.

On his right hand a hieroglyph describes him as “the big king” since he was deified after his death.

This relief is later than the rest, which must have been carved during the reign of the king Hattusili III, the father of Tudhaliya IV, mid-13th century BC

Upon returning to the entrance of the Gallery A the opening appears in the rocks, artificially widened, leading to the Gallery B.

Two winged demons with the head of a lion and a human body guard the entrance. The arms are raised in a threatening attitude.

Gods in Gallery B of Yazilikaya

In Gallery B, about 18 meters long, there are fewer figures but they are quite well preserved.

It is assumed that they were carved by order of Suppiliuliuma II, the son of Tudhaliya IV, in honor of his father at the beginning of the 12th century BC

A relief shows 12 armed men walking and who are the guardians of the underworld.

In some ways they resemble a similar series of figures from the Gallery A, but here they look much better.

Right in front there is a very curious relief, it is Nergal, the God of the underworld, with the shoulders and arms formed by four lions.

What is different is that the head and body of the god are actually the handle of a sword whose blade continues downwards, as if it were stuck in the ground.

Next to him appears one of the most spectacular reliefs in all of Yazilikaya.

In it it is shown Sharouma god, the son of Teshub y liver, who embraces Tudhaliya IV passing his left arm around his neck and shoulders and holding his right wrist, a position that means that he protects and guides him.

Yazilikaya Visiting Hours and Prices

El compound compound of Hatusa and Yazilikaya open every day of the year.

El Yazilikaya schedule It is from 10 a.m. to 19 p.m., from April 1 to September 30, and from 8 a.m. to 17 p.m., from October 1 to March 31.

El entrance fee to visit Yazilikaya It is 10 lira.