Daily Archives: May 24, 2007

The Hittites

 

Lion’s Gate at Ancient Hattusas

We made a full day excursion from Ankara to the Hittite sites of Hattusas (now Bogazkale) and the open air sanctuary of Yazilikaya where the Hittite gods are depicted in relief on the rock. During Old Testament days Turkey was the home of the ancient Hittites, once thought by critics of the Bible to be an example of the inaccuracy of the Bible. In 1906 archaeologists began to uncover the Hittite civilization at Boghazkoy (now Bogazkale). The Hittites had numerous contacts with the people of the Bible from the time of Abraham onward (Gen. 15:20; Josh. 1:4; 2 Sam. 11:3; 1 Kings 10:29; See National Geographic, July, 1977). Our trip, including the sightseeing, took about 11 hours. The weather was warm, in the mid-80s, and the sky was beautiful. This made for a good photographic day. The photo above is of the Lion’s Gate.

The photo below shows some of the temple area and a portion of reconstructed wall. This also provides a view of the typical Anatolian landscape around Hattusas.

Tomorrow we will visit the famous Hittite Museum in Ankara, and continue to Cappadocia.

View of Hattusas toward reconstructed wall.