Hattusa, also known as Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittite Empire during two different times in the late Bronze Age. The ruins are located near modern Boğazkale, Turkey (formerly Boğazköy), inside the large curve of the Kızılırmak River. The river was called Marashantiya by the Hittites and Halys by the Greeks.

In 1834, French archaeologist Charles Texier visited the site and drew attention to its ruins. Over the next 100 years, occasional exploration happened with various archaeologists. In the early 1900s, the German Oriental Society and the German Archaeological Institute started organized digging at the site. These efforts are still ongoing today. In 1986, Hattusa was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

History

The first signs of people living in this area date back to around 6000 BC. This was during a time when people used both stone and copper tools. By the end of the 3000s BC, the Hattian people built a settlement on land that had been used earlier. They called the place Hattush. In the 1900s and 1800s BC, merchants from Assyria, who lived in a city called Kanesh (Neša) (now known as Kültepe), set up a trading post there. They built their own section in the lower part of the city.

Excavations show a burned layer from around 1700 BC, which suggests the city of Hattusa was destroyed. King Anitta of Kussara is believed to have caused the destruction. He claimed credit and placed a written curse on the site. However, the city was rebuilt later, possibly by one of Anitta’s sons.

Around 1650 BC, the Hittite king Labarna moved the capital from Neša to Hattusa. He took the name Hattusili, meaning "from Hattusa." Later, when the Kaskians attacked from the north, the Hittites moved their capital to Sapinuwa under King Tudhaliya I. Under Muwatalli II, the capital was moved south to Tarhuntassa. The king then assigned his younger brother, Hattusili III, to govern Hattusa. In the mid-1200s BC, King Mursili III brought the capital back to Hattusa, where it stayed until the end of the Hittite kingdom in the 1100s BC (KBo 21.15 i 11–12).

At its largest, the city covered 1.8 km (440 acres) and had an inner and outer section, both protected by thick walls built during the reign of Suppiluliuma I around 1344–1322 BC. The inner city, covering about 0.8 km (200 acres), included a citadel with large buildings and temples. The royal residence, or acropolis, was built on a high hill now called Büyükkale (Great Fortress). The city had over 6 km (3.7 miles) of walls. These walls had two layers of stone, each about 3 meters (9.8 feet) thick, with 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) of space between them, making the total thickness 8 meters (26 feet).

The outer city, covering about 1 km (250 acres), had grand gateways decorated with carvings of warriors, lions, and sphinxes. Four temples, each surrounded by courtyards, were located here, along with homes and other buildings. Outside the walls were cemeteries, mostly with cremation burials. Modern estimates suggest the city had about 10,000 people. In earlier times, the inner city held about a third of that number. Homes made of wood and mud bricks no longer remain, but stone walls from temples and palaces are still visible.

The city, along with the Hittite kingdom, was destroyed around 1200 BC during the Late Bronze Age collapse. Excavations show the city was gradually abandoned over many years as the Hittite empire fell apart. Some experts believe a regional drought may have happened at that time. Evidence of fire damage was found, but it likely occurred after the royal family, leaders, and government had already left. By the 1200s BC, groups of people with different traditions settled in the ruins of Hattusa.

Archaeology

In 1833, the French archaeologist Félix Marie Charles Texier (1802–1871) was sent on a mission to explore Turkey. In 1834, he discovered important ruins near the town of Boğazköy. Texier made maps and measurements of the land, created drawings, and made a basic map of the site. Later, many European travelers visited the site, including the German geographer Heinrich Barth in 1858. In 1861, Georges Perrot excavated at Boğazköy and nearby Yazılıkaya. Perrot first suggested in 1886 that Boğazköy was the Hittite capital of Hattusa. In 1882, German engineer Carl Humann completed a full map of the site.

In 1893–94, Ernest Chantre dug small test holes at Boğazköy, but work stopped due to a cholera outbreak. Chantre found pieces of clay tablets with cuneiform writing, including texts in Akkadian and the Hittite language. Between 1901 and 1905, Waldemar Belck visited the site and found many tablets.

In 1905, Hugo Winckler dug at Boğazköy for the German Oriental Society, finding 35 more cuneiform tablet fragments near the royal fortress, Büyükkale. Winckler began full excavations in 1906, focusing on the royal fortress. Thousands of tablets were found, mostly in the unreadable Hittite language. A few Akkadian texts confirmed the site was Hattusa. Winckler returned in 1907 with others and briefly in 1911 and 1912. Work stopped with World War I. Tablets from these digs were published in two series: Keilschrifttexte aus Boghazkoi (KB0) and Keilschrifturkunden aus Boghazköi (KUB).

In 1931, prehistorian Kurt Bittel resumed work, focusing on soil layers. The project, supported by the German Oriental Society and German Archaeological Institute, lasted nine seasons until World War II began in 1939. Excavation continued from 1952 under Bittel, with Peter Neve taking over in 1963 and leading until 1978. Work continued until 1993, focusing on the Upper City. Tablet publications resumed in KUB and KBo. In 1994, Jürgen Seeher led excavations, focusing on Büyükkale and non-monumental areas like homes and markets. From 2006, under Andreas Schachner, efforts shifted to restoration and preparing the site for tourists.

In 1986, a large metal tablet (35 × 24 cm, 5 kg, with two chains) was found 35 meters west of the Sphinx Gate. The 13th-century BC tablet recorded a treaty between Hittite king Tudḫaliya IV and Kurunta, King of Tarḫuntašša. It is now in Ankara’s Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. In 1991, a Mycenaean bronze sword with Akkadian text was found on the western slope. In 1990–91, 3,400 sealed bullae and clay lumps from the 13th century BC were found in the "Westbau" building, linked to land documents.

Forty Old Assyrian Akkadian texts were found in the early second millennium BC karum. By the middle of the second millennium BC, a group of scribes developed in Hattusa, influenced by Syrian, Mesopotamian, and Hurrian traditions. They produced texts in Akkadian and Sumerian.

The most important discovery is the Hittite royal archives of clay tablets from the New Kingdom period, known as the Bogazköy Archive. These include official letters, contracts, legal codes, religious rituals, and ancient literature. A key tablet, displayed in Istanbul’s Archaeology Museum, details a peace agreement between the Hittites and Egyptians after the Battle of Kadesh in 1259 or 1258 BC. A copy is displayed at the United Nations in New York as the earliest known peace treaty.

The 30,000 clay tablets from Hattusa form the main Hittite literary collection, though other archives have been found in Anatolia, such as at Tabigga (Maşat Höyük) and Sapinuwa (Ortaköy).

A pair of sphinxes from Hattusa’s southern gate were taken to Germany in 1917 for restoration. One was returned to Turkey in 1924 and displayed in Istanbul’s Archaeology Museum. The other remained in Germany, later moved to the Boğazköy Museum near the ruins, reuniting the pair near their original location.