A History of Babylon, from the Foundation of the Monarchy to the Persian Conquest

by L. W. King

FIGURE, PROBABLY OF A HITTITE KING, FROM THE ROYAL GATE AT KHATTI.

The pose of the figure, slightly leaning to the right, is due to the sloping side of the gateway, beside which it is sculptured in relief.

(After a photo by Puchstein.)

At the time of their empire, their capital and central fortress was Khatti, which lay to the east of the Halys, on the Anatolian plateau some three thousand feet above sea-level. It occupied a strong position near the crossing of the great lines of traffic through Asia Minor; and expansion from this area must have begun to take place at an early period beyond the west bank of the river, where the country offered greater facilities for pasturage. Another line of advance was southward to the coast-plains beneath the Taurus, and it is certain that Cilicia was occupied by Hittite tribes before any attempt was made on Northern Syria. That at first the Hittites were scattered, without any central organization, among a number of independent city-states, may be inferred from their later records. For when a land is referred to in their official documents, it is designated "the country of the city of so and so," suggesting that each important township had been the centre of an independent district to which it gave its name. Some of the Hittite states attained in time to a considerable degree of importance. Thus we find Tarkundaraba of Arzawa sufficiently eminent to marry a daughter of Amen-hetep III. of Egypt.[32] Another city was Kussar, one of whose kings, Khattusil I., was the father of Shubbiluliuma, under whom the Hittites were organized into a strong confederacy which endured for nearly two hundred years. It must have been owing to its strategic importance that Shubbiluliuma selected Khatti as his capital in place of his ancestral city.

Quite apart from its name, and from the traditions attaching to it, there can be no question but that from this time forward Khatti was the centre of Hittite power and civilization; for it is by far the most extensive Hittite site in existence. It covers the high ground, including the hill-top, above Boghaz Keui, which lies in the valley below; and it is fortunate that the greater part of the modern village was built clear of the outer boundaries of the ancient city, as the ruins have in consequence run far less risk of destruction.[33] It was placed high for purely strategic purposes, commanding as it does the Royal Road from the west and the great trunk-road from the south as they approach the city-walls. The citadel was formed by a flat-topped hill,[34] which dominates the walled city to the north, west, and south of it. Its precipitous slopes descend on the north-east side to a mountain stream outside the walls; and a similar stream, fed by shallow gullies, flows north-westward through the city-area. From the point where they rise in the south, to their junction below the city, the ground falls no less than a thousand feet, and the uneven surface has been fully utilized for its defence. The wall which surrounded the southern and higher half of the city is still comparatively well preserved, and forms three sides of a rough hexagon, but the falling and broken ground to the north prevented a symmetrical completion of the circuit. A series of interior fortification-walls, following the slope of the ground, enclosed a number of irregular areas, subsidiary forts being constructed on four smaller hills along the most southerly cross-wall, which shut in the highest part of the city.

FIG. 52.

THE ROYAL GATE OF KHATTI, THE CAPITAL OF THE HITTITES, VIEWED FROM THE OUTSIDE.

The massive walls are preserved in their lower courses, but in the sketch the upper portions are restored in outline. The arched gateway with its sloping sides is characteristic of Hittite work.