ACalendarinStone:HittiteYazılıkayaBy Eberhard Zangger and R i ta Gautschy

A g reat deal isknownabout theHit t ite culture that ruledover centralAsiaMinor from

around1600 to1190 BCE, only to suddenly collapseandbe forgotten forover3 ,000

years. Thecuriosityof theeducatedc lasseswas instant lyarousedwhen, in1834 CE, a

Europeanscholar f irst saw themassivearchitec tural remainsof theHit t ite temples in the

formercapitalHattuša, about 150 kmeast of Ankara in centralAnatolia. Excavat ions

commenced in1906 andbecameso incrediblyproduct iveand insight ful that they st ill

cont inue today. Asmanyas33 ,000 cuneiformdocumentsand text fragmentshavebeen

retrieved from the formerpalace. The6 .8 -km-long fort if icat ionwallprotectedasmany

as30 temples.

Map showing loca t ion o f Hat tuša . (© Luwian S tud ies)

Goog le Ear th v iew o f Hat tuša showing loca t ion o f Yaz ı l ıkaya .

TheHit t itesproudly reported that they lived in the “Landof ThousandGods,”

presumably toemphasizehowdivinelyblessed theywere. However, withwealth comes

responsibility, and theHit t iteGreat King , as thegods’ chief representat iveonearth, was

expected topart ic ipate inall themajor fest ivals tohonor them. Nurturing andpleasing

themult itudeof divinit iesalsooccupieda largeproport ionof theelites’ t ime throughout

theyear. Therewereno less than165 relig ious fest ivalsacross the country. A keen

observervisit ing the landof Hatt iwas thusquite likely to seea royal entourage forming

aprocession ina ceremonialvenue inwhicha statueof adeity, sheetedwithgold, was

retrieved froma templeandcarriedacrossopen land tooneormore sacredplaces. But

remembering when tohold those fest ivalswasa challenge.

There is awealthof BronzeAgedocuments, most dealing withprayersand fest ival

liturg ies, aswell asmanystudiesof Hit t ite relig ion, inc luding sacredsprings, g rot tosand

caves, rocksandmountains. So far, however, lit t le emphasishasbeenplacedon

ident ifying theHit t ites’ relat ion to celest ialdeit ies, even though theirhighest -ranking

goddesswas theSunGoddessof Arinna, and theGreat King of Hatt i evenused to refer

tohimself as “MySun.”

Probably thebest depic t ionof theHit t itepantheon ispreserved just outside the c ity

wallsof Hattuša in the rock sanctuaryof Yazılıkaya, oneof themost fasc inat ing

archaeolog ical sites in theworldandaWorldHeritage site.

Wa l l on the western ins ide o f Chamber A w i th 12 ident ica l gods (Re l ie f s 1–

12) on the far le f t and Re l ie f 34 , the Sun god o f the heavens as we l l as the

Moon god (Re l ie f 35) on the r ight . (© Luwian S tud ies)

Chamber B o f the rock sanctuary Yaz ı l ıkaya w i th i t s 12 -meter - ta l l western

wal l d i sp lay ing the re l ie f s o f 12 gods o f the underwor ld . (© Luwian

S tud ies)

P lan showing the loca t ion o f Chambers A and B as we l l as the three phases

o f temple construc t ions . The ga tehouse (Bu i ld ing I I I ) i s d i rec ted a t the

sunset dur ing summer so ls t i ce . The nor thwestern wal l o f Bu i ld ing IV i s

a l igned wi th the sunset dur ing the w inter so ls t i ce . (© Luwian S tud ies)

Foralmost twocenturies, scholarshavebeenpuzzledby theprocessionof over90

deit iesandmythical f igures carved into thevert ical facesof thenatural limestone

outcrop. Its art ist ic style is completelydist inc t from theexamples familiar fromanc ient

Egypt andMesopotamia. Without doubt , thisplacewasof utmost importance inHit t ite

relig ion;but what exact lywerepriestsand the royal family celebrat ing at this spot? The

archaeolog ists in chargeof excavat ionsat the sitehave long argued that thehighest

echelonsof Hit t ite soc iety celebrated thebeg inning of theNewYearat this sanctuary.

I (Zangger) f irst sawYazılıkaya in the spring of 2014 during avacat ion tovisit

archaeolog ical sites inTurkey. The localhostelwhere I spent thenight had soldme the

“HattushaGuide” writ tenby theGermanprehistorian J ürgenSeeher, whowas in charge

of theexcavat ions from1994 to2006 onbehalf of theGermanArchaeolog ical Inst itute.

Seeher statesonpage157 of theguide that apart icularly large relief of theHit t ite

Great King Tuthalija IV lies in the shade throughout theyear, except fora fewdays

around the summersolst ice, when it is illuminatedbynatural sunbeams.

Yaz ı l ıkaya , K ing Tutha l i ja IV .

(h t tps ://up load .wik imedia .org/wik iped ia/commons/b/bd/Yaz i l ikayaShar

rumaAndKingTudhal iya8November2004 . JPG)

Absent-mindedly Imadeanote in themarg in: “ calendar? ” . Lit t ledid Iknow that this

spontaneous thought wouldkeepmeoccupied for thenext f iveyears.

The rock sanctuary consistsprimarilyof twochambers, for themost part natural,

designatedChamberA andB. ChamberA hasalwaysbeenanopenspace, withdozensof

reliefs carved into the limestonewalls at eye level. ChamberB, on theotherhand,

containsamassivevert ical facepoint ing almost duenorth. It lookedso technical– the

smooth facehadevenbeenextendedwithashlarmasonry inHit t ite t imes– that I

thought the roomsmay indeedhavehada technical funct ion inaddit ion to their relig ious

andsymbolic meaning . Anastronomical applicat ionappeared tobeagoodplace to start .

Uponreturning toZurich, I came into contact withRitaGautschy, anarchaeolog ist and

archaeoastronomerat theUniversityof Basel. Wedec ided to joint lypursuean

invest igat ionof the sanctuary. Lit t leby lit t leweworked towardsan interpretat ionof the

g roupsof f iguresand thedeit ies themselves, unt ilweeventuallyunderstoodhow the

whole systemmayhavebeenused. Inourview, it is a tool tooperatea calendarbased

oncelest ial events. Tomakesure that their fest ivals fell in the right season, theHit t ite

priestshad tokeep trackof thebeg inning of eachyearandmonth. This iswhat we think

Yazılıkayawasused for–andcould st illbeused for today, since the systemworks in

perpetuity.

Wedist inguished fourg roupsamong the63 preserved reliefsof deit ies inChamberA ,

beg inning with12 ident icalmalegodson thewest wall at theentrance. These, inour

view, wereused to count the12 lunarmonthsof ayear–an idea that hadalreadybeen

brought forward in1973 by theanc ient historianFriedrichCornelius. Next , to the right ,

is ag roupof 30 deit ies, whichwe interpret askeeping trackof thedaysof a lunar

month (alternat ing between29 and30 days). S incea lunaryear comprises354 days

(12 t imes29 .5), a leapmonthhad tobe insertedapproximatelyevery threeyears in

order tokeep the lunar calendar synchronizedwith the seasons.

We think that daysandmonthswere countedandmarked fromright to left , following

thepathof themoonacross the sky. TheHit t itepriestsmost likelyusedwoodor stone

columns to indicate the current dayandmonth. A carefully shapedsill, st illwell

preserved, couldhaveaccommodated thesemarkers.

Technica l reconstruct ion o f the use o f the re l ie f s in Chamber A to keep

t rack o f lunar months , days per lunar month and years . (© Luwian S tud ies)

Ar t i s t ’ s reconstruct ion o f Chamber A a t around 1230 BCE . (© Rosemary

Robertson)

3D-v isua l i za t ion o f the temple a t Yaz ı l ıkaya showing an ep iphany e f fec t

dur ing a re l ig ious serv ice on the day o f the summer so ls t i ce in 1250 BC . (©

O l iver Bruderer / Luwian S tud ies)

Theeasternwallnowadays shows17 femaledeit ies, but orig inally therewereat least

nineteen. Oneof the two todaymissing f igures is gone, withonlyahierog lyphon the

wallwith itsname indicat ing that it used tobe there. Theothermissing f igurewas found

in theneighborhood in1945 , and isnowdisplayed inanearbymuseum. If theg roup

indeedconsistedof 19 reliefs, it couldhavebeenused tomarka19-year solar cyc le.

Sucha19-year solar cyc le is aperfec t tool toalign solarand lunar calendars.

The symbolic roleandpossible technical funct ionof the f ivedeit ies in themain scene is

not yet explained–weareplanning to takeup this task induecourse. ChamberB, too,

requiresmore scholarly scrut iny. LikeChamberA , it containsag roupof 12 ident ical

gods, whichwe interpret to indicate the lunarmonths. With the chamberpoint ing almost

duenorth, the sharpnatural rockedges couldhavebeenusedasa star c lock–a system

that hadbeen inuse inEgypt forovera thousandyearsby the t imeChamberBwas

created.

Thisnew interpretat ionof Yazılıkaya servesasa start ing point forabet ter

understanding of Hit t ite relig ion. Celest ialdeit iesplayedaparamount role in theHit t ite

relig ion that ac tedasanamalgamof different localAnatolianbeliefsand ritesonone

hand, andof conceptsof stargazing that were for themost part adopted fromprinc iples

f irst recognized inMesopotamia.

Ebe rhard Zangge r is pre s ide nt o f t he Luwian S t ud ie s Fo undat io n. Rit a

Gaut s c hy is a s e nio r re s e arc h as s o c iat e at t he De partment o f A nc ie nt

C iv iliz at io ns , Univ e rs it y o f Bas e l, S wit z e rland .