King's Gate in Hattusa

GPS coordinates: 40.009300, 34.622601

Archaeological site: 

King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa

Description: 

The King's Gate (tr. Kral Kapısı) is situated in the south-eastern part of Hattusa city walls. It is worth the attention of visitors, especially because of its excellent state of preservation. Its shape and size are similar to The Lion Gate in the south-western part of the fortifications.

The King's Gate, the Lion Gate, and the Sphinx Gate were the most notable of Hattusa Upper City gates. According to Professor Neve, these three gates were integrated into a sacred road used for processions, which started from Temple 5, left the city at the King's Gate, and then continued to the Lion Gate where it re-entered the city.

King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa

Carl Humann had already guessed the approximate location of the gate. Theodor Makridi then located it more precisely and partially uncovered the front in 1906. The archaeologists led by Otto Puchstein then excavated it in 1907 and discovered the warrior relief. It was taken to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara in the same year. In 1968, a copy of the original was erected at the King's Gate, but it was damaged by visitors and replaced at a later date.

Like all other outer gates of Hattusa except the Sphinx Gate, the King's Gate has a gate chamber flanked by two towers. The structure corresponds to that of the Lion Gate, but in a mirror-image arrangement. The chamber measures 6.25 by 7.8 meters. The towers are 14.8 meters deep, the right (southern) one is 9.7 meters wide, and the left (northern) - 10.4 meters wide. They protrude over the city wall, both inside and outside.

King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa

Their interior is divided into six rooms in the southern tower and four in the northern tower, the walls are up to 4.5 meters high. They are made of quarry stone, the outer fronts are polygonal. The front sides are carefully worked, the city-facing front is - like the towers of the city walls - divided by three pilasters at the corners and in the middle.

The parabolic passages on both sides have a width of 3.25 metres at the base and are estimated to be originally around five metres high. They consist of a monolithic block on each side, on which two offset blocks are placed using the corbel technique. The blocks are connected using bronze dowels, one of which can still be seen in the gap near the southern inner pillar.

King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa

On the inside of these jamb stones, blocks are attached at floor level, on the top of which there are round stone pans. They served as bearings in which the door hinges turned. The grinding marks of the door leaves are still clearly visible, especially on the outer side of the gate. The gate was therefore closed by two-leaf wooden doors. These could be locked again from the inside with beams. Insertion holes for the beams are also still visible.

The outer porch with the path to the gate is a mirror image of that of the Lion Gate, so the ramp here faces to the south. A terrace supported by a retaining wall is built directly in front of the gate, forming a forecourt. It is enclosed by a wall to the east and the south and a bastion. To the south, the street then connects via the ramp. The foundations of the outer gate system are better preserved and visible here than at the Lion Gate.

King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa

In the inner left (northern) door pillar facing the city, a sculpture of a warrior facing right was incorporated in relief. The figure is 2.25 meters tall up to the top of the helmet, slightly larger than life. It is worked in a half-relief up to 17 centimetres high, with individual parts almost as a full sculpture. It depicts a male figure dressed only in a loincloth and a helmet. The wraparound skirt is richly decorated and is held by a tightly laced, wide belt.

At the front, a fringed band hangs diagonally over the hem down to the thigh. The fabric pattern is characterized by engraved bands with diagonal lines. Behind the belt is a ceremonial axe with a backward-curved blade. A tassel hangs from a cord on its handle. On the left side of the body, the warrior carries a short sword in a curved scabbard. The crescent-shaped handle protrudes over the belt.

King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa

The helmet is pointed in the Assyrian style and has cheek flaps and a neck guard hanging down over the back. A curved horn is attached to the front as decoration. The man is beardless; his long hair falls over his shoulders under the neck guard. The figure's feet are bare. The muscles of the legs and the facial features are naturalistically worked out, the chest hair is finely indicated by engravings. Currently, the original of the relief is on display in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. The relief you can see in Hattusa is only its modern copy.

The interpretation of the figure was initially controversial. Initially, it was even suspected that it was a portrait of a woman. Otto Puchstein reported that "Miss Dodd, from the American girls' school in Constantinople, who saw the relief after removing our protective cover," interpreted the person as female. British researchers Sayce, Ramsay, and Garstang agreed with her in this view, recognising an Amazon in a fur jacket.

King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa

However, Puchstein stuck to his interpretation as a male warrior: "I may not be as competent as Miss Dodd in assessing the ancient Hittite gender criteria, but I cannot admit that I and my comrades would have confused fur with human hair." He believed the figure depicted was a king, namely the one who had built the gate. The prevailing opinion is now that it is a god, due to the horn on the helmet, which in Hittite depictions is reserved for gods. Jürgen Seeher, head of excavations in Hattusa from 1995 to 2005, suggested Sharrumma, the personal protective god of Tudhaliya IV.

The date of the construction of the King's Gate remains unclear. Since both the King's Gate and the Lion Gate stand at a slight angle in the city wall, they could have been built later. The fact that the outer facade of the Lion Gate is not finished is often considered an indication that the craftsmen stopped work because of the city's downfall in the early 12th century BCE. Andreas Schachner, on the other hand, also considered it possible that the temporary relocation of the capital under Muwattalli II at the beginning of the 13th century BCE could have been the reason for the interruption of construction work and that the construction of the gates should therefore be dated to the late 14th century BCE.

King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa

Visitor tips: 

Five monumental gate systems have been discovered along the walls of Hattusa to date. The King's Gate is the easternmost of the gates; it is located in the southeast of the city, on the modern road that today's visitors can use to explore the site. It roughly follows a Hittite road that, coming from Kesikkaya, ran south and then in a wide arc along the fortification wall. At the King's Gate, it turned off the course of the wall in a north-westerly direction to the royal castle of Büyükkale. On the opposite side of the street, the foundations of temples 2, 3, and 5 can be seen; to the northwest behind them lies the Temple District of the Upper Town. There was probably a highway on the outside of the gate.

King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa

Getting there: 

The paved road leading through the area of Hattusa forks off about 300 meters after the stopover at the Lower Town. The main sightseeing route leads along the right branch of the road, in the direction of the Lion Gate. The stopover at the King's Gate is the fourth one on this route, after the Great Temple, the Lion Gate, and the Sphinx Gate.

King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa

Bibliography: 

Image gallery: 

Original relief of a warrior god from the King's Gate in Hattusa, now on display in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara
Original relief of a warrior god from the King's Gate in Hattusa, now on display in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa
King's Gate in Hattusa