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Calendar in Stone: Hittite Yazılıkaya

By Eberhard Zangger and Rita Gautschy

A g reat deal is known about t he Hit t it e c ult ure t hat ruled over c ent ral A sia Minor from
around 1 6 0 0 t o 1 1 9 0 BCE, only t o suddenly c ollapse and be forg ot t en for over 3 , 0 0 0
years. The c uriosit y of t he educ at ed c lasses was inst ant ly aroused when, in 1 8 3 4 CE, a
European sc holar first saw t he massive arc hit ec t ural remains of t he Hit t it e t emples in t he
former c apit al Hat t uša, about 1 5 0 km east of A nkara in c ent ral A nat olia. Exc avat ions
c ommenc ed in 1 9 0 6 and bec ame so inc redibly produc t ive and insig ht ful t hat t hey st ill
c ont inue t oday. A s many as 3 3 , 0 0 0 c uneiform doc ument s and t ext frag ment s have been
ret rieved from t he former palac e. The 6 . 8 -km-long fort ific at ion wall prot ec t ed as many
as 3 0 t emples.

Map showing location of Hattuša. (© Luwian Studies)


Google Earth view of Hattuša showing location of Yazılıkaya.

The Hit t it es proudly report ed t hat t hey lived in t he “ Land of Thousand Gods, ”
presumably t o emphasize how divinely blessed t hey were. However, wit h wealt h c omes
responsibilit y, and t he Hit t it e Great King , as t he g ods’ c hief represent at ive on eart h, was
expec t ed t o part ic ipat e in all t he major fest ivals t o honor t hem. Nurt uring and pleasing
t he mult it ude of divinit ies also oc c upied a larg e proport ion of t he elit es’ t ime t hroug hout
t he year. There were no less t han 1 6 5 relig ious fest ivals ac ross t he c ount ry. A keen
observer visit ing t he land of Hat t i was t hus quit e likely t o see a royal ent ourag e forming
a proc ession in a c eremonial venue in whic h a st at ue of a deit y, sheet ed wit h g old, was
ret rieved from a t emple and c arried ac ross open land t o one or more sac red plac es. But
remembering when t o hold t hose fest ivals was a c halleng e.

There is a wealt h of Bronze A g e doc ument s, most dealing wit h prayers and fest ival
lit urg ies, as well as many st udies of Hit t it e relig ion, inc luding sac red spring s, g rot t os and
c aves, roc ks and mount ains. S o far, however, lit t le emphasis has been plac ed on
ident ifying t he Hit t it es’ relat ion t o c elest ial deit ies, even t houg h t heir hig hest -ranking
g oddess was t he S un Goddess of A rinna, and t he Great King of Hat t i even used t o refer
t o himself as “ My S un. ”
Probably t he best depic t ion of t he Hit t it e pant heon is preserved just out side t he c it y
walls of Hat t uša in t he roc k sanc t uary of Yazılıkaya, one of t he most fasc inat ing
arc haeolog ic al sit es in t he world and a World Herit ag e sit e.

Wall on the western inside of Chamber A with 12 identical gods (Reliefs 1–
12) on the far left and Relief 34, the Sun god of the heavens as well as the
Moon god (Relief 35) on the right. (© Luwian Studies)

Chamber B of the rock sanctuary Yazılıkaya with its 12-meter-tall western
wall displaying the reliefs of 12 gods of the underworld. (© Luwian
Studies)


Plan showing the location of Chambers A and B as well as the three phases
of temple constructions. The gatehouse (Building III) is directed at the
sunset during summer solstice. The northwestern wall of Building IV is
aligned with the sunset during the winter solstice. (© Luwian Studies)

For almost t wo c ent uries, sc holars have been puzzled by t he proc ession of over 9 0
deit ies and myt hic al fig ures c arved int o t he vert ic al fac es of t he nat ural limest one
out c rop. It s art ist ic st yle is c omplet ely dist inc t from t he examples familiar from anc ient
Eg ypt and Mesopot amia. Wit hout doubt , t his plac e was of ut most import anc e in Hit t it e
relig ion; but what exac t ly were priest s and t he royal family c elebrat ing at t his spot ? The
arc haeolog ist s in c harg e of exc avat ions at t he sit e have long arg ued t hat t he hig hest
ec helons of Hit t it e soc iet y c elebrat ed t he beg inning of t he New Year at t his sanc t uary.

I (Zang g er) first saw Yazılıkaya in t he spring of 2 0 1 4 during a vac at ion t o visit
arc haeolog ic al sit es in Turkey. The loc al host el where I spent t he nig ht had sold me t he
“ Hat t usha Guide” writ t en by t he German prehist orian J ürg en S eeher, who was in c harg e
of t he exc avat ions from 1 9 9 4 t o 2 0 0 6 on behalf of t he German A rc haeolog ic al Inst it ut e.
S eeher st at es on pag e 1 5 7 of t he g uide t hat a part ic ularly larg e relief of t he Hit t it e
Great King Tut halija IV lies in t he shade t hroug hout t he year, exc ept for a few days
around t he summer solst ic e, when it is illuminat ed by nat ural sunbeams.

Yazılıkaya, King Tuthalija IV.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/YazilikayaShar
rumaAndKingTudhaliya8November2004.JPG)

A bsent -mindedly I made a not e in t he marg in: “ c alendar? ” . Lit t le did I know t hat t his
spont aneous t houg ht would keep me oc c upied for t he next five years.

The roc k sanc t uary c onsist s primarily of t wo c hambers, for t he most part nat ural,
desig nat ed Chamber A and B. Chamber A has always been an open spac e, wit h dozens of
reliefs c arved int o t he limest one walls at eye level. Chamber B, on t he ot her hand,
c ont ains a massive vert ic al fac e point ing almost due nort h. It looked so t ec hnic al – t he
smoot h fac e had even been ext ended wit h ashlar masonry in Hit t it e t imes – t hat I
t houg ht t he rooms may indeed have had a t ec hnic al func t ion in addit ion t o t heir relig ious
and symbolic meaning . A n ast ronomic al applic at ion appeared t o be a g ood plac e t o st art .

Upon ret urning t o Zuric h, I c ame int o c ont ac t wit h Rit a Gaut sc hy, an arc haeolog ist and
arc haeoast ronomer at t he Universit y of Basel. We dec ided t o joint ly pursue an
invest ig at ion of t he sanc t uary. Lit t le by lit t le we worked t owards an int erpret at ion of t he
g roups of fig ures and t he deit ies t hemselves, unt il we event ually underst ood how t he
whole syst em may have been used. In our view, it is a t ool t o operat e a c alendar based
on c elest ial event s. To make sure t hat t heir fest ivals fell in t he rig ht season, t he Hit t it e
priest s had t o keep t rac k of t he beg inning of eac h year and mont h. This is what we t hink
Yazılıkaya was used for – and c ould st ill be used for t oday, sinc e t he syst em works in
perpet uit y.

We dist ing uished four g roups among t he 6 3 preserved reliefs of deit ies in Chamber A ,
beg inning wit h 1 2 ident ic al male g ods on t he west wall at t he ent ranc e. These, in our
view, were used t o c ount t he 1 2 lunar mont hs of a year – an idea t hat had already been
broug ht forward in 1 9 7 3 by t he anc ient hist orian Friedric h Cornelius. Next , t o t he rig ht ,
is a g roup of 3 0 deit ies, whic h we int erpret as keeping t rac k of t he days of a lunar
mont h (alt ernat ing bet ween 2 9 and 3 0 days). S inc e a lunar year c omprises 3 5 4 days
(1 2 t imes 2 9 . 5 ), a leap mont h had t o be insert ed approximat ely every t hree years in
order t o keep t he lunar c alendar sync hronized wit h t he seasons.

We t hink t hat days and mont hs were c ount ed and marked from rig ht t o left , following
t he pat h of t he moon ac ross t he sky. The Hit t it e priest s most likely used wood or st one
c olumns t o indic at e t he c urrent day and mont h. A c arefully shaped sill, st ill well
preserved, c ould have ac c ommodat ed t hese markers.

Technical reconstruction of the use of the reliefs in Chamber A to keep
track of lunar months, days per lunar month and years. (© Luwian Studies)


Artist’s reconstruction of Chamber A at around 1230 BCE. (© Rosemary
Robertson)

3D-visualization of the temple at Yazılıkaya showing an epiphany effect
during a religious service on the day of the summer solstice in 1250 BC. (©
Oliver Bruderer / Luwian Studies)

The east ern wall nowadays shows 1 7 female deit ies, but orig inally t here were at least
ninet een. One of t he t wo t oday missing fig ures is g one, wit h only a hierog lyph on t he
wall wit h it s name indic at ing t hat it used t o be t here. The ot her missing fig ure was found
in t he neig hborhood in 1 9 4 5 , and is now displayed in a nearby museum. If t he g roup
indeed c onsist ed of 1 9 reliefs, it c ould have been used t o mark a 1 9 -year solar c yc le.
S uc h a 1 9 -year solar c yc le is a perfec t t ool t o alig n solar and lunar c alendars.

The symbolic role and possible t ec hnic al func t ion of t he five deit ies in t he main sc ene is
not yet explained – we are planning t o t ake up t his t ask in due c ourse. Chamber B, t oo,
requires more sc holarly sc rut iny. Like Chamber A , it c ont ains a g roup of 1 2 ident ic al
g ods, whic h we int erpret t o indic at e t he lunar mont hs. Wit h t he c hamber point ing almost
due nort h, t he sharp nat ural roc k edg es c ould have been used as a st ar c loc k – a syst em
t hat had been in use in Eg ypt for over a t housand years by t he t ime Chamber B was
c reat ed.

This new int erpret at ion of Yazılıkaya serves as a st art ing point for a bet t er
underst anding of Hit t it e relig ion. Celest ial deit ies played a paramount role in t he Hit t it e
relig ion t hat ac t ed as an amalg am of different loc al A nat olian beliefs and rit es on one
hand, and of c onc ept s of st arg azing t hat were for t he most part adopt ed from princ iples
first rec og nized in Mesopot amia.

E b e rhard Z ang g e r is p re s id e nt o f t he L uw ian S t ud ie s F o und at io n. Rit a
G aut s c hy is a s e nio r re s e arc h as s o c iat e at t he D e p art m e nt o f A nc ie nt
C iv iliz at io ns , U niv e rs it y o f B as e l, S w it z e rland .