Overall layout of Yazilikaya
Yazılıkaya which is located 2 km to the northwest of Hattusas historical site was the Open Air Shrine of the Hittite Empire. It was built of a natural rock and consists of two Chambers and a Hittite temple in front of it which and reflects the characteristics of the Hittite architecture.
In Yazılıkaya open air shrine there is a Big Gallery named Chamber A, and the Small Gallery, named Chamber B both of which are built into natural rock.
The west wall of the Chamber A is decorated with god reliefs while the east wall is decorated with reliefs of the goddesses and the figures on both walls face the section where the main scene where the east and west walls join the north wall. The gods generally have pointed hats, short garments belted at the waist, shoes with upturned points and earrings. Most of them carry a curved sword or a mace. All of the goddesses wear long skirted garments and on their heads sit cylindrical head dresses. On the north wall where the east and west walls meet there are the chief gods, composing the main scene. Here we see the Mountain God Teshup standing above the air gods, his wife goddess Hepatu and their son Sharruma and a double headed eagle. The relief of the Great King Tuthalia IV is on the east wall and it is the largest relief of the gallery.
The Small Gallery (room B) which has a separate entrance is protected by a winged, lion headed and human bodied genie placed on both sides of the entrance. There are twelve gods proceeding towards the right on the west wall of room B and the God of Sword and the King Tuthalia IV who is under the protection of God Sharruma on the east wall. Besides the well preserved reliefs, this section has three niches carved into the rock which are assumed to be used for some gifts or the ashes of the Hittite royal family.
Chamber A
Number system of the gods for Chamber A
1 to 12. Twelve gods of the underworld. Twelve nearly identical male figures in short skirts and high pointed hats with a horn at the front. In their right hands they hold a sickle-shaped sword whish they rest on their shoulders with the blade pointing backwards. This row of twelve appears in Chamber B as well, where it survived in better condition.
13 to 15. Three mountain gods, bearded figures wearing the same horned hats. Their full length skirts with frills visually symbolize mountains and springs. Names in hieroglyphics, not yet recognized, accompany reliefs 14 and 15.
16. Unidentified god. A male figure wearing a short skirt and pointed hat. His name has not yet been deciphered.
16a and 17. Two mountain gods. Bearded figures wearing frilled skirts and pointed hats bent forward. Thanks to a layer of deposit, parts of relief 16a in particular have survived in especially good condition. The names have not yet been deciphered
18 to 22. Five divinities with no identification. All wear the typical short skirt with a high pointed hat with horns, but reliefs 20 and 22 boast a long open cloak or shawl as well. Nos, 18 and 21 are armed with maces.
23 and 24. Two bearded gods in short skirts and pointed hats. Both carry maces, and No 24 also has a cloak. Names written above their extended left arms have not yet been deciphered.
25 to 27. Three gods in short skirts and pointed hats. All carry sickle-shaped swords over their right shoulders. No name is preserved for relief 25 and 26 may be the god Pishaishaoi, and 27 could be Nergal, god of the Underworld.
28 and 29. Two creatures with the hindquarter of a bull but with an apparently human torso and arms. You can make out their tufted tails tucked between their hind legs. They must be the bulls of the Heavens, Hurri and Sheri; they stand on the symbol for ‘earth’ [a rectangle with a double extensions at either end] and hold the symbol for ‘sky’ [a reclining crescent moon] over their heads.
30. Most likely the war god Zababa. A masculine figure wearing a short skirt and a pointed hat and carrying a sickle-shaped sword over his right shoulder.
31. The god Pirinkir. An apparently unarmed male figure wearing a short skirt and a round cap. Wings rise steeply from his shoulders.
32. An unknown god of protection, deer god. A male figure wearing a short skirt and a pointed hat with horns. He carries a sickle-shaped sword over his right shoulder.
33. The war god Ashtabi. A male figure in a short skirt and pointed hat with horns. He carries a sickle-shaped sword over his right shoulder.
34. ‘Sun-God of the Heavens’ . A male figure in a long robe and shawl. On his head is a rounded cap and in his right hand a long staff or wand, lituus, that spirals upward at the lower end. The crescent-shaped grip of a sword protrudes below his outstretched left arm. A star-like sun-disk between a wide outstretched wings floats over his head.
35. A moon god. A bearded figure in a horned pointed hat, a short skirt and a long shawl. A crescent moon sits atop his hat, and wings rise from his shoulders.
36 and 37. Ninatta and Kulitta, attendants of the god Shaushka relief 38. Two female figures wearing blouses and long pleated skirts. Both have round caps; relief 36 carries what seems to be a mirror in her right hand, while number 37 holds what is probably a vial of salve or ointment. This rather deep set relief preserves some of the original surface.
38. Shaushka, an alternative embodiment of the goddess Ishtar. A male figure with a horned pointed hat, short skirt and over-skirt which falls in multiple folds, as well as a cloak. Wings rise steeply from his shoulders.
39. Ea, the God of Wisdom. A bearded figure with a horned pointed hat, short skirt and a long cloak. He carries a mace over his right shoulder.
The climactic scene on the end wall of Chamber A.
40. Most probably the god Kumarbi. A bearded figure with a high pointed hat. A short skirt and a cloak/ Behind his wide belt you can make out the crescent handle of a sword. He stands on two high stump-like ‘podiums’ that represent mountains.
41. Probably the weather god of Hatti. A bearded figure with a pointed hat upon which a sitting bull is portrayed. He wears a short skirt and a cloak open at the front. In his belt he carries a sword with a crescent grip, in his right hand a large mace and in his left a long staff. Like no 40 he stands on two mountain peaks.
42. The weather god Teshub. A bearded figure with a short skirt and a high hat adorned with many horns. He carries a short sword with a crescent grip in his belt at his left. In his right hand he carries a mace. He stands on the shoulders of two bearded figures identified as mountain gods- probably Namni and Hazzi – by the type of hat and the frilled skirts they wear. Behind Teshub’s legs can be seen a prancing bull wearing the hat of divinity; it is identified in an accompanying inscription as the ’bull call of Teshub’.
The relief figures numbers 1 to 42 all face to your right. Numbers 42 and 43 represent the meeting of the two most honored deities, who take their place at the head of two contingents of male and female divinities. The figures following number 43 thus all face to your left.
43. The sun goddess Hebat. A female figure wearing a full blouse and long pleated skirt, belted. She wears a high headdress suggestive of battlements on a city wall. A long twist of hair falls down her back to the waist. She is poised on the back of a large wild feline, which stands in turn on four low hills. Behind her is a counterpart to the prancing bull calf behind Teshub, but the hieroglyphic identification here remains undeciphered.
44. The god Sharrumma, son of Hebat and Teshub, the only male in the procession to the right. He wears a short skirt and a pointed hat with a line of horns up the front. A long twist of hair falls down his back, and in his belt he carries a crescent-hafted sword on the right; in his left hand he carries a battle axe. He, too, stands on the back of a wild cat, the tail of which ascends almost vertically. In his right hand Sharrumma holds a leash attached to the neck of the feline which is depicted astride two mountain peaks.
45 and 46. Alanzu, the daughter of Teshub and Hebat, accompanied by the granddaughter of Teshub. Two female figures in long pleated skirts and blouses not as full or flowing as that of Hebat. From under their high headdresses-resembling that worn by Hebat– a twist of long hair descends to the waist. The two stand above the image of a double-headed eagle.
The order of the goddesses along the right side of Chamber A.
The goddesses in general display fewer individual characteristics than the gods opposite them. Like the females at the head of the procession, they all wear shoes curling up at the toe; full length skirts, belts, blouses, shawls or cloaks and the high headdresses that resemble battlements. A twist of hair falls down their backs and they stand with their right hands extended in fists and their left hands –open- raised from the elbow towards their chins. Noteworthy here as well is that all the females stand with their bodies depicted in profile, whereas the torsos – at least the chests- of the male figures appear frontally.
46a. Possibly the goddess Tarru Takitu; only the identifying hieroglyphs are preserved, the figure itself has been badly damaged. Inserted in the rock fissure between the main scene and this goddess, now walled up for preservation, there must have been still more figures carved on separate blocks. One block which could have originally stood here is on display in the Bogazkale Museum. It portrays the goddess Ishtar.
47. The goddess Hutena.
48. The goddess Hutellurra.
49. The goddess Allatu. The niche disfiguring her head must have been cut into the rock face in post Hittite times.
50 and 51. Unknown goddess.
52. The goddess Shalush.
53. The goddess Tapkina, wife of the God of Wisdom Ea.
54. The goddess Nikkal, wife of the moon god.
55 to 63. Goddesses without certain identification.
64. The Great King Tudhaliya IV. The largest relief figure in the sanctuary stands on the wall opposite the climactic scene at the end of the procession of goddesses. Represented here opposite the meeting of the gods is no god but the Great King Tudhaliya IV.It is assumed that the great king was responsible for the final arrangement of the Yazilikaya sanctuary around the middle of the 13th century BC.
65 and 66.Two deities. In poor preservation, one a male figure with high pointed hat sits opposite a female figure in a high rectangular headdress. Between them is a table or sacrificial altar.
The reliefs in Chamber B.
67 and 68. Two winged lion-headed demons. These reliefs, with arms threatening raised, stand guard protecting the entrance to Chamber B.
The Chamber, is about 18m long, is about 4m wide narrowing to about 2.5m. The reliefs here are much better preserved than chamber A as it was partly filled in until excavated in the mid 19th century. We assume that this chamber is a memorial to the Great King Tudhaliya IV erected by his son Shupiluliuma II, who set up a statue of his father here.
69 to 80. The twelve gods of the Underworld. On the wall immediately to the right of the entrance. Identical to reliefs 1 to 12 in Chamber A, they again wear shirts, belts, short skirts and shoes curling up at the toes. They each carry a crescent-shaped sword over their shoulder, and the horned pointed hats that identify them as divinities.
81. The god Sharrumma striding forward with the Great King Tudhaliya under his arm. The divinity Sharrumma, the patron of Tudhaliya IV, is depicted as an escort of the Great King, after his death, who carries the long curling wand as in relief 64 and is dressed the same, again wearing a long robe with a shawl, a rounded cap and shoes curling up at the toes. Sharrumma, portrayed at a noticeably larger scale, wears a short skirt with a belt, and a twist of hair falls down his back. Both figures carry short swords with sickle-shaped hilts. Sharrumma’s left arm is thrown the king’s shoulders and breast to grasp the wrist of his upraised right hand. Behind the tall horned hat of the god appears a cartouche with the name and titles of the king. At the far right the sign for ‘hero’ has been added here; the insignia also differs from those of the king here in reliefs 83 and 64 in that the ideogram for ‘mountain god’ replaces the pictorial representations. With these three reliefs Great King Tudhaliya IV is the sole human being represented among the gods in the whole complex.
82. The Sword God, or the god Nergal of the underworld. This most unusual iconography depicts an upright sword with the pommel on the hilt above fashioned into a male head wearing the tall horned and pointed hat of the gods. He wears a ring in his ear, and his hair falls down the back of his neck. In place of arms and shoulders are the foreparts of two crouching lions, facing out-wards. The hilt itself is formed by two lions with teeth bared, portraying vertically as if creeping down the two sides. Below the hilt is a vertically ribbed blade, narrowing towards the point which is not depicted; there might have been a podium against the rock face here.
83. Cartouche with the name and title of the Great King Tudhaliya IV. This cartouche is for the most part like that next to the large relief 64 in Chamber A. Under a winged sun we see the name in the center; it is composed of the hieroglyphic sign for ‘tu’ which resembles a high boot lying heel downward under a pictogram of a bearded mountain god wearing a riffled skirt and high hat and holding a mace in his raised right hand; to both the left and the right then comes the symbol for ‘labarna’ a dagger above the a blossom; and finally at the exterior left and right, the title ‘Great King’ a high cone under a volute. This cartouche may have been meant to identify the cult statue that hypothetically stood at the north end of the chamber.
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