Hittite Universe Perspective

Regular celestial events assumed remarkable significance for the cultic rituals of the Hittite civilisation (c. 1600–1180 BC) in central Asia Minor. Numerous texts found at the capital ?attu?a relate to solar deities and celestial divination reminiscent of Old Babylonian astronomical and astrological practices.

Here we suggest that the rock Sanctuary of Yaz?l?kaya in central Turkey, which was considered one of the holiest places in the Hittite Kingdom, had a calendrical function. It contains more than 90 rock-cut reliefs, dating to the second half of the thirteenth century BC, of deities, humans, animals and mythical figures.

Researchers may have uncovered the meaning behind a mysterious 3,200-year-old series of more than 90 rock-cut reliefs at Yazilikaya Rock Temple, which, is considered one of the holiest places in the Hittite Kingdom, in north-central Anatolia, at providing a calendrical function, and potentially revealing a cosmological perspective of the Universe.

According to a recent study published in the “Journal of Skyscape Archaeology’, these elaborate limestone carvings of Deities, humans, animals, and mythical figures, provide insight into a way the millennia-old Hittite civilization understood the Cosmos.

The Temple was discovered by French archaeologist and historian Charles Texier around 1834, and it has taken almost 200 years to decipher these reliefs.

The Yazilikaya rock Sanctuary can be accessed on foot from the Hittites capital, Hattusa. The open-air Shrine functioned as an extension of the city’s sacred power, “It formed a knot tying Earth to the Sky,” researchers led by E. C. Krupp and Eberhard Zangger wrote in their study.

In which, it is proposed that the Hittites considered the Universe as a Multiverse composed of three (3) levels or realms: 1. Earth (the surface world); 2. Sky (the Celestial world); and 3. Underworld (the subterranean abode of the dead). The Sanctuary may represent the Cosmos as envisioned by the Hittites, through its layout of the complex.

Much of the study revolves around two portions of the Sanctuary that are labelled “Chambers-A and B”.

Chamber-A, represents the Earth and Sky, is flanked by two walls, each bearing a row of carved figures that may depict lesser Deities marching in a processional toward a main relief featuring the storm God Te??ub, his wife the mother Goddess ?ebat, and their son, the mountain God ?arruma.

The reliefs in this Chamber are arranged in groups to mark the days, synodic months and solar years. Because this panel is due north, it is believed that it is aligned with the Celestial circumpolar zone and the eternal stars, such as the 'North Star', which, never sets below the horizon. Using this system, the Hittite Priests were able to determine when additional months were required to keep the Lunar and Solar years aligned.

“Such that, it is ?suggest that Chamber A as a whole can be viewed as symbolizing everything on Earth and in Heaven, including the Sun, the Moon, the five visible planets, some constellations and stars, the north celestial pole, and the northern circumpolar realm,” some researchers say (much as in the 'Nebra Sky disc)."

Chamber-B, represents the Underworld, and is bordered by towering rock walls. Lion-headed demons are shown guarding the entrance to the chamber. A main relief features the 12 Gods of the Underworld, each carrying sickle-shaped swords. There is also an imposing 11-foot-high relief depicting ?the war God Nergal, who, presides over the Underworld.

The entrance to the Underworld at Chamber-B was once marked with an artificial water pipe. In Hittite culture, water symbolized a passageway, and excavations have revealed remains of bird bones, possibly indicating specific sacrificial rituals, the study suggests.

This chamber depicts death, though the passing it represents is not a permanent one. Instead, the entire Cosmic worldview incorporates elements of death and rebirth, night and day, Moon and Sun, and the cyclical processes of nature including its seasons.

Yazilikaya provides not only a cosmological map, but also a sophisticated astronomical calendar, a kind of observatory used for measuring time by the motion of the stars. It was so accurate, it could determine a specific hour in a particular month to within a precision of about 10 minutes, according to researchers.

A consistent 19-year intercalation scheme equivalent to 235 lunar months was well time-honored in Mesopotamia and China during the second millennium BC (Seidel 2014, 23; Shi 2015, 2034).

Prof. John S. Nolan, an Egyptologist, suggested that a 19-year pattern of inserting intercalary lunar months was used to synchronize the lunar calendar in Egyptian Temples as well, with a star-based event, such as the heliacal rising of Sirius, which, played an important role in the Egyptian Solar civil calendar, later known as the Enneadecaeteris / Metonic Cycle (Nolan 2015, 340).

Researchers are careful to note the true role of this sacred place, as observatories neither require nor invite audiences …

Food for thought!