Page 147 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

PART two: the PERIPHERAL
REGIONS
Features of exceptional importance, such as the jambs of town gates or the sills of

Cyclopean architecture (Plate I25a), in harmony with its mountainous setting.
1 he Hittite capital, Hattusas, lies on a rocky plateau near the Turkish village of Boe-
Y' ^ TaS Str°ngIy fortiflccl’ and t,lc walls> with towers placed at frequent intervals
skilfully exploit the contours of the terrain. At the southern end of the city, where the
approach was easiest, an ingenious construction still stands on the hill called Yerkapu,
which is in part artificial. The double town wall mounts to its summit and stone stair­
ways lead from east and west to gates placed in towers in the outer wall; having passed
these, one reaches the city through a single gateway in the high inner wall. But from the
inside a hidden tunnel descends underneath these defence works for a length of 210 feet,
and emerges inconspicuously at the foot of the hill, half-way between the two stairways.
Here sorties could be made in times of siege. Similar tunnels are found at Alishar16 and at
Ras Shamra.17
The town gates (Plates 125 and 128) had an inner and an outer gateway. Ramps lead
up to them skirting the town wall so that they could be covered by archers posted upon
the wall. The outer gateway was deeply set between two towers and could therefore be
effectively defended. In plate 125B the sculptured orthostats outline the projecting tower
on the left of the outer gateway which appears on the right of our illustration, between
the two sphinxes carved in the door-jambs. This is the entrance to the Hittite fortress at
Ala^a Hiiyiik. At Boghazkeuy one of the gates was guarded by lions (Plate I28a). When
there were no carvings, the door jambs were monoliths of a curious elongated curved
shape (Plate 125 a). The inner gate was flush with the inner face of the town wall. In one
case, at the Royal Gate of Boghazkeuy (Plate 125A), an inner door-jamb bears a figure
in relief of a god (Plate 127) which we shall discuss in due course.
It is difficult to convey here the aesthetic qualities of this architecture: the rugged force
of the stone-work at crucial points such as gateways; the sustained might of the turreted
walls following the contours, rising to the strong-points on the hills, circling the city in
a complete realization of purpose. Neither the sacred nor the civic architecture of the
Hittites equals their defence works in grandeur.
Within the city five temples were unearthed. The largest of these (Figure 47) again
SUggests a fortress, for it is surrounded by a ring of magazines. The others (Figure 48) do
not bear the same character. They seem to have been enclosed by a wall leaving a con­
siderable amount of free space round each building.
We do not know what gods were worshipped in any of these temples. Even the e-

„bu.e u, tad Th.»g g ofth;pUJ Thc main f however,

be explained, hatn°% ' J describing a religious festival,'* especially if we apply
h mbraX ar”:tlnple of figure 47 (it measures ,80 b, ,oo feet in all), winch is most

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