progressive Hurrianisation of many aspects of Hittite civilisation,
particularly religious aspects, during the thirteenth century. Queen
Puduhepa was largely responsible for this, with the clear support of
her husband and son Tudhaliya. The rock sanctuary at Yazılıkaya
provides our most striking visual example of the Hurrianisation of
Hittite religion.
YAZILIKAYA^1
When Charles Texier visited Yazılıkaya in 1834, he was completely
mystified by what he saw. Even now, when we know so much more
than he did (which was virtually nothing) about the site and the
civilisation to which it belonged, we can still sense much of the awe
and mystery which he felt as he made his way through the open-air
chambers, with their sombre array of carved figures and
accompanying hieroglyphic symbols. The large rocky outcrop
which contains these chambers was once the holiest sanctuary in
the Hittite world. Lying just a kilometre northeast of the royal
capital, it must have played a major role in the Hittites’calendar of
religious festivals, especially in the empire’s last century, from the
time when King Hattusili III built a gatehouse and temple-complex
across the front of the site. Almost certainly this was the place
where the Hittite New Year festival was celebrated and the rites of
spring were performed. And all the gods were assembled for the
occasion. We know this from the images of the gods commissioned
by Hattusili’s son Tudhaliya on the walls of the sanctuary’s two
chambers.
The most impressive of Yazılıkaya’s sculptures is the procession
of deities in‘Chamber A’–66 of them in total–divided into two
files approaching each other, males on the left (with two
exceptions), females on the right (with one exception), in
descending order of importance. The males, armed for battle,
wear conical caps, often with horns attached (the more horns, the
greater the gods’importance) and short kilts. The females wear tall
cylindrical hats, crenellated like castle battlements, and ankle-
length pleated skirts. Both sexes wear shoes with upturned toes.
We know the identity of a number of these deities from the names
242 WARRIORS OF ANATOLIA