There are a number of entrances to Hattusa through the city’s
fortification walls, but the Sphinx Gate was almost certainly not an
ordinary entrance, partly because of the narrowness of the
staircases which were the only means of access to it from the
outside. Archaeologists working in the royal capital have
commented that the gatehouseflanked by the two inner sphinxes
has a shrine-like feel to it; through it on special occasions priests
Figure 21.4 Sphinx, Alaca Höyük.
206 WARRIORS OF ANATOLIA