Anatolia. Though it was once thought to be Suppiluliuma’s tomb,
the scholar David Hawkins concluded, with widespread scholarly
assent, that this structure served as a symbolic entrance to the
Underworld–what Hittite texts call a KASKAL.KUR. Here cult
ceremonies were performed in honour of the deity, and in this way
the built chambers were linked with the artificial lakes, which not
only served a practical purpose in supplying water for the city, but
also, like lakes and springs in many parts of the ancient world,
provided passageways to the Underworld.
THE PALACE
On the plateau now called Büyükkale located at the southeast end
of the Lower City lay a large architectural complex which, though
not identified by inscriptions, must have been the palace of the
Great King of Hatti. This was the very heart of the Hittite world.
Isolated and heavily protected from the rest of the city by its own
buttressed fortification wall, it covered some 31,185 sq. m. What
remains of it today dates mostly to its last renovation phase, some
Figure 21.10Entrance to acropolis, Hattusa.
CITY OF TEMPLES AND BUREAUCRATS:THE ROYAL CAPITAL 215