King's Gate, Hattusa

The King's Gate is one of the five known city gates in the outer wall of the Hittite capital Ḫattuša. The name refers to a relief on the city side of the monumental gate complex. Today the depicted warrior figure is usually interpreted as a god.

Location

The area of Ḫattuša is located in northern central Anatolia in Turkey near the town of Boğazkale (formerly and in archaeological literature Boğazköy). The city is surrounded by an outer wall 6.6 kilometres long. In its course five monumental gate complexes have been discovered to date, from west to east the lower and upper West Gate, the Lion Gate, the Sphinx Gate and the King's Gate. The King's Gate is the easternmost of the gates, it lies in the southeast of the city area on the modern road by which today's visitors can explore the site. It follows roughly a Hittite road that, coming from Kesikkaya, ran southward and then in a wide arc along the fortification wall. At the King's Gate it turned away from the wall course toward the northwest to the royal citadel Büyükkale. On the opposite side of the road the foundations of Temples 2, 3 and 5 can be seen, northwest behind them lies the temple quarter of the upper city. Outside the gate a long-distance road presumably joined.

Research history

Already Carl Humann had guessed the approximate location of the gate. Theodor Makridi then located it more precisely and partially cleared the front in 1906. The excavators under Otto Puchstein then excavated it in 1907 and discovered the warrior relief. It was transferred in the same year to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. In 1968 a copy of the original was erected at the King's Gate, which, however, was damaged by visitors and later replaced.

Description

Like all other outer gates of the city except the Sphinx Gate, the King's Gate has a gate chamber flanked by two towers. In its construction the complex corresponds to that of the Lion Gate, but in a mirrored arrangement. The chamber measures 6.25 × 7.80 metres. The towers are 14.80 metres deep, the right (southern) one is 9.70 metres wide, the left one 10.40 metres. They protrude both inside and outside beyond the city wall. Their interior is divided into six rooms in the south tower and four rooms in the north tower; the walls still stand up to 4.50 metres high. They are built of rubble stone, the outer façades are polygonally arranged. The front sides are carefully worked, the city‑side front is – as with the towers of the city walls – divided by three pilasters at the corners and in the centre.

The parabolic openings on both sides have a base width of 3.25 metres, their height is assumed to be about five metres. They consist on both sides of a single monolithic block, on which in corbel stone technique each two offset blocks are placed. The blocks are connected by bronze dowels, one of which is still visible in the slot at the southern inner pier. On the inner side of these wall stones, at floor level, blocks are installed, on whose top there are round stone tiles. They served as a storage in which the door hinges turned. Especially on the outer gate side the grinding marks of the door leaves are still clearly recognizable. The gate was therefore closed by double‑leaf wooden doors. These could be locked again from the inside with beams. Insertion holes for the beams are also still recognizable.

The outer forebuilding with the approach to the gate corresponds again mirror‑symmetrically to that of the Lion Gate, so that the ramp here points to the south. Directly outside the gate a terrace supported by a retaining wall is built forward, forming a courtyard. It is enclosed by a wall to the east and south and a bastion. To the south the road then continues over the ramp. The foundation walls of the outer gate complex are here better preserved and visible than at the Lion Gate.

In the inner left (northern) door pillar, towards the city, a sculpture of a warrior turned to the right was incorporated as a relief. The figure, with a height of 2.25 metres to the top of the helmet, is slightly larger than life. It is worked in a bas-relief up to 17 centimetres high, with individual parts almost as full plastic. Depicted is a male figure, clothed only with a loincloth and a helmet. The wrap skirt is richly decorated and held by a tightly knotted, wide belt. In front, a fringed band hangs diagonally from the hem to the thigh. The fabric pattern is marked by engraved bands with diagonal lines. Behind the belt is a war axe with a blade curved backward. It tapers into four points at the back. A tassel hangs from its handle on a string. On the left side of the body the warrior carries a short sword in a curved, flaring scabbard. Its crescent-shaped grip protrudes over the belt. The helmet is pointed in Assyrian style and has cheek plates and a neck guard hanging down the back. As decoration, a curved horn is attached at the front. The man is beardless, his long hair falls under the neck guard over the shoulders. The feet of the figure are bare. The muscles of the legs and the facial features are rendered naturalistically, the chest hair is finely indicated by engravings.