Tag Archives: hittites

Gavur Kalesi and Humana

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25/08/25

A very quiet night until two sets of visitors to the water trough in the morning.

Early morning neighbours

We drove and then walked up to Gavur Kalesi, a Hittatie ruin fortress. Not much there other than a few corners and an entrance.

Jez is down there


Haymana is a thermal spa town. Fortunately, we didn’t expect much, as Harrogate or Bath it certainly ain’t. A few run down spa hotels in town and a large modern one on the edge. Many abandoned rotting houses. I then read that there was high unemployment and youngsters leaving. The ice cream and cold drinks were good though and cheap at under £6.

We discounted an overnight parking as way too busy with Ankara all spending the day by the lake. We came onto a a further away lake. Managed to find a patch without too much broken glass. We watched lads just fling their empty bottles. But then super quiet.

Sadly the rubbish here is bad

Hats off to the Hittites

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Hats off to the Hittites. A major civilisation in the Bronze Age. Fought and beat the Egyptians. Eventually signed a peace treaty with them. A copy exists in NY UN HQ as the first peace treaty. The Hittites took over from the Hatti people. Hattusa was their capital city from 1650. Evidence of developed trade with Syria, Persia etc. The Sea Peoples were their eventual undoing about 450 years later.

Yazilikaya

23/08/25

A longish drive to see the main Hittite sites. These are the most important group of Hittite rock art. Two main chambers displaying Gods and scenes. The holy site was in use until late C16 bc.

J and I both suffered yesterday (and so did our cassette toilet) from our bad eating day (cakes, ice cream and chocolate) so the French rubbish bin made sense!

Hattuşa

24/08/25


Thousands of tablets were eventually translated which told their history, laws, pacts trade etc. Finding them must have been an amazing archeological moment.

The only traces of this massive site are the stone foundations of the temples and the massive perimeter wall. They worshipped thousands of Gods, often those of assimilated civilisations. Lots of Gods so lots of foundations. Houses and the tops of temples were constructed from wood and mud bricks. Gates and walls also remain. Another them and us culture, but slaves were allowed to own property and marry.

3000 yr old lion
Tunnel through the city wall
Engraved writing
More hieroglyphics
Legal?

J and I elected to walk the route, whereas everyone else elected to drive. But we loved the walk (except the long uphill) and being able to take in the views. A Turkish car stopped to chat. Amazed that a) we were walking the route and b) at how many places we had and planned to visit.

Our parking tonight is south of Ankara. A quiet spot with just one family picnicking. As they left, we were presented with a bag of tomatoes, cay/tea and an inordinate number of peppers. What on earth to do with them ??? as we only have 2 more nights in Jez before our Ankara / Istanbul / Dublin expedition.