Yazilikaya

Chamber A Twelve Gods of the Underworld and a Mountain God

Chamber A

Chamber A (reliefs nos.25-33)

Chamber A Relief of Great King Tudhaliya IV

Chamber A

Chamber A

Chamber A

Chamber A

Chamber A female deities (reliefs nos. 49-50)

Chamber A female deities (reliefs nos. 51-54)

The rock sanctuary of Yazilikaya (= rock with writing) is about 1.5km northeast of the Great Temple at Hattusa. Although it was in use from the 15th century BC it wasn't until the 13th century that the reliefs of (mainly) deities were carved. There are 65 reliefs in Chamber A and 15 in Chamber B. It is hard to see the detail in some of the reliefs because of the level of light and shade. There are optimum times of day for viewing them. It is also hard to identify what some of the reliefs are actually of, in the photos, so I have just labelled these with the relevant chamber - Chamber A.

If you're interested in the reliefs at Yazilikaya a great book to get is Gods Carved in Stone The Hittite Rock Sanctuary of Yazilikaya by Jurgen Seeher. This is a beautifully produced book with 205 pages packed with text, colour and black white photos, drawings and plan diagrams. Two highly recommended Hittite site travel guides are Hattusha-Guide A Day in the Hittite Capital by Jurgen Seeher (this covers both Hattusa and Yazilikaya) and Anatolia: On the Trail of the Hittite Civilization by Ali Kilicaya and Erdal Yazici (this covers a very wide range of sites and museums in Turkey).

Chamber A female deities (reliefs nos. 49-54)

Chamber A

Chamber A climactic scene (reliefs nos.41-46)

Chamber A

Chamber B Twelve Gods of the Underworld

Chamber B The 'Sword God',  Nergal of the Underworld

Chamber B Great King Tudhaliya IV embraced by the god Sharrumma

Chamber B Great King Tudhaliya IV embraced by the god Sharrumma

View of Hattusa from Yazilikaya