Bogazköy

views updated May 18 2018

BOGAZKöY

city in turkey on the site of the probable hittite capital in central anatolia.

Known as Hattushash (or Pteria, in Greek), today's Bogazköy was built over a site first inhabited by Hittites in the third millennium b.c.e. It was a major trading town and became the Hittite capital in the second millennium b.c.e. Thousands of clay tablets impressed with cuneiform writing have been excavated. The Hittite kingdom was extended into Syria, where a famous battle was fought with the Egyptians at Qadesh (near today's Homs) in 1285 b.c.e. By 1200 b.c.e., the Hittite Empire was destroyed by migrating tribes known as the "sea peoples."

Elizabeth Thompson