History of the Hattusa Excavations
Hattusa (Boğazköy) is the Hittite capital in the Boğazkale district of Çorum, and its excavations span more than a century. This page lists the stages of the work and the excavation directors as the sources state them; where sources differ, both versions are given. For the city itself see Hattuşaş, and for the finds see the Boğazköy Museum.
Early exploration: 1834-1905
According to the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, Hattusa was introduced to the scholarly world in 1834 by the Frenchman Charles Texier. The entry in the Türkiye Tourism Encyclopedia says Texier was sent to Anatolia in 1833 and found the ruins near Boğazköy on 28 July. Texier published his drawings in 1839 and suggested the site might be Pteria, while some scholars held that it was the ancient city of Tavium (Atila, 2026).
Later visitors mentioned in the sources include:
- Mordtmann and Barth: the first soundings at Yazılıkaya. Atila (2026) dates them to 1855, the Tourism Encyclopedia to 1858.
- 1861: Georges Perrot, Edmond Guillaume and Jules Delbet photographed Boğazköy, Yazılıkaya and Alacahöyük.
- 1882: Karl Humann drew a plan of the city and took plaster casts of the Yazılıkaya reliefs, which were sent to Berlin.
- 1893-1894: Ernest Chantre made soundings and found fragments of cuneiform tablets at the Great Temple and Büyükkale. Atila (2026) records, in the Ottoman archives, Chantre’s permit application of 9 May 1893.
As the first person to say the site could be the Hittite capital, the Tourism Encyclopedia names Perrot in 1886, whereas the Hittite Monuments website names Archibald Sayce and William Wright in the 1880s.
The first excavation: Winckler and Makridi, 1906-1912
Hugo Winckler asked the Ottoman authorities for a research permit in 1905; the excavation began in 1906 on behalf of the Imperial Museum under Theodor Makridi, with Winckler taking part as the cuneiform specialist. In July 1906 the team worked at Büyükkale, the Great Temple, Temple 5, the Lion Gate and south of the King’s Gate; Atila (2026) writes that about 2,500 tablets and fragments were recovered. Among them was a tablet bearing the Akkadian version of the treaty between the Egyptian king Ramesses II and Hattusili III (see Boğazköy cuneiform tablets).
In 1907 architects, draughtsmen and photographers joined the team; Heinrich Kohl drew the city’s first topographic plan in a few weeks, while Otto Puchstein studied the excavation area. Winckler had the dig house built in 45 days that year. Work continued in the 1911-1912 season; according to the Tourism Encyclopedia, the outbreak of the Balkan War in October 1912, Winckler’s death in April 1913 and the start of the First World War interrupted the dig. More than ten thousand tablets and fragments from this period were taken to Istanbul; Karasu (1995) puts the first excavations’ yield at about 10,400 tablets and fragments. Bedrich Hrozný announced in 1915 that he could read the Hittite texts.
The German Archaeological Institute era: 1931 to the present
Excavation resumed in 1931 on behalf of the German Archaeological Institute under Kurt Bittel. The Tourism Encyclopedia records 3,740 tablet fragments found in 1931-1933, says that from 1934 the tablets were cleaned and copied on site before being handed to the Ankara Museum, and that in 1936 a group of 280 seal impressions came to light (see Hittite seals). The Second World War halted the work again in September 1939; the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism says work resumed in 1952.
| Period | Director | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1893-1894 | Ernest Chantre | Soundings; first publication of cuneiform tablets |
| 1906-1912 | Theodor Makridi, Hugo Winckler | For the Imperial Museum; Puchstein joined in 1907 |
| 1931-1939 | Kurt Bittel | German Archaeological Institute |
| 1952-1977 | Kurt Bittel | After the wartime break |
| 1978-1993 | Peter Neve | The Ministry’s e-book gives 1981-1993 |
| 1994-2005 | Jürgen Seeher | |
| 2006 to date | Andreas Schachner | Sources give 2006 |
Recent work
Between 2003 and 2005 a small section of the city wall was rebuilt with original methods and materials (Hittite Monuments). The multinational team under Schachner belongs to the Istanbul Department of the German Archaeological Institute. In 2022 Anatolian hieroglyphs written in paint on stone blocks were noticed in the Yerkapı postern; see Yerkapı and the Sphinx Gate. The site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1986: Hattusa as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Other excavations in the area
For the other major digs in Çorum see the history of the Alacahöyük excavations and the Šapinuwa excavations; visitors can consult the Hattusa Visitor Guide.
Sources
- Nermin Atila, “Osmanlı Arşivine Göre Boğazköy: Arkeolojik Çalışmaları ve Sosyo-Ekonomik Tarihi” (Boğazköy According to the Ottoman Archives), Karadeniz Araştırmaları, XXIII/91, pp. 1830-1846. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/5985702
- Ali İzzet Yılmaz (2019) and Celal Şenol (2024), “Boğazköy (Hattuşa) Örenyeri”, Online Türkiye Turizm Ansiklopedisi. https://turkiyeturizmansiklopedisi.com/bogazkoy-hattusa-orenyeri
- Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, “Kazı Alanları” (Excavation Sites). https://corum.ktb.gov.tr/TR-58773/kazi-alanlari.html
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism e-Book, “Hattuşaş (Boğazköy)”. https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/TR-80074/hattusas-bogazkoy.html
- Cem Karasu, “Hattusa-Boğazköy Arşiv-Kitaplık Sistemleri Üzerine Bazı Yorumlar” (Some Remarks on the Archive-Library Systems of Hattusa-Boğazköy). https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/771323
- Andreas Schachner, “Boğazköy/Hattuşa’da 3500 yıllık gizem”, DAİstanbul, 13 September 2022. https://www.dainst.blog/daistanbul_blog/2022/09/13/bogazkoy-hattusada-3500-yillik-gizem/
- Hittite Monuments, “Boğazköy”. https://www.hittitemonuments.com/bogazkoy/index.htm
Frequently asked questions
When did the first systematic excavation at Hattusa take place?
The promotional texts of the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism and of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism date the first systematic excavation to 1906. It was carried out by the German Assyriologist Hugo Winckler and Theodor Makridi of the Istanbul Museum.
Who directs the Hattusa excavations today?
The excavations continue on behalf of the German Archaeological Institute under Prof. Dr. Andreas Schachner; sources give 2006 as the year he took over.