![]() The meaning behind the 12 gods still remains a subject that must be further investigated. There is also an 11-foot-high relief depicting Nergal, the goddess of the Underworld who was in many aspects similar to Irkalla, the Babylonian goddess of the Land of the Dead. Lion-headed demons guard the entrance and the main relief depicts the 12 gods of the Underworld, each carrying sickle-shaped swords. “We suggest that Chamber A as a whole can be viewed as symbolizing everything on Earth and in heaven, including the Sun, the Moon, the five visible planets, some constellations and stars, the north celestial pole, and the northern circumpolar realm,” the researchers explain.Ĭhamber B may represent the Underworld. Intercalary months could have been introduced intermittently to synchronise the Moon with the solar year.” Chamber B seems to symbolise the netherworld,” the researchers explain.Īccording to this study, “the reliefs in Chamber A are arranged in groups that may keep track of and display days, synodic months and solar years. We interpret the central panel with the supreme deities, at the far north end of Chamber A, as a reference to the northern stars, the circumpolar realm and the world axis. Static levels and celestial cyclicities are emphasised throughout the sanctuary – every single relief relates to this system. “We suggest that the sanctuary in its entirety represents a symbolic image of the cosmos, including its static levels (earth, sky, Underworld) and the cyclical processes of renewal and rebirth (day/night, lunar phases, summer/winter). Some of the carvings are now quite faded leading some experts to believe that evidence of what the site was used for may have been missed. The rock-cut reliefs of 64 deities in the main chamber of Yazilikaya, a Hittite rock sanctuary associated with Hattuša, the Hittite capital in central Anatolia, can be broken into groups marking days, synodic months and solar years,” the team wrote in the science paper.Įxamination of the 3,200year-old carving reveals that the Hittite believed the Universe was a multilayered system composed of three levels or realms, including the Earth (the surface world) and the sky (the celestial world) and the subterranean Underworld. An interest in astral phenomena is also reflected in Hittite documents, architecture and art. “Evidence of systematic astronomical observation and the impact of celestial knowl-edge on culture is plentiful in the Bronze Age societies of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Europe. It “formed a knot tying the country to the sky,” the science team explained in their study. The open-air shrine served as an extension of the city’s sacred power. The Yazilikaya rock sanctuary was an important religious site. The researchers have now conducted an in-depth study of the celestial aspects of the Hittite religion with a focus on cosmic symbolism at Yazilikaya.Īccording to the theory presented in this new study, the 3,200year-old rock art provides insight into how the people of the Hittite kingdom understood the cosmos. ![]()
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