Famous Ancient Hittite Figures And Symbols Engraved In Stone By A Local Artist From Çorum Province, Anatolia

The holy green stone at Hattusa. Credit: Carole Raddato, Public Domain

Noting that the Hittites accepted the green stone as sacred, the artist said that visitors were also interested in green stones. The stone of Hattusa is both beautiful and rare but its history is shrouded in secrets that have never been revealed.

The purpose of the magnificent green stone at Hattusa is still a mystery. The stone is indeed beautiful but it doesn’t have any known valuable properties. The green ock is not mentioned on any stone tablets, and yet it has been held sacred for centuries. Could this be because the green wish stone is different from all others found at the site making it unique?

“Hittites believed that the green stone in the Great Temple, which is said to come from Egypt as a gift, was a holy stone. I use stones similar to him,” Atila said.

Hattusha was included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1986 due to the perfect protection of some structures and architectural communities in its ruins. After that, its cuneiform tablet archives representing the oldest known Indo-European language were also inscribed to the Memory of the World list in 2001.

In the region, the Hittite Dam, one of the first known dams in Anatolia, king and prince tombs, the Lion Gate sphinx and the archaeological excavation site, which is normally open to visitors, are unfortunately experiencing the most silent days in their history. Over 25,000 foreign tourists have come to Çorum to see the unique historical sites last year.

But this year, the number of foreign tourists fell to 2,000 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The region has a famous and rich history with its six-kilometer walls surrounding the ancient city, its monumental gates, the 71-meter-long underground passage, 31 temples unearthed so far, the Lion Gate, the King Gate and the Yazılıkaya Open Air Temple, and much more.