Latest news with #Hittites
Time Business News
21 hours ago
- Time Business News
Unlock the Door to Turkey: A Comprehensive Guide to Turkey
From the historic crossroads of Europe and Asia to the sun-drenched shores of the Aegean, Turkey is a land of layered civilizations, vibrant cultures, and natural splendor. With a history that spans millennia, this nation of contrasts offers something for everyone—whether you're an avid history buff, a food lover, an adventurer, or someone simply seeking relaxation. This comprehensive guide aims to unlock the door to Turkey, introducing its rich past, dynamic present, and the unforgettable experiences that await every traveler. Turkey's unique location—straddling both Europe and Asia—has made it a cultural melting pot. Its rich history includes ancient civilizations such as the Hittites, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Ottomans, all of whom left their indelible mark. Istanbul, formerly Byzantium and Constantinople, embodies this history with its stunning architecture and layered stories. Highlights include: Hagia Sophia : A masterpiece that has been a cathedral, a mosque, and now a museum. : A masterpiece that has been a cathedral, a mosque, and now a museum. Topkapi Palace : Once the center of the Ottoman Empire, now a treasure trove of history. : Once the center of the Ottoman Empire, now a treasure trove of history. Ephesus: A sprawling ancient Greek city with remarkably preserved ruins. Turkey's cultural diversity is a testament to its geography and history Turkey Visa for Indian Citizens. From the Kurdish regions in the east to the Greek-influenced Aegean coast, and from the Arab-tinged southeast to the cosmopolitan cities like Istanbul and Ankara, every region brings its own flavor. Turkey's terrain is as diverse as its people. Whether you're trekking in the mountains, lounging on a beach, or exploring otherworldly landscapes, Turkey doesn't disappoint. Cappadocia : Famous for its 'fairy chimneys,' cave dwellings, and magical hot air balloon rides at sunrise. : Famous for its 'fairy chimneys,' cave dwellings, and magical hot air balloon rides at sunrise. Pamukkale : The 'Cotton Castle' with its surreal white travertine terraces and ancient thermal waters. : The 'Cotton Castle' with its surreal white travertine terraces and ancient thermal waters. Mount Ararat : Turkey's highest peak and legendary resting place of Noah's Ark. : Turkey's highest peak and legendary resting place of Noah's Ark. The Turquoise Coast: Pristine beaches, ancient ruins, and crystal-clear waters in places like Antalya, Fethiye, and Bodrum. From birdwatching at Lake Van to paragliding in Ölüdeniz, and from hiking the Lycian Way to skiing in Uludağ, Turkey is a paradise for nature lovers and adventure seekers. Turkish food is a delightful journey through regional flavors and traditions. It blends Central Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan influences into a unique culinary tradition. Kebabs : From Adana to İskender, there are countless variations. : From Adana to İskender, there are countless variations. Meze : A spread of small dishes perfect for sharing. : A spread of small dishes perfect for sharing. Baklava : Flaky, sweet, and utterly addictive. : Flaky, sweet, and utterly addictive. Simit : Turkey's answer to the bagel, often eaten on the go. : Turkey's answer to the bagel, often eaten on the go. Turkish Tea and Coffee: More than just beverages—they're rituals. Street food lovers will enjoy köfte (meatballs), lahmacun (Turkish pizza), and döner. Each city brings its own signature flavor, and exploring Turkish cuisine is an adventure in itself. Turkey is a secular republic with a predominantly Muslim population, but it's home to many religious traditions. Churches, mosques, and synagogues often sit near each other, especially in older districts of Istanbul and TURKEY VISA FROM VANUATU. Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii): A stunning example of Ottoman architecture. (Sultanahmet Camii): A stunning example of Ottoman architecture. Sumela Monastery : Nestled into the cliffs of the Pontic Mountains. : Nestled into the cliffs of the Pontic Mountains. House of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus: A pilgrimage site for Christians. Visitors are encouraged to dress modestly and show respect when entering places of worship. Turkey is not just about history and nature—it's also a modern, bustling country with vibrant urban life. Cities like Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir offer world-class dining, shopping, and nightlife. Istanbul : A city that never sleeps. It bridges two continents and offers a dynamic blend of ancient and modern. : A city that never sleeps. It bridges two continents and offers a dynamic blend of ancient and modern. Ankara : The capital city, known for its government buildings, museums, and universities. : The capital city, known for its government buildings, museums, and universities. Izmir: A liberal, coastal city with a youthful energy and Mediterranean charm. Turkey has an extensive and reliable transportation network: Airports : Istanbul Airport is one of the busiest and most connected hubs in the world. : Istanbul Airport is one of the busiest and most connected hubs in the world. Railways : High-speed trains connect major cities like Istanbul, Ankara, and Konya. : High-speed trains connect major cities like Istanbul, Ankara, and Konya. Public Transit: Efficient metro systems, buses, and ferries make getting around easy. Most travelers can enter Turkey with an e-Visa, obtainable online in minutes. Always check the latest entry requirements based on your nationality. The currency is the Turkish Lira (TRY). Turkey offers excellent value for money, with options for both luxury travelers and budget backpackers. The official language is Turkish, though English is widely spoken in tourist areas. Learning a few basic Turkish phrases can enrich your experience and endear you to locals. Spring (April to June) and Autumn (September to November) are ideal for most travel. and are ideal for most travel. Summer is great for beach destinations but can be hot in inland cities. is great for beach destinations but can be hot in inland cities. Winter is best for skiing and visiting less crowded historical sites. Turks are known for their hospitality. Expect to be offered tea, and don't be surprised if locals go out of their way to help you. Modesty and politeness are valued. Remove your shoes when entering someone's home and avoid public displays of affection in conservative areas. Istanbul (3 days): Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar, Bosphorus cruise. Cappadocia (2-3 days): Hot air balloon, cave hotels, underground cities. Pamukkale & Hierapolis (1 day): Thermal baths and ancient ruins. Ephesus & Kusadasi (2 days): Explore Roman ruins and relax by the Aegean. Antalya or Fethiye (3-4 days): Sun, sand, and ancient ruins along the Turquoise Coast. Turkey is more than a destination—it's an experience. Whether you're floating above Cappadocia at dawn, savoring baklava in a bustling Istanbul café, or tracing the footsteps of ancient empires in Ephesus, the country has a way of capturing your heart. It's a place where East meets West, tradition meets modernity, and every corner tells a story. So pack your bags and get ready to unlock the door to Turkey—a land where every journey becomes a legend. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Royal Egyptian inscription' of Ramesses III's name is first of its kind discovered in Jordan
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Archaeologists in Jordan have documented a carved inscription bearing the name of Ramesses III, an Egyptian pharaoh who reigned around 3,200 years ago, Jordan's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a translated statement. Ramesses III (reign circa 1184 to 1153 B.C.) ruled at a tumultuous time in the region's history. A number of major powers in the region — such as the Mycenaeans (who were based in Greece and the Aegean islands) and the Hittites (who were based in Turkey) — collapsed, and a group known as the "Sea People" invaded parts of the Middle East, including Egypt. Historical records say Ramesses III defeated the Sea People's invasion of Egypt and campaigned in the eastern Mediterranean, maintaining Egypt's empire. The inscription, which would have been carved by Ramesses III's army, is in the Wadi Rum protected area, a desert in southern Jordan that contains numerous archaeological remains. Although the existence of the inscription was known to a few people, it wasn't until the past year that it was scientifically documented. The inscription is "near a natural spring, in a location that is extremely difficult to access," archaeologist Ali Al-Manaser told Live Science in an email. He is the head of the Department of Cultural Resources Management and Museology at Hashemite University in Jordan and helped document the inscription. "This discovery is particularly significant as the inscription is the first of its kind found in Jordan — a royal Egyptian inscription carved into a fixed, large stone that is part of a mountain formation," Manaser said. "Previously, another Egyptian inscription was discovered in the northern region of Jordan; however, it was inscribed on a moveable rock. In contrast, this newly documented inscription is on an immovable, prominent rock face." Zahi Hawass, a former minister of antiquities in Egypt who is working with researchers in Jordan, said the inscription gives the name of Ramesses III and calls him "Sa-Re," which means "son of Re" (also spelled Ra), a sun god of Egypt. The name was inscribed when Ramesses III led an army that passed by the area, Hawass told Live Science in an email. He noted that the army of Ramesses III also carved an inscription with the pharaoh's name at Tayma, a settlement in what is now northwestern Saudi Arabia. RELATED STORIES —Ancient Roman camps from secret military mission spotted using Google Earth —3,200-year-old Egyptian tomb may belong to military commander who served under Ramesses III —3,500-year-old 'rest house' used by ancient Egyptian army discovered in Sinai desert Ramesses III likely went through Jordan to maintain access to precious goods, Manaser said. The pharaoh "would have sought to secure these trade routes to maintain Egypt's access to resources like copper, which was abundant in the southeast of Jordan," Manaser said. No related artifacts were found beside the inscription. However, the archaeological exploration of nearby areas is ongoing, and it's possible that more evidence of Ramesses III's campaigns in the region will be found in the future, Manaser said.
National Geographic
15-04-2025
- General
- National Geographic
The ancient empire that civilization forgot
They fought the Egyptians, sacked Babylon, and built elaborate cities. Then the Hittites vanished. Today, new discoveries are restoring the legend of a forgotten superpower. A procession of gods marches across the wall of what may have been a royal mausoleum near Hattusa, capital of the lost Hittite Empire. The ancient city—in what is today central Türkiye—was abandoned around 1180 B.C. Modern researchers are trying to find out why. At its height, the ancient city of Hattuşa, capital of the Hittite civilization, must have been awe-inspiring. Built into a steep hillside in what is today central Türkiye, the city was ringed by tall brick walls. It was home to as many as 7,000 people, vast temple complexes, and an imposing stone rampart visible from miles away. Today the hillside is home to a mystery. No pillars or high walls mark the ruins of the palace and temples that once stood—just stone foundations half-covered by dry grass. Some of the city's gates still stand, guarded by statues of lions, sphinxes, and an axe-wielding god. But much is gone. The mud-brick walls have crumbled over the centuries; floods and snowmelt have eroded the original hillside, sending buildings full of clay tablets cascading down the slopes. Fainter still are the clues that might explain what happened to the powerful Hittite people—a lost empire that researchers are now beginning to understand with greater clarity. The Hittites' selection of a capital in an inhospitable location, known for scorching summers and frigid winters, has long puzzled archaeologists. The disappearance of the Hittites, around 1180 B.C., was a vanishing act with few parallels in history. For at least 450 years, the Hittites controlled much of modern-day Türkiye and beyond—from close to the shores of the Black Sea to the rivers of Mesopotamia and the waters of the Mediterranean. They built sophisticated cities, impressive temples, and an elaborate palace in the rugged countryside of Anatolia. They authored massive archives of cuneiform tablets containing numerous ancient languages and sacred rituals. Their kings benefited from trade routes that reached far beyond the Hittite armies once even penetrated deep into Mesopotamia. Their tangle with Egypt's Ramses the Great at the Battle of Kadesh resulted in the world's first peace treaty. (3,200-year-old trees reveal the collapse of an ancient empire.) 'They were able to fight the Egyptians, and the Babylonians and Assyrians had to treat them as equals,' said Andreas Schachner of the German Archaeological Institute, which has been carrying out digs at the Hattuşa site for nearly a century. Yet 'the Egyptians, the Assyrians—they were all part of historical memory. The Hittites were extinguished completely.' Hattusa's vaulted gates were flanked by statues of fantastic figures, such as sphinxes, and these carved lions. Today little is left but their stone foundations. Visitors, traders, and foreign delegations entered the thriving city through several monumental gates. Scholars didn't register the Hittites' existence until 3,000 years later, when carvings at ancient Egyptian temples and diplomatic correspondence discovered on clay tablets set off an international hunt for the location of their capital. Little remained at the suspected site besides monumental foundations, but digs there in the early 1900s unearthed a trove of clay cuneiform tablets confirming suspicions that Hattuşa was the lost Hittite capital. From what they've continued to unearth at Hattuşa—a once vibrant center of commerce, culture, and conquest—researchers have compiled an eloquent record of life in the empire. They have assembled details on everything from royal squabbles and religious ceremonies to the proper punishment for killing a dog. Yet the causes for the empire's collapse remain mysterious. How did the mighty Hittites vanish without a trace—and what can their sudden end teach us today? In their effort to unlock the Hittite Empire's secrets, archaeologists are studying thousands of clay tablets found at Hattusa. This one, written in two languages, contains instructions on a purification ritual performed by the king and queen using precious materials like lapis lazuli, silver, and cedarwood. Hittite kings often made sacrifices to their gods, from simple libations to elaborate gifts like this bronze sword, found near Hattusa in 1991. Its Akkadian inscription dedicates the offering to the storm god in honor of a military victory. Between early June and late October, Schachner spends seven days a week crisscrossing Hattuşa and overseeing a team of Turkish and German archaeologists, as well as scores of local workers. He traverses the city's hills in a battered passenger van, his black dog, Nox, routinely at his side. As director of the German Archaeological Institute's excavations, he's been making sense of the site's jumbled ruins since 2006. 'Nothing is in its original place,' Schachner said with a sigh. 'There's so much destruction.' One day not long ago, I joined him at the city's Great Temple complex, a hub of ritual spaces, courtyards, storerooms, and secret chambers not far from what were Hattuşa's northern gates. I followed him as he wound his way through waist-high stone blocks, gesturing upward now and again to refer to the plastered and possibly painted walls that would have towered 30 feet above our heads. He took me to a space once considered the center of the Hittite universe: the Great Temple, dedicated to the storm god Tarhunna and his partner, the sun goddess of Arinna. Foundations surrounding the temple preserve the outlines of 80 storerooms that previously contained vessels full of wine, water, and grain. Researchers have discovered inventories hinting at the riches stored in the temple's treasury. 'When the king came back from a campaign, all the booty was for the storm god,' Schachner told me. 'He would have brought it here.' One question that Schachner hopes to resolve is why the Hittites situated their capital here. There are worse places than central Anatolia to base an empire, but not many. Halfway between the Black Sea and the deserts of Syria, Hattuşa sits in a land of unlikely extremes. Freshwater springs are abundant in the rocky, virtually unfarmable mountains nearby. The region's few plains, on the other hand, are bone-dry most of the year—unless they're submerged by seasonal floods. Close reading of Hittite texts, combined with environmental data, shows that droughts gripped the region every few decades, regularly pushing populations to the brink of starvation and beyond. Archaeologist Bülent Genç, who works with Schachner at Hattuşa, frames the mystery of why the city was built here with bemused admiration. 'Considering the climate and surroundings, it's mind-blowing that they had all this here,' said Genç, who teaches at Türkiye's Mardin Artuklu University. 'The real question is, how did they build an empire in the middle of this central Anatolian hell?' The Hittites carefully constructed four miles of mudbrick walls to protect the palace and temples of their mountainside capital in the heart of Anatolia. The answer: a combination of resilience, adaptation, and planning. For the centuries that they reigned, the lords of Hattuşa managed to squeeze just a little more out of the land than anyone before or since. Based on what we know of herding practices—and the myriad animal bones found at Hattuşa—Schachner thinks the surrounding hills supported tens of thousands of sheep and goats, providing a four-footed alternative to the irrigation-dependent farms that supported Egypt and Mesopotamia. To supply water for industrial and agricultural uses, the Hittites cut storage ponds into Hattuşa's hillsides. Dug into clay soil to be filled by groundwater, some were longer than an Olympic swimming pool and up to 26 feet deep. Immense, airtight underground pits, meanwhile, contained enough grain to feed their animals in periods of drought. Looming above Hattusa is Yerkapi, a massive pyramidal rampart that served as an entrance to the city. Archaeologist Bülent Genç points out the hieroglyphs he found in 2022 in a tunnel beneath Yerkapi. All of this infrastructure was surrounded by strong walls that ran for an astonishing four miles along the city perimeter, engineered to contend with the hilly terrain's steep slopes and deep ravines. Between 2003 and 2006, a 71-yard-long segment of it was reconstructed using only materials that would have been available to the Hittites, including wood, rock, and 3,000 tons of mud brick. Based on this experiment, researchers calculated that building just a half mile of wall would have taken a thousand men a year, a stunning feat of logistics. Touring the site with Schachner, I rode along as he piloted his van up a twisting, one-lane road to reach Hattuşa's highest spot. Here, the city's most impressive building project survives: Yerkapı, an elongated rampart standing 130 feet high and 820 feet long. The white stone embankment features a narrow gate decorated with sphinx statues. Adding to its imposing visual impact, a portion of the city's protective wall ran across the top. On a clear day this monumental structure is visible from 12 miles away, gleaming white amid the green and gray mountaintops. 'Imagine the ambassador of Babylonia, who's seen everything,' said Schachner, 'and then he turns this corner and sees this building that's as spectacular as anything in Mesopotamia or Egypt. I've seen a lot of sites and can't think of any that are as spectacular from a long way away as this one. This is how they executed control over the landscape.' Ruins of temples honoring a pantheon of gods cover the upper slopes of the Hittite capital. Amazingly, Hattuşa is still yielding new discoveries. The day after my trip up the mountain with Schachner, I returned to the summit to meet Genç at Yerkapı and found him at the mouth of a tunnel that passes underneath the rampart. He stood in an arched passageway that's about nine feet tall, 230 feet long, and wide enough to accommodate two people walking side by side. As I entered the unlit tunnel, I became acutely aware of the hundreds of tons of dirt and rock above our heads. Genç, the grandson of a stonemason, wasn't worried. 'This all interconnects, like a tapestry made of stone,' he said, gesturing to the tunnel walls. 'It takes really fine masons to make this.' Halfway down the passageway, we stopped. Bending low, Genç showed me a pinkish, palm-size painting on the stone wall—a symbol, one of 249 that he discovered in the tunnel in 2022. With each glyph representing a word, the symbols had somehow gone unnoticed by the hundreds of archaeologists—and hundreds of thousands of curious tourists—who have passed through the tunnel since it was rediscovered in 1834. Since Genç's find, made with the light of his cell phone, Schachner has worked with imaging specialists to scan the tunnel's interior, creating a 3D model that might help scientists fathom the symbols' significance. For example, some marks appear in threes, like the glyphs for 'mountain' and 'path' and the symbol representing the holy mountain Tudhaliya, as well as the god by the same name. 'Maybe it's meant to say 'the path through Mount Tudhaliya,' ' Schachner said. This same bronze sword, photographed at Istanbul Airport Museum, was found near Hattusa in 1991. Far from the tunnel, symbols on a very different wall have provided critical information on the reach and power of the Hittites. When archaeologists in Egypt uncovered the funeral temple of Pharaoh Ramses II—also known as Ramses the Great—they found references to a battle that remains perhaps the Hittites' most enduring contribution to history. In his temple complex along the Nile River, Ramses, one of Egypt's strongest rulers, documented the most memorable moments of his reign, including his 1274 B.C. battle with the forces of Hittite king Muwatallis II at Kadesh, an ancient city not far from modern-day Damascus. A floor-to-ceiling relief depicts the pharaoh's heroics in the face of what he claimed were nearly 50,000 Hittite warriors. Egyptian and Hittite chariots wheel and charge as a larger-than-life Ramses surveys the bloody chaos. (The Hittites' fast war chariots threatened mighty Egypt.) Stone reliefs at the open-air sanctuary of Yazilikaya, near Hattusa, show a king (at right) and a Hittite god. Today many historians consider the Battle of Kadesh the biggest chariot battle ever fought. Rather than a resounding victory for Ramses, though, the clash was probably more of a stalemate: In the aftermath, the frontier separating the two empires barely shifted. Relations between the two powers remained unresolved for 15 years, until Ramses and Muwatallis's successor worked out the world's oldest known parity treaty. Inscribed on tablets of silver, with copies made in clay, the 1259 B.C. accord promised mutual assistance against invaders and 'a good peace and a good fraternity between the land of Egypt and the land of Hatti forever.' The agreement marked a pivotal shift in the annals of statecraft. 'Up until that moment, the rule was winner take all. Peace treaties were the winner dictating to the losers,' Schachner pointed out. 'The Hittites and the Egyptians decided not to continue that way.' The Treaty of Kadesh describes the two rulers as equals and peace as an end in itself. It's the beginning of modern diplomacy—one reason a copy of the agreement hangs at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. (A fragmented clay original, found at Hattuşa in 1906, is on display at the Istanbul Airport Museum.) A century before the Hittite Empire vanished, its forces fought the Egyptians in what is believed to be history's biggest chariot battle. It ended in a draw; 15 years after the conflict, the empires settled their differences with one of the world's oldest known peace treaties. Illustration by Fernando G. Baptista and Patricia Healy Diplomacy and religion were crucial tools for the Hittites, who referred to their empire as the Land of a Thousand Gods. When they conquered or took control of a group of people, they permitted the subjugated to keep their religious practices. Rather than wiping out local deities, they folded them into the Hittite Empire and pantheon. Holy statues from temples, thought to embody the gods themselves, were transported to Hattuşa's temple district and worshipped there the way they were at home. (These pharaohs' private letters expose how politics worked 3,300 years ago.) Temple archives record the problems with this approach, like gods who didn't speak Hittite. In one example, after a new god was brought from the island of Lesbos, the Hittites realized that no one knew how to talk to it. A sheep was sacrificed, and its innards were examined to determine if the new god could accept being worshipped Hittite style (yes, was the answer discerned in the sheep's intestines). 'They didn't want to anger the gods,' Willemijn Waal, a Hittitologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, told me. 'But at the same time, they're very pragmatic. It's kind of adorable.' It was also a key to their success. 'They were able to bring people together not by brutal despotism but by persuasion, using religion and beliefs,' Schachner said. 'That is unique. That is what makes them so special.' What we know about the Hittites is, by the standards of ancient history, incredibly new. Hittite writing wasn't unlocked until 1915, when a linguist in Prague named Bedřich Hrozný realized that the unearthed tablets were written in an Indo-European language—the earliest known example of a family that today includes everything from English to Sanskrit. Over the past century, more than 30,000 remnants of clay tablets have been recovered from Hattuşa and other Hittite cities. More are found every year. That constant flow of brand-new information makes Hittitology one of the most dynamic, fast-moving fields of ancient history. In the village of Karakiz, some 50 miles east of Hattusa, Ferhat and his grandson live steps from an unfinished lion sculpture, made by Hittite artists 3,200 years ago. Late one afternoon, I found Daniel Schwemer, a researcher from Germany's University of Würzburg, seated at a table in the German Archaeological Institute's 'dig house' in Boğazkale, the village next to Hattuşa's ruins. Schwemer is part of a small community of scholars who specialize in reading and translating Hittite texts. Every autumn he comes to Hattuşa to see what's been found during the summer's excavations. 'It's a bit like unpacking Christmas presents,' Schwemer said. 'You really never know what you'll get.' Each new find has the potential to change what we know about Bronze Age empires. It's 'an area where history is still in the process of being written,' Schwemer said. 'Documents are coming out of the ground nobody has seen for thousands of years.' Of course, answers to a question at the heart of Hittite research remain elusive: What happened to them? Theories abound, from political unrest to climate change, but a lone explanation seems unlikely to be found. 'There's no single reason why such a complex society disintegrates and completely disappears from history,' Schachner said. Instead, a 'perfect storm' of factors probably pushed the Hittites to the limits and then beyond. Raiders were a constant threat, for example. Tribes known as the Kaska living along the Black Sea coast show up in tablets, destroying temples and desecrating statues before dividing up 'the priests, the holy priests, the priestesses, the anointed ones, the musicians, the singers, the cooks, the bakers, the plowmen, and the gardeners, and [making] them their servants.' Natural disasters, too, strained the Hittite Empire from time to time. Recent finds from a site called Şapinuva suggest powerful earthquakes regularly rocked the Hittite heartland. About 40 miles northeast of Hattușa, at Şapinuva's palace and temple complex, excavations revealed walls and floors that rippled like waves. Archaeologists discovered buildings and storehouses consumed in a huge fire—all clues the city was hit by a devastating quake. The Hittites successfully handled these and different challenges for years—until, suddenly, they didn't. By about 1250 B.C., the tablets begin to show the strains of the empire's final century. Palace infighting and royal assassination attempts grew rampant, making it hard for Hattuşa's leaders to maintain control over their subjects. Epidemic diseases were a problem too: The tablets contain prayers to ward off plagues. And changes in language and writing styles in the empire's final decades may be signs of social strife or upheaval, signs their multiethnic state was under strain. The latest findings suggest climate change and a series of natural disasters helped accelerate the empire's decline. In a 2023 study, researchers analyzed preserved wood recovered from Gordion, a city on the western outskirts of the Hittite Empire. By measuring tree rings, they could tell nearby forests were unusually stressed between 1198 and 1196 B.C., evidence of a punishing, three-year drought right around the time the Hittite Empire was ending. The drought may have sparked famine. Archaeologists found empty grain depots at Hattuşa, Şapinuva, and other abandoned Hittite cities. Letters reflect the desperation of Hittite kings, who begged foreign leaders to send barley and wheat as 'a matter of life and death.' And invaders referred to as Sea Peoples in Egyptian chronicles caused chaos that rippled all across the Mediterranean, weakening old alliances and prompting mass migrations. 'That was the salt and pepper on the dish,' said Genç. Around 1180 B.C., the Hittites methodically abandoned their capital. There are no signs of battle or conquest; no mass graves, no toppled towers or buildings. Temple storehouses full of gold and silver vessels, gilded spears, and booty from successful military campaigns—elaborately described in festival instructions and inventory lists but missing today—must have been packed up and evacuated. Afterward, the city burned. But in a final irony, the flames that destroyed Hattuşa preserved its story: Too heavy to move from their archives, the thousands of clay tablets the Hittites amassed over the course of roughly four centuries were left behind. Fire baked them into hard bricks, helping them survive the ensuing centuries intact. 'The advantage—for us—is that all these clay tablets were left behind when everyone fled the capital,' Schwemer said. 'What remained was the paperwork.' Until a tablet emerges inscribed with an account of Hattuşa's last days, the mystery abides. The Hittites managed to adapt to a harsh environment and grow into a mighty empire despite their surroundings, until circumstances beyond their control upset their delicate balancing act. The Hittites' collapse, and their recent rediscovery, is a testament to the importance of resilience—and good recordkeeping. A version of this story appears in the May 2025 issue of National Geographic and artifacts are photographed with permission of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. For this story, Andrew Curry, who is based in Berlin, roamed the harsh Anatolian hill country. He's written for National Geographic since 2012 and is a contributing correspondent for Science. A National Geographic Explorer since 2019, photojournalist Emin Özmen has traveled the world on assignment. For this story, he returned to the area of his Turkish hometown, Sivas. His work has also appeared in Time, the New York Times, and Le Monde.
Watani
10-03-2025
- Business
- Watani
Ramses's Gold of the Pharaohs opens in Tokyo
'Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs', an exhibition that offers visitors an extraordinary opportunity to explore Egypt's ancient heritage, opened in Tokyo on 7 March 2025. The exhibition was opened by Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy together with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. The opening was followed by a grand event attended by a number of cabinet ministers, public figures, businessmen, tourism and antiquities representatives, and the Japanese community, as well as representatives from many tourism and travel companies in Japan. Mr Fathy expressed his happiness at being in Tokyo, 'the capital of the 'Land of the Rising Sun'.' He said he saw 'Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs' as a symbol of the fruitful cooperation, strong growing friendship, and strategic partnership between Egypt and Japan. The exhibition, he said, can attract Japanese people to visit Egypt to see where these unique treasures came from. The Egyptian Minister said his ministry is currently promoting Egypt as a destination that is the most diverse in the world, globally unparalleled in tourism styles and forms. 'The ministry focuses its promotional and marketing campaigns under the slogan 'Egypt… Unmatched Tourism Diversity', he said. Mr Fathy cited the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which is now partially open to the public but will fully open on 3 July, as a spectacular achievement of the close cooperation between Egypt and Japan. Once it is fully opened, he said, it will make a tourist destination on its own. Ms Koike expressed her happiness that Tokyo is hosting the exhibition this year which marks 35 years on signing the sister city agreement between Cairo and Tokyo. She said she hoped the coming period would witness more cooperation between the two countries in all fields. A keynote address was given by renowned archaeologist and former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt Zahy Hawass, who described the exhibition as the best archaeological exhibition held outside the Egypt. It exhibits, he said, the treasures of a great king and leader, the Pharaoh Ramses II or Ramses the Great who, reigning from 1279BC to 1213BC, was the longest reigning in Egyptian history. He went to war with the Hittites, and signed with them the first peace treaty in the world. The exhibition, Dr Hawass said, will steal the hearts of its visitors, with each piece telling a story and a part of the history of Egypt. The Egyptian Minister and Tokyo Governor toured the exhibition together with their distinguished guests, listening to detailed explanation about the treasures it displays. They also visited the pavilion of the bazaars selling souvenirs and archaeological replicas, also the pavilion of the Egyptian General Authority for Tourism Promotion, which includes promotional materials, films, and maps of Egypt in Japanese. It also provides visitors to the exhibition with a QR code feature linked to the Egyptian General Authority for Tourism Promotion's experience Egypt page to gain deeper insights into the various destinations in Egypt. They also experienced the virtual reality (VR) feature presented alongside the exhibition, taking visitors on a virtual journey through to the temples of Abu-Simbel in Aswan, exploring their history and the unique sculptures, inscriptions, and architectural design. Tokyo is the exhibition's sixth international stop. 'Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs' started its world tour in November 2021 with Houston in the US, followed by San Francisco in August 2022, Paris in April 2023, Sydney in November 2023, and Cologne in Germany, in July 2024 before opening in Tokyo in March 2025 where it is expected to achieve remarkable success. According to Muhammad Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, the exhibition had hosted 600,000 visitors on its Paris stop, and 500,000 in Sydney. He expressed confidence that the Tokyo stop will host even greater numbers. Running until September 2025, The 'Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs' exhibition in Tokyo features 180 artefacts, including King Ramses II's wooden sarcophagus from the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, rare pieces from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, and discoveries from Saqqara's Bubasteion necropolis. It showcases a collection of statues, jewellery, cosmetics, engraved stone blocks, and colourful wooden coffins, providing a comprehensive glimpse into the grandeur of ancient Egypt's civilisation. Ramses II makes his Asian debut Watani International 9 March 2025 Comments comments Tags: Ramses gold of pharaohs TokyoSanaa' Farouk
