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It was a marvel of engineering.
A city literally carved out of rock.
Its temples, houses and the royal citadel stretched over an area of 400 acres
much larger than ancient Troy or Athens.
Surrounded by imposing natural fortifications and miles of walls it was considered impregnable.
As the religious, economic and administrative center of the land,
it was one of the most important cities of the ancient world, and the pride of the Hittites.
Hattusa was the Hittite kingdom.
Hattusa was divided into two districts. The lower and the upper city.
Armories, archives, temples, government buildings, and grain depots that served the entire kingdom
were all located in the capital.
The king resided in the fortified citadel with his immediate family
Many of the buildings, especially those with religious functions were constructed on rock outcroppings.
Huge crags were levelled to accomodate houses
Jurgen Seeher: For them it was apparently no problem to shape rocks and cliffs
in the way they wanted and they put houses on almost every rock outcrop every rock *** you see in this city.
An ordinary Hittite structure was erected on a stone foundation with sun-dried mudbricks strengthened by a timber frame.
The roofs were made of beams covered with reed and plaster.
The Hittites were masters of stone. Sometimes shaping blocks weighing more than 15 tons.
Special bronze tubes were used to drill holes in the stone for the wooden framework.
In some walls, the stone masonry is so fine, that it is still impossible to slip a sheet of paper between two stones
Jurgen Seeher: Hittites were also shape and move huge blocks expecially the blocks we see at the city gates,
but also blocks in the temples, for example the largest block used in the big temple weighs about 40 tons.
And they were able to shape them and to move them, most probably with sledges and also with big wooden beams.
Moving them slowly, slowly, actually the same way as it was done in Mesopotamia and also in Egypt.
The Hittite engineers also designed complex network of clay pipes that brought in water
from the seven springs surrounding the capital.
The water was collected in artificial ponds and distributed to houses through neighborhood fountains.
In an age when most societies lacked sanitation, many Hittite houses were fitted with a drainage system
connected to sewer mains beneath the streets.
The clay pipes had access holes for cleaning.
Any damaged part could just be disconnected from the main system and quickly repaired.