THE HOME OF THE WEATHER GOD

In northern Anatolia, archaeologists have discovered the source of Hittite royal power

- TOLGA İLDUN

A view of a 72-foot-long tunnel that descends 26 feet below the surface at the Late Bronze Age site of Nerik in what was Anatolia's Hittite Empire. At its end, the tunnel reaches a water source referred to in Hittite writings dating to 3,500 years ago as the "spring loved by the Weather God."

DESCENDING DOZENS OF slick steps worn smooth by millennia of use, guided only by stone walls, one can almost hear echoes of prayers to long-lost gods hovering in the cool, damp air of a narrow underground tunnel. At the bottom of the 50-step staircase lies a water-filled pool where, thousands of years ago, Hittite kings came to pray for prosperity. For these mighty rulers of ancient Anatolia, this sanctuary dedicated to their all-powerful Weather God was the most revered place in their vast empire.

In about 1650 B.C., the Hittites began to expand their dominion, which eventually spanned Anatolia from the Black Sea coast in the north to northern Syria in the south, and nearly from the Aegean in the west to beyond the Euphrates River in the east. Each year, during grand festivals central to the Hittite calendar, the king, accompanied by priests and officials, traveled throughout the empire, holding ceremonies in various cities and temples. These annual journeys culminated in Nerik, site of a sacred spring dedicated to the Weather God.