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The archaeological site of Hattusa has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986, and yet in Europe it is relatively unknown. Situated in modern day Turkey, Hattusa was once the capital of the Hittite Empire.

The Hittites were an ancient people, and are mentioned in the Old Testament. From the 18th century BC onwards they engineered an Empire centred on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia. An aggressive race, the Hittites conquered much of the surrounding area, peaking in the 14th century BC. At that time the Empire controlled upper Mesopotamia, north-western Syria and Anatolia.

Traditionally there are three distinct periods to the Hittite Empire; the Old Hittite Kingdom (1750-1500BC); the Middle Hittite Kingdom (1500-1430BC); and the New Hittite Kingdom (1430-1180BC). The Old Hittite Kingdom peaked during the 16th century BC, due mainly to their enhanced iron weaponry, even sacked the city of Babylon. Initially the rulers Pithana, and his son Anitta, had their dynastic capitals at Kussara and Nesa respectively. A century after the start of the Old Hittite Kingdom saw Labarna II move the capital of the Empire to Hattusa.

Situated near the modern-day village of Boazkale, Hattusa is 150km east of Ankara. The site is roughly 2km by 1km in area, and situated on a high rocky plateau. The nearby landscape provided the inhabitants of Hattusa with copious amounts of rich agricultural land, and pasture from the hills. As a result the people were provided with wheat, barley and lentils, as well as clothing made from sheep's wool. Domesticated animals also provided meat, and although there was hunting of deer, this was mainly a pastime for the nobility of the city. Nearby woodland also provided the primary building material.

Archaeological evidence shows that there was a settlement at the site of Hattusa, from the 6000 BC. This settlement is supposedly some of the earliest representation of the indigenous Hatti people. The real development of the site commenced in about 1900 BC, when merchants from Assyria created a trading colony. Evidence from excavations appears to indicate that the new city was burnt to the ground in about 1700BC. King Anitta from Kushar has been blamed for this act, and an inscribed curse has been found to support this assertion.

Within fifty years the burnt ruins had been reborn. Labarna II chose the site for his capital and private residence. At the same time a change of language occurred, as Hattic was replaced by Hittite. In conjunction with

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