Yazılıkaya is an open-air rock sanctuary located about 1 mile NE of the Great Temple of Hattuşa, in the heart of Hittite country (New Kingdom). It consists of two chambers (A and B) formed inside a group of rock outcrops.

Hittite King Tudhaliya IV reigned 1245-1215 BC (Middle Chronology), or 1237-1209 BC (Short Chronology).
Trevor Bryce writes:
This renovation of the city was the inspiration of King Hattusili III (c. 1267–1237 B.C.), though his son and successor, Tudhaliya IV (c. 1237–1209 B.C.), did most of the work. Not only did Tudhaliya substantially renovate the acropolis; he more than doubled the city’s size, developing a new area lying south of and rising above the old city. In the new “Upper City,” a great temple complex arose. Hattusa could now boast at least 31 temples within its walls, many built during Tudhaliya’s reign. Though individually dwarfed by the enormous Temple of the Storm God in the “Lower City,” the new temples left no doubt about Hattusa’s grandeur, impressing upon all who visited the capital that it was the religious as well as the political and administrative heart of the Hittite empire.
Tudhaliya also constructed massive new fortifications. The main casemate wall was built upon an earthen rampart to a height of 35 feet, punctuated by towers at 70-foot intervals along its entire length. The wall twice crossed a deep gorge to enclose the Lower City, the Upper City and an area to the northeast; this was surely one of the most impressive engineering achievements of the Late Bronze Age. (https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/the-last-days-of-hattusa/)
Here inscribed on the rock wall at Yazılıkaya is the cartouch of Great King Tudhaliya IV:
In 2007 I photographed this relief of Tudhaliya IV (dated to 13th century BC), at the Archaeological Museum in Antakya. Antakya is in Turkey, but in New Testament times was Antioch of Syria (Acts 11:20, etc.).
The artifacts in the museum (of 2007) have been moved to a new facility there in Antakya. Here is the former Archaeological Museum in Antakya.
Click photos for larger view.



Posted by Leon Mauldin 

