Day 8 - Bogzakale, Turkey - Hatusha (the Capital of the Hittite Empire)

We landed in Ankara, Turkey at 10:50 AM, ready to meet our new guide: Attakan, and our new bus drivers: Kamil and Osman

Our destination today would be the ancient city of Cappadocia, but, en route to our destination we would visit the town of Bogazkale. (Be warned, the names get kind of hard to pronounce from here on out :))

Bogazkale is actually the modern-day name for Hatusha, the capital of the Hittite Empire.

After the deserts of Egypt and the dry climate of the Middle East, Turkey was like a green and red gem :)
Seriously though... you haven't seen *anything* yet... Keep watch on the next few days...

We'll be visiting places like Ephesus and Laodicea, and see things like the fabled city of Troy.
And there are some surprises too...
For now, take a look at Hattusha :)

Short History on the Hittite Empire
In many places, the Hittite Empire is mentioned as one of the most powerful empires of the ancient world. Many used to question the authenticity of the Bible as no one had ever found this nation. However, by following the clues discovered in the treaties with the Egyptians, they were able to locate the Hittite Capital of Hattusha

Then, by deciphering the cuneiform tablets, they were able to piece together the great Hittite civilization, thus confirming additional evidence for the Bible's account. While I could list all the parts of the Bible that mention the Hittites here, there are sites that do this already. Here's one of them.

Lecture amid the ruins of the once-mighty Hittite Empire

There's a story behind this green stone...	The Lower Town and Great Temple
In English, this is the "Lion" gate. Know what "Lion" is in Turkish? "Lion" in Turkish is "Aslan". Just like in the Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis
A lion at the "Aslan" gate
This is a picture of the twelve Hittite gods of the underworld.

As before, I'll explain more details on Hatusha the second time I get through these photos

More of the beautiful Turkey countryside

It really reminds me of Canada... Short History on Turkey There are indeed turkeys in Turkey, but the country of Turquia actually means "land of the Turks" The founder of the Republic of Turkey is Mustafa Kefal Ataturk. He was an officer during world war I and he wanted to help his people create a land of their own. On October 29, 1923, the Republic of Turkey was finally formed. Incidentally, this region is Biblically-known as the country of Asia Minor, and it is a bridge between the East and the West. More specifically, this area was called "Galatia" in the Bible, because of the Gauls of Southern France that were living here. On another note, Mustafa Kefal Ataturk was born in Thessaloniki in Greece, another Biblically-relevant place Other points of interest are: - Mount Ararat, the place where Noah's ark landed is in Turkey - The Tigris and the Euphrates, the names of two of the rivers in the garden of Eden are in Turkey - Paul was born in Tarsus, which is in Turkey, in a region called Silicia - Paul started his missionary journeys from the city of Antioch, which is in Turkey (and not in Syria) - Iznik, an important city in Turkey was previously-known under the name "Nicea", and this was where the Nicene Creed was formed - Western Anatolia, in Turkey, contains the seven churches of the book of Revelation And, as we saw from this post, the Hittites are also from Turkey Pretty impressive, no? :) Next Stop: Cappadocia