YAZILIKAYA CHAMBER B
The smaller and narrower Chamber B has fewer but larger and better preserved reliefs. It may have served as a mortuary mausoleum or memorial for the Hittite king Tudhaliya IV.
The Hittite practise of assimilating other cultures' gods into their own pantheon is in evidence at Yazilikaya. The Mesopotamian god of wisdom, Ea (Enki) is shown in the male procession and the god Teshub was a Hurrian god who was syncretized with the Hittite storm-god. Hebat's original consort was changed into her and Teshub's son (Sharruma) and she was later syncretized with the Hattic Sun goddess of Arinna. It is believed that Puduhepa, who was the daughter of a Hurrian priestess and the wife of the Hittite king Hattusili III, also played a role in the increasing Hurrian influence on the Hittite religion.
A 2021 study concluded that the sanctuary depicted the cosmos including its three levels: earth, sky, and underworld; in addition to the cyclical processes: day/night, lunar phases, and summer/winter, which served as a lunisolar calendar. However, the supreme deities in Chamber A, referred to the northern stars, while Chamber B represented the netherworld.
The most impressive is Chamber A, which contains rock-cut relief of 64 deities in procession. The left wall shows a procession of male deities, wearing the traditional kilts, pointed shoes and horned hats. Mountain gods are also shown with scaled skirts to symbolise the rocky mountains. The right wall shows a procession of female deities wearing crowns and long skirts. The only exception to this divide is the goddess of love and war, Shaushka (Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar/Inanna) who is shown on the male procession with two female attendants. This is likely to be because of her male attributes as the goddess of war. The processions lead to a central scene of the supreme couple of the pantheon: the storm-god Teshub and the sun-goddess Hebat. Teshub stands on two mountain gods whilst Hebat stands on a panther. Behind Hebat are shown their son Sharruma, daughter Alanzu and a granddaughter.
The smaller and narrower Chamber B has fewer but larger and better preserved reliefs. It may have served as a mortuary mausoleum or memorial for the Hittite king Tudhaliya IV.
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Yazılıkaya sanctuary Chamber B
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Yazılıkaya sanctuary Chamber B Entrance
Rock carving in Chamber B depicting the god Sharruma and King Tudhaliya IV, dated to around 1250–1220 BCE
the god of the underworld
