Page "Hattusa" Paragraph 15

Ernest Chantre opened some trial trenches at the village then called Boğazköy, in 1893-94.

Since 1906, the German Oriental Society has been excavating at Hattusa ( with breaks during the two World Wars and the Depression, 1913 – 31 and 1940 – 51 ).

Archaeological work is still carried out by the German Archaeological Institute ( Deutsches Archäologisches Institut ).

Hugo Winckler and Theodor Makridis Bey conducted the first excavations 1906, 1907, and 1911 – 13, which were resumed in 1931 under Kurt Bittel, followed by Peter Neve ( site director 1963, general director 1978 – 94 ).

One of the most important discoveries at the site has been the cuneiform royal archives of clay tablets, consisting of official correspondence and contracts, as well as legal codes, procedures for cult ceremony, oracular prophecies and literature of the ancient Near East.

One particularly important tablet, currently on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, details the terms of a peace settlement reached years after the Battle of Kadesh between the Hittites and the Egyptians under Ramesses II, in 1259 or 1258 BC.

A copy is on display in the United Nations in New York City as an example of the earliest known international peace treaties.