The Old That Is Strong

As Sundays are our days off at the project I had the privilege of spending yesterday touring Hattusa the ancient Hittite capital. The Hittites were a people who, at their zenith, ruled most of Anatolia and controlled lands stretching South and East to border with Egypt's New Kingdom. The city itself is immense covering a wide area high in the mountains overlooking the fertile plain below. The site is very interesting with a great temple, large rock shrine and impressive if ineffective defensive structures.
I was somewhat disappointed with te extent of the tour and look forward to returning there sometime in August and making an entire day of it. As I am returning it was easy to turn down the proffered wares of the many merchants sited there selling stone carvings of Hittite reliefs and symbols, though others in my group bartered with them for these pieces one of the team who had been here lsat year endured a steady stream of abuse having paid full price (75 Lira) for a carving while one member of the team this year purchased one of similar size and quality for twenty Lira, he did not even try this year.