The Hittites most surprising defences (using 3D animation) | BBC Timestamp

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:02]It seemed impossible to imagine how or why the Hittites built their capital city here.

[00:00:09]>> [music] >> But archaeologists were to discover it was precisely these difficulties that made it the perfect site [music] for Hittite ambitions.

[00:00:29]Every detail of their city was deliberately planned. A permanent stronghold able to withstand any attack.

[00:00:39]The Hittites began by exploiting the natural defenses of the mountains.

[00:00:46]They built in the most extreme places.

[00:00:50]Carved into sheer rock faces.

[00:00:54]And built across steep ravines.

[00:00:59]They hauled huge stones up hundreds of meters.

[00:01:04]They drilled holes into solid granite.

[00:01:10]And built thick walls along the edges of sheer cliffs.

[00:01:17]Everywhere were feats of death-defying engineering as they forged a city out of the granite [music] mountains.

[00:01:27]One massive outer wall enclosed the entire city.

[00:01:34]It was more than 4 miles long.

[00:01:37]And crossed every obstacle.

[00:01:44]>> [music] >> An unbreakable ring to protect the Hittites from the outside [music] world.

[00:02:01]>> The Hittites then turned every part of Hattusa into an impregnable fortress.

[00:02:09]They were clearly obsessed with their own security.

[00:02:14]These walls [music] were among the thickest in the ancient world with unique features to strengthen them even further.

[00:02:21]>> We found these large walls around the whole city, which at some places reach a width of more than [music] 8 m.

[00:02:31]The most surprising feature of the walls are these puzzling compartments, which make the walls unique in the ancient world.

[00:02:41]>> These compartments gave the walls an incredible strength.

[00:02:45]The Hittites filled them with a special watertight mix of earth and sand.

[00:02:50]When it was pounded, it set hard like concrete.

[00:02:59]And on top of these super strong foundations, scientists calculated that Hittite builders added 8-m high mudbrick walls.

[00:03:10]And images on pottery showed that at every 12 m, they built watchtowers 13 m high.

[00:03:18]And turned gateways, normally the weak point of any defensive [music] system, into deadly traps.

[00:03:27]Any enemy which did break through would be caught, powerless against Hittite defenders on the massive defensive towers looming above them.

[00:03:41]>> The unique features of the wall meant that the Hittites were able to build a fortification system which was unbreakable for any weapon of its time.

[00:03:54]But the city didn't stop there.

[00:03:56]Cutting through the site was an inner wall even thicker than the first.

[00:04:01]And here they'd added another defensive innovation.

[00:04:05]Secret tunnels.

[00:04:07]Eight of them.

[00:04:12]>> [music] >> Anyone who did break through the outer ring faced an even greater danger.

[00:04:18]Ambush.

[00:04:20]A surprise counterattack by the Hittite army hidden in the tunnels.

[00:04:27]This was a city bristling with layer upon layer of defensive rings.