“Let the land prosper and thrive, and let the land be protected”…..from the myth of the Illuyanka.
Spring equinox was celebrated as a fertility ritual in the Land of the Hatti. The celebration of these rites were reflected on some rock reliefs that were discovered in Ancient Anatolia. A cuneiform tablet found during the excavations contains a reference to ‘the mighty festival of the beginning of the year’ when all the gods have gathered and come to the house of the Hattic Weather God (Teshub) and the Hurrian sun goddess Hebat to eat, drink and pronounce the life of the king and queen and the life of heaven and earth’.
Hebat, sun goddess of Arinna from Central Anatolia, exhibited in Metropolitan Museum
Spring equinox was the New Year Festival known as Purulli (Festival of the Earth) at the vernal equinox in the Land of Hatti and it is believed that Yazılıkaya was the most likely place where the celebrations took place and ended in a sacred marriage. The purpose of the festival was to reinvigorate the earth and overcome the stagnation of winter.
Yazılıkaya Hittite sanctuary
The vegetation renewal myth of the festival reenacts the drama of the battle between the weather-god of Heaven and the dragon Illuyanka who represents a repetition of the first time, when real chaos was defeated and cosmos emerged.
Teshup kills the dragon illuyanka, Anatolian Civilizations Museum at Ankara
Hittites’ land and Ankara can be visited in three days escursion. Ankara Anatolian Civilization museum has the unique collection of the Hittites’.
Legacies of Ancient & Modern Cultures 
Thank you, Sevil. We hope you are well and that peace and prosperity fill your life this Spring and beyond. Kindest regards,
Dan and Linda San Francisco
Dear Dan and Linda, Thank you very much. I am fine. I wish you also all the best. Best regards, Sevil