IWA Specialized Conference on Water&Wastewater 22-24 March 2012 Technologies in Ancient Civilizations Istanbul-Turkey 313 MN-054 The Ponds of Hattuša – Early Groundwater Management in the Hittite Kingdom H. Wittenberg* and A. Schachner** * Leuphana Universität Lüneburg & Deutsche Wasserhistorische Gesellschaft DWhG, Ger- many (E-mail: wittenberg@uni.leuphana.de) ** Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (German Archaelogic Institute), Istanbul, Turkey (E-mail : schachner@istanbul.dainst.org) Abstract From about 1650 until 1200 BC Hattuša was the capital of the Hittite Empire in cen- tral Anatolia, in contemporary Turkey. On the steep terrain of the today's ruined city lived and worked thousands of people whose homes, cattle, tools and places of worship had to be sup- plied with water originating partially from springs. There remained the question how water was conveyed into the large-scale ponds in the urban area. The East Ponds (Ostteiche, 36000m 3 ) and South Ponds (Südteiche, 20000 m 3 ) had been found filled with sediments and were then excavated since the 1980s. A supply of the large volumes of water by a long pipeline from outside the city was a repeatedly discussed hypothesis. A study of the topographic, hydraulic and geo-hydrological conditions however, led to the conclusion that this long distance supply would have been uneconomic and also unnecessary. Until today willow fountains in the region are fed by artesian groundwater. Thus it was assumed that the ponds were cut into the hill slope aquifers from where they were filled during the wetter winter months. To verify this hy- pothesis groundwater monitoring stations were installed in the autumn of 2009 directly uphill of the pond banks. Observed groundwater levels 2009-2011 show a strong seasonal variation. During winter, levels rise above the former pond surfaces confirming the assumptions. Obvi- ously, the Hittites used exfiltrating groundwater also in their other reservoirs avoiding hefty and strongly varying surface inflows. Keywords Groundwater; Hattuša; Hittites; ponds; springs; water supply INTRODUCTION The archaeological site of Hattuša lies about 200 km east of Ankara, directly south of the township of Boğazkale (formerly Boğazköy) at about 40°N and 34.6°E. The ruined city co vers nearly 200 ha rising from 1050 to 1250 m asl from north to south. Mean annual temperature is about 9°C with hot dry summers and cold winters. Mean annual precipitation is about 500 mm mainly during the winter months and with a high deficit to potential evapotranspiration during summer when no surface runoff is available in the city area. However, even today, artesian wells fed by layered aquifers are used for livestock watering. P. Neve (1990) who excavated the first East Pond (Ostteich) in 1989 interpreted it as a sin- gular cultic object. Soon however, it became clear that hydraulic structures of comparable type found in Central Anatolia (Emre, 1993; Seeher, 2001, 2002, 2006a; Schachner, 2009) played a fundamental role in the water supply of Hittite cities and had to be seen in a func- tional context. This paper deals with the question of water conveyance to the East and South Ponds in the Hittite capital. Figure 1 is a topographic map of the upper part (Oberstadt) of Hattuša where the ponds are situated. As revealed from 14 C-Data, the South Ponds were built in the middle of the 16th century BC together with other urban structures (Seeher, 2006b). These ponds are dug into the impervious soil with practically vertical walls.