Yerkapi Postern Tunnel

A view looking north through the tunnel that leads from the Postern Gate into the city of Hattusha.  The tunnel is 230 feet long and 10 feet high.  It is built in a corbelled fashion.  It slopes upward into the city.  The tunnel may have had a ceremonial purpose or it may simply be a means of easy access into the city in times of peace.

The massive Rampart of Yerkapi ("gate in the earth") that was built over the tunnel, is about 115 feet high and 820 feet wide.  It is constructed of packed dirt that was covered with stones.  On the west and east sides are stairways that lead up to the Sphinx Gate

The rampart was constructed during the period of the Hittite Empire (1360–1180 B.C.).