Function of the double-headed eagle at Yazilikaya

Abstract

Very little research has been done on the symbolic use of the double-headed eagle motif B.C.E. This paper treats the double-headed eagle relief at the Hittite site of Yazilikaya, located in central present-day Turkey. Occupied in the second millennium B.C.E., this site was a religious and ceremonial center of the Hittite Empire. Comparison of the use of the double-headed eagle at this and other sites in the area hints at the function of the motif in that context.