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On the way from the Lion Gate up to Yerkapı you can see on your left hand a spur in the terrain which protrudes about 200 m northward into the area of the Upper City. Aerial photographs revealed two long depressions side by side on the flat upper surface of this spur. They belong to large water basins built by the Hittites probably as early as the 15. century BC. The basins were narrow, in order to reduce the loss through evaporation, but up to 8 m deep. Since the marly ground here is completely watertight, there was no need for further insulation of the embankments. The plan and the computer reconstruction show five basins, located at practically the highest point within the city. Water was probably collected from springs situated a little higher near Yerkapı, and perhaps also by means of clay pipelines and canals from the southern hinterland of the city. Again by means of clay pipelines, water could be sent from here to almost everywhere in the city - these must represent ponds which served as city water reservoirs. Here one may ask why the ancient engineers built five small basins instead of one or two large ones. The answer is "risk management": Like with the Eastern Ponds in the Upper City, water was distributed to several separate basins; in case of a break in the embankment or pollution of some kind, only a part but not all of the water reserve was lost.
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