Reflections of Hittite festival rituals on Anatolian food culture; Sample of Crocus (An.Taḫ.Šumsar) Festival

The Hittites celebrated many festivals to please their gods. One of the most important of these holidays is AN.TAḪ.ŠUMSAR Festival, which lasts for 38 days and also the subject of our thesis. In this study, by reviewing the Hittite cuneiform texts and other written sources, regarding the Hittite Festivals and the AN.TAḪ.ŠUMSAR Festival, which is the subject of the research and by researching the documents related to the Crocus Festival, limited to the literature review, answers were sought to the questions of what kind of drinks and foods were mainly consumed in the Hittite period and in the holiday rituals, where and how these materials were cooked, AN.TAḪ.ŠUMSAR known as Crocus Festival what the rituals are, where the crocus is grown today, in which regions/provinces the ritual still continues in Anatolia, what kind of food is mainly consumed in the ritual, how the crocus pilaf is prescribed, what are the reflections of the Hittite Festivals rituals on the Anatolian food culture, and also, the contribution of the Hittites to today's food culture has been tried to be examined in detail. AN.TAḪ.ŠUMSAR Festival, which is considered to be the reflection of today's Anatolia, is not naturally similar to the Crocus Festival in terms of rituals, but in terms of being "goodbye to the end of the year, hello to the new year" in essence and being celebrated in the seasonal cycle, and as, it is associated with crocus flowers, the herald of spring associated with the celebration of spring in both festivals, it is understood that; Crocus Festival known in with different names in Central Anatolia, especially in Çorum, Çankırı, Yozgat and Ankara, and in a wide geography stretching from Malatya to Tekirdağ, Samsun to Mersin, it has been evaluated that the inclusion of domestic and foreign tourists in the Crocus Festival celebrations will also contribute to the promotion and sustainability of cultural heritage.