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Seha River Land
The Seha River Land was a kingdom in Western Anatolia in the Late Bronze Age known from Hittite texts. Part of Arzawa, it was located north of Mira and south of Wilusa, and at one point controlled the island of Lazpa. History The Seha River Land was a reluctant vassal state of the Hittite Empire, and much of its known history was turbulent. The ''Annals of Mursili II'' recount how the Hittite king Mursili II consolidated power over the region around 1320 BC, crushing a revolt in which the Seha River Land partipated. According to Mursili, he besieged the Seha River Land's capital and was on the verge of destroying it when he accepted a last minute mercy plea from King Manapa-Tarhunta's own mother, delivered right outside the city gates. A treaty was drawn up which confirmed Manapa-Tarhunta's status as a Hittite vassal, though he once again had to plead for mercy in the Manapa-Tarhunta letter, this time because of his failure to provide Mursili with timely military support. Man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second principal period of the three-age system proposed in 1836 by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen for classifying and studying ancient societies and history. An ancient civilization is deemed to be part of the Bronze Age because it either produced bronze by smelting its own copper and alloying it with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or traded other items for bronze from production areas elsewhere. Bronze is harder and more durable than the other metals available at the time, allowing Bronze Age civilizations to gain a technological advantage. While terrestrial iron is naturally abundant, the higher temperature required for smelting, , in addition to the greater difficulty of working with the metal, placed it out of reach of common use until the end o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manapa-Tarhunta Letter
The Manapa-Tarhunta letter ( CTH 191; KUB 19.5 + KBo 19.79) is a tablet in Luwian/Hittite language from the thirteenth century BC, which has come down to us in a fairly good state of conservation. It was discovered in the 1980s. It was written by a client king called Manapa-Tarhunta, ruler of the Arzawa kingdom called the Seha River Land, between about 1322 and 1280 BC to an unnamed Hittite king who was his overlord. There is general agreement among scholars in identifying the recipient of the letter as King Muwatalli II, on the Hittite throne from 1295 to 1272 BC. Author The only datable Manapa-Tarhunta was the one who became undisputed king of Seha River around the time of the death of Arnuwanda II (1322 BCE). This letter further mentions a Kupanta-Kurunta of the Kingdom of Mira who was born around 1330 BC, and was a faithful Hittite ally. A treaty between Mursili II (1322-1295 BCE) and Kupanta-Kurunta survives which mentions this Manapa-Tarhunta as still alive. Manapa-Tarhun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Bronze Age Collapse
The Late Bronze Age collapse was a time of widespread societal collapse during the 12th century BC, between c. 1200 and 1150. The collapse affected a large area of the Eastern Mediterranean (North Africa and Southeast Europe) and the Near East, in particular Egypt, eastern Libya, the Balkans, the Aegean, Anatolia, and the Caucasus. It was sudden, violent, and culturally disruptive for many Bronze Age civilizations, and it brought a sharp economic decline to regional powers, notably ushering in the Greek Dark Ages. The palace economy of Mycenaean Greece, the Aegean region, and Anatolia that characterized the Late Bronze Age disintegrated, transforming into the small isolated village cultures of the Greek Dark Ages, which lasted from around 1100 to the beginning of the better-known Archaic age around 750 BC. The Hittite Empire of Anatolia and the Levant collapsed, while states such as the Middle Assyrian Empire in Mesopotamia and the New Kingdom of Egypt survived but were weake ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luwians
The Luwians were a group of Anatolian peoples who lived in central, western, and southern Anatolia, in present-day Turkey, during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. They spoke the Luwian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian sub-family, which was written in cuneiform imported from Mesopotamia, and a unique native hieroglyphic script, which was sometimes used by the linguistically-related Hittites as well. Luwian was probably spoken over a larger geographic region than Hittite. History Origins There is no consensus on the origins of the Luwians. Armenia,Reich, David (2018), ''Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past'', Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Iran, the Balkans, the Pontic–Caspian steppe and Central Asia have all been suggested. Their route into Anatolia is unknown. Linguist Craig Melchert suggested they were related to the Demirci Hüyük culture, implying entry into Anatolia from ancient Thrace circa 3000 B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karabel Relief
The Hittite / Luwian Karabel relief is a rock relief in the pass of the same name, between Torbalı and Kemalpaşa, about 20 km from Izmir in Turkey. Rock reliefs are a prominent aspect of Hittite art. Description The monument originally consisted of four parts: two ruler figures carved into the cliff (Karabel A and B) and two inscriptions on boulders (Karabel C1 and C2). During the construction of a road through the pass between 1977 and 1982, all the reliefs except for Karabel A were destroyed. Karabel A shows a warrior marching to the right with a bow in his right hand and a spear in his left. There are Luwian hieroglyphs inscribed above his left arm. The relief is 1.5 m wide and 2.5 m high The Karabel relief was damaged by unknown persons, presumed to be treasure hunters, in early 2019. Research history Herodotus interpreted the figure as the Egyptian Pharaoh Sesostris. The relief was visited by the French traveller Charles Texier in 1839 – he published a d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historicity Of The Homeric Epics
The extent of the historical basis of the Homeric epics, the Iliad and Odyssey, has been a topic of scholarly debate for centuries. While researchers of the 18th century had largely rejected the story of the Trojan War as fable, the discoveries made by Heinrich Schliemann at Hisarlik reopened the question in modern terms, and the subsequent excavation of Troy VIIa and the discovery of the toponym "Wilusa" in Hittite correspondence has made it plausible that the Trojan War cycle was at least remotely based on a historical conflict of the 12th century BC, even if the poems of Homer are removed from the event by more than four centuries of oral tradition. History Pre-modern views In Ancient Greece, the Trojan War was generally regarded as a real event, though the particular details of the story were considered up for debate. For instance, Herodotus argued that Homer had exaggerated the story and that the Trojans had been unable to return Helen because she was in fact in Egypt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hapalla
Hapalla ( Hittite: 𒄩𒁄𒆷 ''Hapalla'' or ''Haballa''), also written as Haballa, was a kingdom in central-western Anatolia around the middle of the 14th century BCE. Inhabited by speakers of the Luwian language, Hapalla was one of the Arzawa states, of which it was the easternmost. The kingdom of Hapalla existed until at least the end of the 13th century BCE. It remained a vassal to the Hittites for much of this time. The area was conquered by the Sea Peoples in 1180 BCE. History The first mention of Hapalla is when Arnuwanda I asks for help against a local uprising there. He bestows this duty to his vassal Madduwata, who betrays him by taking Hapalla for himself. After threats from Arnuwanda, Madduwata yields and hands it back to the Hittites. Later, when the Hittites are retaking their lands under Suppiluliuma I, he sends his army into Hapalla, whose capital is burnt down and inhabitants deported. In 1340 BC, an independent Seha River Land, Mira, and Hapalla are carved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Büyük Menderes River
The Büyük Menderes River (historically the Maeander or Meander, from Ancient Greek: Μαίανδρος, ''Maíandros''; tr, Büyük Menderes Irmağı), is a river in southwestern Turkey. It rises in west central Turkey near Dinar before flowing west through the Büyük Menderes graben until reaching the Aegean Sea in the proximity of the ancient Ionian city Miletus. The river was well known for its sinuous, curving pattern, and gives its name to the common term used to describe these characteristic bends in rivers. Modern geography The river rises in a spring near Dinar and flows to Lake Işıklı. After passing the Adıgüzel Dam and the Cindere Dam, the river flows past Nazilli, Aydın and Söke before it drains into the Aegean Sea. Ancient geography The Maeander was a celebrated river of Caria in Asia Minor. It appears earliest in the Catalog of Trojans of Homer's Iliad along with Miletus and Mycale. Sources The river has its sources not far from Celaenae in Phrygia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital, by Attica, Attic and Ionians, Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greece, Classical Greek era, it was one of twelve cities that were members of the Ionian League. The city came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC. The city was famous in its day for the nearby Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), which has been designated one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Its many monumental buildings included the Library of Celsus and a theatre capable of holding 24,000 spectators. Ephesus was recipient city of one of the Pauline epistles; one of the seven churches of Asia addressed in the Book of Revelation; the Gospel of John may have b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çanakkale and about miles east of the Aegean Sea. It is known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. In Ancient Greek literature, Troy is portrayed as a powerful kingdom of the Greek Heroic Age, Heroic Age, a mythic era when monsters roamed the earth and gods interacted directly with humans. The city was said to have ruled the Troad until the Trojan War led to its complete destruction at the hands of the Greeks. The story of its destruction was one of the cornerstones of Greek mythology and literature, featuring prominently in the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', and referenced in numerous other poems and plays. Its legacy played a large role in Greek society, with many prominent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gediz River
The Gediz River ( tr, Gediz Nehri, ) is the second-longest river in Anatolia flowing into the Aegean Sea. From its source of Mount Murat in Kütahya Province, it flows generally west for to the Gediz River Delta in the Gulf of İzmir. Name The ancient Greek name of the river was Hermos (Ἕρμος), Latinized as Hermus. The name of the river Gediz may be related to the Lydian proper name Cadys; Gediz is also the name of a town near the river's sources. The name "Gediz" may also be encountered as a male given name in Turkey. Ancient geography The Gediz is one of the two candidates for the Hittite placename Seha River, the other being the Bakırçay. The Hermos separated Aeolia from Ionia, except for Ionic Phocaea, which was north of the Hermos. The valley of the Hermos was the heartland of the ancient Lydian Empire and overlooking the valley was the Lydian capital Sardis. Location In Turkey's Aegean Region, Gediz River's length is second only to Büyük Menderes River wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bakırçay
Bakırçay ( la, Caicus, ) is a river in Turkey. It rises in the Gölcük Dağları mountains and debouches into the Gulf of Çandarlı. In antiquity, the Bakırçay was or formed part of the ''Kaikos'' or ''Caicus'' River which flowed near the city of Pergamon and was the site of the Battle of the Caecus River. The Kaikos River is mentioned by Hesiod and Plutarch, who claims that its name was originally Astraeus (Ἀστραῖος) but was changed after Caicus, a son of Hermes, threw himself into it after sleeping with his sister Alcippe (Greek mythology), Alcippe. However, since the course of the river has changed since antiquity it is not clear how the ancient names apply to the modern geographical features.William Martin Leake, Leake infers from the direction of Scipio Asiaticus, L. Scipio's march from Troy to the Hyrcanian plain, that the Caicus was the north-eastern branch of the river of Pergamon which flows by Menduria (possibly Gergitha) and Balıkesir (Caesaraea). The Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
