Anitta, son of

Pitḫana Pitḫana (Pythanas) was a Bronze Age king, during the 18th century BC (middle chronology), of the Anatolian city of Kuššara, and a forerunner of the later Hittite dynasty. During his reign he conquered the city of Kanesh, heart of the Assyri ...

, reigned ca. 1740–1725 BC (

middle chronology The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...

), and was a king of

Kuššara Kussara (''Kuššar'') was a Middle Bronze Age kingdom in Anatolia. The kingdom, though apparently important at one time, is mostly remembered today as the origin of the dynasty that would form the Old Hittite Kingdom. Location Kussara is occasion ...

, a city that has yet to be identified. He is the earliest known ruler to compose a text in the

Hittite language Hittite (natively / "the language of Neša", or ''nešumnili'' / "the language of the people of Neša"), also known as Nesite (''Nešite'' / Neshite, Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, a people ...

. His high official, or ''rabi simmiltim'', was named Peruwa.

Biography

Anitta, according to the

, reigned c. 1740–1725 BC, or alternatively in the 17th century BC (

short chronology The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...

), and is the author of the ''Anitta text'' ( CTH 1.A, edited in

StBoT Studien zu den Bogazköy-Texten (abbreviated StBoT; lit. Studies in the Bogazköy (Hattusa) Texts) edited by the German ''Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur'' (Academy of Sciences and Literature), Mainz, since 1965, is a series of editio ...

18, 1974), the oldest known text in the

, also classified as "cushion-shaped" tablet KBo 3.22, being the oldest known text in an

Indo-European language The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

altogether. This text seems to represent a cuneiform record of Anitta's inscriptions at Kanesh, perhaps compiled by

Hattusili I Ḫattušili (''Ḫattušiliš'' in the inflected nominative case) was the regnal name of three Hittite kings: * Ḫattušili I (Labarna II) * Ḫattušili II * Ḫattušili III It was also the name of two Neo-Hittite kings: * Ḫattušili I (Laba ...

, one of the earliest Hittite kings of

Hattusa Hattusa (also Ḫattuša or Hattusas ; Hittite: URU''Ḫa-at-tu-ša'', Turkish: Hattuşaş , Hattic: Hattush) was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of t ...

. The Anitta text indicates that Anitta's father conquered Neša (Kanesh,

Kültepe Kültepe ( Turkish: ''ash-hill''), also known as Kanesh or Nesha, is an archaeological site in Kayseri Province, Turkey, inhabited from the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, in the Early Bronze Age.Kloekhorst, Alwin, (2019)Kanišite Hittite: ...

), which became an important city within the kingdom of

. During his own reign, Anitta defeated

Huzziya Huzziya was the last recorded king of Zalpuwa. He was captured by Anitta the Hittite king of Kussara. Anitta had been confronted with what appears to have been a military alliance of states stretching southwards from Zalpa, an alliance in which Pi ...

, the last recorded king of

Zalpuwa Zalpuwa, also Zalpa, was a still-undiscovered Bronze Age city in Anatolia of around the 18th century BC. Its history is largely known from the Proclamation of Anitta, CTH 1. But the Zalpa mentioned in the Annals of Hattusili I, CTH 4, is now c ...

, and the Hattic king

Piyusti Piyusti or Piyušti was a king of Hattusa during the 17th century BC (short chronology). He is mentioned in the ''Anitta text'' as being defeated by Anitta on at least two occasions. Anitta and Piyusti In the second encounter, Piyusti and his ...

and then conquered his capital at the site of the future Hittite capital of

. He then destroyed the city, sowed the ground with weeds, and laid a curse on the site.. Anitta's name appears on an inscription on a dagger found in Kültepe and also, together with the name of his father, on various Kültepe texts, as well as in later Hittite tradition.

Notes

External links

The Anitta text
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anitta Kings of Kussara 17th-century BC rulers

Biography

See also

Notes

External links