The Milawata letter (CTH 182) is an item of diplomatic correspondence from a Hittite king at

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 ...

to a client king in western

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...

around 1240 BC. It constitutes an important piece of evidence in the debate concerning the

historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity deno ...

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

. The reason for its title "Milawata letter" is that it mentions that both parties to the letter had campaigned on the borders of ''Milawata''; it also mentions the city Atriya, elsewhere known as a dependent of "Millawanda". Millawanda and Milawata are accepted as ancient names for Miletus. The letter demands that the client resolve a dispute over hostages, turn over fugitives from Hittite justice, and turn over a pretender from

Wilusa Wilusa ( hit, ) or Wilusiya was a Late Bronze Age city in western Anatolia known from references in fragmentary Hittite records. The city is notable for its identification with the archaeological site of Troy, and thus its potential connection t ...

to a Hittite envoy so that the Hittites can reinstall him as king there. The letter reminds the recipient that the recipient's father had turned against the Hittite king. The Hittite king then installed the recipient as king in place of that one's father. It also mentions that the recipient's domain is on the coast. However, since it covers events from Wilusa to Milawata, and since the current understanding is that this implies

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çan ...

to the north, down to Miletus in the south, it must be deduced which domain this should be. Both the Kingdom of Mira and the Seha River Land were carved out of the coastal state and alliances of Arzawa, and both had rulers in the late 14th century BC which rebelled against

Hatti Hatti may refer to *Hatti (; Assyrian ) in Bronze Age Anatolia: **the area of Hattusa, roughly delimited by the Halys bend **the Hattians of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC **the Hittites of ''ca'' 1400–1200 BC **the areas to the west of the Euphrat ...

. Of what is known of Mira and the Seha River Land, the best match is Kupanta-Kurunta of Mira. When Manapa-Tarhunta of the Seha River Land joined Uhha-Ziti's revolt against Mursili II around 1320 BC, he did rather little himself; and Manapa-Tarhunta remained quiet after Mursili forgave him. By contrast, Mashuiluwa of Mira rebelled and incited Pitassa into revolt in c. 1310. After this, Mursili deposed Mashuiluwa and elevated Mashuiluwa's nephew and adopted son Kupanta-Kurunta (who was Mursili's nephew as well). In a subsequent treaty, Mursili agreed to cede Kuwaliya to Kupanta-Kurunta, which had as a border the Astarpa (Meander?) river — which Mursili mentioned in his annals as close to "Millawanda"; the Milawata border also features in the Milawata letter. Lastly, although this is an "argument from convenience", Kupanta-Kurunta is known to have lasted as monarch into the reign of Hattusili III (1265–1235 BC), which allows for multiple candidates for authorship on the Hittite side; assuming that the treaty between

Muwatalli II :''See also Muwatalli I'' Muwatalli II (also Muwatallis, or Muwatallish) was a king of the New Kingdom of the Hittite empire c. 1295–1282 ( middle chronology) and 1295–1272 BC in the short chronology. Biography He was the eldest son of Mur ...

(1295–1272 BC) and

Alaksandu Alaksandu, ( Hittite: 𒀀𒆷𒀝𒊭𒀭𒁺𒍑 ''Alâkšândûš'') alternatively called Alakasandu or Alaksandus was a king of Wilusa who sealed a treaty with Hittite king Muwatalli II ca. 1280 BC. This treaty implies that Alaksandu had pr ...

of Wilusa has not erred (but note Beckman's footnote in ''Hittite Diplomatic Texts''), Manapa-Tarhunta died before that treaty (that is, before c. 1280 BC). Like the Manapa-Tarhunta letter (c. 1295 BC) and the Tawagalawa letter (c. 1250 BC), the Milawata letter mentions the infamous adventurer Piyama-Radu; but as a figure of the past. The very name "Milawata" seems to be a later development, on its way to becoming the "Mil tos" of the Linear B / LHIIIB tablets of Pylos and Thebes. The scholarly consensus places the Milawata letter at the tail of this series of letters. Burney (''Historical Dictionary of the Hittites'', 2006) and Bryce (''Kingdom of the Hittites'', 2005) attribute the Milawata letter to Tudhaliya IV writing to a ''later'' king of Mira. If so, the letter's references to the events in which Kupanta-Kurunta and Mursili II participated are meant to evoke their dynasties rather than the actual characters, or else parallel events from a later period (which would however remove some of the above arguments for placing the letter at Mira).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milawata Letter 13th-century BC literature Hittite texts Miletus Archaeological sources on Greek mythology Diplomatic correspondence Priam