The Kingdom of Mira (ca. 1330–1190 BC) was one of the semi-autonomous

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

kingdoms that emerged in western Anatolia ( Asia Minor) after the destruction of the Arzava Kingdom by the Hittite Empire.

Location

According to the current understanding, Mira's northern border with the

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 L ...

was marked by the

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 origi ...

. This was first proposed in 1975 by

Hans Gustav Güterbock Hans Gustav Güterbock (May 27, 1908 – March 29, 2000) was a German-American Hittitologist. Born and trained in Germany, his career was ended with the rise of the Nazis because of his Jewish heritage, and he was forced to resettle in Turkey. A ...

and confirmed by

John David Hawkins John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

decipherment of the inscription on the relief in 1998. The southern border with the Lukka lands was probably at Milas, while the eastern border with the Hittite kingdom may have been somewhere around Afyon.Horst Ehringhaus: ''Götter, Herrscher, Inschriften – Die Felsreliefs der hethitischen Großreichszeit in der Türkei'', von Zabern 2005 p. 91 Borders with other territories, like Pitašša, Maša, and the kingdom of Arzawa are only attested in limited time periods. Mira was the closest of the Arzawa lands to the Hittite kingdom.

Susanne Heinhold-Krahmer Susanne may refer to: *Susanne (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) *, later USS ''SP-411'', a United States Navy patrol boat in commission from 1917 to 1919 *, the proposed name and designation for a vess ...

: ''Mira'' in

Erich Ebeling The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

Bruno Meissner Bruno Meissner also Bruno Meißner (25 April 1868, in Graudenz – 13 March 1947, in Zeuthen) was a German assyriologist.Erika Bleibtreu, Johannes Boese and Barthel Hrouda: ''Orientalistenleben. Kurzbiografien von E. F. Weidner, B. Meissner, E ...

Dietz-Otto Edzard Dietz-Otto Edzard (28 August 1930 in Bremen – 2 June 2004 in Munich) was a German scholar of the Ancient Near East and grammarian of the Sumerian language. He was elected a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences i ...

: '' Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie'', Walter de Gruyter, 1997 pp. 218–220
Google Books
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History

The earliest reference to Mira is connected to the Arzawa campaign of the Hittite Great King Šuppiluliuma I in the 14th century BC, but it is unclear whether Mira was one of the opponents of the Great King, or what its relationship to Arzawa was. Šuppiluliuma's daughter, Muwatti was married to Mašḫuiluwa, who came from the Arzawa lands. After the successful conclusion of the Arzawa campaign by Šuppiluliuma's son and successor Muršili II, Mašḫuiluwa was installed in Mira as a vassal ruler and granted 600 men as a personal guard. How much of the area of the former Arzawa lands were encompassed by Mira is not clear. It is probable that Mira extended to the

Aegean coast The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans a ...

and had its capital at Apaša (probably

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 t ...

).Charles Allen Burney: ''Historical dictionary of the Hittites''. Scarecrow Press, 2004 S. 202
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/ref> Soon after, Mašḫuiluwa was convicted of perjury, stirred up the land of Pitašša against the Hittites, and fled to the land of Maša. Muršili II threatened to invade Maša and thus Mašḫuiluwa was handed over to him, whereupon he was deported to Hattusa. By agreement with 'the Great men' of Mira, Mašḫuiluwa's successor was his nephew and adopted son, Kupanta-Runtiya.

Horst Klengel Horst may refer to: Science * Horst (geology), a raised fault block bounded by normal faults or graben People * Horst (given name) * Horst (surname) * ter Horst, Dutch surname * van der Horst, Dutch surname Places Settlements Germany * Horst, ...

: ''Geschichte des hethitischen Reiches.'' Brill 1999 p. 194
bei GoogleBooks
/ref> During the reign of Ḫattušili III in the 13th century BC, there seem to have been disagreements between the Hittites and the king of Mira (probably Kupanta-Runtiya), because of the latter's support for the

Urḫi-Teššup Mursili III, also known as Urhi-Teshub, was a king of the Hittites who assumed the throne of the Hittite empire (New Kingdom) at Tarhuntassa upon his father's death. He was a cousin of Tudhaliya IV and Queen Maathorneferure. He ruled ca. 1282–1 ...

, whom Ḫattušili had ousted. Whether this led to war between Mira and the Hittites is not clear. The last known reference to Mira is in the treaty of Tudḫaliya IV with his cousin or uncle Kurunta of

Tarḫuntašša ''Tarḫuntašša ( ''dIM-ta-aš-ša'' "City of Tarhunt"; Hieroglyphic Luwian: ''(DEUS)TONITRUS-hu-ta-sá'') was a Hittite Bronze Age city in south-central Anatolia mentioned in Hittite documents. Its location is unknown. In 2019, a previously l ...

, late in the 13th century BC, in which a king of Mira with the name of Alantalli is named as a witness to the treaty.

Kings

* Mašḫuiluwa (ca. 1330–1300 BC; Luwian: 'Mouse'); married Muwatti, the sister of Mursili II. * Kupanataruntiya (Kupantakurunta; ca. 1300–1250/40 BC); nephew and adopted son of Mašḫuiluwa. * Alantalli (after 1259 – after 1236 v. Chr.) * Tarkasnawa (until some time after 1220 BC; Luwian: 'Ass'); son of Alantalli * Mašḫuitta or Parḫuitta (Reading uncertain; after 1220 BC)

Testimonies

In the Suratkaya inscription, a 'Great prince' Kupantakurunta is named, who is most likely the son of Mašḫuiluwa. The reference to Mira in the inscription is an indication that the land extended at least to the eastern part of the Beşparmak Mountains. Mira is mentioned in around twenty, mostly fragmentary, cuneiform tablets found at

Boğazkale Boğazkale ("Gorge Fortress") is a district of Çorum Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, located from the city of Çorum. Formerly known as Boğazköy ("Gorge Village"), Boghaz Keui or Boghazköy, this small town (basically one street of ...

(Ḫattuša) from the 14th and 13th centuries BC. In the Karabel relief, a king of Mira named Tarkasnawa is depicted. The Hieroglyphic Luwian inscription on the relief reads: The name Tarkasnawa also appears on a silver seal and in seal impressions from Hattusa, where the name was previously read as Tarkondemos.

References

Bibliography

Frank Starke Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

: ''Mirā.'' In: ''

Der Neue Pauly Der or DER may refer to: Places * Darkənd, Azerbaijan * Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US * Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq * d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...

'' (DNP). Band 8, Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, {{ISBN, 3-476-01478-9, Sp. 250–255. Historical regions of Anatolia Arzawa Hittites Former countries in the Middle East