Warpalawa(s) (possibly ''Warpalawa II'') was a late 8th century BC (ca 730-710 BC?) Late Hittite (or

Neo-Hittite The states that are called Syro-Hittite, Neo-Hittite (in older literature), or Luwian-Aramean (in modern scholarly works), were Luwian and Aramean regional polities of the Iron Age, situated in southeastern parts of modern Turkey and northwestern ...

) king of

Tabal Tabal (c.f. biblical ''Tubal''; Assyrian: 𒋫𒁄) was a Luwian speaking Neo-Hittite kingdom (and/or collection of kingdoms) of South Central Anatolia during the Iron Age. According to archaeologist Kurt Bittel, references to Tabal first appear ...

in south-central

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 re ...

(modern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

). The political center of this Early

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

regional state was probably Tuwana (later Graeco-Roman Tyana). Warpalawa is first attested among the five regional rulers who paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser III (745-727 BC).

Monuments

Among other commemorative monuments, Warpalawas most notably commissioned the carving of the

İvriz relief The İvriz relief is a Hittite rock relief in south-central Anatolia, located in the town of Aydınkent, formerly called İvriz (modern Turkey, Konya Province, about 17 km south-east of the modern town of Ereğli). The rock relief is on a ro ...

, a rock relief at the site of Ivriz near a spring, south of Tuwanuwa in the province of

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

. In the relief, he is depicted with the storm-god Tarhunzas. His attire in the relief is seen as an evidence for his kingdom's close affinity with the

Phrygians The Phrygians (Greek: Φρύγες, ''Phruges'' or ''Phryges'') were an ancient Indo-European speaking people, who inhabited central-western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) in antiquity. They were related to the Greeks. Ancient Greek authors used ...

. The relief is accompanied with a

hieroglyphic Luwian Hieroglyphic Luwian (''luwili'') is a variant of the Luwian language, recorded in official and royal seals and a small number of monumental inscriptions. It is written in a hieroglyphic script known as Anatolian hieroglyphs. A decipherment was pr ...

inscription. The Tabalian king Urballa, mentioned in the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

n texts at the time of Tiglath-pileser III and

Sargon II Sargon II (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is general ...

probably is Warpalawas. Some scholars assume that Warpalawa was a subordinate of

Wasusarma Wasusarma (Assyrian Wassurme or Uassurme, ''hieroglyphic Luwian wa/i''4''-su-SARMA-ma-sa'') was a neo-Hittite king from Tabal, who ruled from around 740/38–730 BCE. He carried the titles of great king and hero, like his father Tuwati II (m ...

.Weippert, M. 1973: Menahem von Israel und seine Zeitgenossen in einer Stelinschrift des assyrischen Königs Tiglathpileser III. aus dem Iran, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 89, 26–53. This assumption was being made based on the fact that Wasusarma assumed the title ‘‘Great King’’. Some scholars believe that there was a small dynasty of Warpalawa's, with Warpalawa I ruling early in the 8th century before Warpalawa II.

Notes

Bibliography

* Melchert, H C. (ed.); 2003. ''The Luwians.'' (Leiden: Brill Publishers). (ebook) (print) * Hawkins, J. David; 1999. ''The Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions.'' Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. .

External links

Bor Stele, also known as Warpalawa Stele
- hittitemonuments.com Tabal Iron Age Syro-Hittite kings Rock reliefs in Turkey {{Rulers of the Ancient Near East