Warpalawa(s) (possibly ''Warpalawa II'') was a late 8th century BC (ca 730-710 BC?) Late Hittite (or
Neo-Hittite) 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
Tyana ( grc, Τύανα), earlier known as Tuwana ( Hieroglyphic Luwian: ; Akkadian: ) and Tuwanuwa ( Hittite: ) was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It w ...
).
Warpalawa is first attested among the five regional rulers who paid tribute to
Tiglath-pileser III
Tiglath-Pileser III (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "my trust belongs to the son of Ešarra"), was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 745 BC to his death in 727. One of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings, Tig ...
(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
A rock relief or rock-cut relief is a relief sculpture carved on solid or "living rock" such as a cliff, rather than a detached piece of stone. They are a category of rock art, and sometimes found as part of, or in conjunction with, ro ...
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
Tiglath-Pileser III (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "my trust belongs to the son of Ešarra"), was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 745 BC to his death in 727. One of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings, Tig ...
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.
[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