Life
Warpalawas II was the son of the previous king of Tuwana, Muwaḫaranis I. Both Warpalawas II and Muwaḫaranis I may have been part of a dynasty which had ruled Tuwana for much of the 8th century BC, with another king of the same name, Warpalawas I, having been possibly ruled Tuwana in the earlier 8th century BC, and who might have been an ancestor of Muwaḫaranis I and Warpalawas II.Reign
Warpalawas II appears to have succeeded his father Muwaḫaranis I on the throne of Tuwana around .Submission to the Neo-Assyrian Empire
Warpalawas II was mentioned in the records of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under the name of Urpalla as one of five kings who offered tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III in 738 and 737 BC, and he appears to have maintained a policy of cooperating with the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Warpalawas II's pro-Assyrian orientation is visible in how how monuments used an Assyrianising style of sculpture: the best known of these monuments is a relief from Ivriz, on which Warpalawas II, himself represented in Assyrian style, is depicted praying to the Luwian Storm-god Tarḫunza.Relations with Tabal
The king Wasusarmas of the kingdom of Tabal claimed that Warpalawas II supported him in a battle where he defeated eight enemy kings near the city of Parzuta, although the veracity of Wasusarmas's claim regarding the participation of Warpalawas in this battle as his ally is still uncertain.Vassals
The kingdom of Tuwana was powerful enough to have included a sub-kingdom, located at the site corresponding to present-day Porsuk, and ruled by a king named Tarḫunazas who identified himself as a "servant" of Warpalawas II. Tarḫunazas himself recorded in his inscription that, in exchange for his services, Warpalawas II had rewarded him with Mount Muti, which was likely a rocky outcrop of the Taurus Mountains near the Cilician Gates.Relations with Phrygia
Warpalawas II also carried out relations with the Phrygian kingdom to the north-west of Tuwana, as attested by a report from or by Aššur-šarru-uṣur, the Neo-Assyrian governor of Quwê, that Warpalawas II had demanded an audience with him in the company of an envoy of Midas of Phrygia, with Aššur-šarru-uṣur being doubtful whether Warpalawas II was indeed loyal to the Neo-Assyrian Empire. This suggests that Warpalawas was one of the last still independent kings of the Tabal region who was being increasingly pressured by Phrygia and Assyria because of the location of his kingdom between these two powers. Some Old Phrygian inscriptions on basalt, possibly dated from Warpalawas II's reign, as well as the Phrygian robe depicted as worn by Warpalawas II in his Ivriz monument, suggest that aspects of Phrygian culture were arriving into Tuwana at this time. The presence of the name "Midas" on one of these inscriptions has led to the archaeologist M. J. Mellink hypothesising that this was the king Midas of Phrygia, who had set up a monument in the city of his friend and ally, Warpalawas II. However, the long-time staunch pro-Assyrian orientation of Warpalawas II makes this hypothesis unlikely, and there is no evidence that Warpalawas II was ever an ally of Midas.Later years
Warpalawas II appears to have come under direct Assyrian rule during the later years of his reign, especially after the Neo-Assyrian kingLegacy
An alternative hypothesis regarding Phrygian influence in Tuwana, proposed by the Hittitologist Trevor Bryce, is that Midas might have attempted to fill the power vacuum left in Tabal that followed the death of Sargon II in battle in Tabal in . Warpalawas II was succeeded by his son, Muwaḫaranis 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