Pala (

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...

''pa-la-a'') was a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

country in Northern Anatolia. Little is known of Pala except its native

Palaic language Palaic is an extinct Indo-European language, attested in cuneiform tablets in Bronze Age Hattusa, the capital of the Hittites. Palaic, which was apparently spoken mainly in northern Anatolia, is generally considered to be one of four primary sub ...

and its native religion. The only known person of Palaic origin was the ritual priestess Anna. Their language shared common innovations with

Luwian The Luwians were a group of Anatolian peoples who lived in central, western, and southern Anatolia, in present-day Turkey, during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. They spoke the Luwian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian sub-fam ...

not present in the

Hittite language Hittite (natively / "the language of Neša", or ''nešumnili'' / "the language of the people of Neša"), also known as Nesite (''Nešite'' / Neshite, Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, a peopl ...

suggesting a prior Luwian-Palaic linguistic complex.

Location

Pala is said to have been bordered by Tummana to the east, Kalasma to the west and Kaissiya to Mount Asharpaya toward the south. The country named *Bla leading to Blaene in cuneiform script was written as ''pa-la-a''. The country of Pala may have been located along the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

coast, either in the region known as

Paphlagonia Paphlagonia (; el, Παφλαγονία, Paphlagonía, modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; tr, Paflagonya) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus t ...

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

or the much smaller territory of Blaene located within, though it has been alternately located near modern-day

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is ...

as well.

History

In the Old Hittite period Pala was mentioned as an administrative area under Hittite jurisdiction in the

Hittite laws The Hittite laws, also known as the Code of the Nesilim, constitute an ancient legal code dating from c. 1650 – 1500 BCE. They have been preserved on a number of Hittite cuneiform tablets found at Hattusa ( CTH 291-292, listing 200 laws). ...

. At the end of the Old Hittite period, contact between the Hittites and Pala ceased because of the capture of the Black Sea region by the Kaskian people, though the area was still referred to as 'the land of Pala" as late as the reign of

Muršili II Mursili II (also spelled Mursilis II) was a king of the Hittite Empire (New kingdom) c. 1330–1295 BC (middle chronology) or 1321–1295 BC (short chronology). King of the Hittites Mursili was the third born son of King Suppiluliuma I, one of ...

(1330–1295/1321–1295 BCE). It is likely that the Palaic peoples disappeared after the Kaskian invasion.

Mythology

The Palaic mythology is known from cuneiform ritual texts from the temple of the Palaic

storm god A weather god or goddess, also frequently known as a storm god or goddess, is a deity in mythology associated with weather phenomena such as thunder, snow, lightning, rain, wind, storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Should they only be in charge of ...

in the Hittite capital

Ḫattuša 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 ...

where the cult of Palaic deities continued even when contacts between Hittites and Pala had disappeared.Maciej Popko: ''Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens''. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61. The following deities are known:

Literature

* Maciej Popko: ''Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens''. Harrassowitz Verlag: Wiesbaden 2008. * Piotr Taracha: ''Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia''. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009.

References

{{Ancient kingdoms in Anatolia Palaic peoples States in Bronze Age Anatolia Hittite Empire