
Wilusa () or Wilusiya was a
Late Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
city in western
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
(modern-day
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
) known from references in fragmentary
Hittite records. The city is notable for its identification with the
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...
of
Troy
Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
, and thus its potential connection to the legendary
Trojan War
The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...
.
Identification with Troy
Wilusa has been identified with the archaeological site of
Troy
Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
. This correspondence was first proposed in 1924 by
Emil Forrer
Emil Orgetorix Gustav Forrer (also Emilio O. Forrer; ; 19 February 1894 – 10 January 1986) was a Swiss Assyriologist and pioneering Hittitologist. He was the first to point out the relevance of references to Wilusa in Hittite inscriptions to the ...
, who also suggested that the name
Ahhiyawa
The Achaeans or Akhaians (; , "the Achaeans" or "of Achaea") is one of the names in Homer which is used to refer to the Greeks collectively.
The term "Achaean" is believed to be related to the Hittite term Ahhiyawa and the Egyptian term Ekwe ...
corresponds to the
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
ic term for the Greeks, ''
Achaeans''. Forrer's work was primarily motivated by linguistic similarities, since "Wilusa" and the associated placename "Taruisa" show striking parallels to the Greek names "Wilios" and "Troia" respectively. Subsequent research on Hittite geography has lent these identifications additional support and they are now generally accepted by scholars, though they are not regarded as firmly established.
One alternative hypothesis proposes that Wilusa was located near
Beycesultan
Beycesultan () is an archaeological site in western Anatolia (Asia Minor), located about southwest of the modern-day city of Çivril in the Denizli Province of Turkey. It lies in a bend of an old tributary of Büyük Menderes River (Maeander River ...
, which was known in the
Byzantine era
The Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World (, also or ; 'Roman year since the creation of the universe', abbreviated as ε.Κ.), was the calendar used by the Eastern Orth ...
as "Iluza" (). Another localizes it at the southern end of the
Ihlara valley
The Ihlara Valley (or Peristrema Valley; Turkish ''Ihlara Vadisi'') is a canyon which is 15 km long and up to 150 m deep in the southwest of the Turkish region of Cappadocia, in the municipality of Güzelyurt, Aksaray Province. The v ...
where the modern Turkish town of
Ilisu lies.
Historical record
Wilusa first appears in the historical record around 1400 BC, when it was one of the twenty-two states of the
Assuwa Confederation which formed in an unsuccessful attempt to oppose the
Hittite Empire
The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...
. This event is referenced in several surviving Hittite documents including the ''Annals of
Tudhaliya I/II'', which gives a detailed account of the Assuwans' defeat and its aftermath. In this document, the name of the city is rendered as ''Wilusiya'' rather than the later form ''Wilusa'', and it is listed separately from ''Taruisa''. Circumstantial evidence raises the possibility that
Ahhiyawa
The Achaeans or Akhaians (; , "the Achaeans" or "of Achaea") is one of the names in Homer which is used to refer to the Greeks collectively.
The term "Achaean" is believed to be related to the Hittite term Ahhiyawa and the Egyptian term Ekwe ...
ns may have supported the rebellion. For instance, a Mycenaean-style sword found at
Hattusa
Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittites, Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey (originally Boğazköy) within the great ...
bears an inscription suggesting that it was taken from an Assuwan soldier and left as an offering to the Hittite storm god.
By the late 1300s BC, Wilusa was politically aligned with the Hittites. Under the reign of
Kukkunni
Kukkunni was a king of Wilusa
Wilusa () or Wilusiya was a Late Bronze Age city in western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) known from references in fragmentary Hittites, Hittite records. The city is notable for its identification with the archaeolo ...
, Wilusa maintained peaceful relations with
Suppiluliuma I even as nearby kingdoms in
Arzawa
Arzawa was a region and political entity in Western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age. In Hittite texts, the term is used to refer both to a particular kingdom and to a loose confederation of states. The chief Arzawan state, whose capital wa ...
once again rebelled. By the early 1200s BC, Wilusa had become a vassal state of the Hittites. This political arrangement, common between Western Anatolian states and the Hittites, consisted of mutual treaty obligations whereby the local ruler would support Hittite political interests in exchange for having their claim to power backed by the Hittite military. One surviving example of such a treaty is the ''Alaksandu Treaty'' made between a Wilusan king named
Alaksandu
Alaksandu (Hittite language, Hittite: ), alternatively called Alakasandu or Alaksandus, was a king of Wilusa who sealed a treaty with Hittite empire, Hittite king Muwatalli II ca. 1280 BC. This treaty implies that Alaksandu had previously secure ...
and the Hittite king
Muwatalli II
Muwatalli II (also Muwatallis, or Muwatallish; meaning "mighty") was a king of the New Kingdom of the Hittite empire c. 1295–1282 ( middle chronology) and 1295–1272 BC in the short chronology.
Biography
He was the eldest son of Mursili II ...
. One of the gods guaranteeing the treaty on behalf of Wilusa is
Apaliunas
Apaliunas ( Hittite: 𒀀𒀊𒉺𒇷𒌋𒈾𒀸 ''Āppaliunāš'') is the name of a god, attested in a Hittite language treaty as a protective deity of Wilusa. Apaliunas is considered to be the Hittite reflex of ''*Apeljōn'', an early form of ...
(Apollo). As outlined in the document, Alaksandu's obligations included both timely intelligence about potential anti-Hittite activity as well as soldiers for military expeditions. Some evidence suggests that Muwatalli invoked this later obligation, as Wilusan soldiers appear to have served in the Hittite army during the
Battle of Kadesh
The Battle of Kadesh took place in the 13th century BC between the New Kingdom of Egypt, Egyptian Empire led by pharaoh Ramesses II and the Hittites, Hittite Empire led by king Muwatalli II. Their armies engaged each other at the Orontes River, ...
.
At some point during Muwatalli's reign, he had to send an army to reassert Hittite control over Wilusa. The exact circumstances of this event are unclear, since it is only known from a brief mention in the poorly preserved
Manapa-Tarhunta letter The Manapa-Tarhunta letter ( CTH 191; KUB 19.5 + KBo 19.79) is a fragmentary text in the Hittite language from the 13th century BC. The letter was sent to the Hittite king by Manapa-Tarhunta, client king of the Seha River Land. In the letter, Manap ...
. One hypothesis suggests that the ruler of Wilusa had been deposed by
Piyamaradu
Piyamaradu (also spelled ''Piyama-Radu'', ''Piyama Radu'', ''Piyamaradus'', ''Piyamaraduš'') was a warlord mentioned in Hittite documents from the middle and late 13th century BC. As an ally of the Ahhiyawa, he led or supported insurrections agai ...
, a local warlord who toppled other pro-Hittite rulers in the area while acting on behalf the Ahhiyawa. This interpretation finds potential support in the later
Tawagalawa letter
The Tawagalawa letter (Catalogue des Textes Hittites, CTH 181) is a fragmentary Hittite text from the mid 13th century BC. It is notable for providing a window into relations between Hittites and Mycenaean Greece, Greeks during the Late Bronze Age ...
which alludes to a previous disagreement between the Hittites and Ahhiyawa concerning Wilusa. However, this evidence is not conclusive since the Tawagalawa letter does not specify whether the disagreement escalated beyond strongly worded cuneiform tablets, and the Manapa-Tarhunta letter does not directly connect Piyamaradu to the trouble in Wilusa. Evidence against this interpretation includes a section divider in the Manapa-Tarhunta letter which seems to suggest that Piyamaradu's activities and the Wilusa event were separate topics. Thus, there is no scholarly consensus as to whether the king of Wilusa was deposed by Piyamaradu, by an internal uprising, or remained in power while rebelling against the Hittites.
The final reference to Wilusa in the historical record appears in the
Milawata letter
The Milawata letter ( CTH 182) is an item of diplomatic correspondence from a Hittite king at Hattusa to a client king in western Anatolia around 1240 BC. It constitutes an important piece of evidence in the debate concerning the historicity of H ...
, sent by the Hittite king
Tudhaliya IV Tudḫaliya is the name of several Hittite kings or royals. It is not clear how many kings bore that name, and numbering schemes vary from source to source.
*Tudḫaliya (sometimes called Tudḫaliya I) is deduced from his early placement in a lat ...
to one of his key vassals in western Anatolia, likely the king of
Mira
Mira (), designation Omicron Ceti (ο Ceti, abbreviated Omicron Cet, ο Cet), is a red-giant star estimated to be 200–300 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Cetus.
ο Ceti is a binary stellar system, consisting of a vari ...
. Tudhaliya's letter requests that the recipient send him
Walmu
Walmu was a king of Wilusa
Wilusa () or Wilusiya was a Late Bronze Age city in western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) known from references in fragmentary Hittites, Hittite records. The city is notable for its identification with the archaeologica ...
, the recently deposed pro-Hittite king of Wilusa, whom he intends to reinstall. The letter promises that although Walmu will be the ruler of Wilusa, the recipient will maintain ultimate authority over the various kingdoms in the region. The letter does not specify how Walmu was deposed, though its discussion of the geopolitical situation in western Anatolia makes clear that the Ahhiyawa were no longer a major power.
In popular writing, these anecdotes have been interpreted as evidence for an historical kernel in myths of the Trojan War. However, scholars have not found historical evidence for any particular event from the legends, and the Hittite documents do not suggest that Wilusa-Troy was ever attacked by Greeks-Ahhiyawa themselves. Noted Hittiteologist
Trevor Bryce
Trevor Robert Bryce (; born 1940) is an Australian Hittitologist specializing in ancient and classical Near-eastern history. He is semi-retired and lives in Brisbane.
His book, ''The Kingdom of the Hittites'', is popular among English-speaki ...
cautions that our current understanding of Wilusa's history does not provide evidence for there having been an actual Trojan War since "the less material one has, the more easily it can be manipulated to fit whatever conclusion one wishes to come up with".
Known Kings of Wilusa
*
Kukkunni
Kukkunni was a king of Wilusa
Wilusa () or Wilusiya was a Late Bronze Age city in western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) known from references in fragmentary Hittites, Hittite records. The city is notable for its identification with the archaeolo ...
(?) – a predecessor of Alaksandus, contemporary with Šuppiluliuma I.
*
Alaksandu
Alaksandu (Hittite language, Hittite: ), alternatively called Alakasandu or Alaksandus, was a king of Wilusa who sealed a treaty with Hittite empire, Hittite king Muwatalli II ca. 1280 BC. This treaty implies that Alaksandu had previously secure ...
( – after 1280 BC) – contemporary with the Hittite kings Mursili II and Muwatalli II, signing peace treaties with them.
*
Walmu
Walmu was a king of Wilusa
Wilusa () or Wilusiya was a Late Bronze Age city in western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) known from references in fragmentary Hittites, Hittite records. The city is notable for its identification with the archaeologica ...
( – after 1220 BC) – vassal of the Hittite king Tudhaliya IV and the state of Mira, dethroned following a possible occupation of the raids by the Ahhiyawa people. The letter from Millawata (Miletus) states that Walmu sought political asylum from Tarkasnawa, his suzerain in the kingdom of Mira. It seems that King Tudhaliya IV urged Tarkasnawa to send Walmu to the Hittite Kingdom so that he could reinstate him on the throne and return to the vassal position of both as he had been in the past.
See also
*
Arzawa
Arzawa was a region and political entity in Western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age. In Hittite texts, the term is used to refer both to a particular kingdom and to a loose confederation of states. The chief Arzawan state, whose capital wa ...
*
Hapalla
Hapalla ( Hittite: 𒄩𒁄𒆷 ''Hapalla'' or ''Haballa''), was a Late Bronze Age petty kingdom in central-western Anatolia. As one of the Arzawa states, it was a sometime vassal and sometime enemy of the Hittite Empire.
History
All we know ...
*
Historicity of the ''Iliad''
*
Karabel relief
The Hittites, Hittite / Luwian Karabel relief is a rock relief in the pass of the same name, between Torbalı and Kemalpaşa, about 20 km from İzmir in Turkey. Rock reliefs are a prominent aspect of Hittite art.
Description
The monum ...
*
Kingdom of Mira
Mira (ca. 1330–1190 BC), in the Late Bronze Age, was one of the semi-autonomous vassal state kingdoms that emerged in western Anatolia (Asia Minor) following the defeat and partition of the larger kingdom of Arzawa by the victorious Suppiluli ...
*
Kings of Wilusa
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations.
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...
*
Luwians
The Luwians (also known as Luvians) were an ancient people in Anatolia who spoke the Luwian language. During the Bronze Age, Luwians formed part of the population of the Hittite Empire and adjoining states such as Kizzuwatna. During the Hittite ...
*
Seha River Land
The Seha River Land was a kingdom in Western Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically ...
Notes
{{Authority control
Troy
Late Bronze Age collapse
Assuwa league
Trojan War
Hittite Empire
States in Bronze Age Anatolia
Ancient Near East
Mycenaean Greece