Isuwa (transcribed Išuwa and sometimes rendered Ishuwa) was the ancient Hittite name for one of its neighboring Anatolian kingdoms to the east, in an area which later became the Luwian Neo-Hittite state of Kammanu. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Luwian (sometimes spelled Luvian) is an extinct language of the Anatolian branch of the The states that are called Neo-Hittite, or more recently Syro-Hittite, were Luwian, Aramaic and Phoenician -speaking political entities of Kammanu was a Luwian speaking Neo-Hittite state in South Central Anatolia in the late 2nd millennium BC formed from part of Kizzuwatna after
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The land
The land of Isuwa was situated in the upper Euphrates river region. The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת The river valley was here surrounded by the Anti-Taurus Mountains. Anti-Taurus is a mountain range running northeast from the Taurus Mountains. To the northeast of the river laid a vast plain stretched up to the Black Sea mountain range. The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey
The plain had favourable climatic conditions due to the abundance of water from springs and rainfall. Irrigation of fields was possible without the need to build complex canals. The river valley was well suited for intensive agriculture, while livestock could be kept at the higher altitudes. The mountains possessed rich deposits of copper which were mined in antiquity.
The people
The Isuwans left no written record of their own, and it is not clear which of the Anatolian peoples inhabited the land of Isuwa prior to the Luwians. They could have been Indo-Europeans like the Luwians, related to the Hittites to the west, Hattians, Hurrians from the south, or Urartians who lived east of Isuwa in the first millennium BC. The Hattians were an ancient people who inhabited the land of Hatti in present-day central and southeastern parts of Anatolia, Turkey. The Hurrians (also Khurrites; cuneiform Ḫu-ur-ri 𒄷𒌨𒊑 were a people of the Ancient Near East, who lived in northern Mesopotamia Urartu ( Assyrian: Urarṭu Urartian: Biainili Ուրարտու was an Iron Age kingdom in Eastern Anatolia ( Transcaucasia) rising
History of Isuwa
The area was one of the places were agriculture developed very early in the Neolithic period. The Neolithic (from Greek νεολιθικός — neolithikos from νέος neos, "new" + λίθος lithos Urban centres emerged in the upper Euphrates river valley around 3000 BC. The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת The first states may have followed in the third millennium BC. The name Isuwa is not known until the literate Hittite period of the second millennium BC. Few literate sources from within Isuwa have been discovered and the primary source material comes from Hittite texts.
The Hittite period
To the west of Isuwa laid the hostile kingdom of the Hittites. The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established The Hittite king Hattusili I (c. Labarna II was the first king of the Hittite empire to reign from Hattusa (while the earlier kings had been at Neša) taking the throne name of Hattusili 1600 BC) is reported to have marched his army across the Euphrates river and destroyed the cities there. The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת This corresponds with burnt destruction layers discovered by archaeologists at town sites in Isuwa at roughly this date.
The Hittite king Suppiluliuma I records how in the time his father, Tudhaliya II (c. Suppiluliuma I was king of the Hittites (ca 1344 – 1322 BC ( Short chronology) Tudhaliya II (also Tudhaliya III) was a king of the Hittite empire (New kingdom ca 1400 BC), the land of Isuwa became hostile. The enmity was probably aggravated by the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni to the south. The Hurrians (also Khurrites; cuneiform Ḫu-ur-ri 𒄷𒌨𒊑 were a people of the Ancient Near East, who lived in northern Mesopotamia Mitanni ( Hittite cuneiform, also Mittani) or Hanigalbat ( Assyrian Hanigalbat Khanigalbat cuneiform) Mitanni tried to form a alliance against the Hittites. According to a fragmentary Hittite letter, the king of Mitanni, Shaushtatar, seems to have waged war against the Hittite king Arnuwanda I with support from Isuwa. Shaushtatar (or Šauštatar) was a king of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni in the fifteenth century BC Arnuwanda I was a king of the Hittite empire (New kingdom ca the early 14th century BC ( Short chronology) These hostilities lasted into Suppiluliuma's own reign when ca. 1350 BC he crossed the Euphrates and entered the land of Isuwa with his troops. He claims to have made Isuwa his subject.
Isuwa continued to be ruled by kings who were vassals of the Hittites. Few kings of Isuwa are known by names and documents. One Ehli-sharruma is mentioned as being king of Isuwa in a Hittite letter from the thirteenth century BC. Another king of Isuwa called Ari-sharruma is mentioned on a clay seal found at Korucutepe, an important site in Isuwa.
Neo-Hittite period
After the fall of the Hittite empire in the early twelfth century BC a new state emerged in Isuwa. The city of Melid became the center of a Luwian state, Kammanu, one of the so called Neo-Hittite states. Melid (modern Arslantepe, near Malatya, Turkey) was a Hittite city at the Tohma River, the ancient name of a tributary Luwian (sometimes spelled Luvian) is an extinct language of the Anatolian branch of the Kammanu was a Luwian speaking Neo-Hittite state in South Central Anatolia in the late 2nd millennium BC formed from part of Kizzuwatna after The states that are called Neo-Hittite, or more recently Syro-Hittite, were Luwian, Aramaic and Phoenician -speaking political entities of With the demise of the Hittites the Phrygians settled to the west, and to the east the kingdom of Urartu was founded. In antiquity Phrygia (Φρυγία was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. Urartu ( Assyrian: Urarṭu Urartian: Biainili Ուրարտու was an Iron Age kingdom in Eastern Anatolia ( Transcaucasia) rising The most powerful neighbour was Assyria to the south. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture The encounter with the Assyrian king of Tiglath-Pileser I (1115-1077 BC) resulted in Kammanu being forced to pay tribute to Assyria. Tiglath-Pileser I (from the Hebraic form of Akkadian: Tukultī-apil-Ešarra, "my trust is in the son of Esharra " was a king Kammanu continued to prosper however until the Assyrian king Sargon II (722-705 BC) sacked the city in 712 BC. Sargon II ( Akkadian Šarru-kinu "legitimate king" reigned 722 – 705 BC was an Assyrian king At the same time the Cimmerians and Scythians invaded Anatolia from the Caucausus to the northeast. See Cimmeria (Conan or Cimmeria (Poem for the fiction of Robert E The Scythians or Scyths (Σκύθες Σκύθοι were an Iranian speaking people of horse-riding Nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The movement of these nomadic people may have weakened Kammanu before the final Assyrian invasion, which probably caused the decline of settlements and culture in this area from the seventh century BC until the Roman period.
Archaeology of Isuwa
The ancient land of Isuwa has today virtually disappeared beneath the water from several dams in the Euphrates river. The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת The Turkish Southeastern Anatolia Project which started in the 1960s resulted in the Keban, Karakaya and Atatürk Dam which entirely flooded the river valley when completed in the 1970s. The Southeastern Anatolia Project ( Turkish: G üneydoğu A nadolu P rojesi, GAP) is a multi-sector integrated regional development The Atatürk Dam (Atatürk Barajı originally the Karababa Dam, is a zoned rock-fill dam with a central core on the Euphrates River on the border A fourth dam, Bireçik, was completed further south in 2000 and flooded the remainder of the Euphrates river valley in Turkey. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches
Excavations
A great salvage campaign was undertaken in the upper Euphrates river valley at instigation of the president of the dam project Kemal Kurdaş. A Turkish, US and Dutch team of archaeologists headed by Maurits van Loon began the survey. Work then continued downstream where the Atatürk Dam was being constructed. The Atatürk Dam (Atatürk Barajı originally the Karababa Dam, is a zoned rock-fill dam with a central core on the Euphrates River on the border
The excavations revealed settlements from the Paleolithic down into the Middle Ages. The term Paleolithic (or Palaeolithic) (from Greek παλαιός palaios, " Old " and λίθος Lithos, "stone" The sites of Ikizepe, Korucutepe, Norşuntepe and Pulur around the Murat (Arsanias) river, a tributary of the Euphrates to the east, revealed large Bronze Age settlements from the fourth to the second millennium BC. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for The center of the kingdom Isuwa may have laid in this region which would equate well with the Hittite statements of crossing the Euphrates in reaching the kingdom.
The important site of Arslantepe near the modern city of Malatya luckily laid safe from the rising water. Malatya ( Hittite: Melid; Greek: Μαλάτεια Malateia; Armenian: Մալաթիա Malatia; Kurdish: Today an Italian team of archaeologists led by Marcella Frangipane are working at the site and studying the surrounding area. The site of Arslantepe was settled from the fifth millennium BC until the Roman period. It was the capital of the Neo-Hittite kingdom of Malatya. Malatya ( Hittite: Melid; Greek: Μαλάτεια Malateia; Armenian: Մալաթիա Malatia; Kurdish:
Culture
The earliest settlements in Isuwa show culturual contacts with Tell Brak to the south, though not being the same culture. Nagar (modern Tell Brak, Syria) was an ancient Late Neolithic, Sumerian and Akkadian city on the Khabur River. Agriculture began early due to favorable climatic conditions. Isuwa was at the outer fringe of the early Mesopotamian Uruk period culture. The Uruk period (ca 4000 to 3100 BC existed from the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia, The people of Isuwa were also skilled in metallurgy and they reached the Bronze Age in the fourth millennium BC. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for Copper were first mixed with arsenic, later with tin. The Early Bronze Age culture were linked with Caucasus in the northeast. The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East In the Hittite period the culture of Isuwa show great parallels to the Central Anatolian and the Hurrian culture to the south. The Hurrians (also Khurrites; cuneiform Ḫu-ur-ri 𒄷𒌨𒊑 were a people of the Ancient Near East, who lived in northern Mesopotamia The monumental architecture was of Hittite influence. The Neo-Hittite state show influences both from the Phrygia, Assyria and the eastern kingdom of Urartu. In antiquity Phrygia (Φρυγία was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Urartu ( Assyrian: Urarṭu Urartian: Biainili Ուրարտու was an Iron Age kingdom in Eastern Anatolia ( Transcaucasia) rising After the Scythian people movement there appear some Scythian burials in the area. The Scythians or Scyths (Σκύθες Σκύθοι were an Iranian speaking people of horse-riding Nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic
See also
- Assyria
- History of the Hittites
- Hurrians
- Indo-European languages
- Mitanni
- Mesopotamia
- Phrygians
- Hayasa-Azzi
Bibliography
- Conti, Persiani : Between the Rivers and over the Mountains, La Sapienza Rome 1993. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Hittites is the conventional English-language term for an ancient people who spoke an Indo-European language and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa The Hurrians (also Khurrites; cuneiform Ḫu-ur-ri 𒄷𒌨𒊑 were a people of the Ancient Near East, who lived in northern Mesopotamia Mitanni ( Hittite cuneiform, also Mittani) or Hanigalbat ( Assyrian Hanigalbat Khanigalbat cuneiform) Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding In antiquity Phrygia (Φρυγία was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. Hayasa-Azzi or Azzi-Hayasa was a confederation formed between the Kingdoms of Hayasa located South of Trabzon and Azzi, located North of
- Erder, Cevat: Lessons in Archaeological and Monument Salvage: The Keban Experience, Princeton university 1973.
- Konyar, Erkan: Old Hittite presence in the East of the Euphrates in the light of stratigraphical data from Imikuşağı (Elazığ), lecture held at Hethiter-workshop Istanbul 2004.
- Loon, Maurits van: Korucutepe : final report on the excavations of the universities of Chicago, California (Los Angeles) and Amsterdam in the Keban reservoir, American Elsevier New York 1975-80 (3 vol. ).
External links
- [1] Suppiluliuma-Shattwaza treaty about Isuwa.
- [2] METU Keban and the Lower Euphrates Project.
- [3] La Sapienza University of Rome excavations at Arslantepe / Malatya.
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