Šeḫa

Location of Šēḫa and neighboring states

Šēḫa is the name of a river and a country named after it in Western Anatolia during the Bronze Age . It roughly corresponded to ancient Lydia with the two main rivers Gediz and Bakırçay , although it is unclear which of the two was then called Šeḫa. The river Šeḫa is often spoken of. Based on the royal names, it is assumed that the land was inhabited by Luwians .

location

In the south the mountains Sipylos and Tmolos formed the border with Arzawa and Mira , in the northwest it bordered possibly with Wiluša . The borders to the north and east are unclear, it is being considered that in the north Maša bordered on Šeḫa, perhaps also Karkiša, which is sometimes also connected with ancient Caria .

Appawiya, which is connected to Šeḫa, is likely to be identical to the ancient Abbaïtis landscape in Mysia . The island of Lazpa (Lesbos) also belonged to the Šeḫa .

history

Šeḫa is first mentioned in the 14th century BC. In connection with the campaigns of Tudḫaliya I against Wiluša. The first known king was Muwawalwi ( luw . "Power lion"). His son Manapa-Tarḫunta (luw. " Tarḫunz sees him") was expelled by his brothers and Ura-Tarḫunta (luw. "Tarḫunz is great") took over the rule. Manapa-Tarḫunta fled to the land of Karkiša and received asylum with the Hittite king, with whose support he regained the throne. When the Hittites attacked the land of Arzawa under Muršili II , Manapa-Tarḫunta allied with King Uḫḫa-ziti of Arzawa. After the submission of Arzawa, it was divided into the lands of Mira-Kuwaliya and Ḫaballa, the land of Šeḫa-Appawiya was incorporated into the Hittite Empire as a vassal state. Manapa-Tarḫunta remained king after his mother and the old women of Šeḫa asked to spare their land. Towards the end of his reign, the Arzawan prince Piyamaradu attacked the island of Lazpa belonging to Šeḫa and kidnapped royal craftsmen to Millawanda , which was under the king of Aḫḫijawa . This created tension between the Hittite king and the king of Aḫḫiyawa.

Mašturi, the successor of Manapa-Tarḫunta, was tied more closely to the empire by giving him Maššana-uzzi (Luw. "Gods wish"), the sister of the Hittite king Muwatalli II. , For marriage. At the usurpation of the Hittite throne by Ḫattušili III. Mašturi was one of his main supporters. After his death, Tarḫunnaradu (also Tarḫuna-radu) seems to have usurped the throne of Šeḫa and rebelled against the Hittite Empire. According to a Hittite document ( KUB 23.13), the Hittite great king Tudḫalija IV defeated Tarḫunnaradu, who hoped for support from Aḫḫijawa, but this did not materialize, and deported him to Arinna . A "descendant of Muwawalwi" was installed over Šeḫa as the new ruler. Later evidence about the country is missing.

King List

Muwawalwi (ca.1350 BC)
Ura-Tarḫunta (around 1330 BC); Son of Muwawalwi
Manapa-Tarḫunta (approx. 1300 BC); Son of Muwawalwi
Mašturi (approx. 1270 BC to after approx. 1237 BC); Husband of Maššana-uzzi , sister of Muwatalli II.
Tarḫunnaradu (about 1230 BC); usurper
Descendant of Muwawalwis of unknown name (from approx. 1230 (?) BC)

literature

Article Šeḫa , in the RlA ; Vol. 12, pp. 350-352; Berlin 2009. ISBN 978-3-11-020381-3 .

Individual evidence

↑ for the latter assumption see z. B. Alexander Herda: Karkiša-Caria and the so-called Ionian migration. In :: Frank Rumscheid (Ed.): Die Karer und die Andere, International Colloquium at the Free University of Berlin, October 13-15 , 2005. Bonn 2009, pp. 27–108

^ Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier : Greece and Asia Minor in the late Bronze Age. In: Michael Meier-Brügger (Ed.): Homer, interpreted by a large lexicon. Files from the Hamburg Colloquium from March 6th to 8th October 2010 at the end of the lexicon of the early Greek epic (= treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen. Volume 21.) De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-028518-5 , p. 166.

[1] r the latter assumption see z. B. Alexander Herda: Karkiša-Caria and the so-called Ionian migration. In :: Frank Rumscheid (Ed.): Die Karer und die Andere, International Colloquium at the Free University of Berlin, October 13-15 , 2005. Bonn 2009, pp. 27–108

[2] Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier : Greece and Asia Minor in the late Bronze Age. In: Michael Meier-Brügger (Ed.): Homer, interpreted by a large lexicon. Files from the Hamburg Colloquium from March 6th to 8th October 2010 at the end of the lexicon of the early Greek epic (= treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen. Volume 21.) De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-028518-5 , p. 166.