Mira (Anatolia)

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Location of Mira and neighboring states
Relief of King Tarkasnawa of Mira near Karabel

Mira was a vassal state of the Hittite empire in the second half of the second millennium BC. It belonged to the Arzawa countries and is located in the west of Asia Minor .

location

According to more recent findings, Mira bordered the Šeḫa river country in the north near Karabel , which was already adopted by Hans Gustav Güterbock in 1975 and confirmed by John David Hawkins when he read the Karabel inscription in 1998 . In the south it bordered, perhaps at Milas , on the Lukka countries , in the east, probably around Afyon , on the Hittite motherland. Borders with other countries such as Pitašša, Maša or Karkiša are only detectable for certain time phases, if at all. Mira was the closest to the land Hatti location of Arzawan countries.

history

The first mention of Mira is in connection with the Arzawa campaign of Great King Šuppiluliumas I in the 14th century BC. BC, whereby Mira belonged to the core area of ​​the Arzawa empire at that time. The daughter of Šuppiluliuma, Muwatti , was married to Mašḫuiluwa , who came from the Arzawa countries . After the successful completion of the Arzawa campaign by Mursili II , the son of Šuppiluliumas, Mursili set his brother-in-law Mašḫuiluwa in Mira as a vassal king and left him with 600 men for personal protection. It is not clear whether or to what extent Mašḫuiluwa was awarded the entire Mira area after the defeat of the Arzawa lands. However, it is likely that the Miras area then extended to the Aegean coast and Apaša (probably Ephesus ) was the capital. Mašḫuiluwa was soon accused of breaking the oath after inciting the land of Pitašša against the great king, and fled to the land of Maša. Muršili threatened Maša with attack and demanded the extradition of Mašḫuiluwa, whereupon he was deported to the capital Ḫattuša . As successor was installed in agreement with the greats of Mira Mašḫuiluwas nephew and adopted son Kupanta-Kurunta .

After Ḫattušili III. around 1265 BC His nephew Muršili III. (also known as Urḫi-Teššup) had overthrown and proclaimed himself Great King, there was likely a disagreement between Ḫattušili and the still reigning Kupanta-Kuruntiya of Mira. This sat down for the fallen Mursili III. a, as inter alia by an approx. 1259 BC A letter from Kupuanta-Kuruntas to the Egyptian ruler Ramses II . It is unclear whether this had consequences for the King of Mira. The last previously known, unambiguous mention is Mira in the beginning of the term of office Tudhaliyas IV. (Ca. 1236 v. Chr.) Closed treaty between Tudhaliya IV. And Kurunta of Tarhuntassa where under the contract witness a king of Mira named Alantalli called becomes. With Tarkasnawa another king Miras was proven by Hawkins in 1998, who was able to decipher the Luwian hieroglyphs of the rock relief A by Karabel (see below) accordingly.

Kings

  • Mašḫuiluwa (approx. 1330-1300 BC; Luw . "Little mouse"); Muwatti's husband , sister of Muršili II.
  • Kupanataruntiya (Kupantakurunta; approx. 1300–1250 / 40 BC); Nephew and adopted son of Mašḫuiluwa.
  • Alantalli (after 1259 - after 1236 BC)
  • Tarkasnawa (from possibly 1230 BC; luw. "Donkey"); possibly son of Alantalli
  • Mašḫuitta ? (also read Parḫuitta; identification as ruler of Mira very uncertain)

Testimonies

In the rock inscription on Suratkaya a Grand Prince is named Kupantakurunta, most likely the son of Mašḫuiluwa. By mentioning Mira in the inscription, an extension of the country at least to the eastern part of the Latmos Mountains is proven.

Mira is mentioned in about 20, mostly only partially preserved, cuneiform tablets from Boğazkale (Ḫattuša) from the 14th and 13th centuries BC. Chr. Attested. A king of Mira named Tarkasnawa is depicted on the rock relief of Karabel . The hieroglyphic Luwian inscription there, according to Hawkins, reads:

“Tarkasnawa, King <of the country> Mira
[son of] VOGEL – li ? , the king of the land of Mira,
grandson of [...], the king of the land of Mira "

The name Tarkasnawa also appears on a silver seal and in seal impressions from Ḫattuša, where the name was previously incorrectly read as Tarkondemos .

literature

  • John David Hawkins : Tarkasnawa, King of Mira: 'Tarkondemos', Boğazköy sealings and Karabel. Anatolian Studies 48, 1998, pp. 1-31

Individual evidence

  1. ^ J. David Hawkins: Tarkasnawa, King of Mira: 'Tarkondemos', Boğazköy sealings and Karabel , in: Anatolian Studies 48, 1998, pp. 1–31.
  2. ↑ Horst Ehringhaus: Gods, Rulers, Inscriptions - The rock reliefs of the Hittite Empire in Turkey. von Zabern, 2005, ISBN 3-8053-3469-9 , p. 91.
  3. ^ A b c Susanne Heinhold-Krahmer : Mira in Erich Ebeling , Bruno Meissner , Dietz-Otto Edzard : Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Aräologie . Walter de Gruyter, 1997, ISBN 9783110148091 , pp. 218-220 at GoogleBooks .
  4. ^ Charles Allen Burney: Historical dictionary of the Hittites . Scarecrow Press, 2004, ISBN 9780810849365 , p. 202 at GoogleBooks .
  5. ↑ Horst Klengel : History of the Hittite Empire. Brill, 1999, ISBN 9789004102019 , p. 194 at GoogleBooks .
  6. ↑ John David Hawkins: Tarkasnawa, King of Mira: 'Tarkondemos', Boğazköy sealings and Karabel. In: Anatolian Studies 48, 1998, pp. 1-31.
  7. ↑ John David Hawkins: Tarkasnawa, King of Mira: 'Tarkondemos', Boğazköy sealings and Karabel. Anatolian Studies 48, 1998, p. 4; The sound value of the sign in the form of a bird (AVIS x ) in the name of the father is unknown.