Kaskians
The Kaska (also Kaška, later Tabalian Kasku[1] and Gasga[2]) were a loosely affiliated Bronze Age non-Indo-European[3] tribal people, who spoke the unclassified Kaskian language and lived in mountainous East Pontic Anatolia, known from Hittite sources.[4] They lived in the mountainous region between the core Hittite region in eastern Anatolia and the Black Sea, and are cited as the reason that the later Hittite Empire never extended northward to that area. They are sometimes identified with the Caucones known from Greek records.
History
The Kaska, probably originating from the eastern shore of the
The Kaska first appear in the Hittite prayer inscriptions that date from the reign of Hantili II, c. 1450 BC, and make references to their movement into the ruins of the holy city of Nerik.[6] During the reign of Hantili's son, Tudhaliya II (c. 1430 BC), "Tudhaliya's 3rd campaign was against the Kaskas."[7] His successor Arnuwanda I composed a prayer for the gods to return Nerik to the empire; he also mentioned Kammama and Zalpuwa as cities which he claimed had been Hittite but which were now under the Kaskas. Arnuwanda attempted to mollify some of the Kaska tribes by means of tribute.
Sometime between the reigns of Arnuwanda and
In the Amarna letters, Amenhotep III wrote to the Arzawan king Tarhunta-Radu that the "country Hattusa" was obliterated, and further asked for Arzawa to send him some of these Kaska people of whom he had heard.[8] The Hittites also enlisted subject Kaska for their armies. When the Kaska were not raiding or serving as mercenaries, they raised pigs and wove linen,[9] leaving scarcely any imprint on the permanent landscape.[10]
In the time of ailing
The Kaska united for the first time under Pihhuniya of Tipiya, who "ruled like a king" the Hittites recorded. Pihhuniya conquered Istitina and advanced as far as Zazzissa. But Mursili defeated this force and brought Pihhuniya back as a prisoner to Hattusas. Mursili then switched to a defensive strategy, with a chain of border fortresses north to the
The Kaska may have contributed to the fall of the Hittite empire in the
Repulsed by the Assyrians, a subdivision of the Kaska might have passed north-eastwards to the
According to I. Singer, Kaskians and Hattians are different branches of the same people. However, if the Hattians were assimilated by the Hittites, then the Kaskians were pushed to the periphery of their former territory.[14]
See also
References
- need not reflect the language or self-identification of the Kaska themselves.
- ^ I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, E. Sollberger, The Cambridge Ancient History Cambridge University press, 1973 p. 660
- ^ Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture p.29 (1997) https://archive.org/details/EncyclopediaOfIndoEuropeanCulture/page/n63/mode/2up?q=Kaskians
- ^ "Although attested historically, the Kaska are virtually unknown archaeologically," Roger Matthews has observed, "Landscapes of Terror and Control: Imperial Impacts in Paphlagonia" Near Eastern Archaeology 67.4 (December 2004:200-211) esp. pp202f.
- ^ a b Toumanoff, Cyril (1967). Studies in Christian Caucasian History, pp. 55–56. Georgetown University Press.
- ^ Matthews 2004:206.
- ^ "Information about the Hittites - Hittite History". January 17, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-01-17.
- ^ J. David Hawkins (2009). "The Arzawa letters in recent perspective, p.77" (PDF). British Museum.
- ^ Concise Britannica, s.v. "Kaska" [dead link]
- ^ Matthews 2004: esp. pp 202f.
- S2CID 162689511. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ^ "To the north and west of the Devrez-Dahara, very few Hittites sites were detected," Matthews reported of the thorough Project Paphlagonia field survey (Matthews 2004:204).
- ISBN 0-19-814095-9.
- ^ Singer, I. Who were the Kaska? // Phasis. Greek and Roman Studies, 10(I), Tbilisi State University, 2007. — P. 166—181.