Kummuh
Kummuh Kummaḫa | |||||||||
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Unknown–708 BC | |||||||||
Luwian religion | |||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
Historical era | Iron Age | ||||||||
• Established | Unknown | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 708 BC | ||||||||
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Today part of | Turkey |
Kummuh was an Iron Age
Several indigenous rock inscriptions have been found in the region, all written in Hieroglyphic Luwian, attesting to the continuity of Hittite traditions. In his annals, the Assyrian king Sargon II referred to the Kummuh ruler as 'Hittite', and several rulers of Kummuh bore the same names as famous Hittite kings of the 2nd millennium BCE: Hattušili(?), Šuppiluliuma, and Muwattalli (in Assyrian sources Qatazilu, Ušpilulume, and Muttallu, respectively).[4]
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/Neo-hittites_et_arameens.svg/270px-Neo-hittites_et_arameens.svg.png)
From the Middle Hittite Period (15th century BCE) onwards, the Hittite archives of Hattuša refer to a city of Kummaha,[5] which might be identical to the later city of Kummuh.[6]
Most of the information about Kummuh comes from Assyrian sources. From the beginning of the 9th to the middle of the 8th centuries, Kummuh seems to have remained a peaceful tributary state allied with Assyria. In 866 BCE, Kummuh king Qatazilu paid tribute to Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II in the city of Huzirina (modern-day Sultantepe). In 858 BCE, Assyrian king
In 805 BCE, as reported on the
In 712 BCE, after the Kingdom of Melid was dismembered by the Assyrian king Sargon II, the city of Melid itself was given to Kummuh king Muttallu.
In 708 BCE, Sargon II accused Muttallu of allying himself with Urartu and sent his army into Kummuh. According to the annals, Muttallu escaped but the royal family and the population was deported to Babylonia, and settlers from Bit-Yakin (in Babylonia) were brought to Kummuh. Thereafter the region became a province of Assyria and was under the jurisdiction of the turtanu of the left, whose seat of power was apparently the city of Kummuh.
After the Assyrian empire collapsed, a city of the name of Kimuhu, which is almost certainly Kummuh, appears in a conflict between Egyptians and Babylonians in 607–606 BCE. The Babylonian king Nabopolassar captured the city and stationed a garrison there, whereupon the Egyptian army under the command of Necho II laid siege to it and captured it after a four-month siege.[8]
Kummuh later gave its name to the classical Commagene.
Kings of Kummuh
Kings | Assyrian contemporary |
---|---|
Qatazilu (Hattušili?) | Assurnasirpal II (884-859 BCE) (859-824 BCE)
Shalmaneser III |
Kundašpi | Shalmaneser III (859-824 BCE) |
Ušpilulume (Šuppiluliuma) | Adad-nirari III (811-783 BCE) Shalmaneser IV (783-773 BCE) |
Hattušili?[9] | ? Ashur-Dan III (773-755 BCE) (755-745 BCE)
? Ashur-nirari V |
Kuštašpi | ? Tiglat-pileser III (745-727 BCE)
|
Mutallu (Muwattalli) | Sargon II (722-705 BCE) |
Inscriptions
Several monuments with Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions dating to the kingdom of Kummuh have been found in the region, as at Samsat, Ancoz, Boybeypınarı, Malpınarı and Adıyaman. The one found in Boybeypınarı is the longest and best preserved of them. It is made of several basalt blocks and dates to the reign of Šuppiluliuma. The Malpınarı inscription is carved on a natural rock cliff and dates to the reign of Hattušili, son of Šuppiluliuma.[10] An improved reading of ANCOZ 5 mentions the pair "Hattušili and Šuppiluliuma, father and son" (as opposed to a father Šuppiluliuma and son Hattušili), which may suggest the existence of either a second Šuppiluliuma or second Hattušili.[9]
Notes
- ^ Kummuhi as it appears in Assyrian sources should not be confused with Katmuhi which is a separate settlement on the bank of Tigris. Hawkins, J. D. (2000) Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions, v1, part 1, p. 330.
- ^ See Malpınarı Rock Inscription
- ^ Hawkins, Corpus, p. 331.
- ^ Hawkins, J. D. (1983) Reallexicon der Assyriologie 6, p. 338.
- ^ Otten, H. (1983) Reallexicon der Assyriologie 6, p. 334.
- ^ Hittite Kummaha may also be identified with the modern-day Kemah, which is located further to the north, outside of the region of Kummuh; see Garstang, J. and Gurney, O. R. (1959) Geography of the Hittite Empire, p. 35.
- ^ Also mentioned in Kurkh Monolith
- ^ ABC 4 Archived 2019-03-22 at the Wayback Machine: Chronicle Concerning the Late Years of Nabopolassar
- ^ a b Existence of a Hattušili is based on Malpınarı inscription as well as several of the Ancoz inscriptions which indicate a certain Hattušili, son of Šuppiluliuma. If Šuppiluliuma is the same person as Ušpilulume of the Assyrian sources, his son Hattušili must have ruled before Kuštašpi. Another possibility would be matching Hattušili with Qatazilu of the 9th century, which would suggest the existence of another Šuppiluliuma preceding Qatazilu, see Hawkins, Corpus, p.330.
Another inscription, ANCOZ 5, mentions the pair "Hattušili and Šuppiluliuma, father and son" which suggests the existence of either a second Šuppiluliuma or second Hattušili, requiring a dynastic order of either Šuppiluliuma-Hattušili-Šuppiluliuma or Hattušili-Šuppiluliuma-Hattušili, see Poetto, M. (2010) "L'iscrizione luvio-geroglifica ANCOZ 5 (A) rivista e completata", Hethitica XVI (Gs Neu), 131-142.
- ^ See Hawkins, Corpus, p.330-360, for a treatment of most of the inscriptions.