Zalpuwa

Zalpuwa

Zalpuwa, also Zalpa, was an as-yet undiscovered Bronze Age Anatolian city of ca. the 17th century BC. Its history is largely known from the Proclamation of Anitta, CTH 1.

Zalpuwa was by a "Sea of Zalpa". It was the setting for an ancient legend about the Queen of Kanesh, which was either composed in or translated into the Hurrian language:

The Queen] of Kanesh once bore thirty sons in a single year. She said: "What a horde is this which I have born!" She caulked(?) baskets with dung, put her sons in them, and launched them in the river. The river carried them down to the sea at the land of Zalpuwa. Then the gods took them up out of the sea and reared them. When some years had passed, the queen again gave birth, this time to thirty daughters. This time she herself reared them. [http://rbedrosian.com/Memyth.htm]

The river at Kanesh drains into the Black Sea, not (for example) Lake Tuz. "Zalpuwa" is further mentioned alongside Nerik in Arnuwanda I's prayer. Nerik was a Hattic language speaking city which had fallen to the Kaskians by Arnuwanda's time. This portion of the prayer also mentioned Kammama, which was Kaskian as of the reign of Arnuwanda II. The best conclusion is that Zalpuwa was in a region of Hattian cities of northern central Anatolia: as were Nerik, Hattusa, and probably Sapinuwa. Zalpuwa was most likely, like its neighbours, founded by Hattians.

Ca. the 17th century BC, Uhna the king of Zalpuwa invaded Neša, after which the Zalpuwans carried off the city's "Sius" idol. Under Huzziya's reign, the king of Neša, Anitta, invaded Zalpuwa. Anitta took Huzziya captive, and recovered the "Sius" idol for Neša. Soon after that, Zalpuwa became seems to have become a culturally Hittite and Nesian-speaking.

Arnuwanda's prayer implies that Zalpuwa was laid waste by Kaskians, at the same time that Nerik fell to them, in the early 14th century BC.

References

* [http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/hitol-1-R.html The Proclamation of Anitta] , CTH 1
* [http://www.hittites.info/translations.aspx?text=translations/hymnsPrayers%2FArnuwanda-Asmunikal+Prayer.html]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Zalpa — oder Zalpuwa war eine hattische Stadt an der Mündung des Flusses Maraššanta (Kızılırmak). Sie war in vorhethitischer Zeit Hauptstadt eines mächtigen Stadtstaates. Zalpa war auch in hethitischer Zeit ein größerer Zentralort und hegte enge… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kültepe — For the village in Azerbaijan, see Kültəpə. Coordinates: 38°51′N 35°38′E / 38.85°N 35.633°E / 38.85; 35.633 …   Wikipedia

  • History of the Hittites — Hittites were an ancient people who spoke an Indo European language and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa (Hittite URUḪattuša) in northern Anatolia from the 18th century BC. In the 14th century BC, the Hittite Kingdom was at its height,… …   Wikipedia

  • Kaskians — See Kaska for the First Nations people in the Yukon and British Columbia, Canada : For kas kas , or poppy seeds, refer to poppy seeds. : For Spanish motorcycle manufacturer, refer to Gas Gas. The Kaska (also Kaška, later Tabalian Kasku) [ š is… …   Wikipedia

  • Huzziya — was the last recorded king of Zalpuwa. He was captured by Anitta the Hittite king of Neša …   Wikipedia

  • Uhna — was a king of the ancient Anatolian city of Zalpuwa, ca. the 17th century BC, who conquered the Hittite city of Neša …   Wikipedia

  • Hethitische historische Geographie — Die Hauptquelle für unsere Kenntnisse der hethitischen Geographie sind Keilschrift und Hieroglyphenurkunden, besonders Berichte über Feldzüge und Besuche der Könige an Kultorten (Itinarien) für verschiedene Feiertage, wie das KI.LAM Fest, das… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”