Lawazantiya was the cultic city of the goddess Šauška.[1] It is mentioned in Old-Assyrian documents as Luhuzantiya. In Hittite texts the city is known as Lawazantiya (also: Lahuwazantiya, Lauwanzantiya or Lahuzzandiya), in Ugarit as Lwsnd[2] and in Assyrian Annals as Lusanda.[3] There is a Hittite document entitled "Festival of Teššub and Ḫebat of Lawazantiya" which has the king calling these deities in to open the spring festival.[4] Hittite ruler Hattušili III met his future queen, Pudu-Hebain, in Lawazantiya. She is known to have been a strong promoter of Kizzuwatnean cults and traditions and was a daughter of Pentipšarri, a priest of Šauška.[5] In the Telipinu Edict that Hittite ruler (c. 1525-1500 BC) reports that the city had rebelled and been retaken.[6]

Location

The city is known to have been part of the Kizzuwatna region. The earliest mention of the city comes from the Old Assyrian documents as a trading colony in Kaniš, where the place Luḫuzatia is often mentioned, which is common to Lawazantiya.[7] Gojko Barjamovic considers Luḫuzatia and Lawazantiya to be two separate localities, with the former locating in Elbistan.[8] Meanwhile Lawazantiya might be located at Sirkeli Höyük. Tatarli Höyük has also been proposed as the location based on cylinder and stamp seals found at that site.[9]

References

  1. ^ Frayne, Douglas R. and Stuckey, Johanna H.. "Š". A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East: Three Thousand Deities of Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, 2021, pp. 318-337
  2. ^ KTU2 2.40 line 10
  3. ^ "Historical Topography… and the Identification of Sirkeli Höyük". 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  4. ^ Görke, Susanne. "Hurrian and Luwian Elements in the Kizzuwatna Religious Texts" Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 49, no. 1, 2022, pp. 148-157
  5. ^ Martino, Stefano de. "5 Hatti: From Regional Polity to Empire". Handbook Hittite Empire: Power Structures, edited by Stefano de Martino, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2022, pp. 205-270
  6. ^ Bilgin, Tayfun. "3. The Top-level Offices of Hittite State Administration". Officials and Administration in the Hittite World, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2018, pp. 97-359
  7. ^ Philo Hendrik Jan Houwink Ten Cate. The Luwian Population Groups of Lycia and Cilicia Aspera. p. 19.
  8. ^ Gojko Barjamovic. A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 133–143.
  9. ^ Girginer, K. Serdar, and Dominique Collon. "Cylinder and Stamp Seals from Tatarli Höyük." Anatolian Studies, vol. 64, 2014, pp. 59–72

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