Luhuti, Lukhuti or Lu'ash, was a Syro-Hittite region during the early 1st millennium BC, located in northern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, in an area that used to be called

Nuhašše Nuhašše (kurnu-ḫa-áš-še; kurnu-ḫa-šeki), was a region in northwestern Syria that flourished in the 2nd millennium BC. It was east of the Orontes River bordering Aleppo (northwest) and Qatna (south). It was a petty kingdom or federacy of ...

Political situation and capital

Luhuti was a region of uncertain political status, known primarily from Assyrian inscriptions, and the stele of king

Zakkur Zakkur (or ''Zakir'') was the ancient king of Hamath and Luhuti (also known as Nuhašše) in Syria. He ruled around 785 BC. Most of the information about him comes from his basalt stele, known as the Stele of Zakkur. History Irhuleni and his son ...

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

th. Luhuti is never attested as a kingdom of its own or as having a single central authority, although it did constitute an independent interconnected region. The Assyrian inscriptions that describe Luhuti as a country with many cities and troops. Luhuti had many cities. Shuksi was the maritime center, But the most important center and capital was the city of Hazrik (modern Tell Afis, Known as Hatarikka to the Assyrians), located south of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

History

Luhuti was first attested in 870 BC. The inscriptions of

Ashurnasirpal II Ashur-nasir-pal II (transliteration: ''Aššur-nāṣir-apli'', meaning " Ashur is guardian of the heir") was the third king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 883 to 859 BC. Ashurnasirpal II succeeded his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II. His son and s ...

record his conquest of its neighbour

Pattin Pattin (also known as Pattina, Patina, Unqu and Unqi), was an ancient Luwian Syro-Hittite states, Syro-Hittite state at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. It was known to the Assyrians as Unqi and Aramaeans as Unqu. It was located at the no ...

, then his use of Pattin's subordinate city of Aribua as his military base for operations against Luhuti. Ashurnasirpal devastated the country, impaled Luhuti soldiers on stakes outside their captured cities. By 796 BC Luhuti was incorporated into Hamath, forming the northern province of the kingdom. King Zakkur of Hamath titled himself King of Hamath and Luhuti. Zakkur was besieged in Hatarikka by a coalition of Syrian kings incited by

Ben-Hadad III Bar-Hadad III ( Aram.) (ܒܪ ܚܕܕ) or Ben-Hadad III ( Heb.) (בֶּן-הֲדַד) was king of Aram Damascus, the son and successor of Hazael. His succession is mentioned in 2 Kings (, ). He is thought to have ruled from 796 BC to 792 BC, altho ...

Aram-Damascus Aram-Damascus ( ) was an Arameans, Aramean polity that existed from the late-12th century BCE until 732 BCE, and was centred around the city of Damascus in the Southern Levant. Alongside various tribal lands, it was bounded in its later years b ...

, and led by a king descended from Gusi identified as the king of

Bit Agusi Bit Agusi or Bit Agushi (also written Bet Agus) was an ancient Aramaean Syro-Hittite state, established by Gusi of Yakhan at the beginning of the 9th century BC. It had included the cities of Arpad, Nampigi (Nampigu) and later on Aleppo Arpad wa ...

, Zakkur survived the siege and commemorated the event by commissioning the

Stele of Zakkur The Stele of Zakkur (or ''Zakir'') is a royal stele of King Zakkur of Hamath and Luhuti (or Lu'aš) in the province Nuhašše of Syria, who ruled around 785 BC. Description The inscription was on the lower part of the original stele. The upper ...

. Luhuti was attacked by

Shalmaneser IV Shalmaneser IV ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "Salmānu is foremost") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 783 BC to his death in 773 BC. Shalmaneser was the son and successor of his predecessor, Adad-nirari III, and ruled during a p ...

in 765 BC and Ashur-dan III in 755 BC. It was finally incorporated into Assyria as a province by Tiglath-Pileser III in 737 BC.

Royal family hypothesis

Hittitologists Trevor R. Bryce and especially John David Hawkins believe Zakkur to be a usurper, The

does not mention any royal ancestors. Hawkins believes that Zakkur was an Aramean usurper local to Luhuti who replaced the old Hittite dynasty ruling in Hamath.

References

{{Idlib Governorate Syro-Hittite states Archaeological sites in Idlib Governorate Aramean states