Uhha-Ziti was the last independent king of

Arzawa Arzawa was a region and political entity in Western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age. In Hittite texts, the term is used to refer both to a particular kingdom and to a loose confederation of states. The chief Arzawan state, whose capital wa ...

, a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

kingdom of western

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

around 1320 BC.

Family

Uhha-Ziti had two recorded children, Piyama-Kurunta and Tapalazunauli, who were of fighting age as of 1322 BC.

History

Late Bronze

War with the Hittites

In the dominant Hittite Empire, Suppiluliuma I died in 1323 BC and his successor Arnuwanda I also died in the following year 1322 BC. This was a time of epidemics which significantly weakened the major powers. Mursili II came to the trone in 1321 BC facing multiple rebellions. The Hittite king

Mursili II There were three Hittite kings called Mursili: * Mursili I, ca. 1556–1526 BCE ( short chronology), and was likely a grandson of his predecessor, Hattusili I. His sister was Ḫarapšili and his wife was queen Kali. * Mursili II, (also spelled Mur ...

in his second campaign season, 1320 BC, attacked Attarimma, Hu asanassa, and Suruda on Arzawa's border. Their leaders fled to Arzawa. When the king demanded their extradition, Uhha-Ziti defied him and called him a "child". He also managed to enlist Manapa-Tarhunta of the Seha River Land, but not Maskhuiluwa of

Mira Mira (), designation Omicron Ceti (ο Ceti, abbreviated Omicron Cet, ο Cet), is a red-giant star estimated to be 200–300 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Cetus. ο Ceti is a binary stellar system, consisting of a vari ...

. Mursili put down a Kaska

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

, and invaded Arzawa. Uhha-Ziti at this time had made his base at Apasa. During Mursili's march, a

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

struck Apasa and wounded Uhha-Ziti, as recorded in the Annals of Mursili II:

"The mighty Storm
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
, My Lord, showed his divinely righteous power and hurled a
thunderbolt A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hel ...
. All of my troops saw the thunderbolt. All the land of Arzawa saw the thunderbolt. The thunderbolt passed (us) and struck the land of Arzawa. It struck Uḫḫa-Ziti’s (capital) city Apaša. It settled in Uḫḫa-Ziti’s knees, and he became ill."{{cite web , url=http://www.hittites.info/history.aspx?text=history%2fEarly+Late+Empire.htm#Mursili2 , title= Hittites.info - hittites Resources and Information, website=www.hittites.info , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729052029/http://www.hittites.info/history.aspx?text=history%2FEarly+Late+Empire.htm#Mursili2 , archive-date=2013-07-29

In his wounded state, Uhha-Ziti could no longer lead the charge; therefore, having allied with the King of Ahhiuwa (most probably

Mycenaean Greece Mycenaean Greece (or the Mycenaean civilization) was the last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, spanning the period from approximately 1750 to 1050 BC.. It represents the first advanced and distinctively Greek civilization in mainla ...

)—the first time the "Ahhiya" are recorded with a monarch- he ordered Piyama-Kurunta to take the field at Walma by the Astarpa river. Piyama-Kurunta lost the battle, and Uhha-Ziti and his sons fled to the nearby Ahhiuwa-controlled islands. Uhha-Ziti died while Mursili II was besieging the men of Attarimma, Hu asanassa, and Suruda at Puranda.

References

Translations

* Catalan Kings of Arzawa 14th-century BC monarchs