Hapalla ( Hittite: 𒄩𒁄𒆷 ''Hapalla'' or ''Haballa''), was a

Late 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 ...

petty kingdom in central-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 ...

. As one of the

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 ...

states, it was a sometime vassal and sometime enemy of the

Hittite Empire The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

History

All we know about Hapalla comes from Hittite royal archives. It bordered to the west by Mira, to the east by the Lower Land, and to the south by the land of Tarhuntassa, thus Hapalla may correspond to the classical region of

Pisidia Pisidia (; , ; ) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Antalya in Turkey. Among Pisidia's set ...

. Because of its position so close to the heart of the empire, it was often paid more attention by the Hittites, which considered it a bit like a buffer between the motherland and its Arzawa vassals.

Late Bronze

Hittite Middle Kingdom

The first mention of Hapalla is when Arnuwanda I (c. 1380 BCE) asks for help against a local uprising there. He bestows this duty to his vassal Madduwatta, who betrays him by taking Hapalla for himself. After threats from Arnuwanda, Madduwatta yields and hands it back to the Hittites.

Hittite New Kingdom (Hittite Empire)

=Suppiluliuma I

= When the Hittites are retaking their lands under Suppiluliuma I (c. 1350 BC), he sent his army into Hapalla, whose capital is burnt down and inhabitants deported. In 1340 BC, an independent Seha River Land, Mira, and Hapalla are carved out of Arzawa, who only retain their capital, Apasa, and the surrounding land.

=Mursili II

= The first sovereign known to us from Hapalla was Targasnalli who, after the failure of the uprising of Uhha-Ziti against Hittite monarch Muršili II (1319 BC), agreed to submit again to the authority of Hattuša and therefore was "''...re-installed on the throne of Hapalla by the Hittite ruler''". From the subsequent treaty of Kupanta-Kurunta, we learn that Targasnalli was still on the throne of Hapalla around 1310 BC.

=Muwatalli II

= The second ruler of Hapalla, a certain Ura-Hattusa, who appears in

Alaksandu Alaksandu (Hittite language, Hittite: ), alternatively called Alakasandu or Alaksandus, was a king of Wilusa who sealed a treaty with Hittite empire, Hittite king Muwatalli II ca. 1280 BC. This treaty implies that Alaksandu had previously secure ...

's treaty of 1280 BC, where the Hittite ruler Muwatalli II, son of Mursili, lists the four sovereigns of the surviving Arzawa kingdoms (What remained of Arzawa had been annexed by Mira) mentioning Ura-Hattusa as king of Hapalla. It is uncertain whether the two rulers came from the same family. After this treaty, there are no more references to the kingdom of Hapalla. It is now believed by scholars that towards the end of the Hittite empire (c. 1230 BC), King Tudhaliya IV established the State of Mira as the regional supervisor of Western Anatolia, with Hapalla most likely under its supervision.Hawkins, J.D. 2009. The Arzawa letters in recent perspective. ''BMSAES'' 14: 73–83. https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/Hawkins.pdf

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

Kings of Hapalla

References

External links

Deeds of Suppiluliuma I

The Kingdom of the Hittites by Trevor Bryce

Treaty with Targasnalli, king of Hapalla

The Arzawa letters in recent perspective
{{Ancient kingdoms in Anatolia States and territories established in the 14th century BC States and territories disestablished in the 12th century BC Arzawa Former kingdoms Historical regions of Anatolia