Labarna was the traditional first king of the

Hittites 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 ...

, (

middle chronology The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...

), the most accepted chronology nowadays. He was the traditional founder of the Hittite Old Kingdom (fl. c. 1680(?)-1650 BC). His wife was Tawannanna. The existence of Labarna is questioned by some modern scholars. '' Labarna'' was also a title of early Hittite rulers, such as

Hattusili I Ḫattušili (''Ḫattušiliš'' in the inflected nominative case) was the regnal name of three Hittite kings: * Hattusili I (Labarna II) * Hattusili II *Hattusili III Ḫattušili (''Ḫattušiliš'' in the inflected nominative case) was the regnal ...

. Given the relatively few contemporaneous references to Labarna personally, some scholars have suggested that pioneering

Hittitologist Hittitology is the study of the Hittites, an ancient Anatolian people that established an empire around Hattusa in the 2nd millennium BCE. It combines aspects of the archaeology, history, philology, and art history of the Hittite civilisation. Ther ...

s may have erred in assuming that Labarna was the personal name of a king. According to this theory, the first ''Labarna'' (in the sense of a title) was Hattusili I, who is normally regarded as the second ''Labarna''. ''Tabarna'', a variant of ''Labarna'', is mentioned often in Hattian, Hittite, Hurrian and Akkadian texts from the Hittite archives.

Biography

Labarna was not the first in line to the throne.

PU-Sarruma PU-Sarruma (PU-lugal, LUGAL-ma, mPU-''Šàr-(rù)-ma'', possibly representing ''Hišmi-Šarruma'') is a conjectured List of Hittite kings, pre-Empire king of the Hittites. The conjecture was forwarded by Emil Forrer and is not commonly accepted. H ...

designated Labarna as his successor after his own sons revolted against him. Upon

's death, Labarna and Papahdilmah, one of

's sons, contended for the throne, with Labarna emerging victorious. What little is known about him is culled mainly from the

Telepinu Proclamation Telipinu (or Telepinu) Proclamation is a Hittite edict, written during the reign of King Telipinu, c. 1525-1500 BCE. The text is classified as CTH 19 in the Catalogue of Hittite Texts. The edict is significant because it made possible to recon ...

, which states that he overwhelmed his enemies and "made them borders of the sea",
§3 a statement which may refer to conquests as far as the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the south, and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

in the north. Labarna installed his sons as governors in several cities including Tuwanuwa, Hupisna, Landa, and Lusna (the identities of these cities are uncertain, but thought to perhaps be Tyana,

Heraclea Cybistra Heraclea Cybistra (), or simply Heraclea or Herakleia (Ἡράκλεια), also transliterated as Heracleia, was a town of ancient Cappadocia or Cilicia; located at the site of modern Ereğli in Konya Province, Turkey. History Middle Bronze ...

, Laranda, and Lystra). Through his conquests, he was responsible for laying the groundwork for the Hittite empire that was to come.

References

External links

Reign of Labarna I
Hittite kings 16th-century BC monarchs {{ANE-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links