Symington, DA; (1990) Kizzuwatna/Cilicia: Aspects of the history and archaeology. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Cilicia is a well defined geographical region in south-west Turkey, consisting of a large fertile plain surrounded by mountain ranges and bordering on the Mediterranean sea in the south. The archaeological importance of Cilicia has been established by extensive surveys and some excavations. The large number of settlement mounds located, clearly outline the trade/communication routes which traverse the plain from east to west and north to south. An important development in the study of Hittite historical geography has been the identification of Kizzuwatna, frequently mentioned in Hittite records, with the province of Cilicia. At the same time it is thought that Kizzuwatna extended into the mountainous area of the Anti-Taurus to the north, a theory primarily based on the equation of the Hittite city Kummanni with classical Comana and a series of Hittite rock reliefs in the same region. The study explores the cultural relations of the Cilician plain with the mountain areas in the north, considering aspects of seasonal movements, the exploitation of metal sources, the ceramic evidence, as well as the epigraphic contents of the Hittite rock reliefs. The political relationship of Kizzuwatna with Hatti and its N.Syrian neighbours forms the essential part of the thesis and a re-assessment of the historical sources has been attempted. The study traces the historical development from the formation of an independant kingdom in Cilicia towards the end of the Hittite Old Kingdom to the annexation of Kizzuwatna in the Early Empire period. The primary sources for the kingdom of Kizzuwatna are a series of treaties concluded with Hatti which illustrate the role of Kizzuwatna as a buffer state 3 between the Hittites and their chief opponent Hurri/Mittani. The uncertainties regarding the chronological order of the treaties, and hence the sequence of Kizzuwatnean kings, are examined on the basis of text dating criterion, as well as on the stylistic evidence of the so-called Tabarna seals. It is generally accepted that Kizzuwatna was finally absorbed into the Hittite state during the time of Suppiluliuma I, but cumulative textual evidence presented here suggests that the annexation and hence the dating of the Sunassura treaty (KBo I 5) predates the reign of Suppiluliuma I.

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