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Madduwatta (sometimes given as Madduwattas) was a king of Arzawa
Arzawa

Arzawa was the name of a region or kingdom in Western Anatolia, which later to be known as Lydia in the post-Hittite era. It was the western neighbour and sometimes vassal of the Hittites, and probably bordered on the Assuwa league to the north....
, in Anatolia, about 14th or 13th century BC.

aced a struggle, in the Lukka
Lukka

The Lukka lands are often mentioned in Hittites texts from the second millennium BC. It denotes a region in the southwestern part of Anatolia. The Lukka lands were never put under permanent Hittite control and were viewed as hostile by the Hittites....
 Lands (posterior Caria
Caria

Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians and Dorians Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there....
 and Doris), against a "man from Ahhiya" (land of Achaeans?, in Peloponnesos), named Attarisiya (or Atreus
Atreus

In Greek mythology, Atreus was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, a king of Mycenae, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae....
, in Hellenized rendering) and lost his rule.






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Madduwatta (sometimes given as Madduwattas) was a king of Arzawa
Arzawa

Arzawa was the name of a region or kingdom in Western Anatolia, which later to be known as Lydia in the post-Hittite era. It was the western neighbour and sometimes vassal of the Hittites, and probably bordered on the Assuwa league to the north....
, in Anatolia, about 14th or 13th century BC.

Life


Perhaps, Madduwatta (or Madyattes, in Hellenized rendering) was first a local king of a Lukka city-state at coast of southwestern Asia Minor. He faced a struggle, in the Lukka
Lukka

The Lukka lands are often mentioned in Hittites texts from the second millennium BC. It denotes a region in the southwestern part of Anatolia. The Lukka lands were never put under permanent Hittite control and were viewed as hostile by the Hittites....
 Lands (posterior Caria
Caria

Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians and Dorians Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there....
 and Doris), against a "man from Ahhiya" (land of Achaeans?, in Peloponnesos), named Attarisiya (or Atreus
Atreus

In Greek mythology, Atreus was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, a king of Mycenae, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae....
, in Hellenized rendering) and lost his rule. Tudhaliya
Tudhaliya

Tudhaliya is the name of several Hittite kings*Tudhaliya is a hypothetic pre-Empire king of the Hittites. He would have reigned in the late 17th century BC ....
 II, great king of Hittite Empire, gave Madduwatta asylum, and even gave him (back?) the mountainous kingdom Zippasla (i.e. Sippylos, the mountainous part of Lydia
Lydia

Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkey provinces of Manisa Province and inland Izmir Province....
?) with the Siyanti River Land (Maeandrus river?); but, on condition that Madduwatta use it as a base to invade Arzawa (classical enemy of Hittite Empire).

When Madduwatta did this, Kupanta-Kurunta
Kupanta-Kurunta

Kupanta-Kurunta was the first recorded king of Arzawa, in the late 15th century BC. He was defeated by an earlier Tudhaliya and his son, the future Arnuwanda I....
, king of Arzawa, destroyed his army (again) and occupied Zippasla. Once more, Tudhaliya II defeated Madduwatta's enemy and restored Madduwatta to his throne. And then, Madduwatta's previous enemy Attarisiya attacked Zippasla, with 100 chariots (famously). This time, Madduwatta did not even defend himself, but fled a third time to the Hittites
Hittites

The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a Hittite language of the Anatolian languages of the Indo-European languages family, and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia ca....
. Tudhaliya II sent a third army under Kisnapali (or Cythnobales, in Hellenized redering) (a Hittite general) to the land to drive Attarissiya out. This time, the Hittite army was ordered to stay.

Madduwatta, apparently, then decided he was never again going to suffer such indignities. When Dalawa (classical Tlos
Tlos

Tlos is known to have been one of the most important religious centers of the Lycian region in Antalya province of Turkey.It is known as the city where mythological hero Bellerophon and his winged flying horse Pegasus lived....
, Lycian Tlawa ) and Hinduwa (compare classical Hindus river, in soutwestern Asia Minor) rebelled, Madduwatta suggested that Kisnapali take Hinduwa while Madduwatta take Dalawa. But while Kisnapili was on his way to Hinduwa, Madduwatta allied with Dalawa, and with its help ambushed and killed Kisnapali. Independent once more, Madduwatta married the Arzawan king's daughter, and soon took that kingdom too.

When Tudhaliya II ordered Madduwatta to put down a revolt in Hapalla (or Caballa, a kingdom, in central Asia Minor), he did - but then Madduwatta forced Hapalla, too, to switch loyalty to his own side. He then bullied Pitassa (the posterior Pisidia
Pisidia

Pisidia was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Lycia, and bordering Caria, Lydia, Phrygia and Pamphylia. It corresponds roughly to the modern-day province of Antalya in Turkey)....
) into his kingdom, even closer to the Hittite heartland. Under Tudhaliya's successor Arnuwanda I, Madduwatta even allied with his old foe Attarisiya and invaded Alasiya (Salamis, Cyprus).

So, Madduwatta had conquered the whole of western Anatolia.

Bibliography and references

The main source is the "Indictment of Madduwattas" by Arnuwanda, Tudhaliya's heir. (Beckman pp. 153-160). (The "Indictment" was first assigned to the end of the Hittite kingdom, a mistake that persists to this day in certain places.)

  1. Beckman, Gary, 1999, Hittite Diplomatic Texts, 2nd ed. Scholars Press, Atlanta.
  2. Bryce, T., 1998, The Kingdom of the Hittites
  3. Drews, R., 1993, The End of the Bronze Age
  4. James, Peter, 1995, The Sunken Kingdom. Jonathan Cape, London. Introduction.
  5. Gurney, O. R., 1991, The Hittites
  6. Lowell, Ian Russell, Annals of Mursili - years 1 to 8
  7. Macqueen, J.G., 1996, The Hittites
  8. Singer, Itamar, 2002, Hittite Prayers. Scholars Press, Atlanta.


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