Lawazantiya was the cultic city of the goddess Šauška.[1] It is mentioned in Old-Assyrian documents as Luhuzantiya. In Hittite texts the city is known as Lawazantiya (also: Lahuwazantiya, Lauwanzantiya or Lahuzzandiya), in Ugarit as Lwsnd[2] and in Assyrian Annals as Lusanda.[3] There is a Hittite document entitled "Festival of Teššub and Ḫebat of Lawazantiya" which has the king calling these deities in to open the spring festival.[4] Hittite ruler Hattušili III met his future queen, Pudu-Hebain, in Lawazantiya. She is known to have been a strong promoter of Kizzuwatnean cults and traditions and was a daughter of Pentipšarri, a priest of Šauška.[5] In the Telipinu Edict that Hittite ruler (c. 1525-1500 BC) reports that the city had rebelled and been retaken.[6]

Location

The city is known to have been part of the Kizzuwatna region. The earliest mention of the city comes from the Old Assyrian documents as a trading colony in Kaniš, where the place Luḫuzatia is often mentioned, which is common to Lawazantiya.[7] Gojko Barjamovic considers Luḫuzatia and Lawazantiya to be two separate localities, with the former locating in Elbistan.[8] Meanwhile Lawazantiya might be located at Sirkeli Höyük. Tatarli Höyük has also been proposed as the location based on cylinder and stamp seals found at that site.[9]

References

  1. Frayne, Douglas R. and Stuckey, Johanna H.. "Š". A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East: Three Thousand Deities of Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, 2021, pp. 318-337
  2. KTU2 2.40 line 10
  3. "Historical Topography… and the Identification of Sirkeli Höyük". 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  4. Görke, Susanne. "Hurrian and Luwian Elements in the Kizzuwatna Religious Texts" Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 49, no. 1, 2022, pp. 148-157
  5. Martino, Stefano de. "5 Hatti: From Regional Polity to Empire". Handbook Hittite Empire: Power Structures, edited by Stefano de Martino, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2022, pp. 205-270
  6. Bilgin, Tayfun. "3. The Top-level Offices of Hittite State Administration". Officials and Administration in the Hittite World, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2018, pp. 97-359
  7. Philo Hendrik Jan Houwink Ten Cate. The Luwian Population Groups of Lycia and Cilicia Aspera. p. 19.
  8. Gojko Barjamovic. A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 133–143.
  9. Girginer, K. Serdar, and Dominique Collon. "Cylinder and Stamp Seals from Tatarli Höyük." Anatolian Studies, vol. 64, 2014, pp. 59–72

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