Warpalawas II
Warpalawas, king of Tuwana, prays in front of divine symbols. Detail of a stele from Bor. 8th century BC. Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul
Warpalawas, king of Tuwana, prays in front of divine symbols. Detail of a stele from Bor. 8th century BC. Museum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul
King of Tuwana
Reignc. 740s–705 BCE[1]
PredecessorMuwaḫaranis I
SuccessorMuwaḫaranis II
Bornc. early 8th century BCE
Died705 BC[1]
IssueMuwaḫaranis II
LuwianWarpalawas
Akkadian𒁹𒌨𒁄𒆷𒀀[2][3]
Urpalla[4]
HouseDynasty of Warpalawas I (?)[5]
FatherMuwaḫaranis I
ReligionLuwian religion

Warpalawas II was a Luwian king of the Syro-Hittite kingdom of Tuwana in the region of Tabal who reigned during the late 8th century BC, from around c. 740 to 705 BC.[1]

Life

Warpalawas II was the son of the previous king of Tuwana, Muwaḫaranis I.[5]

Both Warpalawas II and Muwaḫaranis I may have been part of a dynasty which had ruled Tuwana for much of the 8th century BC, with another king of the same name, Warpalawas I, having been possibly ruled Tuwana in the earlier 8th century BC, and who might have been an ancestor of Muwaḫaranis I and Warapalas II.[5]

Reign

Warwapalas II appears to have succeeded his father Muwaḫaranis I on the throne of Tuwana around c. 740 BC.[1]

Submission to the Neo-Assyrian Empire

Warpalawas II was mentioned in the records of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under the name of Urpalla[4][6] as one of five kings who offered tribute to Tiglath-Pileser III in 738 and 737 BC, and he appears to have maintained a policy of cooperating with the Neo-Assyrian Empire.[1][7]

Warpalawas II's pro-Assyrian orientation is visible in how how monuments used an Assyrianising style of sculpture: the best known of these monuments is a relief from Ivriz, on which Warpalawas II, himself represented in Assyrian style, is depicted praying to the Luwian Storm-god Tarḫunza.[4][1]

Relations with Tabal

The king Wasusarma of the kingdom of Tabal claimed that Warpalawas II supported him in a battle where he defeated eight enemy kings near the city of Parzuta,[8] although the veracity of Wasusarma's claim regarding the participation of Warpalawas in this battle as his ally is still uncertain.[9]

Vassals

The kingdom of Tuwana was powerful enough to have included a sub-kingdom,[10][7] located at the site corresponding to present-day Porsuk,[8] and ruled by a king named Tarḫunazas who identified himself as a "servant" of Warpalawas II.[11]

Tarḫunazas himself recorded in his inscription that, in exchange for his services, Warpalawas II had rewarded him[8] with Mount Muti,[7] which was likely a rocky outcrop of the Taurus Mountains near the Cilician Gates.[8]

İvriz relief, depicting Warpalawas II (smaller, on the right) worshipping the Storm-god Tarḫunza (taller, on the left)

Relations with Phrygia

Warpalawas II also carried out relations with the Phrygian kingdom to the north-west of Tuwana, as attested by a report from c. 710 or c. 709 BC by Aššur-šarru-uṣur, the Neo-Assyrian governor of Quwê, that Warpalawas II had demanded an audience with him in the company of an envoy of Midas II of Phrygia, with Aššur-šarru-uṣur being doubtful whether Warpalawas II was indeed loyal to the Neo-Assyrian Empire.[1][7]

This suggests that Warpalawas was one of the last still independent kings of the Tabal region who was being increasingly pressured by Phrygia and Assyria[7] because of the location of his kingdom between these two powers.[4]

Some Old Phrygian inscriptions on basalt, possibly dated from Warpalawas II's reign, as well as the Phrygian robe depicted as worn by Warpalawas II in his Ivriz monument, suggest that aspects of Phrygian culture were arriving into Tuwana at this time.[1]

The presence of the name "Midas" on one of these inscriptions has led to the archaeologist M. J. Mellink hypothesising that this was the king Midas II of Phrygia, who had set up a monument in the city of his friend and ally, Warpalawas II. However, the long-time staunch pro-Assyrian orientation of Warpalawas II makes this hypothesis unlikely, and there is no evidence that Warpalawas II was ever an ally of Midas II.[12]

Later years

Warpalawas II appears to have come under direct Assyrian rule during the later years of his reign, especially after the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II had deported the king Ambaris of Tabal/Bīt-Burutaš to Assyria and reorganised Tabal/Bīt-Burutaš itself, as part of which Tuwana and other nearby Anatolian kingdoms might have come under the authority of Aššur-šarru-uṣur.[4][8]

This reorganisation also increased Warpalawas II's authority in Tabal/Bīt-Burutaš so that Warpalawas II was ruling at least part of this kingdom's territory, as attested by Aššur-šarru-uṣur's report that two other Tabalian kingdoms, Atuna and Ishtuanda, had seized certain cities of Bīt-Burutaš from Warpalawas II.[4]

Warpalawas II seems to have continued his pro-Assyrian policy throughout his reign, thanks to which he was able to rule in Tuwana for a very long period until at least c. 709 BC, at which date he was mentioned in the letter of Aššur-šarru-uṣur.[1]

Legacy

An alternative hypothesis regarding Phrygian influence in Tuwana, proposed by Trevor Bryce, is that Midas II might have attempted to fill the power vacuum left in Tabal that followed the death of Sargon II in battle in Tabal in c. 705 BC.[8]

Warpalawas II was succeeded by his son, Muwaḫaranis II.[4][8][7]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bryce 2012, p. 150.
  2. ↑ "Urpalla [1] (PN)". Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus. University of Pennsylvania.
  3. ↑ "Urpalla [1] (PN)". Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus. University of Pennsylvania.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bryce 2009, p. 726.
  5. 1 2 3 Bryce 2012, p. 149.
  6. ↑ Bryce 2012, p. 141.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hawkins 2014, p. 408.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bryce 2012, p. 152.
  9. ↑ Bryce 2012, p. 144.
  10. ↑ Bryce 2012, p. 148.
  11. ↑ Bryce 2012, p. 148-149.
  12. ↑ Bryce 2012, p. 150-152.

Bibliography

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