Hayasa-Azzi

[Ashot]

Another Armenian Kingdom

Version 1.

 

HAYASA-AZZI CONFEDERATION

 

Hayasa-Azzi or Azzi-Hayasa,

Haisa was a confederation formed between the

Kingdoms of Hayasa located South of Trabzon and Azzi, located North

of the Euphrates and to the South of

Hayasa. The territory of Hayasa is thought to have been involved in

the formation of the Armenian

nation (Hayk) and ancient Armenian language. The union of tribes

ruled by Hayes (Armenian: Հայ,

a name still used by modern Armenians) was formed there and moved

to Shupria in 12th century BC. [1] [2]

 

1. Before Tudhaliya III (1500-1340s BC)

 

Hittite inscriptions deciphered in

the 1920s by the Swiss scholar Emil Forrer testify to the existence

of a mountain country, the Hayasa and/or the Azzi, lying around

Lake Van. Several prominent authorities

agree in placing Azzi to the north of Ishuwa. Others see Hayasa and Azzi as

identical.

 

Records of the time between Telipinu

and Tudhaliya III are sketchy. The

Hittites seem to have abandoned their capital at Hattusa and moved to Sapinuwa under one of the earlier Tudhaliya kings. In the early 14th cenutury BC

Sapinuwa was burned as well. Hattusili

III recorded of this time that the Azzi had "made Samuha its frontier". It should be born in

mind that people who view themselves as great civilizations are not

always too particular about which group of so-called

"Barbarians" they are fighting. Also at times multiple

atrocities are blamed on one group as a rallying cry for a current

war.

 

2. Tudhaliya III and Suppiluliuma I (1340s-1320s

BC)

 

Tudhaliya III chose to make Samuha his capital. He sent

his general Suppiliuma, who would later serve as king under the

title Suppiluliuma I, against

Hayasa. The Hayasans refused to fight, and Suppiluliuma was

confronted instead by Kaska marauders; but

Suppiluliuma defeated them.

 

During their reigns, the cuneiform tablets of Boğazköy begin to mention the names of

three successive kings who ruled over a state of Hayasa and/or

Azzi. They were Karanni, Mariya, and Hukkana.

 

Karanni made incursions into the Hittite empire, which were

stopped by Tudhaliya together with Suppiluliuma. Mariya, the next

king of Hayasa, who had married a Hittite princess, was punished

with death because of his breach of matrimonial contract.

 

Hukkana, the third in the line, also married a Hittite princess;

by now, Suppiluliuma had become king himself and Hukkana had

married Suppiluliuma's sister.

 

In a treaty signed with Hukkana, Suppiluliuma I mentions a

series of obligations of civil right:

 

 

"My sister, whom I gave you in marriage has sisters;

through your marriage, they now become your relatives. Well, there

is a law in the land of the Hatti. Do not approach sisters, your

sisters-in law or your cousins; that is not permitted. In Hatti

Land, whosoever commits such an act does not live; he dies. In your

country, you do not hesitate to marry your own sister, sister-in

law or cousin, because you are not civilized. Such an act cannot be

permitted in Hatti."

 

 

Despite these restrictions imposed upon Hukkana, he was no meek

and submissive brother-in law in political and military affairs. As

a condition for the release of the thousands of Hittite prisoners

held in his domain, he demanded first the return to home of the

Hayasan prisoners confined in Hatti.

 

3. Mursili II (1320s-1290s BC)

 

The kingdom of Hayasa-Azzi remained quiet for a time, perhaps

hit by the same plague which claimed Suppiluliuma and his son

Arnuwanda II. But in Mursili's

seventh year (three years before Mursili's eclipse - so, 1315 BC),

the "lord of Azzi" Anniya took advantage of

Pihhuniya's unification of the Kaskas

and raided the Hittite border town of Dankuwa.

 

Cavaignac wrote of that period that Anniya "had sacked

several districts and refused to release the prisoners taken. He

had created a political union of the tribes of Armenia, and

organized a kingdom which extended from the River Iris (Yeshil-Irmak) to the Lake of

Van."[citation needed]

 

Hayasa's good fortune did not continue long, however. The

Hittite King Mursili II, having

defeated Pihhuniya and consulted the oracles, invaded Hayasa in. In

the following spring he crossed the Euphrates and re-organized his

army at Ingalova ”Angegh, Angel” which, about ten centuries later,

was to become the treasure-house and burial-place of the Armenian kings of the Arshakuni Dynasty. One of the captured

fortresses lay on the west side of the Lake of Van.

 

The Annals of Mursili thus describe these campaigns (CTH 61, 43, 78[citation

needed]):

 

 

The people of Nahasse arose and besieged" (name

indecipherable). "Other enemies and the people of Hayasa

likewise. They plundered Institina, blockaded Ganuvara with troops

and chariots. And because I had left Nuvanzas, the chief

cup-bearer, and all the heads of the camp and troops and chariots

in the High Country, I wrote to Nuvanzas as follows; 'See the

people of Hayasa have devastated Institina, and blockaded the city

of Ganuvara.' And Nuvanza led troops and chariots for aid and

marched to Ganuvara And then he sent to me a messenger and wrote to

me; 'Will you not go to consult for me the augur and the

foreteller? Could not a decision be made for me by the birds and

the flesh of the expiatory victims?

 

 

 

And I sent to Nuvanza this letter: 'See, I consulted

for you birds and flesh, and they commanded, Go! because these

people of Hayasa, the God U, has already delivered to you; strike

them!

 

 

 

And as I was returning from Astatan to Carchemish, the

royal prince Nana-Lu came to meet me on the road and said, 'The

Hayasan enemy having besieged Ganuvara, Nuvanza marched against him

and met him under the walls of Ganuvara. Ten thousand men and seven

hundred chariots were drawn up in battle against him, and Nuvanza

defeated them. There are many dead and many prisoners.

 

 

(Here the tablets are defaced, and 15 lines lost.)

 

 

And when I arrived in Tiggaramma, the chief cup-bearer

Nuvanza and all the noblemen came to meet me at Tiggaramma. I

should have marched to Hayasa still, but the chiefs said to me,

'The season is now far advanced, Sire, Lord! Do not go to

Hayasa.' And I did not go to Hayasa.

 

 

After Anniya's defeat, neither Azzi nor Hayasa re-emerge in

the Hittite (or Assyrian) record as a

unified nation.

 

4. Decline of Hayasa

 

Hayasa as a fighting power was practically eliminated by the

expedition of Mursil II in 1340 B.C. But after Mursil's

premature death in 1320 B.C., the Hatti empire suffered a series of

shocks. His elder brother Arnuwanda (Arvandas, or Erouand) had also

died young. The origin of the Hay element is still a mystery, but

the existence of the land and people of Hayasa as a factor in

relation to the Hatti covers a long period. [3]

 

6. References

 

 

* Vahan M. Kurkjian, History

of Armenia.

 

* T. V. Gamkrelidze and

V. V. Ivanov,

The Early History of Indo-European (aka Aryan) Languages,

Scientific American, March 1990

 

* Armenia: Cradle of Civilization by David Marshall Lang (review) // The

Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Autumn, 1980),

pp. 312-314, by Sonia Ketchian

[Ashot]

additional information

 

Ancient Armenia (3500 BC - 520 BC)

Armenia is one of the oldest countries in the world with a recorded history of about 3500

years. The oldest known ancestors of modern Armenians, the Hayasa-Azzi tribes, also

known as Proto-Armenians, were indigenous to the Armenian Highland in Eastern

Anatolia. These tribes formed the Nairi tribal union, which existed until late 13th century

BC. The legendary forefather of Armenians, Hayk, famous for his battles with

Babylonian ruler Bel, most likely was one of the Hayasa tribal leaders. The words 'Nairi'

and 'Nairian' are still used by Armenians as poetic synonyms of the words 'Armenia' and

'Armenian'.

At the end of the second millennium BC, another Indo-European ethnic group, closely

related to Thracians and Phrygians and referred to by the Greeks as Armens, migrated to

the Armenian Highland from Northern Balkans. According to a Greek myth, which

actually reflects this tribal migration, the forefather of Armenians - Armenios - was one

of the Argonauts, accompanying Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece. In the year

1115 BC, king Tiglath Pileser I of Assyria reports a battle with a force of 20.000 Armens

in the Gadmokh province of Assyria.

The mixture of Armens with the indigenous Hayasa eventually produced the Armenian

people as it is known today. The existence of two major segments in the Armenian people

is best of all illustrated by the fact that Armenians call themselves "Hay" and their

country "Hayastan" after Hayasa, while other peoples call them Armenians and their

country Armenia after the Armens. The Armenian language is basically the language of

Armens, which is the only survivor of the now extinct Thraco-Phrygian group. It

incorporated a large number of Hayasa words and grammatical features, as well as a

significant number of non-Indo-European words from minor ethnic groups, which also

took part in the ethnogenesis of Armenians.

[Ashot]

Hittite inscriptions deciphered by E. Forrer testify to the existence of a mountain country, the Hayasa, lying around the Lake of Van. Hayasa or Khayasa identified with Haik, Hayk or Hark, was inhabited before the coming of Armens. The suffix sa of Hayasa corresponds to the stan, derivative of Hayasatan (Armenia). Greeks knew about this country (Hayasa) and their writers wrote about armenians or hayers. The cuneiform tablets of Boghaz Keuy have preserved the names of four succesive kings who ruled in Hayasa. They were Karannish, Mariyash, Hukkanash and Anniyash, the four covering a period of 55 years, from 1390 to 1335 B.C.

 

The first-named of this kings made incursions into the Hatti or Hittite empire, which were checked by the Emperor Dudhaliyash and hid successor, Subbiluliuma. Mariyash, the next king of Hayasa, who had married a Hittite princess, was punished with death because of his breach of matrimonial contract. Hukkanash, the third in the line, also married a Hittite princess, the sister of the Emperor Subbiluliuma.

 

The marriage treaty of this couple contained some interesting stipulations peculiar to the time. “My sister, whom I gave you in marriage,” says the Hatti rular, “ has sisters; through your marriage, they now become your relatives. Well, there is a law in the land of the Hatti. Do not approach sisters-in-law or your cousins; that is not permitted. In Hatti Land, whosoever commits such an act does not live; he dies. . . In your country, you do not hesitate to marry your own sister-in-law or cousin, because you are not civilized. Such an act cannot be permitted in Hatti.”

 

Despite these restrictions imposed upon Hukkanash, he was no meek and submissive brother-in-law in political and military affairs. As a condition for the release of the thousands of Hittite prisoners held in his domain, he demanded first the return home of the Hayasan prisoners confined at Hatti. The Hittite Empire had been subject to contant harassment by its eastern neighbors, from the basin of the upper Euphrates to Aravanna (Erevan of today) and Tebruzzi (Tabriz). One of the most important of these enemies crouched on its eastern border was the kingdom of Hayasa-Azzi (the name Azzi represents the Alzi or Alzini of the Assyrian and Urartean inscriptions).

 

"Mursil, the Hittite Emperor," say Cavaignac, speaking of that period, " was busy in the wars waged against Azzi or Hayasa, which were as bitter as those waged against Arzava (Weatern Cilicia). About the beginning of Subbiluliuma's reign, that country (Hayasa-Azzi) was subject to Hittite influence, but won its freedom later on. Annyash, the King of Hayasa, had sacked several districts and refused to release the prisoners taken. He had created a political uniom of the tribes of Armenia, and organized a kingdom which extended from the River Iris (Yerhil-Irmak) to the Lake of Van."

 

Hayasa's good fortune did not continue long, however. The Hittite Mursil II, having consulted the oracles, invaded Hayasa in 1340 B.C. In the following spring he crossed the Euphrates and reorganized his army at Ingalova-Angegh, Angl-which, about ten centuries later, was to become the treasure-house and burial-place of the captured fortresses lay on the west side of the Lake of Van.

 

The Annals of Mursil thus describe these campaigns:

 

"The people of Nahasse arose and besieged" (name indecipher-able).

 

"Other enemies and people of Hayasa likewise. . . . They plundered Institina, blockaded Ganuvara. . . with troops and chariots. And because I had left Nuvanzas, the chief cupbearer, and all the heads of the camp and troops and chariots in the High Country, I wrote to Nuvanzas as follows; "See, the people of Hayasa. . . have devastated Institina, and blockaded the city of Ganuvara." . . . And Nuvanza led troops and chariots for aid and marched to Ganuvara. . . And then he sent to me a messenger and wrote to me; "Will you not go to consult for me the augur and the foreteller? Could not a decision be made for me by the birds and the flesh of the expiatory victims?" "And I sent to Nuvanza this letter: 'See, I consulted for you birds and flesh, and they commanded, Go! because these people of Hayasa, the God U, has already delivered to you; strike them!' "And as I was returning from Astatan to Carchemish, the royal prince Nana-Lu came to meet me on the road and said, 'The Hayasan enemy having besieged Ganuvara. Nuvanza marche against him and met him under the walls of Ganuvara. Ten thousand men and seven hundred chariots were drawn up in battle against him, and Nuvanza defeated them. There are many dead and many prisoners.' " "And when I arrived in Tiggaramma, the chief cup-bearer Nuvanza and all the noblemen came to meet me at Tiggaramma. I Should have marched to Hayasa still, but the chiefs said to me, 'The season is now far advanced, Sire, Lord! Do not go to Hayasa.' And I did not go to Hayasa. Hayasa as a fighting power was practically eliminated by the expedition of Mursil II in 1340 B.C. But after Mursil's premature death in 1320 B.C. the Hatti empire suffered a series of shocks. His elder brother Arvandas (Erouand) had also died young. A natural phenomenon, the eclipse of the sun, had terrified the people. A dreadful epidemic of some sort took a vast number of lives, including that of the Queen. The population of the capital was decimated to such a degree as to require the forced immigration of new inhabitants from adjoining countries. Taking advantage of the ensuing debacle, Mursil's nephew, Arma-u-as (Aramais?), contested against the heir-apparent for the succession to the crown. Still more serious was the menace of the sucession to the crown. Still more serious was the menace of the external enemies of the land, especially those of the North and East, who devastated the country in revenge for Mursil's conquests. A record exists of the incursion of the Kaskas or Kaskians, who crossed the Halys River with 800 chariots and advanced as far as the capital, which they plundered.

 

The King was compelled to remove the idols and the paraphernalia for the worship of the dead to a safer place. The Kaskas-whose home was Armenia- attacked by way of Amasia. Leonard King describes them as an "unruly people" living between the Euphrates and the Lake of Van, and a constant menace to the Hatti. "No Hatti King," says he, "was able to establish his power there permanemtly." It may therefore be safely assumed that Hayasa still exerted its influence. In any case, however, the days of Hattite hegemony were munbered. The Assyrians forged ahead and gradually spread their domination over southern and western Armenia.