The Luwian Civilization (2016)

The Luwian Civilization
“It turns out that the Luwians were a far greater people than the
Hittites [...] It is becoming increasingly apparent that the culture of
the Hatti kingdom had been established in all parts by the Luwians The Luwian Civilization
and taken over by the Hittites.” The Missing Link in the Aegean Bronze Age
Emil Forrer in a letter to his PhD advisor Eduard Meyer, written on
EBERHARD ZANGGER
20 August 1920.
EBERHARD ZANGGER
The Missing Link in the Aegean Bronze Age
The Missing Link in the Aegean Bronze Age
E G E YAY I N L A R I
The Lu w ia n Civ il iz at io n
The M is s ing L ink in t he Aegean Bro nze Age
E b e rha rd Z a ng g e r
© 2016 Eberhard Zangger EBERHARD ZANGGER

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CO NT E N T S
1. Prologue 9
2. A New Perspective of the Aegean Bronze Age 13
3. The Luwians 19
3.1 Who Are the Luwians? 19
3.2 Habitat and Natural Resources 24
3.3 Late Bronze Age Archaeological Sites in Western Asia Minor 31
3.4 Petty States in Western Asia Minor 37
3.5 Luwian Scripts 42
3.6 Linear A Script 47
3.7 The Phaistos Disc 50
3.8 The Missing Link 56
3.9 Why are the Luwians Missing? 61
4. Bronze Age 69
4.1 Late Bronze Age Shipwrecks 69
4.2 The Mycenaean Culture on the Greek Mainland 73
4.3 Minoan Crete 79
4.4 Hatti – the Hittite Empire 85
4.5 The New Kingdom in Egypt 91
4.6 Petty Kingdoms in Syria and Palestine 96
5. Troy 103 9. Luwian Studies and its Goals 237
5.1 The History of Troy 103 9.1 Closing the Research Gap 237
5.2 The Investigation of Troy 108 9.2 Proposed Methods 242
5.3 The Lower Town 115
5.4 Hydro Engineering During the Bronze Age 120 10. Epilogue 247
5.5 Descriptions of Ancient Troy 131
11. Appendices 251
6. The Sea Peoples 137 Glossary 251
6.1 The Sea Peoples' Inscriptions and Excavation Results 137 Sources 283
6.2 Hypotheses Regarding the Sea Peoples’ Invasions 143 Bibliography 285
6.3 The Initial Sea Peoples’ Raids 147 Picture credits 293
6.4 The Trojan War as a Mycenaean Counterattack 154

6.5 Civil War on the Greek Mainland 160
7. Iron Age 167

7.1 Migrations at the Beginning of the Iron Age 167
7.2 Caria 171
7.3 Phrygia 176
7.4 Lydia 181
7.5 The Philistines in Canaan and Palestine 184
7.6 Phoenicians 186
7.7 The Etruscan Culture 189
8. Sources 195
8.1 The Homeric Epics 195
8.2 Non-Homeric Accounts of the Trojan War 200
8.3 Dio Chrysostom 203
8.4 Dictys Cretensis 206
8.5 Dares Phrygius 209
8.6 Quintus of Smyrna 213
8.7 Eusebius of Caesarea 216
8.8 John Malalas 219
8.9 Joseph of Exeter 223
8.10 Benoît de Sainte-Maure 226
8.11 Guido de Columnis 230
1 . P ro l o g u e
As far back as 1836, 180 years ago, the German scholar Johann Uschold
published a 352-page compendium about the history of the Trojan War
in which he concluded that the famous Carians, Lydians, Phrygians,
Mysians, and Lycians in Asia Minor “had been considered in antiquity
to be branches of one and the same nation.” He also pointed out that
the predecessors of these people inhabited Greece in prehistoric times,
and that “…so much information has been preserved by the best estab-
lished writers in antiquity that we cannot understand why these people
have been passed over in previous treatments.”
The German linguist Paul Kretschmer argued along similar lines. In
1896, he wrote that many place names in Greece could be traced back to
a wave of Indo-European people who came from Anatolia, long before
Greek-speaking people had arrived. This argument was picked up and
developed further by the Troy excavator Carl Blegen in 1928.
From 1901 onward, the Berlin-based Assyriologist Hugo Winckler
claimed that in addition to Mesopotamia and Egypt a third civiliza-
tion – situated in Asia Minor – had existed, one that possessed its own
writing system. He claimed that these Anatolian people adhered to an
astral cult, of which much is preserved in today’s religions. Despite
the resistance and fierce scholarly dispute this triggered, in 1906, when
Winckler initiated excavations near Boğazkale in central Asia Minor
and discovered Hattuša, the capital of the Hittite kingdom, he found
documents containing lists of stars in the very first season of fieldwork.
Many thousands of documents were retrieved from Hattuša. The
first person to identify the eight different languages recorded in them
was Emil Forrer, a Swiss Assyriologist and Hittitologist. In a letter to
his PhD advisor, dated 20 August 1920, Forrer concluded that besides
the Hittites another civilization had existed in Asia Minor, a “far greater
10 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N PROLOGUE • 11
people than the Hittites.” He called them the Luwians. According to For me, as a natural scientist, a basic prerequisite of scientific
him, “the culture of the Hatti Kingdom had been established in all parts advancement is the freedom to think along new lines. This is why
by the Luwians.” almost all of the chapters of this book contain a section entitled “Sug-
More scholars conducted research on the Luwians. In 1876, a local gestions.” This treatment of the Aegean Bronze Age differs from oth-
peasant found a bronze tablet at Beyköy in the highlands of west- ers in that it offers rather little of a summary of existing knowledge,
ern Turkey. It eventually made its way into the archives of the Otto- but above all new (or forgotten) ideas, hints, and arguments. Its main
man Empire. From the late 1950s, Yale professor and Anatolia expert incentive is to provide food for thought and stimulate new research.
Albrecht Goetze worked on the publication of these “Beyköy Texts.”
They contained a collection of lists of Anatolian states, kings, and mili- Zurich, April 2016
tary actions from dim memories dating back to 3170 BCE all the way Eberhard Zangger
until their compilation in 1170 BCE (with even some later addendums).
But Goetze died before his manuscript was published, and by now both
his manuscript and the original bronze tablets have been forgotten.
James Mellaart, the discoverer and first excavator of Çatalhöyük
and Beycesultan, argued in the 1950s that the term “Luwian” should
be used for the people of western Asia Minor to distinguish them from
those in central and eastern Anatolia, the regions controlled by the
Great Kings of Hatti. He drew maps in which a majestic state called
“Arzawa” covered virtually all of western Asia Minor.
In the early 1960s, Leonard Palmer, a professor at Oxford University
and president of the British Philological Society, published some books
and articles in which he used the previous decipherment of Luwian
hieroglyphic to draw further conclusions about Aegean prehistory –
thereby triggering linguistic enquiries into the Luwians that are still
vigorous today.
So it turns out that the existence of a Luwian civilization has been
known for centuries – and yet its story has never been told. While there
has been an abundance of work on the Aegean Bronze Age (ca. 3000–
1200) in recent years, none has come close to answering fundamental
questions such as: How did the Minoan, Mycenaean and Hittite civili-
zations come into being, and what caused their demise? Who were the
Sea Peoples? Was the Trojan War an historic event? What did the city
of Troy look like, and why did it become so famous? There are count-
less other open questions in connection with these major issues. As it
turns out, answers to these questions begin to fall into place when the
Luwian civilization is taken into account.
2. A N ew Pe r s p e ct i ve of t h e
Ae g e a n B ro n ze Ag e
This book invites you on a journey into a distant past, when the so-
called Sea Peoples raided the coasts of the Eastern Mediterranean and
Greek heroes set off to conquer legendary Troy. It aims to trace back
what might have actually happened shortly after 1200 BCE. At that
time, the majority of civilizations around the Eastern Mediterranean
collapsed within a few years. It is the time when the heroic societies of
the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean came to an end. To this day, we
still don’t quite know what caused the rather abrupt change in this part
of the world. Finding a plausible solution for the cultural demise ranks
as one of the most puzzling questions in Mediterranean Archaeology.
Since having started out as a geoarchaeologist, a specialist for the
reconstruction of ancient landscapes, I keep coming back to a com-
monly accepted paradox in archaeology that has to do with prehistoric
Troy, the legendary Troy, located in western Anatolia. For a long time
the site was considered among archaeologists to be no more than a
“pirates’ nest,” as its latest excavator Manfred Korfmann initially put it,
a small residence of local rulers at best. According to Homer, however,
a large number of Mycenaean kingdoms had gone through the trouble
of forming an alliance, assembling a fleet of almost 1200 ships and send-
ing one hundred thousand of their compatriots to fight against Troy
and its allies in the early 12th century BCE. Furthermore, for two thou-
sand years, western Europeans had tried to trace their roots back to the
royal Trojan family. Not to mention major European cities, Rome, Paris
and London among them, which claim to have been built according to
the model of Troy. Something is obviously amiss here between the past
and the current perception of this prehistorical era and location.
14 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N A NEW PERSPECTIVE OF THE AEGEAN BRONZE AGE • 15
The more I focused my research on prehistorian societies in west- Amenhotep III, specifically asked to be allowed to marry a Luwian prin-
ern Anatolia, the more it became evident that Troy wasn’t an isolated cess. In his mortuary temple he had Luwians and Ionians depicted, half
small town at the entrance to the Dardanelles. Instead, Troy was tightly a millennium before Greek emigrants got a closer look at those regions.
linked to its fertile and thriving hinterland as well as to neighboring Later, during the Early Iron Age, three of the Seven Wonders of the
settlements on the shores of the Dardanelles further south along the World had been erected on formerly Luwian territory, and practically
eastern coast of the Aegean. Aegean prehistorians, however, have never all Greek scholars before Socrates hailed from what used to be Luwian
comprehensively examined this region, western Asia Minor. To deter- states.
mine who the actual neighbors of the Trojans were, I began establishing Yet, for reasons that will be explained in this book, the Luwians
an inventory of the already known settlements in western Asia Minor have remained completely unknown in terms of archaeological excava-
that were inhabited between 2000 and 1000 BCE. It soon became clear tions. They do not appear on any political map of the Aegean Bronze
that this pursuit required the training of an archaeologist and compre- Age, and there are still virtually no prehistorians who would publicly
hension of the Turkish language. I was fortunate that Serdal Mutlu, say that the Luwians ever wielded economic and political power.
a trained archaeologist and PhD candidate at Zurich University, took The end of the Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean is excep-
over the task of researching the literature – and I am exceedingly grate- tionally complex. Research results from about a dozen natural scienc-
ful to him. After two years of literature studies, we have accumulated a es disciplines, and from at least another dozen in the humanities, all
catalogue of 340 already known major archaeological sites. Very few of need to be taken into account. Even though the scope and depth of
these have been excavated on a large scale – and virtually none of these the required research extends beyond the limits of what seems feasible,
were published in a western language. I have tried to holistically reconstruct what might have happened at
It dawned on me that the people living in western Asia Minor – the end of the Bronze Age. Whenever possible, I have consulted up-to-
east of the well-known Mycenaeans and west of the Hittites – formed date literature, in which earlier works are quoted. However, I have also
a civilization in its own right. Since as early as 1920, their culture has found many valuable and stimulating ideas in publications dating back
been recognized and called “Luwian” after the language they spoke. to the 19th century or even earlier and have indicated these as well, hop-
Throughout the 2nd millennium BCE, people speaking a Luwian lan- ing that they may not become entirely forgotten.
guage lived across Asia Minor. They were contemporaries, trading The sections of this book consist for the most part of three elements.
partners and at times opponents of the Minoan, Mycenaean, and Hittite First, I summarize the current state of knowledge on the respective top-
cultures of Greece and Asia Minor. The Luwians in western Asia Minor ic as objectively as possible, much as it is done in Wikipedia. For each
possessed the knowledge of writing almost 600 years before it became topic, there is an alternative interpretation of the known facts (called
customary at Mycenaean courts. And when the art of writing was lost “Suggestions”) offering new working hypotheses and ideas for future
in Greece at the end of the Bronze Age, it still persisted amongst Luwi- research. These are meant as hints for others to start looking for clues
ans for another half a millennium. along new avenues of thinking. It is not the intention to replace petri-
The territory inhabited by Luwian-speaking populations was about fied paradigms with other paradigms. Finally, a box provides quotes
three times as large as the core area of the Mycenaean civilization and five from other scholars regarding the issue at stake. If the original publica-
times as large as that of the Hittites. We know that the settlement density tions from which these quotes are derived were not in English, I took
in the Luwian territory was at least equivalent to that of the Mycenaean, the liberty to translate them. For the most part, these quotes reinforce
Minoan and Hittite regions. The Hittite king Muršili II claimed to have my suggestions. Some, however, may argue against my ideas in order
taken 66,000 prisoners during his campaigns against Luwian lands. to show the spectrum of opinions.
The richest and most powerful ruler of the world at the time, Pharaoh
16 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N THE LUWIANS • 17
3 . T h e Lu w i a n s
3.1 Who Are the Luwians?

Current state of knowledge
Possibly due to its vast extent and complicated topography, for thou-
sands of years the majority of western Asia Minor was politically frag-
mented into many petty kingdoms and principalities. This certainly
weakened the region in its economic and political significance, but it
also delayed the recognition of a more or less consistent Luwian cul-
ture.
From a linguistics point
of view, however, the
Luwian culture is relatively
well known. From about
2000 BCE Luwian person-
al names and loanwords
appear in Assyrian docu-
ments retrieved from the
trading town Kültepe (also
Kaniš or Neša). Assyrian
merchants who lived in Asia
Minor at the time described
the indigenous population
as nuwa’um, correspond-
ing to “Luwians.” At about
the same time, early Hit-
Sea Peoples with feather crowns bear the name Tekker,
Previous pages: Using a Geographic Information System, researchers at the Luwian Studies foundation
tite settlements arose a little which is reminiscent of “Teucer,” a term commonly used for
nd
recorded and evaluated 340 settlements of the 2 millennium BCE in western Turkey. further north at the upper the Trojans after 1200 BCE.
B lack S e a
Luwian? Hittite
Greek Luwian
M e d i te r r a n e a n S e a
The region where Luwian was spoken at the end of the Bronze Age was much larger than the one where The kidney-shaped settlement mound Tavşanlı Höyük in the center is 400×300 m in size and was settled
Hittite was spoken. until 1200 BCE.
Kızılırmak River. In documents from the Hittite capital Hattuša writ- Suggestions
ten in Akkadian cuneiform, western Asia Minor is originally called A gap between linguistics and prehistory
Luwiya. Hittite laws and other documents also contain references to
translations into “Luwian language.” Accordingly, Luwian was spo- Thanks to the over 33,000 documents from Hattuša, the capital of the
ken in various dialects throughout southern and western Anatolia. The Hittite Kingdom, linguists have been able to gain a comprehensive
language belongs to the Anatolian branch of Indo-European languages. insight into Luwian culture. Some fundamental publications include
It was recorded in Akkadian cuneiform on the one hand, but also in its the book Arzawa, by Susanne Heinhold-Krahmer (1977); The Luwians,
own hieroglyphic script, one that was used over a timespan of at least edited by H. Craig Melchert (2003); and Luwian Identities, edited by
1400 years (2000–600 BCE). Luwian hieroglyphic ranks, therefore, as Alice Mouton and others (2013). Field-oriented excavating archaeolo-
the first script in which an Indo-European language is transcribed. The gists, on the other hand, never mention Luwians in their explanatory
people using this script and speaking a Luwian language lived during models. The current knowledge regarding the Aegean Bronze Age
the Bronze and Early Iron Age in Asia Minor and northern Syria. has been summarized in a number of recently published voluminous
works, without attention to any Luwian culture.
For a number of reasons discussed later, recognition of a Luwian
civilization seems to have been delayed. The gap between linguistics
and prehistory regarding the investigations of the Luwians has exist-
ed for almost a century, since Emil Forrer, the Hittitologist who first
identified the Luwian language in the tablets from Hattuša, recognized “It turns out that the Luwians were a far greater people than the Hittites …
the significance of the Luwians as early as 1920. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the culture of the Hatti Kingdom had
Today, the term “Luwian” is well-established to denote a language, been established in all parts by the Luwians and taken over by the Hittites.”
a script and an ethno-linguistic group of people who commanded Emil Forrer on 20 August 1920 in a letter to his PhD advisor Eduard Meyer
either one or both of them. Since most Luwian hieroglyphic documents (Oberheid 2007, 93)
have thus far been found in Early Iron Age Syria and Palestine, the
“Asia Minor in pre-Hittite times was clearly divided into a western and an
term Luwian is often used to denote people at the eastern end of the
eastern half each with its characteristic culture. Both halves were ethnically
Mediterranean during the 10th and 9th century BCE. However, Luwian
and linguistically different. The western cultural area, with which we are most
hieroglyphic script occurs as early as 2000 BCE in western and southern
concerned, was eventually to be occupied by the Luwians.”
Asia Minor as well. Therefore, the term Luwian is also applied to the
Leonard R. Palmer 1961, 249
indigenous people who lived in western and southern Anatolia – in
addition to the Hattians – prior to the arrival of the Hittites and dur- “It is generally assumed that western Asia Minor was to a large extent – if not
ing the Hittite reign. In the context of this book, the term Luwian is completely – Luwian.” Robert Beekes 2003, 47
used in a third sense – in a geographic and chronological context. It
“Luwians must have been as important for the history of Bronze Age Anatolia
comprises the people who lived in western Asia Minor during the 2nd
as were the Hittites.” Ilya Yakubovich 2010, 3
millennium BCE between the Mycenaeans in Greece and the Hittites
in Central Anatolia, and who would not have regarded themselves as “The Luwians played at least as important a role as the Hittites in the history of
belonging to either one of the aforementioned cultures. This definition the Ancient Near East during the second and first millennia BCE, but for various
is no different from the ones we use today. Every person belongs to an reasons they have been overshadowed and even confused with their more
ethno-linguistic group, and everyone lives in a certain jurisdiction – famous relatives and neighbors.” Harold Craig Melchert 2003 (back cover)
but of course, the two do not have to be identical. In the context of this “The Luwians [are] one of the most important yet elusive peoples of the
book, the jurisdiction – Middle and Late Bonze Age western Asia Minor ancient Near East.” Itamar Singer 2011, 727
– and the people living within it are the focal point of attention, and not
their ethnic provenance. “The beginning of the new millennium brought a sharp increase in interest in
Luwian Studies.” Alice Mouton et al. 2013, 6
“Already in 1986, [Harvard professor of linguistics Calvert] Watkins interpreted

the names of leading Trojans (Priam, Paris) in the Iliad to be Luwian.” Michael
Reichel 2011, 40
“On the tenth day, at the moment of the last watch of the night … in the stable
I make a libation and I invoke the gods Pirinkar and Ishtar. In Hurrian I pro-
nounce these words: ‘For the horses … O Pirinkar and Ishtar.’ And in Luwian I
pronounce the words, ‘For the horses! May all go well.’”
Inscription on an altar in Kom al-Samak in western Thebes dating to the time of
Amenhotep III, after Arielle P. Kozloff 2012, 165
3.2 Habitat and Natural Resources

Asia Minor is often called a bridge continent between Asia and Europe,
but this does not sufficiently emphasize its uniqueness. Africa is so
close that it seems justifiable to claim that in Asia Minor, land routes
of three continents connect with the coasts of four seas: the Caspian
Sea, the Black Sea, the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. A simi-
larly privileged geostrategic constellation cannot be found anywhere
else in the world; this is even more valid considering that the climate is
extremely favorable for human settlement.
The abundance of natural resources may have been one reason why
it was in Asia Minor that humans founded their first settlements, first
raised crops and livestock, and why metal processing and later coinage
had their origins in this region. Before the emergence of knowledge
work in the 20th century, a region’s natural resources were crucial to the
success of the societies on its soil. These resources include the geopo-
litical situation, mineral deposits, natural stone, year-round precipita-
tion, rivers, forest resources and agricultural land. Asia Minor, thanks
to its geological history and geographical location, was well-endowed
in each of these categories.
Suggestions
T he wealthiest person in the history of the world
No region around the Eastern Mediterranean offers such a large, con-

tiguous stretch of fertile land as does the region west of present-day
Turkey. Nowhere else in the Eastern Mediterranean do navigable
waterways reach so deep into the interior, nor are there so many natu-
ral harbors, expansive fertile flood plains and endless forests (with the
latter being only relics today). A vast area of fertile soil covers the west
of Asia Minor. The expansion and lushness of the Gediz valley (called
Hermos valley in antiquity) is even somewhat reminiscent of the Nile
Delta. Also with regard to mineral resources, there is hardly any other
Right page: Asia Minor lies at the intersection of the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. Inspirations, ideas
and goods from all directions met and merged there.
Gold
Silver
Copper
Lead
The Luwian core territory in the west of modern Turkey is particularly rich in ore deposits. Archaeological excavations at Küllüoba have uncovered several meters of stratified settlement remains
dating to the Early Bronze Age.
part of the Eastern Mediterranean that is as mineral-rich as western

Asia Minor. The ridges east of Troy contain lead/zinc as well as copper
and gold deposits, which were already exploited in prehistoric times.
Even more famous for its gold was Sardis, a little further south. It was
in Sardis that Croesus, proverbially the richest man on earth, ruled.
Today, the distinction between rich and poor is facile. Those with a
lot of money are rich, those without are poor. But how was this distinc-
tion made before money was invented? Until then, the possession of
metals had been generally accepted as a measure of wealth. Metal pro-
cessing had already begun in the 8th millennium – again it was invented
in Asia Minor. The value of metals depended on their rarity and the dif-
ficulty of smelting. Lead is widely available and melts at low tempera-
tures. Early on it was processed primarily for jewelry, and later also
used as a substrate for correspondence. Copper combined with about
10 percent tin makes bronze, the eponymous metal for the Bronze Age
(ca. 3000–1200 BCE in the Eastern Mediterranean). Bronze was used
for weapons and tools. Silver came from both silver mines as well as At all times, Mount Ida south of Troy was blessed with dense forests.
Artist’s reconstruction of parts of the Neolithic settlement Çatalhöyük.
from the lead and copper processing and was used for jewelry, as it still
is today. Gold production was directly overseen by the royal courts.
Even more valuable than gold was iron, whose value around 1800 BCE
was forty times that of silver. Brass (copper and zinc), too, may have
been regarded as particularly valuable. The natural amalgam (e.g. the
mineral aurichalcite) occurs only rarely. Small objects made of brass
(orichalkos in Modern Greek) that contained up to 17 percent zinc were
in use on the island of Lesbos, just south of the Troad, as early as the
3rd millennium.
It comes as no surprise that some kings with rich mineral resources
in their realms were able to become famous and powerful. The com-
prehensive map showing the distribution of mineral resources avail-
able during the Late Bronze Age, both in Greece and in Asia Minor,
Left page: The trade routes and alluvial plains in western Asia Minor determined
the settlement pattern in the 2nd millennium BCE.
Settlement
Gold Silver Copper Lead

indicates three regions that were particularly rich: the Troad, the region 3.3 Late Bronze Age Archaeological Sites in
around Sardis and Greek Macedonia. Each of these regions produced Western Asia Minor
a ruler who occupied a special place in history: Priam, Croesus and
Alexander the Great. Current state of knowledge
Along the Aegean coast of Turkey, a number of famous archaeologi-

“It is clear that nowhere did cross-cultural contacts play out more dramatically cal sites have become major tourist attractions. Ephesus, Pergamon,
than in western Anatolia in the second millennium.” Miletus, Sardis, Aphrodisias, Didyma and Iasos are widely known.
Billie Jean Collins et al. 2008, 4 At almost all of these sites, however, archaeological scrutiny does not
extend further back than the Greek colonization in the 8th century BCE.
“Anatolia is a land blessed with abundant natural resources, including a wealth
The reason for this is that preserved archaeological remains would
of mineral deposits and abundant forests, the two elements necessary of a
have to be removed to gain access to the Bronze Age settlement layers
major metal industry.” James D. Muhly 2011, 858
underneath. As a result, some archaeological excavations only reveal
“The increasing use of metal as a material for weapons, tools and jewelry the uppermost Byzantine structures. Little is known about the preced-
implies the possibility of its hoarding, and thus the accumulation of wealth as ing Bronze Age settlements, whose remains, despite significant archae-
an essential basis of the emergence of a social upper class.” ological activity above, remain hidden a few meters below.
Andreas Müller-Karpe 1994, 180 Several hundred Late Bronze Age settlements are already known
today in the region stretching from Antalya, in the southeast, to Troy,
“A large number of copper, lead and gold deposits is known from the Biga
in the northwest. Only two of these have been extensively excavated
peninsula [Troad] and along the Anatolian west coast.”
with the results published in a western language: Troy and Beycesul-
Günther Wagner et al. 1985, 77
tan. Both initial excavators – Heinrich Schliemann and James Mellaart
“In the Troad, above the territory of Abydos is Astyra [27 km NE of Troy], which – were given a hard reception by their peers; both were even forbid-
now belongs to the Abydeni, a city in ruins, but it was formerly an independent den from doing further fieldwork in Turkey. The research interests of
place, and had gold mines, which are now nearly exhausted.” prehistorians have thus far been focused on settlements located on the
Strabo, Geography 13.1.23 (Jones) southwestern Aegean coast of Turkey that were clearly influenced by
“Near to Andeira [80 km SE of Troy], there is a stone that becomes iron when
the Mycenaean or Minoan culture. These include Miletus, Iasos and
burned, and then, if it is heated with a certain earth in a furnace, zinc separates
Müsgebi. In recent years, Turkish archaeologists launched excavations
out, and this, when copper is added, give the ‘mixture,’ which many call orichal-
at about two dozen settlement sites dating to the 2nd millennium BCE.
cum.” Strabo, Geography 13.1.56 (Jones)
To date, their mostly preliminary results have been published almost
exclusively in Turkish, so that new discoveries and insights have not
yet been internationally recognized. In the absence of further system-
atic studies, knowledge of the Late Bronze Age in western Asia Minor
remains limited. What we know mainly comes from documents of the
time that archaeologists found during excavations in Egypt, Greece and
Hattuša. Obviously, these documents were written in different scripts
and languages, they use different names for regions, nations and cities,
and usually have a specific local view and intention.
Suggestions
Many hundred uninvestigated archaeological sites
As part of the work of the Luwian Studies foundation, 340 Late Bronze
Age settlement sites in western Asia Minor have been systematically
recorded. As a result we were able to produce, for the first time, a map
of the currently known Late Bronze Age sites surrounding the Aegean
Sea. Even the 25-year long research project of the German Research
Foundation (DFG) “Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients” (TAVO) did
not present a map of the Late Bronze Age settlements in Asia Minor. It
is evident from the distribution that all the sites that we know today
from Minoan Crete, Mycenaean Greece and the Hittite Empire taken
together hardly come close to the number of already known Luwian
sites. Even more impressive than the number of settlements, however,
are their individual sizes and the density of artifacts at each site. To see
a freshly plowed field at a site such as Çandarlı on the Aegean coast,
densely dotted with artifacts and remains of dry stone walls, would
The former Luwian dwellings are often preserved in the form of stratified settlement mounds, so-called
tells: Büyük Höyük near Aşağikepen; Kozluca Höyük at Boğaziçi village in the province of Burdur; Çaltılar
Höyük near Fethiye in the district of in Muğla; Çandır Höyük, 70 km southwest of Afyon; Doganci Höyük near
Alpu; Karapazar near Eskişehir; Iskele Höyük on the eastern shore of Lake Eğirdir; Akın Höyük, 19 km SW of The concentric elliptical rings in the middle of the aerial photography are the massive walls of Kaymakçı, an
Seyitgazi; Küçükhüyük in the county town Sinanpaşa; Keskin northwest of the city center of Eskişehir. over 2000 m2 wide Late Bronze Age fortress.
The settlement mound in Kadıkalesi has exposed Byzantine foundations on top. The more than 15 m thick A freshly plowed field in Çandarlı reveals an exceptionally high artifact density.
deposition layers below hide the living quarters of Luwians.
leave any archaeologist speechless. The same is true when one realizes Troad, from Macedonia, and from the region around Sardis are cited by
the size of the citadel at Kaymakçı for instance. Homer as opponents of the Greeks in the Trojan War.
The location and size of these settlements appear directly related to So far, archaeologists have considered the presence of Mycenaean
the natural resources. Rivers, fertile floodplains and mineral deposits artefacts on the Aegean coast of southwest Asia Minor as evidence of
attracted people and helped them accumulate wealth. Digging prehisto- increasing Greek power. However, taking into account the distribution
rians, however, were attracted mainly by architectural remnants or the of mineral resources, an alternative view becomes possible. The Luwi-
chance of finding documents near the surface. They focused on main- ans initially withheld the knowledge of writing from the Mycenaeans
land Greece and central Asia Minor, regions that are relatively poor in for several centuries. Then they only permitted Mycenaean access to
mineral resources. If one combines the distribution of ore deposits with areas which were poor in mineral resources, while keeping the truly
the distribution of known archaeological sites, it turns out that archaeo- mineral-rich regions for themselves. One could even go a step further
logical interest thus far has focused on the poorer regions. During the by looking at the distribution of metal resources and combining this
clashes that led to the end of the Bronze Age in 1200 BCE, however, the with the contingents (listed by Homer) in the Trojan War. It appears
struggle for access to the metals — and thus to wealth — could very as if those who had little access to wealth (the Greeks) rebelled against
well have played a central role. In any case, mineral-rich areas are spe- those possessing great riches (the Luwians).
cifically mentioned in the old documents. The Sea Peoples’ invasions
were preceded by naval battles involving Cyprus. And troops from the
“Hittite was spoken only in a relatively small region, especially inside the bend
3.4 Petty States in Western Asia Minor
of the Halys. It was the language of the extended royal clan and by all means Current state of knowledge
a diplomatic language. The most widespread indigenous Anatolian language
The western neighbors of the Hittites are fairly well-known by name.
was Luwian.” Anne-Maria Wittke et al. 2007, 22
The term Luwiya in Hittite documents soon disappears and is seem-
“Once the formal features of the Luwian language are identified, one can see ingly replaced by the largely synonymous use of the name of the most
that it was used in a vast area stretching from the Sangarios river basin in influential Luwian kingdom: Arzawa. The latter can be broken down
into its main constituents, the petty kingdoms of Wiluša, Šeha, Mira,
northwestern Anatolia to the Euphrates valley in present-day Syria.”
Hapalla and Arzawa in the narrower sense. The mainland of Arzawa
Ilya Yakubovich 2010, 3
lay in the valley of the Büyük Menderes River (Maeander in antiquity).
“By the 13th century BCE, the Hittite texts emanating from the royal chancery Most researchers assume that its capital, Apaša, was the predecessor
are liberally interspersed with Luwian foreign words. By contrast, the Luwian of ancient Ephesus and as such was located near the modern town
of Selçuk. It is evident from the personal names used at the time that
texts from Hattuša or the Neo-Hittite states contain no embedded Hittite
Luwian was spoken in Arzawa. Arzawa reached the peak of its political
material.” Alice Mouton et al. 2013, 3
power during the 15th and early 14th century BCE, at a time when the
“Why did Hittite totally vanish after the fall of the Empire, whereas Luwian con- Hittite Empire was insignificant. Letters in the Amarna archives reveal
tinued to flourish for another five hundred years?” Itamar Singer 2011, 719 that Arzawa then ranked as the leading power in Asia Minor; its kings
even cultivated contacts with Egypt.
“It is, however, precisely because so many of the major issues are still being The Hittite documents mention another dozen Luwian kingdoms in
hotly debated, and because there is still [room] for new approaches and west and south Asia Minor, which sometimes were vassals of the Great
new solutions that the field of Luwian culture and ‘Luwian Identities’ is at the Kings of Hatti and sometimes enemies. These include, in addition to
moment such an exciting field, and we confidently expect it will continue to be those already mentioned, Lukka, Karkiša, Pedasa, Tarhuntašša, Kizzu-
for many years to come.” Alice Mouton et al. 2013, 20 watna, Walma and Maša. For the past fifty years or so there has been
a dispute amongst scholars about the relative positions of these petty
kingdoms. In particular, the identity of the western Asia Minor state of
Wiluša remains unclear. According to Hittite sources it was a vassal of
Hatti during a short period (1290–1272 BCE). A number of researchers
today would equate Wiluša with Troy, while others argue that Wiluša
must have been located in southwestern Anatolia.
Suggestions
A knowledge gap of 1600 years
Although the Late Bronze Age kingdoms in western Asia Minor have
been known for over a century thanks to the Hittite cuneiform texts,
thus far this knowledge seems to have had almost no significance for a
reconstruction of the political situation and the trade relations during
KAŠKA
ISTIDINA
MAŠA
ARAWANNA
WILUŠA
MIRA
ŠEHA H A PA L L A H ATT I
A H H I YAWA
KARKIŠALUKKA
TA R H U N TAŠ Š A Hittite
Luwian
Mycenaean A L AS I YA
The Luwian petty states (red) between Mycenaean Greece and Hittite central Asia Minor are well known Beyköy, a particularly promising tell site north of Afyon.
from the documents found in Hattuša.
the Aegean Bronze Age. The two dozen Luwian kingdoms, large and Some of today’s open questions are: Who lived in Asia Minor dur-
small, hardly appear on any historical maps dealing with Late Bronze ing the 1600 years of the Bronze Age prior to the formation of the Hittite
Age Aegean civilizations. On the contrary, most maps currently show Empire? Who brought about the decline of the Hittite Old Kingdom
a vast Hittite Empire covering almost all of Asia Minor. This situation around 1450 BCE? And who called the shots in Anatolia afterwards? It
refers to the time after 1300 BCE, when it was valid for a relatively short is known that the Old Hittite Empire lost importance at approximately
period. The Bronze Age, however, lasted for 2000 years, while the Hit- the same time as the Minoan civilization. Small kingdoms of Mycenae-
tite Empire existed for only about 400 years – and even then it was an origin benefited from the loss of power of Crete, and petty states in
essentially limited to central Asia Minor. In addition, from about 1450 western Anatolia most likely took advantage of the temporary decline
to 1380 BCE, the Hittites were powerless. of Hatti. Although these changes in power occurred almost at the same
The maps showing the huge expansion of the Hittite Empire give the time, this does not necessarily mean that they were causally connected
impression that the Hittite kings were overpowering – and disguise our – but then again, has the question been posed that they might have
lack of knowledge. In reality, the neighboring states in the west caused been?
a lot of trouble for the great Hittite kings. Not once, but twice, they even Little remains of the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III, known in
contributed to the downfall of the Hittite Empire. In any case, regional modern times as Kom el-Hettan on the west bank of the Nile, apart
expansion of a realm does not always correlate to strength. For example, from the Colossi of Memnon – two massive 18-meter stone statues of
a map showing the extent of the German Empire in 1918 would not nec- Amenhotep that stood at the gateway. The temple was used as a quarry
essarily indicate that this nation had just lost a world war. already during the reign of Merneptah (1213–1203 BCE).
During the excavation campaign 2004/05, engineers and work- “The Luwian area, however, comprises the Arzawa countries which all schol-
ers under the direction of the archaeologists Hourig Sourouzian and ars, regardless of differences in detail, locate on the Mediterranean coast of
Rainer Stadelmann retrieved a block weighing almost 20 tons from Asia Minor; on the basis of proper names preserved in the Greek and Roman
the swamp deposits. It contains representations of captured men, with inscriptions it can be assumed to have extended from Lydia in the west to the
their heads surmounting oval name rings representing foreign coun- confines of Syria in the east.” Albrecht Goetze 1940, 8
tries and fortified towns allegedly subdued. Depicted are a Syrian, a
Mesopotamian, a Hittite and two other folks of more likely “Asiatic” “Prominent among the western Anatolian territories was a land called Arzawa.
type, as the excavators state. All are bound together with a papyrus tied This land appears a number of times in Hattuša texts, often in conflict with the
around their neck. The beardless Hittite is followed by a longhaired kingdom of Hatti.” Trevor Bryce 2011, 363
person representing Isywa and a bald headed one from Arzawa. The
“Once upon a time labarna, my ancestor, had conquered the whole country of
excavators argued that Isywa might be an early form of Asia, at the
Arzawa and the whole country of Wiluša. Therefore the country of Arzawa later
time a coastal region in western Asia Minor.
waged war; since this happened a long time ago, I don’t know any king of the
A real sensation was the discovery of new blocks of quartzite bases
land of Hattuša, from whom the country of Wiluša had separated. But (even)
from the northern Portico of the Peristyle Court. On these blocks, rep-
if the land Wiluša had separated from the land of Hattuša, from the distance
resentations of foreign folks are depicted, which resemble the Aegean
the kings of the land of Hattuša would have been considered close friends and
people found in the last century. The figure, head, body and the name
would have been sent diplomatic representatives regularly.”
are exactly carved, but not modeled in detail. The excavators interpret-
ed the names as Luwian, Great Ionia, and Mitanni. Other researchers Letter of the Hittite king Muwatalli II to Alaksandu of Wiluša, 1280 BCE. Accord-
have suggested Arawana, Maša, Maeonia for these terms. In any case, ing to Hubert Cancik 2002, 75
all proposed readings reflect regions in Asia Minor and thus show that “And if you hear in advance about some evil plan to revolt, and either a man
the Egyptian people of the 14th century BCE had a good understanding of the Seha River Land or a man of Arzawa carries out the revolt … but you do
of the political geography of western Asia Minor. not write about it to My Sun [me], … you will violate the oath.“
Muwatalli II: Alaksandu Treaty, after Gary Beckman 1999, 89–90
“In Greek historical times the name ‘Asia’ was initially tied to Lydia, but the
expansion of the term Asia by the Ionian geographers to describe a continent
was only possible because in the memory of the inhabitants of western Anato-
lia, a once larger ‘Asia’ lived on. This country Asia, as it was called by the popula-
tion already during the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE, was referred to
as Aššuua [an alliance of Luwian petty kingdoms] by the Hittites of the great
kingdom and it included at times almost the entire west coast of Anatolia. It
was an entity to be considered a mighty power that maintained active trading
relations with distant Egypt and was not afraid of armed raids against the Hit-
tites. … The Mycenaean Greeks, whose immigration into western Asia Minor
began around 1500 BCE, heard the name ‘Asia’ from local people at a time
when it referred to a great realm whose extent to the east could not be fath-
This block of a quartzite base from the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III may depict a Luwian on the left.
omed by the first Greek settlers near the sea.” Helmut Theodor Bossert 1946, iv
3.5 Luwian Scripts

For the representation of their language, the Hittites assumed a north-
ern Syrian variant of the Akkadian cuneiform writing that was origi-
nally invented in Babylon. Using Akkadian cuneiform, Hittite scribes
recorded texts in different languages: Nešili, the language of the Hit-
tites; Hattili, the language of the indigenous people of Hatti, Luwili
(Luwian), the language of the south and west of Asia Minor, and Palaic,
spoken in the north and represented by only a few texts.
In addition to Luwian texts written in cuneiform, an independent
Luwian hieroglyphic writing existed. Already in 1812, the Swiss trav-
eler Jean Louis Burckhardt, who was the first European to visit Petra
and Mecca, noticed in the Syrian city of Hama blocks of stone marked
with unknown hieroglyphics. The English philologist Archibald Henry
Sayce suggested in 1876 that these inscriptions should be regarded as
Hittite. In the first half of the 20th century, many more such inscriptions Nişantaş (“marked rock”) in Hattuša is with 8.5 m width and eleven lines the longest thus far known
inscription in Luwian hieroglyphs.
were discovered, mainly in Carchemish and Hattuša. In 1917, the

Austrian-Czech linguist and orientalist Bedřich Hrozný succeeded in
deciphering the cuneiform tablets of the Hittites. Thereafter, in 1919,
the Swiss Assyriologist and Hittitologist Emil Forrer was able to read
documents from the archives in the cuneiform Luwian language for the
first time. But only after 1953, when the Luwian cuneiform texts from
Hattuša were published, could documents in cuneiform and in hiero-
glyphic script of Luwian origin be brought into relation to one another.
Consequently, the Luwian hieroglyphic script, with its 520 symbols,
could be largely deciphered and understood.
The hieroglyphic script can be tracked back to at least 2000 BCE
when its symbols appeared on a seal found at the archaeological site
of Beycesultan. Early evidence of hieroglyphic writing is recorded par-
ticularly in official seals, in which the name and title in the center were
written in hieroglyphics but surrounded by cuneiform texts. More
Luwian hieroglyphic script is found in Hattuša. The Luwians had known the script for almost 600 years
lengthy hieroglyphic inscriptions became common during the last cen-
before writing became introduced at Mycenaean royal courts. tury of the Hittite Empire. These include the 8.5-meter wide Nişantaş
inscription in Hattuša, in which the last Great King Suppiluliuma II territory. Linking the finds of Luwian hieroglyphs to Hittite domina-
reported his conquest of Cyprus. After the cuneiform script had disap- tion, however, is neither plausible nor justified.
peared in Asia Minor with the collapse of Hittite Empire around 1190 After the fall of the Hittites and the apparently gradual disappear-
BCE, Luwian hieroglyphic writing started to spread. In southeast Asia ance of the cuneiform script, only the hieroglyphic form of writing was
Minor and Syria up to 600 BCE, substantial evidence of Luwian hiero- maintained. It has been preserved primarily in the form of monumental
glyphic writing can be found, especially in monumental royal inscrip- rock inscriptions in public, often executed on orthostats or stelae. How-
tions, but also in the form of correspondence written on strips of lead. ever, inscriptions on lead indicate that the script was also used on per-
ishable and reusable material. The stone inscriptions usually describe
Suggestions the founding of a city and the achievements and honors of rulers, even
Preserving the knowledge of writing for 1400 years their servants are included. The German classicist Hubert Cancik (2002,
79) says the following about the scribes:
The origins of Luwian hieroglyphic writing are still obscure. The
Dutch linguist Fred Woudhuizen has argued for quite some time that “Some of these so-called writers were personalities of high rank
the Luwian hieroglyphic script was already common during the Mid- who knew diplomatic practices, many languages and multiple
dle Bronze Age (2000–1700 BCE). The knowledge of writing has long scripts in different media (stone, clay, lead, wood). They mas-
been regarded to have developed out of economic need. Western Asia tered the forms, topics from building reports to accounts of glori-
Minor possessed abundant natural resources – and therefore may have ous victories, and were able to create archaistic texts by reusing
required a script early on. On the other hand, ancient orientalists now archaic templates found in their libraries.”
see a connection between
religious-cultic practices and
the earlierst forms of writing,
and this may indeed apply to
the first Luwian inscriptions
too. In any case, evidence for
hieroglyphic writing in west-
ern Asia Minor has often been
considered proof of the pres-
ence of Hittites, because the
Luwian hieroglyphic script
was initially called “Hittite
hieroglyphs.” This termino-
logical confusion may have
contributed to the fact that,
on maps, the Hittite Empire
is shown to have grown west-
ward until it even had a com-
mon border with Mycenaean A clay tablet with Akkadian cuneiform script from Hattuša.
“From about the beginning of the 1880ies an awareness arose that next to or
3.6 Linear A Script
rather between the two great cultures of the Euphrates-Tigris countries and
the Nile valley a third one situated in Asia Minor and Syria had to be distin-
guished. Albeit not being of equal rank of importance with the two others, Beginning in the 20th century BCE, a hieroglyphic script had appeared
the development of its own writing system [Luwian hieroglyphs] warranted on Crete that remained in use until the 15th century BCE. Later the so-
a certain independence. It also forced us to look at the peoples who bore this called Linear A script developed from it. Cretan hieroglyphs are known
culture with somewhat different eyes, compared to most others that we know from about 150 seals and seal impressions as well as from about 120
from cuneiform or Egyptian reports.” Hugo Winckler 1913, 3 other, especially archival, documents. These documents come from
sites in Malia, Knossos and Petras. Outside of Crete, Cretan hieroglyph-
“By whom and for what language was the hieroglyphic writing developed?
ic writing has thus far been found only on the island of Samothrace in
By Luwians, for Luwian, in Luwian lands.” Hans G. Güterbock 1956, 518
the northeastern Aegean Sea. The 137 characters of the Cretan hiero-
“The speakers of Luwian inhabited a vast area stretching from the eastern glyphic script are pictorial. Most certainly it is a syllabary, which has
shore of the Aegean Sea to the Euphrates valley.” Ilya Yakubovich 2008, 124 yet to be deciphered.
The Linear A script was customary and widespread in the Eastern
“Although the Luwians played at least as important a role as the Hittites in the
Mediterranean from about 1635 to 1450 BCE. It consists of 70 syllable
history of ancient Anatolia, Luwian studies have traditionally been considered
signs, various numbers and 200 signs with word meaning. The sur-
a relatively insignificant appendix to Hittitology. … The situation begins to
viving documents are incisions on clay tablets which probably served
change with the growing realization among Hittitologists that most of the
administrative purposes. In addition to over 30 locations on Crete
groups called Hittites by themselves or in foreign traditions were either Luwian
(including Knossos, Phaistos, Chania) objects with Linear A have been
speakers or included Luwian language communities.”
found on the Greek mainland (Mycenae, Tiryns), in Palestine (Lachish,
Ilya Yakubovich 2011, 534
Tel Haror), in Egypt (Avaris), on Kythera, the Cyclades and Samothrace,
“There is actually no reason to claim a connection of the hieroglyphic inscrip- as well as in western Asia Minor (Miletus). Linear A was the precursor
tions of western Anatolia with the Hittite presence in the region and regard in the development of the Greek Linear B script and the Cypro-Minoan
them as a ‘grip of the Empire.’ On the contrary, the extant material, however script. Since the latter are syllabaries, it is assumed that Linear A is also
scanty it is, strongly speaks for the view that they are products of the indepen- syllabary.
dent vernacular scribal tradition or, rather, traditions.”
Rostislav Oreshko 2013, 401 Suggestions
Greek-Luwian relations
In 1961, British linguist Leonard Robert Palmer, a professor at Oxford

University and president of the British Philological Society, published
a book called Mycenaeans and Minoans, in which he used the previous
decipherment of Luwian hieroglyphic to draw further conclusions
about Aegean prehistory. He argued that the language record in Lin-
ear A was indeed Luwian. Another one of his key arguments was that
Luwian people had advanced into Greek territory during the 3rd mil-
lennium BCE, where they also introduced their language. The German
linguist Paul Kretschmer “It is submitted that the archaeological evidence from Beycesultan combined
originally developed this with the above linguistic pointers lends some measure of plausibility to the
model in his Introduction to working hypothesis that the language of the Linear A inscriptions is Luwian.”
the History of the Greek Lan-
Leonard R. Palmer 1958
guage in 1896. Kretschmer
recognized that local names “It would appear that Greece and Crete were twice invaded by Indo-European
ending with -nthos (such as peoples during the second millennium B.C. First came the Luwians, causing the
Tirynthos) and -assos (such as This clay tablet with Cretan hieroglyphic writing was found Middle Helladic revolution; they were followed by the Greeks, who caused the
at Phaistos in a Late Minoan I context.
Parnassos) were of pre-Greek less violent archaeological break at the beginning of Late Helladic.”
origin. In 1928, Carl Blegen Leonard R. Palmer 1961, 26
(excavator of Troy 1932–
38), along with the linguist “In 1965, Leonard Palmer [professor of Comparative Philology at the University
Joseph Boyd Haley, picked of Oxford] advanced the hypothesis that the language of Linear A should be
up on this theory in an arti- identified as Luwian.” Margalit Finkelberg 2005, 52
cle entitled “The Coming of
“It is presumed that Crete was deliberately colonized by people from south-
the Greeks.”
west Anatolia. If so, the Minoan language may have developed from one of the
Accordingly, there are a
number of indications that languages of that region, perhaps Luwian.”
Luwian terms have been John G. Younger & Paul Rehak 2008, 176
preserved even in the Greek “Indeed it cannot be denied that Anatolian languages are rapidly gaining in
language – in particular in
popularity in scholarly publications dealing with Linear A.”
toponyms that are known to Cypro-Minoan is an undeciphered syllabic script used on
Alice Mouton et al. 2013, 5
be long-lasting. In addition, the island of Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age.
there are indications that “The Cretans abandoned their hieroglyphs; they recorded their assets in the
both the Cretan hieroglyphic writing and the Linear A script were con- syllabic Linear A script, less handsome than the hieroglyphs, but quicker to
nected with western Asia Minor. However, until now almost no exca- write. It seems that the language they used in these documents was Luwian,
vations have been conducted in the relevant layers of the 16th to 13th an Indo-European language related to Hittite, which was also spoken along the
century BCE, hence these assumptions remain hypotheses. west coast of Anatolia and, if an inscribed seal discovered there is any indica-
tion, in twelfth-century Troy.” David Abulafia 2011, 27
“From Hieroglyphic Luwian, which still overlaps with cuneiform writing in Ana-
tolia, through Cypro-Minoan, Cypriot Syllabic and samples of other epichoric
scripts in the Levant, to Cretan Hieroglyphic, the script of the Phaistos Disk and
the syllabaries of the Aegean, we have a continuum of non-cuneiform scripts
the limits of whose dispersal roughly coincide with those of the dispersal of
the [Luwian] suffixes -nth- and -ss-.” Margalit Finkelberg 2005, 57
3.7 The Phaistos Disc

The Phaistos Disc consists of fired clay and is about 15 centimeters in
diameter. It was found on 3 July 1908 during excavation of the Mino-
an palace of Phaistos, near the south coast of Crete. The excavations,
conducted by Italian archaeologists, were directed by Luigi Pernier.
However, Luigi Pernier was not present at the site when the clay disc
was discovered. The disc is one of the most famous Bronze Age finds
and one of the great mysteries of Mediterranean archaeology. It con-
tains over 240 spirally arranged human, animal and plant motifs that
were printed with individual stamps. Its sophisticated manufacturing
technology with movable type is in direct contrast to the uniqueness of
the find. The use of reusable stamps only makes sense if used several
times or even frequently. Practically everything that concerns the disc
is controversial; this even includes the orientation of the writing and
the language used.
Suggestions
A Luwian letter to Nestor
Reputable scholars usually tend to avoid controversial issues that have

been tackled by too many amateurs. Hardly any subject is more notori-
ous than the Phaistos Disc, because of the countless attempts that have
been made to decipher it.
The Dutch linguists Jan Best and Fred Woudhuizen have indepen-
The Phaistos Disc (shown here side A) is a disk of fired clay with about 15 cm in diameter.
dently come to many conclusions during the past few decades that
confirm the model put forward in this book. One of these is a most
remarkable decipherment of the Phaistos Disc. The team’s epigraphic
investigation shows that the writing direction is from the outside to the to the root of a verb or noun and that the final characters marked
inside and that side A was inscribed first. Based on the context of the case endings or inflections. This finding led to the decipherment of
find, 1350 BCE has been determined as the date of the disc’s produc- Linear B by the British architect Michael Ventris shortly after Kober’s
tion. early demise.
In her extensive research on Linear B the American linguist Alice The Phaistos Disc, too, includes such fixed sequences with different
Kober found that various characters appeared over and over in the same endings, and the same applies to Luwian hieroglyphs. Of the 47 dif-
order and that each sequence was completed with different alternat- ferent characters used on the disc, a total of 29 can be correlated with
ing characters. Kober assumed that the same sequences corresponded Luwian hieroglyphs. The similarities go so far that whole words on the
disc are immediately readable in Luwian, including a-su-wi-ya (B11) Knossos as viceroy of Lasithi
for “Aššuwa.” Best and Woudhuizen, therefore, came to the conclusion and as governor of the Mes-
that the script of the disc is not that unique, but rather represents a local sara. His sphere of influ-
variant of Luwian hieroglyphic writing. When these circumstances are ence includes the local petty
taken into consideration, the text becomes fully legible. kings Kuneus for Phaistos
According to this interpretation, a number of places are mentioned and Uwas for the hinterland
that still bear the same name of Phaistos. Uwas is in a
today: Messara, Phaistos, dispute with another vas-
Lasithi and Knossos. Other sal king about the control of
geographical names that Rhytion and wants Nestor to
are familiar from the Late make a decision concerning
Bronze Age appear as well, this matter. Nestor apparent-
including Achaea, Arzawa ly contacts the Great King of
and Aššuwa. Some words Arzawa, probably the most
are also found in Akka- important Luwian state. The
dian, Linear B or Egyptian This lead disc was found in Magliano near Grosseto in king of Arzawa tells Kuneus
hieroglyphic texts. Two per- Tuscany (Italy) in 1883 and bears an Etruscan script dating
to inform Uwas about his
to the 5th or 4th century BCE.
sonal names even appear right to rule.
more than 500 years later in The Phaistos Disc is
Homer in a similar context: therefore a copy, intended
Nestor of Pylos and Idome- to remain with Kuneus in
neus of Crete. th
Phaistos. Uwas, too, should
Not only the script but the The Bronze seal of Troy VIIb, from the 12 century BCE, is have received a copy. The
still the only piece of writing found at Bronze Age Troy.
language, too, is very simi- creation of multiple cop-
lar to Luwian. If the above ies would explain the use
reading is correct, the text on of stamps. In this case, the
the disc intends to settle an disc was probably produced
ownership dispute in a place at the court of the king of
called Rhytion near Pyrgos Arzawa, that would be in
in the southwest of the plain Apaša, near Ephesus, and it
of Messara: The Greek king was written in the local dia-
Nestor has a principality in lect spoken in the Luwian
Crete that includes Knossos part of Crete. Consequently,
and parts of the plain of Las- the Luwians would have
ithi and of the Messara. In had a lot of influence on
the name of Nestor, Idome- This Late Bronze Age golden ring with Linear A script was In 1909, Arthur Evans found a cup with this ink-written Crete before the Mycenae-
neus reigns from his court at found in royal tomb IX at Mavro Spelio near Knossos in 1926. Linear A inscription around the inner surface. ans seized power over the
“In the Mesara is Phaistos.

: To Nestor: great (man) in Achaia,
What Nestor (has), what you (have) under [you],
in my (territory), Lasithi,
in yours and (that) of your king.
In you Tarchunt [Luwian storm god] and His Majesty bring hail.
: Knossos (is) yours, (it is) part of the kingship of the oath of Lasithi,
in whatever (territory) where a yoke of two oxen ploughs for
the town of Lasithi.
: Knossos (is) yours, (it is) part of the kingship of the oath of Lasithi,
In what territory of yours, what (is) part of my dominion, (namely:) Lasithi.
In the Mesara (is) yours and for you: Scheria,
in whatever (territory) where a yoke of two oxen ploughs,
(in) the Mesara, (for) Scheria.
In (the territory) of this, what Nestor (has).

Haddu [Phoenician storm god] brings you life.
Phaistos is of your (territory by) oath, and the Mesara.
Luwian hieroglyphs (left columns) are similar to the pictograms on the Phaistos Disc (right columns). Governor of the Mesara [is] Idomeneus.
Of the Assuwian Phaistos Kuneus (is) king.
Of the oath (bound) territory behind Phaistos Uwas (is) king,
and for my father Acharkis (was) king.
island. According to this hypothesis, parts of Crete even belonged to
Yours under you, : under me : for Nestor, this (is) yours under you.
the Aššuwa league, an association of Luwian petty states.
What Rhytion was of it, of it for Nestor, that (is) yours of it.
Future excavations in Apaša, the former capital of Arzawa, could
This is of you under you (was) of it of the man, of it for my father.
possibly bring to light other documents of similar style to the Phaistos
: Rhytion (is) for Nestor.”
Disc.
Text of the Phaistos Disc according to Lia Rietveld 2004
3.8 The Missing Link

The study of the Luwian culture falls within the remit of at least three H ATT I
disciplines in archaeology. Hittitology, a branch of the ancient Near A H H I YAWA
ASSYRIA
Eastern studies, is based on the study of documents from excavated

Hittite sites. In these documents, some 2000 towns and at least two
SYRIA
dozen neighboring states of the Hittite Kingdom are mentioned. Early KEFTIU A L AS I YA ELAM
on Hittitologists proposed maps of the political geography indicating BABYLON
at least the relative positions of the petty kingdoms. These attempts still
remain controversial. CANAAN
L I BYA
The second discipline that deals extensively with the Luwians is the EGYPT
linguistic branch of ancient Near Eastern studies, which also relies on

the scrutiny of Hittite documents. Since ancient Anatolia was a melting
pot of early European languages, this field of research is particularly
well advanced.
According to current paradigms the entire area around the Eastern Mediterranean was exploited during the
2nd millennium BCE – except for the region with the most arable land (dark areas) in western Asia Minor.
Wiluša Hattuša
H ATT I
LUWIA ASSYRIA
Apaša Hittite Empire A H H I YAWA
Millawanda
SYRIA
KEFTIU A L AS I YA ELAM
BABYLON
CANAAN
L I BYA EGYPT
The Hittite Empire is today often shown at its maximum extent including all vassals. However, this condition
existed only for a short time. There must have been a culture in western Asia Minor as well: the Luwians.
Region People City Script Name

Egypt Egyptian Thebes hieroglyphic Misraim
Upper Tigris Assyria Aššur cuneiform Aššur
Central Anatolia Hittite Hattuša cuneiform Hatti
Syria/Palestine Canaanite Kadesh cuneiform Amurru/Retjenu
Greece Achaean Mycenae Linear B Tanaja
Crete Minoan Knossos Linear A Keftiu
Cyprus Cypriot Enkomi Cypro-Minoan Alasiya
Western Luwian Apaša, Troy, Luwian Arzawa, Wiluša,

Anatolia Millawanda hieroglyphic Mira, Lukka
Overview of regions, nations, cities and scripts at the end of the Bronze Age. In each column one element
remains unaccounted for – together they amount to one culture: the Luwians.
The study of material remains, however, is the responsibility of

excavating Aegean prehistorians. In their field, Luwian culture has The tell site of Sarhöyük on the northern edge of Eskişehir is one of the largest in western Asia Minor.
been completely absent, despite decades of advances in Hittitology and
linguistics, and although twenty-five Luwian sites have been excavated
in recent years. No map of the political situation (from an Aegean point
of view), no monograph on the Aegean Bronze Age, no anthology of Suggestions
scientific papers, and no conference proceedings in Aegean prehistori- Reasons for the lack of inquiries
ans make much of the Luwians.
In 2008, a book entitled The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Every now and again one comes across an explanation for the lack of
Age was published, which contained over 450 pages that represent interest in the Late Bronze Age of western Asia Minor. It is the assump-
today’s knowledge on the subject. None of the articles deal with cultures tion that the area was mainly inhabited by semi-nomadic horse peoples.
on Turkish soil. An even more voluminous book, The Oxford Handbook As civilization presupposes an organized society, urban agglomera-
of the Bronze Age Aegean, appeared in 2010. Only a single article with tions and a knowledge of writing, the western neighbors of the Hittites
a mere 12 out of a total of 930 pages briefly touches on western Asia would therefore have been deemed uncivilized. Thus, there was no real
Minor. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia (2011) also dedicates just need to explore the region. The many extensive and artifact-rich set-
12 out of 1174 pages to western Asia Minor. The most recent work on tlement sites, however, show that people have most certainly lived in
the subject, 1177 B.C. – The Year Civilization Collapsed (2014), lists various these places for millennia. The absence of evidence for the existence of
attempts to explain the end of the Bronze Age but never mentions the a remarkable civilization by no means invalidates the existence of such
Luwians. All of the aforementioned books were patchwork composites a thing. We simply do not know enough about the Luwians because
that were unable to provide a plausible, comprehensive explanation for there have not been enough large-scale, deep excavations to date.
the collapse of the Bronze Age cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“There is no evidence from the Hittite texts for a great power existing in the
3.9 Why are the Luwians Missing?
13th century BCE on the western Anatolian mainland … There is no hint in the Current state of knowledge
Hittite texts of the late 13th century BCE of a revival of the Aššuwa league. And
there is no evidence that Hatti was threatened in that period from western Between 1870 and 1910, western European scholars and adventurers
Anatolia.” Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier 1998, 45–46 discovered a number of important archaeological sites in Turkey and
Greece whose habitation predated the beginning of European histori-
“In the west, Hittite control over the vassal states was becoming ever more ography by about a thousand years. Funded and directed by German
shaky … Closer to home, the people of Lalanda in the Lower Land, ‘notorious businessman Heinrich Schliemann, excavations on the hill Hisarlık
trouble makers’, broke out in rebellion … In the west, Tudhaliya faced a rapidly (Turkish for “settlement hill with castle”) began in northwest Asia
deteriorating situation … We learn of military operations conducted by Tud- Minor, where various geologists and amateur researchers thought that
haliya against the Lukka Lands. Lukka also figures in another text of Tudhaliya’s Troy must have been. Encouraged by his early successes in Turkey,
reign as enemy territory … Some time after Tudhaliya’s treaty with Kurunta Schliemann then launched excavations in Greece as well.
there was a fresh outbreak of rebellion in the Seha River Land … This suggests After Crete gained autonomy from the Ottoman Empire in 1898,
a new power-sharing arrangement in the west.” Trevor Bryce 2005, 299–308 around a dozen excavations began on the island. Chief among them
was the investigation of Knossos, led by the British archaeologist
“The assumption that there was an advanced civilization in northwestern Ana-
Arthur Evans. In 1906, Berlin-based Assyriologist Hugo Winckler initi-
tolia, whose development level and significance could be put on a level with
ated excavations in Hattuša located in central Asia Minor. Through the
the Minoan or Mycenaean culture, is not tenable.” Hermann Genz, Alexander
exploration of Troy, Mycenae, Knossos, Hattuša and many other sites,
Pruß & Joachim Quack 1994, 343
cultures came to light that had existed over a millennium prior to clas-
“Zangger’s effort to attribute the cultural and political status of a big power to sical antiquity.
western Anatolia appears downright convulsively forced … It can hardly be Soon archaeologists faced the task of structuring the newly acquired
explained with European arrogance and a helenocentric view of the world that knowledge concerning these early Aegean cultures. In his publications
American, European and Oriental archaeologists doing fieldwork in the Orient after 1920, Arthur Evans created a still largely valid, three-part chro-
have thus far not recognized any trace of an allegedly overlooked independent nology (Early, Middle, Late) for the 3rd and 2nd millennium BCE, and
high culture in Northwest Anatolia.” Hermann Genz, Alexander Pruß & Joachim thus laid the very foundation for the new discipline Aegean prehistory.
Quack 1994, 343 & 346 Evans set out to cover three large regions: Asia Minor, mainland Greece
and Crete. For each of these regions, a cultural center was already well
“The westernmost Hittite site identified so far seems to have been Şarhöyük- known: Troy, Mycenae, and Knossos respectively. Evans also ended up
Dorylaion, where a Hittite bulla was found. Further to the west evidence for defining three civilizations; however, only two of those coincided with
Hittite influence in western Anatolia is surprisingly limited.” the regions and centers listed above. Knossos was, of course, the cen-
Hermann Genz 2011, 303–304 [More than 300 settlement sites are known west ter of the Minoan civilization, and Mycenae the one of the Mycenaean.
of Şarhöyük-Dorylaion.] But Troy remained isolated. Instead of assigning a civilization to Troy,
“Therefore, the time has come to introduce a new civilization into Aegean pre- Evans gave the Aegean islands their own culture, even though they had
history. Based on the predominant language and script, it is self-evident that it no capital and were not really powerful during the 2nd millennium BCE.
should be called Luwian.”
For the time being, Hattuša was also left out of the equation.
Eberhard Zangger, Serdal Mutlu & Fabian Müller 2016, 69
Black Sea Sitagroi
Troy
Hittite
Mycenaean Europe
Cycladic
Manika Turkey
Lithares Lefkandi
Minoan Eutresis Thebes
Elis Askitario
Zygouries
Europe Tsoungiza Ayios Kosmas Chalandriani
Kolonna
Ayios Dhimitrios Lerna Tiryns Mt. Kynthos
Ayia Irini
Asea Ayioi
Grotta Anargyroi
Mediterranean Sea Voidhokoilia Akovitika Plastiras Keros
Louros Markiani
Panormos
When Arthur Evans in his publications laid the foundation for Aegean prehistory, he only included cultures Skarkos
within the borders of Europe.
Suggestions Decla Malia

Knossos Mochlos
A philhellenist defines Aegean prehistory Phaistos Vasiliki
Trypiti Myrtos
0 100
Fierce fighting raged between Greece and Turkey around 1920, when km
Arthur Evans conceived the chronology for Aegean prehistory. Given Distribution of Middle Bronze Age sites according to a textbook of Aegean prehistory from 1994. Western
these circumstances, it would not have occurred to a philhellenist like Asia Minor is still terra incognita.
Evans to direct scholarly attention to any culture on Turkish soil. As a

result, even though Troy was and is by far the world’s most famous The Luwians played a key role in the development of Western
stratified archaeological site, it remained isolated. Europe. Their culture provided the breeding ground for Greek philoso-
Because of this omission almost a hundred years ago, there is virtu- phy, poetry and science. For over a thousand years, Western Europeans
ally no other place in the world today to match the potential for discov- tried to trace their roots back to the royal family of Troy. Hundreds of
ery inherent in western Asia Minor. All this time, an entire culture has cities in Europe – including Rome, Paris and London – claimed to have
remained largely hidden from the eyes of archaeologists. The memory been built according to the model of Troy.
of the Luwians, however, has been preserved in many documents in This enthusiasm for all things Trojan gradually transformed into
Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt. Many hundred archaeological sites are complete rejection after the Ottomans conquered Constantinople
now waiting to be systematically explored. (1453) and even besieged Vienna (1683). After that, the intellectual elite
64 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N
of Central Europe no longer wanted to be regarded as descendants of

the Trojans. Instead, they came up with a new historical role model −
Ancient Greece and Rome − most likely because these cultures once
ruled over large regions in the Eastern Mediterranean. Suddenly any-
one who did not speak Greek was considered a barbarian.
Since the end of the Second World War, such ideologies founded
on racial prejudices have been considered unacceptable. Subliminally,
however, they have subtly persisted, holding back research on early
Anatolian civilizations. As a result, distortions and knowledge gaps
arose that are now gradually being filled.
“From the mid-19th century the romantic philhellenism was joined by an ideo-
logical hard core of Euro-centric racism, whose formation in Europe accompa-
nied the colonial reaching out to overseas: Only Europe could and may have
produced the roots of Western civilization, this was the general belief.”
Michael Sommer 2005, 1
“I don’t choose to be told by every barbarian I meet that he is a man and a

brother. I believe in the existence of inferior races, and would like to see them
exterminated.” Arthur Evans 1877, 312
“In archaeology, Evan’s word was law … The few scholars who dared to ques-
tion him met with swift and certain professional punishment.”
Margalit Fox 2013, 79–80
“The for centuries rotting peoples and states of the Semites and Egyptians,
despite their ancient culture, had nothing to leave to the Greeks apart from
a few manual skills and techniques, vulgar costumes and utensils, outdated
ornaments, disgusting fetishes for even more disgusting false gods.”
Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff 1884, 215
66 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N BRONZE AGE • 67
4 . B ro n ze Ag e
4.1 Late Bronze Age Shipwrecks

In 1982, a sponge diver near Cape Uluburun in southern Turkey, 8.5 kilo-

meters southeast of Kaş, discovered copper items in about 60 meters
of water. The objects were part of a Late Bronze Age wreck that was
subsequently excavated between 1984 and 1994 as the so-called ship
of Uluburun under the direction of the U.S. underwater archaeologist
George Bass and his Turkish colleague Cemal Pulak. The ship had a
length of 15 to 16 meters and a width of 5 meters. Its planks and keel
consisted of cedar trees from Lebanon that, according to dendrochro-
nological analysis, were felled after 1305 BCE. The stone-made anchor
as well as the ceramic kitchen wear used by the crew suggested that
the homeport of the ship was Canaan located near the present border
between Israel and Lebanon.
The ship of Uluburun had a capacity of at least 20 tons. It mainly car-
ried raw materials but also some finished goods. The main commodi-
ties were about 1 ton of tin and 10 tons of copper in the form of 354 large
oxhide ingots with an average weight of 24 kilograms. The remaining
cargo included 175 disc-shaped glass bars in at least four different col-
ors that most likely were supposed to imitate lapis lazuli, turquoise,
amethyst and possibly amber. Over a hundred pots on board contained
Previous pages: A reconstructed wall section of Hattuša, the Hittite capital 150 km east of Ankara. mastic or pistachio resin, constituting the second largest consignment
Looking south from the Palace of Nestor in Epano Englianos towards the artificial port. The silted harbor basin at Pylos emerged as a rectangular field (center) from the landscape. Today it is built
over with a golf course.
after the metals. Mastic is known to kill certain bacteria and has been long-distance trade and that in these cases ships were accompanied by
used as a preservative in wine since the 6th millennium BCE. representatives of both Aegean coasts. The main purchasers – in the
Many of the trade goods found on the ship of Uluburun were already south as well as in the north of the Aegean – may have also sent inspec-
known from tomb paintings or documents in Egypt, including the Ama- tors to watch over their goods. The high value of the cargo could imply
rna letters. Most of the merchandise had its origin in Syria, Canaan or that there was more than one recipient.
Cyprus. The ship is therefore likely to have come from the east and to With the systematic and comprehensive excavation of the Late
have traveled to the west. The crew consisted of Canaanite merchants Bronze Age ship of Uluburun, Turkey has become world-class in
and seamen. Some valuables such as swords and daggers indicate that underwater archaeology. We know of numerous trade objects thanks to
the crew was accompanied by messengers or representatives of the buy- this excavation. Since these in a large part had already been depicted in
ers, who monitored the trade. Two of these were high-ranking Mycenae- Egyptian grave representations in western Thebes, we know now that
ans. A third person may have come from the northern Aegean. the artists there did not freely invent the content of these depictions.
The port cities on the south and west coast of Turkey, however, where
Suggestions the ship should have made stops, remain unknown. Deep-reaching
Worldwide leadership in underwater archaeology excavations in the right places would have the potential to turn Turkey
into a global reference for land-based prehistoric archaeology as well.
Was the third foreigner on board a Luwian? It is conceivable that Myce- In some locations in western Turkey, for example at Kesik Tepe
naeans and Luwians, at least in some instances, jointly monitored the near Hisarlık, silted-up harbor basins are clearly visible today. It seems
likely that in the sediments of these basins, contents could be found 4.2 The Mycenaean Culture on the
that had fallen overboard while loading and unloading. During the Greek Mainland
wars of Troy, entire ships could have sunk in the harbor. Because of the
oxygen-deficient depositional environment at the bottom of such har- Current state of knowledge
bor basins, organic material, such as leather, might still be preserved
there. With scientific prospecting methods, the most promising sites The Mycenaean civilization lasted from about 1600 to 1200 BCE. It is
for first explorations could be identified. All it takes is the courage to considered to have been the first civilization on the European main-
launch excavations in a depositional environment – rather than on a land, and initially it was much influenced by the Minoan civilization
citadel hill – and the knowledge of where to start those excavations. on Crete. After widespread destruction of the Minoan palaces on Crete
around 1430 BCE, the Mycenaean culture rose to become the leading
power in the Aegean. Its long-distance trade expanded considerably,
so that Mycenaean vessels were able to reach Cyprus, Syria and Egypt.
“The fact that a correspondence between a king Tarhundaradu of Arzawa and Letters in the archives of the Hittite capital Hattuša indicate that the
the Egyptian Pharaoh is documented in the Amarna corpus suggests that inde- Mycenaeans actively participated in the international network of gift
pendently of the Hittites a center of power of national importance had formed diplomacy. Linear B tablets found in Greece provide detailed insights
in the western part of Asia Minor.” Jörg Klinger 2007, 53 into the movement of goods.
Excavations in Tiryns in 1907.

Most probably, there was

never an actual Mycenaean
empire on mainland Greece.
Instead, several indepen-
dent small states existed,
including the kingdoms of
Mycenae, Tiryns and Pylos.
The ruling elite had built
magnificent palaces and con-
trolled not only politics, but
also trade. Artisans settled
around the royal courts who
manufactured sought-after,
high-quality ceramic vessels
and delicate gold jewelry,
among other things. Mainly
Photo of the west side of the citadel of Tiryns. The right angles and clean break lines in the bedrock show women worked in veritable
At the main gate of the Mycenaean citadel in Tiryns,
that the construction site also served as a quarry.
the massiveness of the up to 7 m thick walls is clearly textile factories. The major-
noticeable (photo taken in 1984). ity of the population lived
from agriculture and animal
husbandry and had to pay various taxes and to perform unpaid com-
pulsory labor. It is conceivable that this suppression of the dependent
population contributed to the decline of the Mycenaean civilization.
At about 1250 BCE, the kings of Mycenae and Tiryns expanded
their citadels and fortified them with Cyclopean walls. Beginning in
1200 BCE, upheavals and local destructions led to the end of an era
that roughly 500 years later, in the Homeric epics, is referred to as the
“heroic age.” Various cultural achievements that were closely linked
to the palace administration – especially the script – were lost. Some
places were destroyed, many completely abandoned, but new settle-
ments came into being as well. There are many hypotheses about the
causes of the widespread destruction, but no satisfactory explanation
has thus far been furnished. The Mycenaean culture continued to exist
at a rudimentary level for some time.
The remains of Mycenaean citadel of Tiryns are surrounded by an alluvial plain (view from the east).
Suggestions
Politics, economics, and technology in the Bronze Age
The term “Mycenaean culture” first appeared at the end of the 18th cen-
tury and is somewhat misleading because it implies a leadership role for
the kings of the citadel of Mycenae. Homer and other ancient authors
called their Bronze Age ancestors “Achaeans” for the most part, a term
with which they referred to all Greek tribes. No ethnic group is singled
out as being special. The 2nd millennium BCE on the Greek mainland is
extremely well researched, hence the general conclusions drawn above
are largely uncontroversial.
The investigation of the Mycenaean civilization is, like those of
other ancient cultures, based on the three main pillars of archaeology:
architecture, art history and philology. Consequently, archaeology pri-
marily deals with ruins, artifacts and the Linear B texts from the Late
Bronze Age and, with the help of those, reconstructs its society. Pres-
ent day societies, however, are hardly influenced by architecture, art The Lion Gate at Mycenae, as shown in a 1854 edition of John Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in Greece –
history and philology – we are much more affected by developments 22 years before Heinrich Schliemann allegedly discovered it.
in politics, economics and technology. If one were to follow the prin-

ciple of actualism (“The present
is the key to the past”), Myce-
naean culture could also have
been driven by politics, eco-
nomics and technology much
like our modern societies are. As
a consequence, scrutiny of the
Mycenaean civilization might
benefit if researchers would
shift their attention towards
these factors. As a matter of fact,
hydraulic engineers have dis-
covered sophisticated hydraulic
infrastructures near virtually all
major Mycenaean settlements.
These include dams, river diver-
The construction of Cyclopean walls, including the
sions, drainages as well as artifi- Lion Gate at Mycenae, was directed by engineers
cial ports. Unfortunately, fields from Asia Minor. Bathtub in the Palace of Nestor in Messenia on the Peloponnese.
4.3 Minoan Crete

The Minoan civilization on Crete is considered to be the earliest
Linear B tablet. advanced civilization in Europe. At about 2000 BCE, palaces were
erected at Knossos, Malia, Phaistos and Petras. They served as domi-
ciles of the political and religious elites, administrative centers with rit-
such as hydraulic engineering, civil engineering, economic geography ual functions and reloading points for commodities. Actual cities with
and nautical science still are not research priorities in archaeology. sophisticated drinking water and wastewater systems arose in densely
According to Greek tradition, the characteristic Cyclopean walls of populated areas. The complex society included distinct professions
Tiryns and Mycenae were erected with the help of engineers from Lycia such as fishermen, rowers, captains, soldiers, writers, potters, painters,
(Strabo 8.6.11, Bacchylides 10.77, Apollodorus 2.2.1, Pausanias 2.25.8). builders, architects and musicians.
This argument is reinforced by the observation that this masonry was The rise of the palaces was accompanied by the introduction of
widely present throughout Asia Minor, as the Lion Gate in Hattuša script and intensified trade relations with other regions in the Eastern
indicates. The lion’s relief above the Lion Gate at Mycenae is the oldest Mediterranean. Archaeological finds indicate that the Minoan culture
monumental sculpture in Europe and was unique during the time of its had an impact on the entire Eastern Mediterranean. Cretan influence
creation (1250 BCE) – as far as Greece is concerned. From Asia Minor, is visible on the islands of
however, over 150 bas-reliefs from this period are known. Since Lycia Thera, Kythira, Milos and
was part of the core area of the Luwian territory, one might conclude Rhodes as well as at Miletus
that one of the main features of the Mycenaean civilization, the Cyclo- in Asia Minor and, possibly,
pean masonry, had its origin in Luwian lands, from where it came to on Cyprus. Close relations
Mycenae. also existed with Egypt:
Until around 1400 BCE,
images of Cretan delegations
“In order to assess what happened in the past or will happen in the future, we
were painted on Egyptian
only need to study the present.” Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon 1750
tomb walls. Inscriptions in
Mesopotamia testify to con-
“Mycenaean settlements on Rhodes and other islands of the Dodecanese may tacts with this region as well.
have been no more than merchant enclaves within a native population.” The so-called Old Palace
Trevor Bryce 2011, 369 Period came to an abrupt
“Now it seems that Tiryns was used as a base of operations by Proetus, and was end in the 17th century BCE.
walled by him through the aid of the Cyclopes, who were seven in number, Most researchers suspect
and were called ‘Bellyhands’ because they got their food from their handicraft, that an earthquake caused
and they came by invitation from Lycia.” Strabo, Geography 8.6.11 (Jones) the destruction. The palaces
were quickly rebuilt; only
Minoan men on frescoes are depicted as athletic
the settlement at Monastira-
and toned. ki remained deserted.
Around 1430 BCE, trac-

es of fires and destruction
once again appeared across
all of Crete. The majority of
researchers now assume that
these were signs of conquest
by Mycenaean forces. The
once popular theory that
the coastal cities fell victim
to the volcanic eruption of
Thera (Santorini) and, pos-
sibly, a subsequent tsu-
nami, has now been ruled
Pumice layers from the Minoan eruption of Thera cover
out. Alternative hypotheses
older rock formations without being tectonically disturbed. – a number of major earth-
Hence, there could have been no caldera collapse after quakes, the loss of markets,
Two-meter tall dry stone walls have been preserved at the Minoan archaeological site of Apodoulou on
their deposition.
or civil unrest – cannot be
Crete, indicating that no earthquake occurred at the end of the Old Palace Period. substantiated. It is, however,
certain that Mycenaean rul-
ers captured the palace of
Knossos and continued to
govern from there until at
least 1375 BCE. The island
was not spared from upheav-
als around 1200 BCE either.
Nevertheless the Minoan-
Mycenaean culture contin-
ued to exist until about 1050
BCE.
Exceedingly well preserved buildings around the Triangle Square in Akrotiri demonstrate that there was no
caldera collapse after the Minoan eruption. Street scene in prehistoric Akrotiri.
earthquakes. In Apodou-
lou, dry stone walls, more
than two meters high, have
remained perfectly intact.
In Monastiraki, all valuable
portable items, such as jewel-
ry, bronze objects and seals,
were removed, and some
residents even sacrificed to
the gods immediately prior
to the disaster. Traces of fires
The floral style of Late Minoan pottery
suggest attacks by external
or internal enemies, rather
Artistic reconstruction of the upper floor of the West House in Akrotiri. than a natural disaster, as the
cause of the collapse.
The effects of the erup-
Suggestions tion of Thera that probably
Invasions rather than natural disasters started during the spring of
1628 BCE have been overes-
The palace culture, featuring its characteristic architecture, hieroglyph- timated. The volcanic erup-
ic writing and sophisticated administration system including seals, tion and the destruction
appeared so suddenly on Crete that a transfer from Asia Minor and/ of the Minoan civilization
or Syria/Palestine is likely. Apparently, the Middle Bronze Age civili- do not coincide. Less well
zation on Crete was not really homogeneous. The material culture, as known is the fact that the
revealed through excavations, often differs from site to site or from one caldera of Thera could not
region to the next. So it could very well be that the different settlements have collapsed during the
located on the island were used as bases or mainstays by different cul- Minoan eruption – it prob-
tures from the surrounding mainland (including Luwian territories). ably formed as much as a
Homer, too, speaks of Crete as a place with “peoples of various stems hundred thousand years
and various kinds of tongues,” including noble Pelasgians (Odys- earlier. Older stratified sedi-
sey 19.172–179) – a tribe whose core area some scholars assume to have ments were found inside
been south of Troy. Facades in Akrotiri are largely intact, sometimes over the caldera and the pumice
Appealing to an earthquake to explain the destruction in 1700 BCE several floors. that was ejected during the
does not make sense for a number of reasons. There are no tectonic Minoan eruption is not tec-
faults on Crete that would be sufficiently long enough to cause earth- tonically disturbed anywhere. Furthermore, the settlement in Akrotiri
quakes across the entire island. In addition, the old palaces show no would have been annihilated by a massive tectonic collapse. Without a
damage caused by liquefaction of soil, which would be typical for collapsing caldera there is no trigger mechanism for a tsunami.
4.4 Hatti – the Hittite Empire

The exact origin of the Hittite people is unclear. They probably first
settled in Central Anatolia about 2000 BCE and then mingled with the
local Hatti people in the area. Until around 1700 BCE, the indigenous
Hattian princes managed to preserve their supremacy, but conflicts
with the Hittite newcomers frequently erupted.
The actual Hittite dynasty commenced around 1670 BCE. From the
mid-16th century BCE the capital of the Great Kingdom was Hattuša in
northern Central Anatolia. The city has been excavated since 1906 and
became famous for its archives. Archaeologists recovered over 33,000
clay tablets and fragments which originated there.
The Hittite Great Kingdom was ruled by an emperor, under whom
were a large number of vassal kings. These belonged, for the most part,
to the dynasties reigning over the surrounding regions; they had to
This broken staircase in Akrotiri is used as an argument for ground motion, but by far not sufficient to prove swear an oath of loyalty to the Hittite emperor. The rulers of Egypt,
a caldera collapse. Babylonia and Assyria mostly considered the Hittite emperor as their
peer, with whom they maintained diplomatic contact and trade rela-
tions, but with whom they
“The Minoans were almost certainly descended from migrants who had arrived also, if necessary, fought for
from Anatolia.” David Abulafia 2011, 22 supremacy. Since the Hit-
“It has long been recognized that during the Middle Bronze Age Asia Minor
tite Empire had a common
border with Egypt on Syrian
and Crete must also have been in contact. This is indicated by similarities in
soil, friction between Hatti
the architectural design of the palaces in both areas, the relationship between
and Egypt arose too.
motifs on clay seals … and finally through the fact that the only surviving ves-
The Hittite Great King-
sel made of precious metal dating to the Old Palace Period shows an Anatolian
dom ultimately collapsed
vessel type, which was also imitated on Crete in clay.”
around 1190 BCE. Docu-
Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier 2009, 11 ments suggest that the mili-
“Earthquakes … have had little, if any, serious influence on historical develop- tary situation had worsened
ments in the Middle and Near East. … They have never caused the ruin of a on several fronts and that the
culturally advanced state, far less the end of a civilization.” country suffered from fam-
Nicholas Ambraseys 1973, 230
ine. Uprisings of the popu-
lation or power struggles
Members of the Hittite people possess a pale skin and a
classic profile. Men wore loincloths and coats that had to
among the vassal kings are
be knotted around the shoulders. likely to have occurred as
The Lion Gate at the southwest side of the upper city of Hattuša. The two sphinxes on the inner doorway at the highest and southernmost point in the city fortifications of
Hattuša.
well. With the fall of the Hittite Empire, the cuneiform writing tradi-
tion ended in Asia Minor and no new power center emerged in Central
Anatolia. People living in the region returned to a simple agricultural,
even partly nomadic lifestyle.
Suggestions
The Hittite leadership caste
In virtually all publications on ancient Anatolia, the Hittite civilization

is taken to represent the Bronze Age. However, the Bronze Age lasted
for nearly 2000 years, from about 3000 to about 1200 BCE (perfectly
coinciding with the time when Troy thrived), whereas the Hittite civili-
zation lasted only 400 years.
Hittite aristocrats appear to have essentially been a leadership caste
that defined itself on a political and administrative system. The indig-
Hittite street in front of the Great Temple at Hattuša (photo taken in 2014). enous, largely Luwian and Hattian population, continued to use their
It is quite conceivable that

within the core area of the
Hittite Kingdom, the original
Hattian and Luwian people
were gently coerced to form
a state that was united by
a central management and
policy. Even so, they pre-
served their languages and
customs – which may be why
so many Luwian loanwords
and texts appear even in
the capital. Petty kingdoms
on the periphery were tied
through vassal treaties to be
loyal supporters. In all likeli-
hood, neither the native local
The architectural style used for the Mycenaean citadels people nor the vassal states
(shown here the eastern gallery of Tiryns) resembles the were always happy about
Reconstruction of the inside of the King’s Gate of Hattuša. It is a double gate, showing a half-relief of an one customary in Asia Minor. this situation. This may have
armed warrior, 2.25 m tall, on one side.
caused constant political
friction – and thus contribut-
ed to the two demises of the
languages and customs, even under Hittite dominion. The nature of Hittite Empire – of which the
Hittite rule can thus be compared to the administrative system of the second one was forever.
Ottoman Empire, to Yugoslavia under Tito or to the former Soviet gov-
ernment. Central administrations come and go, but languages and cus-
toms of the local population are rarely affected by such changes.
A third caveat concerns the size of the Hittite Empire. In recent
years, maps typically show the maximum expansion of the empire dur-
ing the 13th century BCE. However, the kingdom reached this extent
only through treaties with vassal states and even then only for a short
time. Hittite rule was characterized by the fact that neighbors were
enemies most of the time. In particular the petty kingdoms in the west
caused enduring friction. In the north, the Kaška too were archenemies
who repeatedly raided Hittite territory to plunder. A Hittite cult vessel – it is to be filled from the bottom and
then turned upside down.
“From the way Hittite scribes use Luwian words in Hittite texts, it appears that
4.5 The New Kingdom in Egypt
Luwian largely served as a colloquial language within the Hatti kingdom.” Current state of knowledge
Bernhard Rosenkranz 1938, 265
Egypt has always played a special role in the early historical devel-
“It seems to be sure that the rule of the Hittites never reached the western opment of the Mediterranean countries. Its isolated geographical loca-
borders of Asia and certainly not up to the Hellespont.” tion and the fertility of the Nile valley permitted a cultural-historical
Aleksander Krawczuk 1990, 201 development that was unique in the ancient world and followed its
own rules. The land northeast of the Sahara was safe from enemies on
“The Mediterranean was never the focus of the interests of the great kings of
almost all sides.
Hatti further to the east, which were firmly directed towards the mountainous,
As the Nile valley became more arid at the end of the 4th millen-
mineral-bearing interior of western Asia.” David Abulafia 2011, 21
nium, the Egyptians began to artificially irrigate their fields. The earli-
“Formerly the Hittite land was laid waste by the enemy. The Kaška came from est image of a rural scene – from the 31st century – shows a king at the
one direction and made Nenašša the border. Arzawa came in the direction of opening of an irrigation channel. Both the country’s economy and its
the Lower Land and also laid waste the Hittite land. It made Tanuwa and Uda people were so dependent on the Nile that a government system was
the border. Arawanna came from a third direction and laid waste all of Kaššiya. conceived that took care of water distribution, land survey, as well as
Azzi came from a fourth direction, laid waste the Upper Land, and made control of taxes and property. Since the end of the 4th millennium, a dis-
tinct civilization with kingship, administration, script, art and religion
Šamuha the border. Išuwa came from a fifth direction and destroyed Tegarama.
prevailed in Egypt.
Armatana came from a sixth direction, devastated Hittite lands and made Kiz-
zuwatna city the border.”
Decree of Hattušili III (ca. 1267–1237) after Richard Beal 2011, 585–586 (KBo
6.28 Obv. 6–14, Goetze 1940, 22)
The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut at western Thebes.

The New Kingdom, from

1549 to 1069 BCE, was a gold-
en age in the history of Egypt.
At the same time, the country
became increasingly involved
in external conflicts. With
the assumption of power by
Ramesses I in 1290 BCE, the
19th dynasty was founded.
During his regency, there
were clashes with the Hit-
tites, against whom Ramesses
II in 1274 BCE lost the famous
Battle of Kadesh. Around 1200
BCE, Egypt became involved
in disputes with Libya and
later experienced the Sea Peo- The first pylon of the Luxor Temple, one of the monumental buildings from the time of Ramesses II. The
ples’ invasions, at least on the second obelisk has been at the Place de la Concorde in Paris since 1836.
periphery. At that time, inter-

nal disputes over the succes-
sion to the throne weakened Suggestions
the empire. After Seti II, who The questionable historic accuracy of Egyptian
reigned from 1203 to 1193 temple inscriptions
BCE, several rulers followed
at short intervals. In 1185 Egyptians started using hieroglyphic script as far back as around 3200
BCE, Sethnakhte ascended to BCE. They were thus able to record events and to pass these descriptions
the throne, founding the 20th Egyptian warriors are depicted as tall, lean and broad- on without variation for generations to come. The Greeks permanently
dynasty. The circumstances of shouldered. The land of the Nile had a professional army acquired a knowledge of script only 2500 years later. Consequently,
that was divided into infantry and charioteers.
his takeover, even his origin, when Greek writers met with Egyptian temple priests and chatted
are largely unknown. Just three years later, he was succeeded by his son about history, the priests tended to compare their visitors to precocious
Ramesses III, who was able to restore some stability and who became children (Dio Chrysostom, Speech 11.1; Plato, Timaeus 22b).
the last pharaoh to execute Egyptian supremacy in the Mediterranean. The ability to record historical events permanently makes Egypt an
Since the country opened up more than ever to other cultures of the indispensable resource for the reconstruction of events at the end of
Middle East, and the pharaohs conducted extensive correspondence the Bronze Age. We know about the so-called Sea Peoples’ invasions
with all the major contemporary rulers, royal and private inscriptions primarily from Egyptian temple inscriptions. The homeland of the Sea
provide evidence of the events before, during and after the upheavals Peoples is now thought to have been in western or southern Asia Minor
around 1190 BCE. and in the Aegean area. Egypt happened to be on the periphery of the
raids – and ended up surviv- pharaoh to rectify the mistaken propaganda inscriptions, of which the
ing the upheavals as the only contents the people of Hatti were well aware of.
region of the Eastern Medi- Much has been written about the notion that Ramesses III made use
terranean that was largely of battle descriptions already transmitted from one of his predecessors,
unscathed. The pharaohs Merneptah. The date provided for the main naval battle against the Sea
were unable to actively inter- Peoples, the eighth reignal year of Ramesses III, is almost twenty years
vene, because at that time off the mark, since Ugarit was destroyed in 1192 BCE while Ramesses’s
dynastic turmoil had led to III eighth reignal year would have been 1174 BCE.
chaotic conditions.
Probably the most impor-
tant source, certainly the “The land of Egypt was overthrown from without, and every man was (thrown
most graphic one, for an out) of his right; they had no chief mouth for many years formerly until other
understanding of the events times. The land of Egypt was in the hands of chiefs and of rulers of towns;
at the end of the Bronze Age one slew his neighbor great and small. Other times having come after it, with
are the inscriptions on the empty years, Yarsu, a certain Syrian was with them as chief. He set the whole
mortuary temple of Ramess- land tributary before him together; he united his companions and plundered
es III in Medinet Habu, west- their possessions. They made the gods like men, and no offerings were pre-
ern Thebes, Upper Egypt. It sented in the temple.” Papyrus Harris I, Biblioteca Aegyptiaca V, 91 after James
is one of the few well-pre- Henry Breasted 1906, 198
served temples of its kind.
Most of the others were used
as a supply of building mate-
rial already during the New Representatives of the Nubian people are consistently
Kingdom and have therefore depicted as dark-skinned at the time of the Egyptian New
disappeared. The Egyptian Kingdom.
scribes provide the names of
the people who attacked the countries around the Eastern Mediterra-
nean, they also depict them in elaborate engravings, and they tell the
story of the raids including the year of the events. Unfortunately, how-
ever, the accuracy of the information is more than questionable. Egyp-
tian scribes tended to glorify their pharaoh, rather than to transmit
historic truth. Ramesses II had the Battle of Kadesh depicted in his mor-
tuary temple, in Karnak, Luxor, Abydos and Abu Simbel as a mighty
victory in which he slew the Hittites and killed a brother of the Hittite
king Muwatalli II. The Hittite king only had one brother, he fought in
the battle as a general, survived it unharmed, later assumed the throne
as Hattušili III, made peace with Egypt – and enforced pressure on the
4.6 Petty Kingdoms in Syria and Palestine

The region stretching south of the mountains of Anatolia towards the
Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea was called Syria in antiquity.
Further south it extends into Palestine, forming the bridge between
Egypt, the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. Due to its location,
Syria served as a connection from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean.
The land itself was sought after for the durable cedars that grew on
Mount Lebanon, which were required for shipbuilding and accordingly
m 0m
00 0 Karkemish
0 m 0m>5 0–2
0 0 0
0
2 >1
> Aleppo
KIZZUWATNA Emar
Alalach
Ebla SYRIA
Ugarit
Hama
AMURRU
Enkomi Qatna
ALASIYA
Kition Kadesh
Homs
Byblos
Beruta
Sidon
Tyre Damascus The semi-nomadic Shasu bedouins lived in Syria and Palestine. Their weaponry consisted of two spears or a
Hazor curved sword.
Akko
Dor Megiddo transported by water to Egypt and by land to Mesopotamia. Evidence

CANAAN of trade contacts of the major commercial and cultural center Ugarit,
Jaffa
Ekron
Azor located on the Syrian Mediterranean coast, shows connections to Egypt
Jerusalem
Ashdod
Ascalon
and further inland as well as to Cyprus and to the Aegean area.
Gaza Palestine had a similar geostrategic importance as a bridge between
Egypt and Arabia, Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Syria. From the 16th cen-
tury BCE, Palestine was recognized as an Egyptian province. The rul-
Tanis/Auaris ing power, however, was left to local dynasties, of which there were
0 100 EGYPT several hundred.
km
Known Late Bronze Age settlement sites in the Middle East.

During the Late Bronze Age, the interests of the great powers Egypt, “The arrangement of historical material is intimately connected with the view
Assyria and Hatti collided in Syria and Palestine. Documents from and the judgment of the historian.” Georg Friedrich Creuzer 1845, 89
Ugarit show that the city was at first a vassal of Egypt. From 1330 BCE,
after several military campaigns by Suppiluliuma’s troops, however, “No historical account is so enduring that it would not have to be tackled again
Ugarit took the side of the Hittites. In 1274 BCE, conflicts between Hatti and again.” Beat Näf 2010, 180
and Egypt triggered the Battle of Kadesh in Syria. The outcome was “Professional historians develop peculiar preferences for self-limitations on
somewhat more favorable for the Hittite ruler, but Ramesses managed excerpts of historical matters that are promising advantages at present.”
to consolidate his position on the coast of Palestine. Beat Näf 2010, 17
In the wake of the Sea Peoples’ attacks and the subsequent turmoil
around 1190 BCE, law and order seem to have been lost in Syria and
Palestine. Documents mention the sighting of enemy ships. A call for
help by the Ugaritic king remained unsent. The ruins of towns in the
Syrian heartland and in the Euphrates valley cannot be directly attrib-
uted to invasions from the sea, but must be seen in relation to subse-
quent migrations and invasions as well as the collapse of the state.
Suggestions
Rivalry and fragmentation
Neither the Hittite kings nor the Egyptian pharaohs were interested
in having the small states in Syria/Palestine overcome their rivalry
and fragmentation. The tense situation in the Middle East at that time
served the great powers as a useful congregation of tax-paying vassals.
Within the chain of events that ultimately led to the downfall of the
Hittite Empire, a key role seems to have been played by Syria. Both
the small states in the west and southwest of Asia Minor as well as the
Kaška tribes in the north were considered to be notorious troublemak-
ers. In Syria, around 1200 BCE, however, the Great King of Hatti had
a loyal vassal. That the Sea Peoples specifically attacked Ugarit first
might therefore be construed as an attempt to weaken the Hittite king.
The influence of Mycenaean civilization in this region does not seem
to have been very great. Ugarit received large quantities of Mycenae-
an pottery, but not a single Linear B document was found there. Also,
among the approximately 2000 people mentioned in written sources
from Ugarit, not a single Mycenaean name has been identified.
W Royal Palace of Ilion E
Surface during Medieval
Surface in 1850
Troy VIII-IX
Surface after Roman
Buried City levelling
of Troy
143
128 Ilion
129
73 Troy VII Present surface
Cross-section
Troy III
Troy I Troy II
Troy VI
0 100 200 300 m
Troy IV
Schliemann-Graben
Debris
Karamenderes River Floodplain
Streambed
143 128 129 73
Floodplain deposits
Alluvium & debris
Troy VI+VIIa remains Canal
River gravel Buried City of Troy

10 m
Tertiary marl
Marine sediment
100 m
5 . Troy
5.1 The History of Troy

For a long time the existence and location of Troy ranked among
the most controversial topics in archaeology. Today the majority of
researchers assume that the settlement mound on Hisarlık, located at
the southwest entrance of the Dardanelles, matches the Troy sang of
in the Homeric poems. As early as the 3rd millennium BCE a fortified
citadel arose on this hill. The settlement reached its peak of prosperity
Previous pages: A cross-section through Troy and Ilion shows how much has been removed from the citadel
knoll – and how much of the city still lies buried and hidden in the floodplain. The northeast gate of Troy VI (photo taken in 1991).
104 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N TROY • 105
between 1700 and 1200 BCE. Later, during the Roman Empire, Troy Manfred Korfmann and his peer in Tübingen, historian Frank Kolb, a
and its heroes were still highly revered. At the beginning of the medi- debate that was for the most part conducted publicly, ultimately did
eval period, however, the place fell into oblivion and its location was not result in any clarification.
eventually forgotten. The historicity of the Trojan War, as described by Homer in the Ili-
To this day, the size and importance of Troy is still fiercely debated. ad, is uncertain as well. It is clear, however, that the settlement was
Some researchers think that the settlement was of regional significance destroyed shortly after 1200 BCE. Hittite documents indicate that both
only, while others see Troy as an important commercial center with Hittite and Mycenaean kings were trying to expand their influence
far-reaching relations. The Troy debate between the former excavator along the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. An attack by the Mycenaeans
would, therefore, be plausible but cannot be proven.
Piteya
Adrasteia Suggestions
Percote
The myth of a former city – Not a fiction
Sesdos Zeleia
Ilion Arisbe?
Abydos In principle, there are two ways to explain the outstanding significance
Pedasos? of Troy in European cultural history. Most prehistorians and historians,
Tenedos
Thebes including the longtime excavator of the archaeological site Manfred
Antandos Lyrnessos
Korfmann and his assistant Peter Jablonka, attribute the importance
Lesbos Adramyttion of Troy to Homer’s poetry.
Phocaea Cyme Dardanelles
From their point of view,
Smyrna people have glorified Troy
Aegean
for thousands of years
Klazomenai
because of the Iliad – even
Sea
Colophon
Proposed though the place itself is not
coastline
at 1200 BCE
spectacular, as the excava-
tions have uncovered only a
Kesik
cut
settlement of relatively mod-

Yenikoy
est size.50
plain
There is much that speaks
Yenikoy
canal
against the idea that Troy’s
10
fame is derived from Hom-

Hanay Tepe
Beşik plain
B e şi k
Bay er’s. First of all, Homer was
a Greek writer who wrote a
Asarlik
0 100
km 0 2
km
poem in Greek about Greek
Ballı Dağ
heroes that ended a mighty

The circle indicates the approximate expansion of the kingdom of Troy according to Homer (Iliad 24.546). If the extent of the fortified city of Hattuša is projected into
The dots mark places destroyed by Achilles according to Homer, Apollodoros of Athens (Epitome 3.33) and the plain of Troy, it covers the area marked red in this map.
war through a victory
Eustathios of Thessalonica (Il. 322.25). brought about by their Greek
forces. How and why should subsequent generations (for over 2000 foot of the northern slope of Troia is an important one … In the light
years!) glorify not the victors but rather the little place that was pum- of these findings we consider that it would be very useful to make an
meled by the Greeks? If Homer’s poems made the Trojan War famous, archaeological excavation about 7 meters deep.”
then Roman aristocrats and the people of Europe should have claimed In its heyday Troy was indeed the epitome of a thriving city – which
descent from the victorious Agamemnon and his hometown Mycenae, is why it became such a symbol in European cultural history. Few visi-
rather than from the losers of the Trojan War. Secondly, many details tors who had experienced Troy in its glory were likely to have ever seen
transmitted about Troy during its heyday are not even related by Hom- anything to surpass it.
er. So, there must have been other sources in addition to Homer. Third-
ly, the Troy theme was especially popular during the medieval period,
a time when Homer’s work was not available and was considered lost. “I am extremely disappointed at being obliged to give so small a plan of Troy;
The second possibility, and the one favored here, is that Troy became nay, I had wished to be able to make it a thousand times larger, but I value
a myth because the location and its downfall actually were of great sig- truth above everything.” Heinrich Schliemann 1875, 344
nificance. Homer’s work therefore benefited from the importance of
“A great number of the Bronze Age settlements in western Anatolia were prob-
Troy, not vice versa. Regarding the size and importance of Bronze Age
ably Luwian foundations, or re-foundations, like Apasa, predecessor of Classical
Troy, there is scope for models that are quite different from the prevail-
Ephesos, Beycesultan, and perhaps also Troy VI.” Trevor Bryce 2003, 31
ing paradigms. It is conceivable that the city was much larger, even a
hundredfold larger, than was assumed until 1992. Despite more than “To Erichthonius was born a son Tros, who called the people of the land
140 years of excavation history, only the citadel hill has thus far been Trojans, after his own name. To Tros were born three sons, Ilus, Assaracus,
explored. According to various ancient texts, this residence of royal and Ganymedes. Ilus founded in a plain a city which was the most renowned
families was surrounded by a park. The actual city of Troy was located among the cities in the Troad, giving it after himself the name Ilium.”
in the floodplain of the Karamenderes and Dümrek Rivers (Diodorus Diodorus Siculus (1st century BCE), Library of History 4.75.3 (Oldfather)
4.75.3). The Trojan kings had engaged outstanding hydraulic engi-
neers who channelized the rivers, so that their water could be used
for irrigation as well as for cleaning the city (see the section on Guido
de Columnis). During the Trojan War, the Greeks are likely to have
destroyed levees and hydraulic installations. Since the war was fought
in the dry summer months, their actions had no immediate effect. But
when the winter came, with Troy already defeated and destroyed, the
topographically low-lying ruins were buried under mud carried by the
rivers. Thus, the remains of Troy are likely to be buried a few hun-
dred meters west of Hisarlık, and remain hidden. Excavator Manfred
Korfmann has said (in a personal conversation) that drill holes in the
floodplain revealed pottery deep down below the present surface. The
geoarchaeologist who investigated these deposits for almost forty years
concluded, “some levels contain a great deal of archaeological material
… Pieces of bricks, stones and mortar indicate the remains of a con-
struction. … From an archaeological point of view, the area along the
5.2 The Investigation of Troy

For a long time Heinrich Schliemann was thought to have discovered
Troy. He claimed that as a boy his father showed him drawings of Troy
in flames and that he then decided to search for the city. But it seems
that Schliemann did not become interested in archaeology until he
was in his forties, and even then it was just a fashionable thing to do.
After a successful career as a businessman, Schliemann learned Latin
and Ancient Greek, and traveled to Greece for the first time in 1868,
where he searched in vain for the palace of Odysseus on Ithaca. Mov-
ing on to the Troad, and using the help of local workers, he dug some
holes where Troy was supposed to have been. Schliemann searched in
the wrong place, however, following the hypothesis of Jean Baptiste
LeChevalier. When he could not find much of interest, he decided to
leave. In Çanakkale, Schliemann missed his ferry – and unexpectedly
came across Frank Calvert, the son of an English diplomat. Calvert was
highly interested in Troy and a proponent of a new theory regarding its
location: that the citadel had been on the hill called Hisarlık. Addition-
ally, his family had purchased parts of this hill. This theory had first
been put forward in 1821 by Charles Maclaren, a Scottish newspaper
publisher and amateur geologist. Maclaren identified Hisarlık as the
Homeric Troy without having visited the region. His theory was based
to an extent on observations by the Cambridge professor of mineralogy
Edward Daniel Clarke and his assistant John Martin Cripps. In 1801,
those gentlemen were the first to have linked the archaeological site at
Hisarlık with historic Troy.
Frank Calvert managed to win Schliemann over to undertake joint
excavations on the Hisarlık hill. Schliemann later played down the
importance of Calvert. After all, he was wealthier, more driven and
better at self-marketing than Calvert. In retrospect, however, he was
also more irresponsible: Without permission, he drove a 40-meter wide
and 15-meter deep ditch through the middle of the hill, without pay-
ing attention to more recent settlement layers. Later Schliemann would
Right page: This topographical map of the plain of Troy was published by Thomas Spratt and Peter Wilhelm
Forchhammer in 1850.
be much criticized for his

crude methods. German
scientists denied him the
professional recognition
he coveted, even after he
had become a celebrity
with the discovery of the
so-called Priam’s Treasure
in 1873. Today, however,
Schliemann is consid-
ered one of the pioneers The citadel of Troy VI covered an area of about 20,000 m 2
of modern archaeology, and was enclosed by a 522 m long fortification wall.
despite his initially rough

Of the classic labyrinth (center), a simplified and a more complex form exist.
approach.
All in all, ten main phases of habitation have been recognized on
Hisarlık, suggesting a continuous settlement from the 5th millennium to
late antiquity. The excavations between 1988 and 2012 were directed by
scientists from Tübingen in Germany, initially by Manfred Korfmann.
Graffito on the so-called wine jug from Tragliatella. It shows a labyrinth that is inscribed as “Truia.”
After his death, the chief natural scientist of the project, Ernst Pernicka,
took over. The German Research Foundation discontinued its financial
support in 2009, but some work did continue as it was funded by dona-
The overgrown Schliemann Trench in Troy makes space for a view towards the north to the Dardanelles. tions. At the end of 2012, the University of Tübingen’s excavation permit
Labyrinth on a castle hill. The trenches on Hisarlık may have had a similar arrangement. In the 1960s, Vladimir Milojčić directed an excavation of a complete stratigraphic profile at the edge of the
settlement mound of Pefkakia Magoula in Volos, Greece.
expired. Since 2013, Rüstem Aslan from the University of Çanakkale buildings dating to the Byzantine period. Layers recording thousands
has been the new director of excavations. He too had been part of the of years of settlement history remain invisible below, despite ongoing
previous project and received his PhD at the University of Tübingen. excavations. In order to explore those earlier deposits, one would have
to remove some of the walls above.
Suggestions What is much needed in western Turkey are deep soundings and
A look below the temples of antiquity profile trenches extending all the way down to the bedrock. Only by
creating such sections can the sequence of settlements be determined.
The strong criticism of Schliemann’s initial brute force has made leg- In this respect, western Turkey is lagging behind the research on Crete
islators and excavators in Turkey and Greece overly cautious. Because and mainland Greece by more than a century. The Yugoslav-German
excavations potentially destroy cultural heritage, today archaeolo- archaeologist Vladimir Milojčić has exposed an exemplary profile
gists are increasingly regarded as conservators rather than research- showing thousands of years of habitation at Pefkakia Magoula, near the
ers. They are allowed to dig down to the first preserved architectural Greek city of Volos. Exactly such cross-sections are needed from settle-
floor plans and expose these, but removing them is often not permitted. ment sites in western Asia Minor. We know where it would be most
The underlying layers thus lie hidden forever. Precisely for this reason, promising to start. Since finds are recovered and exhibited, and walls
the Luwian culture remains undiscovered to this day. In the case of are carefully drawn and restored using virtual reality, therefore noth-
a 20-meter high settlement mound, like the one in Kadıkalesi on the ing would be destroyed. Also, many hundred settlement mounds are
Aegean coast of Turkey, archaeologists know little more than the top known in western Turkey alone. The partial removal of one hill would
not cause any damage. Modern day science could benefit from having 5.3 The Lower Town
more of the courage and pioneering spirit of former times.
Heinrich Schliemann came to the conclusion early on that prehistor-
ic Troy was precisely limited to the extent of the excavations he led
“Next April I intend to lay bare the entire hill of Hissarlik, for I consider it certain himself. The limited size of just 180 by 160 meters, however, strongly
that I will find there Pergamos, the citadel of Troy.” Heinrich Schliemann, contradicts all historical descriptions of the city. As a consequence,
August 22, 1868, Letter to his brother Hans and his sister Doris Schliemann was much criticized throughout his life; scholars outright
rejected the identification of the archaeological site with the vision of
“This does not mean that outsiders are necessarily wrong. Heinrich
Troy as celebrated by Homer.
Schliemann, the German tycoon who first excavated at Troy and Mycenae in
After Schliemann’s death in 1890, more people started believing
the 1870s, made a naïve but fruitful conjunction of legends, historical docu-
that Troy could indeed have been modest in size. In the 1960s, Kurt
ments and topography, showing that much as academics might like it to be so,
Bittel, then president of the German Archaeological Institute and long-
the obvious is not always false.” Martin Bernal 1987, 5
time excavator of Hattuša, even argued that Troy had merely been a
pirates’ nest. The British archaeologist John Bintliff went further still
and claimed that Troy was only a fishing village, inhabited by no more
than a hundred souls. Manfred Korfmann followed the prevailing zeit-
geist when he became excavator of Troy in 1988. At conferences, in per-
sonal conversations, in media interviews and in scientific publications,
he played down the importance of Troy and echoed Bittel’s notion of a
“pirates’ nest.”
In April of 1991, Korfmann fundamentally changed his mind regard-
ing the size of Troy. From then on, until his death in 2005, the size and
importance of Troy grew in his point of view, in several steps, until the
known parts of the settlement had become as much as twenty times
larger than previously imagined. The excavator argued that a densely
populated lower town extended right outside the fortress walls of Troy
VI, even though excavations had revealed very few building remains
there. It was these assumptions regarding the size and importance of
Troy that provoked much controversy and eventually led to a fierce
scholarly dispute. This controversy was fought out primarily between
Korfmann on one side and his peer in Tübingen, historian Frank Kolb,
on the other.
In 1993, during geophysical prospecting, Helmut Becker, a geophys-
icist from Munich, discovered an anomaly that Manfred Korfmann
initially interpreted as a mudbrick wall with wooden defense towers
belonging to Troy VI. From his perspective, it was built as a proof of
power and had collapsed after a disastrous fire. Excavations conduct- trenches may then have kept sacred bulls (which were allowed to roam
ed during the following year, however, showed that the anomaly was around freely in parts of the park) from running away. They could also
caused by nothing more than an artificial incision into the bedrock, a have provided symbolic protection and may have been meant to keep
ditch. This nearly 4-meter wide trench lies about 400 meters outside the evil spirits away. This would explain why in Homer’s Iliad, Achilles
acropolis. Soon a second similar trench was found still further outside. dragged the corpse of Hector around the city walls, because in doing
The investigation of the trench monopolized the excavators’ capacity so he broke the spell over Troy and the city was henceforth destined to
for almost twenty years, without leading to significant new insights. fall.
Manfred Korfmann and his successor Ernst Pernicka interpreted it as The royal residences of the sixth and seventh city of Troy stood on
an obstruction for approaching chariots. concentric terraces, so that the innermost district was of a circular con-
struction. This round structure continued in the trenches outside the
fortress walls. In antiquity, concentric rings in the form of a labyrinth
Suggestions were in fact closely connected with Troy. Engravings on a wine jug
Twenty years of excavations in the palace garden from the Roman city of Tragliatella (around 620 BCE) depict a ceremo-
nial “Troy dance” that was mainly performed when cities in early Italy
Korfmann’s about-turn regarding the size of Troy in April 1991 coin- were founded, and then, significantly, before the city walls were to be
cides with the first meeting he and I had. At that time, I was a Senior erected. Hundreds of stone labyrinths in England and Scandinavia bear
Research Associate in the Department of Earth Sciences at Cambridge names related to Troy, ranging from Troy Town to Trelleborg. Half a
University and Korfmann had invited me to give a lecture in his depart- century ago, some experts assumed that a maze-like structure would
ment about the geoarchaeological research I had done in the Argolid on eventually be discovered in the city plan of Troy. It is quite possible
behalf of the German Archeological Institute. After my talk, we spoke that this circular city plan also continued in the floodplain below the
in private for several hours about the potential former extent of Troy castle – and down there the trenches could have taken the form of navi-
and its investigation. He had already assigned the task of reconstruct- gable canals.
ing the landscape to Ilhan Kayan, a professor from Izmir University. The symbol of the labyrinth was the guiding principle of my book
Thus, he saw no opportunity for me to get involved in the project. The Future of the Past (2001). Since 2002, it has also been my company’s
That summer, Korfmann encouraged Ilhan Kayan to investigate the logo (science communications GmbH). After Manfred Korfmann died
artificial trenches and canals that were known in the landscape around in 2006, his collaborators dedicated a memorial booklet to him entitled
Troy. He also began searching for a lower town outside the citadel The Last Ring, which had a cover that also pictured concentric rings in
using geophysical prospection. The function of the trenches that were the shape of the primordial Labyrinth. Today this symbol is reflected in
soon found during the prospection can be guessed by their contents. the logo of the Luwian Studies foundation.
If the contents were arrowheads, bronze weapons, bone fragments Texts from antiquity to the late Middle Ages indicate that the actual
and remains of chariot wheels, they would argue in favor of defense city of Troy extended into the plain beneath the citadel of Ilion (Diodor-
as a purpose; but the excavators did not find such things on Hisarlık. us 4.75.3; William Gell 1804, 121). The living quarters of the population,
Instead, they found pollen from many different, even exotic plants in craftsmen’s workshops, garrisons and port districts are likely to have
the trenches. Also, a complete skeleton of a bull was preserved in one been located down there. Various sources describe how the remains
place inside the trench. It is thus conceivable that the citadel of Troy VI of the city, after its destruction by the Greeks, literally disappeared
was indeed surrounded by a large palace garden – this would explain under water and mud (Strabo 1.3.17; Dio Chrysostom 11.76; Quintus
why hardly any traces of buildings were found outside the citadel. The of Smyrna 14.646–652; Homer, Iliad 12.16–33; see also Plato, Timaeus
25d). During almost 150 years of research history in Troy, however, all “It appears then that both the Salian dance and the Troia [dance] were meant
excavations have been restricted to the hill of Hisarlık, which due to its by their intricate armed movements to strengthen the defence of a city by
elevation was never affected by mudflows. In other words, the actual supernatural means … The actions must have been thought to create an addi-
lower city of Troy may indeed still lie hidden in the plain underneath a tional and abstract wall of power to exclude hostile influence.”
layer of gravel and alluvial silt. Approximately 300 drill holes that were W. F. Jackson Knight 1932, 452
made by Ilhan Kayan to investigate the plain’s stratigraphy produced
“I might not be far wrong should I describe Troy as a pirate fortress which exer-
thick layers with artifact-rich deposits. Accordingly, the buried lower
cised control over the straits. … The representation of Troia sketched above
city of Troy may already have been found in the floodplain. Archaeolo-
definitely corresponded to what was thought about it then.”
gists looking for the remains of the actual city of Troy may only need to
Manfred Korfmann 2003, 8
dig a mere 5- to 6-meter trench 300 meters west of Hisarlık – and they
are likely to make a breakthrough discovery surpassing that of Hein- “The city was indeed unusually large for its time (!).”
rich Schliemann. Manfred Korfmann 2003, 8
“How important the symbols of Troy’s power were, even a voluble tongue
cannot easily describe: kings were terrified when they heard its name, generals
“I now therefore assert most positively that Troy was limited to the small sur-
trembled before its command. Wealthy, an empire with many districts, royal
face of this hill; that its area is accurately marked by its great surrounding wall,
castle of the kings, famous residence of noble men, parade of generals. Who
laid open by me in many places.” Heinrich Schliemann 1875, 18
would have thought that a city defended with so many peoples and towers
“Before the house near the courtyard was an enclosure, widespread, four acres would be taken by siege? The invincible collapsed completely and there was
of trees heavy with fresh fruit … Such was the shady garden. Hard by, a brook nothing left of her; burned she lies on the ground, they did not even have
divided in two runnels; from this the people drew their drinking, from that a name for her [anymore]. She collapsed, giving the world a tremendous
the gardener cut up the water into many curving channels and carried it from example that the present hour is not safely reliable. For it is now a tilth where
plant to plant.” Nonnos, Dionysiaka 3.140–165 (Rouse) Troy once stood, and the rich soil that needs to be processed with the sickle, is
“In the reign of Ericthonius, the city of the Trojans was either in another situ- bristling with Phrygian blood.” Albert von Stade 1249, Troilus 6.5.841–854
ation, or covered only the upper part of the hill; … but when Tros, his son,
ascended the throne, the people were so multiplied that they began to over-
spread the declivity, and the additional town was called Troy, in honour of that
prince.” William Gell 1804, 120–121
“They say the old radius (wall) of Troy had amounted to 60 stadia.”
Carl Gotthold Lenz 1798, 305, quoting Codex Venetus A (22.208), which in turn
refers to Diocles (probably of Peparethus, 4th century BCE). Accordingly, Troy
would have been about 180 times larger than the citadel of Troy VI.
5.4 Hydro Engineering During the Bronze Age

Excavator Manfred Korfmann was convinced that Troy’s success was
partly based on its favorable strategic location at the entrance to the
Black Sea. Strong northern winds prevail at the Dardanelles, which
would have rendered the strait impassable for Bronze Age ships.
According to Korfmann, skippers had to wait for favorable condi-
tions in the port of Troy and, most likely, paid port and pilot fees. The
excavator and his former team’s ancient philologist, Joachim Latacz,
thought that the natural beach in Beşik Bay, around 10 kilometers south
of Hisarlık, had served as the port. According to them, even trade ves-
sels were simply drawn up onto the beach.
Geomorphological studies of the plain of Troy have shown that
the current bed of the Karamenderes River is not identical with its old
course. The whole plain is crisscrossed by dry river beds and artificial
canals. Peter Wilhelm Forchhammer, at the time professor of geography Artificial reservoir dating back to the Hittite period (re-excavated) near Alaca Höyük.
at Kiel University, and Thomas Spratt of the Royal Navy had conducted
Artistic reconstruction of the dam in Mycenae. The artificial ponds within the southern citadel of Hattuša are now silted up. The stone row indicates the outline.
TRAGANA
Tholos tombs
40
R.
las
Se
Lake
Dam
Canal
20
Port of Nestor
12
8 ROMANOU
S e l a s R.
Cove
Present 0 500
coast m
The artificial harbor of Alexandria Troas, approximately 30 km south of Troy, is partially silted up but still visible. After the collapse of the Mycenaean Kingdom the Port of Nestor and the artificial reservoir silted up quickly.
surveys in the plain as early as 1839. Forchhammer’s records, along he opted for Byzantium –
with the map of the area prepared by Spratt, provide excellent insights which later grew into Con-
into the topography of the landscape in the middle of the 19th century. stantinople and ultimately
It contained various silted-up waterways and heaps of spoil from dig- became Istanbul.
ging. Schliemann, too, was convinced that the Trojans had diverted the Such elaborate hydrau-
Karamenderes River in order to prevent ephemeral flood. lic constructions are also
known from the Late Bronze
Age. These include artificial
Suggestions ports in Syria and Palestine
Artificial ports and underground waterways that remained sediment-free
due to skillful channeling of
A thousand years after the end of Late Bronze Age Troy, a sprawling Schliemann’s sketch indicates the border between the water flow. In the 14th
Ilion and the plain. He identified the old course of the
city sprung up again in the same region: Alexandria Troas. Situated Scamander River, a small harbor basin and a sand heap
century BCE, in western The-
30 kilometers south of Hisarlık, it possessed an important feature: two (with spoil from digging canals). bes on the Upper Nile, Pha-
artificial port basins that are still visible today and even filled with raoh Amenhotep III ordered
water. Constantine the Great (272–337) is said to have considered mak- the construction of an artificial port, two square kilometers in size. We
ing Alexandria Troas the capital of the Roman Empire, but eventually also know numerous hydro-engineering installations from Mycenaean
Uniform rectangular incisions into the coast at important Minoan settlements on Crete suggest that
wharves made of wood may have once been there. Pictured here is Gournia.
Greece. Chief among them are a still-functioning river diversion near

Tiryns, the drainage system of Lake Copais west of Thebes and the Port Late Bronze Age harbors are likely to have existed on the coast of Minoan Crete.
of Nestor at Pylos.
However, nowhere is there greater evidence of human intervention
in the natural courses of rivers as those which can be found at Troy. functioned. Such a technical reconstruction would have to be based on
Characteristically, the river crossing the alluvial plain bore two names canals and basins that are still recognizable in today’s landscape. These
in antiquity. The gods called it Xanthos (“yellow river,” Iliad 20.74). could then be compared with the Late Bronze Age hydraulic installa-
Later, the inhabitants of Troy are said to have diverted the river arti- tions known from Greece, with the information provided by Spratt’s
ficially, so that it was henceforth called Skamma Andros (Skamandros, map, and with the general knowledge of hydrology. Accordingly, the
Scamander), “because the digging (skamma) of the man (andros ekeinou) following scenario would be possible: The main input of water always
siphoned the Xanthos out of the earth” (Eustathius, Commentarii ad came from the south through the Karamenderes River (Scamander).
Homeri 20.74). This river was channelized and diverted to exit into Beşik Bay. An arti-
It is absolutely possible to determine what the ancient course of riv- ficial canal a few meters wide but as much as ten meters deep rendered
ers and the structure of port facilities of Troy looked like and how they high water velocity and thus ensured that most sediment would be
The Bronze Age water regulation systems of Troy have long since silted up. Sometimes during spring, bodies
of standing water appear on them, so that the outlines of the basins become visible again.
canals in Amsterdam from an aerial view. Trojan aristocrats and their

visitors were able to pass through the city by boat and would thus reach
the main seaport without having to use roads.
The most impressive feature of the port facility, however, was a
This map from Schliemann’s Ilios shows the Scamander flowing past the foot of Hisarlık. 30 meters deep incision into the coastal ridge, one whose remains are
still visible today. Through this, ships were pulled about 500 meters
over land to an inland port basin inside the floodplain that was filled
carried out of the plain. As a result, the sediments making up the beach with sediment-free freshwater. After unloading and loading, the skip-
of Beşik Bay consist of material that was transported there by the Kara- pers could wait for favorable wind conditions and then leave the port
menderes River, as has been known for seventy years. towards the Dardanelles by using the main westward current to get to
The Dümrek River (Simoeis in antiquity), coming from the east, was the Aegean or by picking up a counter-current along the south shore of
diverted in such a way that it circled the citadel. At the bottom of the the Dardanelles that would carry them eastwards towards the Sea of
Hisarlık hill was a small haven. A canal extended from there towards Marmara. The entire system required no movable parts; levee walls of
the western side of the plain, right through the city itself which was different height provided overflows when runoff was high.
located in the floodplain. In sections, the navigable canal could have
even been built over. All in all, it would have looked much like the
s
elle Da rda ne l l e s
dan
Dar
Samothrace Ae g e a n
Se a
Gökçeada Port
.
kR
Troy mre
10 Dü
Mount Ida Port Palace

Lemnos
Dry
slipway Troy
100
Lake
Aegean Ka Agriculture 50
rame
Sea nd
ere
sR 200
.
Outflow
Lesbos
IZMIR
0 50 0 2
km km
A few hundred meters of transport overland at Troy would have saved 50 km journey at sea when entering Hypothetical reconstruction of the water management system in the plain of Troy at the end of the Bronze
the Dardanelles. Age.
With such a system, the Trojan engineers would have achieved the fol- 6. Freshwater in the main port basin repelled worms and algae away
lowing goals: from the hulls.
7. Concentric canals offered additional defense.
1. The rivers supplied water for the city and for the irrigation of fields 8. Using boats, aristocrats could cross the city quickly and discreetly.
in the floodplain.
2. Water supply was guaranteed, even during dry seasons. Perhaps the engineers had even set up the system in such a way
3. The city was protected from ephemeral floods. that the streets of the city could periodically be rinsed with water to rid
4. The city had three sheltered ports at its disposal. them of debris and feces, as is claimed by Guido de Columnis (5.177).
5. Entering the Dardanelles by boat became feasible.
Assuming Troy is identical with the Wiluša mentioned in Hittite 5.5 Descriptions of Ancient Troy
texts, a contract between Hittite king Muwatalli II and the king of
Wiluša, Alaksandu, provides an additional hint concerning the exis-
tence of hydro engineering works. The text refers to a god of Wiluša During the 6th century CE, Hisarlık apparently was completely aban-
named KASKAL.KUR (KUB 21.1 iv 27–28) which may stand for natural doned; the name of Troy, however, remained connected with the
or artificial underground waterways. surrounding area. From the 12th century onward, we have notes and
descriptions of visitors whose ships anchored near Troy. Even though
they landed in different places, the locals always referred to it as Troy
“Their ships were drawn up far away from the fighting, moored in a group
– no matter where they set ashore; this is why the whole area became
along the grey churning surf – first ships ashore they’d hauled up on the plain
known as the Troad.
[sic!].” Homer, Iliad 14.32 (Fagles)
Ramon Muntaner, governor of Gallipoli from 1305 to 1309, stated in
“Everything tends to suggest that these channels must belong to a period of his memoir that the city of Troy had a circumference of three hundred
more remote antiquity than has generally been supposed … Such excavations miles. The gates of Troy were located both in Cyzicus at the Sea of Mar-
are among the earliest works of mankind.” mara and near the Gulf of Edremit – about 100 kilometers apart.
Peter Wilhelm Forchhammer 1842, 38 In the fall of 1437, the Spanish nobleman Pedro Tafur rode from
Chios to the north until he reached Adramyttion at the Gulf of Edremit,
“On low but steeply sloping coasts, it was almost impossible to beach ships
where he had seemingly reached “Troy.” He then followed the coast
without damaging them. Thus, installations were required which enabled the
further north to “Ilion,” located opposite the island of Tenedos.
former and prevented the latter. For these purposes, channels were dug – actu-
In 1599, Thomas Dallam reached the Troad as part of the entou-
ally being cuts into the coast – which gradually dipped towards the sea, and
rage of Sultan Mehmet III. He first anchored on the west coast opposite
through which ships could easily be pulled without risk of becoming dam-
Tenedos and could see from there what were considered to be the ruins
aged.” German engineer and major Müller about the locality of the Iliad in Carl
of Troy. He then went on towards the north and landed at Sigeion, from
Gotthold Lenz 1798, 139
there he could see the ruins “up close.” Obviously, he believed that he
“In fact, there is neither in Greece nor in Asia Minor a plain which experiences was dealing with a single, massive archaeological site.
the influence of the water as much as the Plain of Troy.”
Peter Wilhelm Forchhammer 1850, 17
“Indeed, while a farmer was digging an irrigation ditch for his fields in 1989, a Suggestions
pithos was found next to Roman (!) concrete wall at a depth of 3.5 m (!) below In 1103, ruins were visible over many miles
the surface of the plain approx 1,8 km north of Troia in the direction of Kum-
kale.” Manfred Korfmann 2003, 11
There is not much of a discrepancy between these descriptions and
the working hypothesis put forward here. The references to an entire
region named Troy, covering today’s Troad, should not be taken entire-
ly at face value, but they should be taken seriously and investigated.
The term Troy may well have referred to more than the city, as if the
case for New York City and New York State today. The kingdom could
have stretched from the Marmara Sea all the way south to the Gulf of
Edremit. If ancient sources speak of gold, copper and even brass from
“Troy,” they are clearly referring to the rich mines in the hinterland of “And you, my lord – I understand there was a time when fortune smiles upon
the Biga peninsula – and not to the settlement on Hisarlık that is now you also. They say that there was no one to compare with you for wealth and
considered Troy. splendid sons in all the lands that are contained by Lesbos in the sea, where
A layperson might be surprised to find that today nothing is left Macar reigned, to Upper Phrygia and the boundless Hellespont.”
of the remains of Troy outside the citadel itself. This is partly due to Achilles addressing Priam, Homer, Iliad 24.546 (Rieu)
erosion and deposition, which have changed the topography over the
“Ilios … refers to the besieged city, Troie, however, was not only the town but
past 3000 years. Settlement layers on hills have been eroded, whereas
also the landscape bearing the same name, as well as the country and the
those in the plain were covered by subsequent sedimentation. Mil-
kingdom of the Trojans.” Karl Strobel 2008, 13
lennia of agricultural use are responsible for increasing these effects
beyond their natural extent – especially after the invention of tractors “Originally the term Troy denoted the wider region, in which the city of Ilios is
with plows that reach almost one meter into the soil. Human-made ero- located.” Michael Reichel 2011, 41–42
sion can go so far that survey points from the 1960s tower a few meters
“Thus behind the apparently rival claims [of the local people] lay a belief that
above today’s surroundings.
the ruins of Troy were not restricted to one site, but covered a wide area. The
The bedrock around the floodplain of Troy consists of Tertiary
notion of an outsize Troy, even one that had occupied the whole of the Troad,
marls, a soft sediment that can be plowed without difficulty. In such
is actually made explicit in other sources.” Donald Easton 1991, 112
a fragile geological substrate, landslides occur frequently. Frank Cal-
vert, who had made Heinrich Schliemann aware of Hisarlık’s poten- “In ancient days settlements of the city of Troy occupied the whole space of
tial, described landslides from the marl in which over one million cubic countryside between this spot and the land down even to Cape St. Mary [Baba
meters of material was moved, though he saw them on the steep banks Burun] … which is a plain of some sixty miles in extent.”
of the southern coast of the Dardanelles and not around the floodplain. Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 1403 (reprint 1928, 54 and 58)
To complicate matters further, since the 16th century, people from “[We] came to the island of Tenit [Tenedos], near which … was the very ancient
the region have used the Bronze Age ruins as a quarry to get building and famous city of Troy, the ruins of which the Greeks say, are still apparent
stones for bulwarks on the Dardanelles and even for the Hagia Sophia. over a space of many miles.” Saewulf 1103 (Thomas Wright 1848, 49)
In 1819, when Philip Barker Webb arrived on Hisarlık, he watched the
last remnants of the former city wall of Troy being carried away and “If one wants to believe in the Iliad, then the king [Priam] not only ruled in the
said: “Future travelers will not even see the meager remains of it [the city and its surroundings, but in a larger area. In the south, his empire stretched
famous city] that a favorable fortune allowed us to meet.” as far as the mountain range of Ida and in the east to the land of the Phrygians,
Nevertheless, the city of Troy still exists and the ruins left after the which means up to today’s Sea of Marmara.” Aleksander Krawczuk 1990, 147
destruction (of Troy VIIa) are potentially exceedingly well-preserved.
If one draws a cross-section through the royal citadel on Hisarlık and
extends it into the plain, it turns out that the remains of the lower town
lie 5 to 7 meters below the surface of the modern floodplain. Stratified
deposits full of artifacts, even entire building remains, have been iden-
tified in drill cores stretching several hundred meters apart.
134 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N THE SEA PEOPLES • 135
6 . T h e S e a Pe o p l e s
6.1 The Sea Peoples' Inscriptions and Excavation

Results
Temple inscriptions at Karnak and a stele of Athribis from the fifth year
of Merneptah (ca. 1213–1203 BCE) were the first to mention conflicts
between a coalition of Libyans and so-called Sea Peoples, culminating
in the battle of Saïs. However, the now-famous Sea Peoples’ invasions
first and foremost came to be known from the inscriptions and repre-
sentations on the walls of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medi-
net Habu. According to them, during the eighth year of the pharaoh’s
reign, a coalition of foreign states that originally lived “on the islands
in the middle of the sea” attacked Egypt. The attackers are said to have
Previous pages: The battle against the Sea Peoples on the northern wall of the temple at Medinet Habu –
according to Charles-Louis-Fleury Panckoucke, Description de l’Egypte (1830). The Sea Peoples' inscriptions appear on the walls of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III in Medinet Habu.
period, we also have a bro-

ken fayence vessel with the
cartouche of Queen Twosret.
It was found in the destruc-
tion debris of Tell Deir Alla,
Jordan, next to pieces of pot-
tery from the LH IIIB period.
Meanwhile, even the
exact day of the raid on
Ugarit was able to be deter-
mined. On 21 January 1192
BCE (according to the Julian
calendar) at midday, there
was a total eclipse of the sun.
The path of the central shad-
ow ran in a line from Libya/
Egypt towards Cyprus/
Turkey through the Eastern
At the end of the Bronze Age, Libyans had been among
the most dangerous enemies of Egypt. They were tattooed
Mediterranean – directly
and wore their hair fringed and in small braids. across Ugarit. An Ugaritic
Reconstruction of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III in Medinet Habu. scribe took the eclipse as an
occasion to write a message on a cuneiform tablet that was intended for
the royal palace. Unfortunately it could not be delivered because the
defeated a number of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, includ- Sea Peoples had raided the city.
ing Hatti and Arzawa. Ramesses III claims to have victoriously fought
the Sea Peoples in a naval battle that is described in much detail.
Based on the horizons of destruction in Syria and Palestine, the Sea Suggestions
Peoples’ invasions can now be precisely dated. In the Egyptian city of Sea Peoples and Luwians are one and the same
Tell el-Fara, a storage vessel marked with a cartouche of Seti II was
found that evidently had still been in use when the city was attacked. The times specified in the Sea Peoples’ inscriptions of Medinet Habu
Thus the attack must have taken place during or after the reign of Seti seem to be condensed in a telescope-like manner. This has been com-
II, i. e. after 1200 BCE. mon practice in inscriptions of earlier pharaohs. Ramesses III apparent-
One of the last letters from Ugarit, a letter from the Egyptian king- ly took over leadership of the country on 7 March 1182 BCE. The eighth
maker Bay to Ammurapi, allows for an even more accurate dating year of his term, when he and his army reportedly fended off the Sea
as the two had to have been contemporaries. It is safe to assume that Peoples, would have been 1174 BCE. However, the upheavals that are
Ugarit fell during the first half of Siptah’s and Twosret’s term, when indeed documented archaeologically and historically took place almost
Bay was still alive, i. e. between 1193 and 1189 BCE. From the same time twenty years earlier.
MAŠA
ARAWANNA
DARDANIA
P I TAS S A H ATT I
ARZAWA M I TA N N I
KARKIŠALUKKA KARKEMISH
K I Z Z U WAT N A
UGARIT
ALEPPO
A copy of the peace treaty between Hatti and Egypt is located on one of the outer walls of the Karnak The provenance of the Hittite mercenaries during the Battle of Kadesh. Several of these ethnic groups were
Temple. listed as being members of the Sea Peoples.
Nevertheless, the reports are still useful. Firstly, they contain vari- Anatolia. A number of the tribes listed in the Egyptian inscriptions can
ous original observations that are unlikely to have been invented by be located in western Asia Minor, for instance the Lukka at the south-
the scribes. Among them is the emphasis that the foreigners formed western tip of Asia Minor – and this is indeed the area where the Sea
an alliance. Obviously a new political and military power had formed Peoples’ ships were first sighted. In fact, there are numerous hints that
in the Eastern Mediterranean, one that was dangerous for the other the so-called Sea Peoples were a military alliance of western Anatolian
long-established states. And fortunately, the scribes indicated the prov- petty states.
enance of the attackers and even provided their peoples’ names. The
Egyptians used the term Hau-nebut for the Sea Peoples, which stands
for the “inhabitants of the Aegean.” The names of the individual tribes
are to a large extent identical with those of the mercenaries who fought
alongside Muwatalli II during the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE. At the
time, the Hittite king had gathered 12,000 Hittite soldiers as well as
8,000 mercenaries. Inscriptions in the Luxor Temple state who these
allies were – the neighbors of the Hittites in the west and in the south-
east. As a consequence, in recent years the majority of scholars appear to
accept the view that the starting point of the unrest during the Sea Peo-
ples’ invasions was the Aegean Sea, in particular western and southern
“Now the northern countries which were in their islands were quivering in their
6.2 Hypotheses Regarding the
bodies. They penetrated the channels of the river mouths [the Nile Delta]. They Sea Peoples’ Invasions
struggle for breath, their nostrils cease. His Majesty is gone out like a whirlwind
against them fighting on the battlefield like a runner, the dread of him and the Current state of knowledge
terror have entered their bodies, they are capsized and overwhelmed where
they are. Their heart is taken away and their soul is flown away, their weapons The Sea Peoples are among the most discussed, most complex and most
are scattered upon the sea.” difficult topics in archaeology. Numerous multidisciplinary conferenc-
Sea Peoples’ inscriptions in Medinet Habu dating to the time of Ramesses III es have been devoted exclusively to this subject. The following theses
(Breasted) are still being discussed:
“The speaker (Ramesses III?) couches a smattering of details in a metrical struc-

1. An overly long drought deprived Bronze Age societies of their eco-
ture larded with high-flown figures of speech, and clearly strives for rhetorical
nomic and nutritional basis and triggered migrations. (Carpenter
effect rather than reasoned argument. A superficial reading which takes meta-
1966)
phors, simile and metonymy at face value can only result in eggregious error
2. The Trojan War marks the beginning of a chain reaction. The Sea
attempting to reconstruct the event.” Donald B. Redford 2000, 7
Peoples were veterans of the battle of Troy and refugees from col-
“There is some evidence that some of the people involved in the [Sea Peoples’] lapsing Greece in search of new settlement areas. (Hello & Simpson
migrations had been at home in western Asia Minor, while other groups joined 1971)
in during the course.” Jörg Klinger 2007, 117 3. The agriculture of the Mycenaean civilization was oriented almost
exclusively towards grains and was therefore extremely vulnerable
to bad harvests. Destruction or a series of crop failures provoked
raids on neighboring regions and triggered an escalation. (Betan-
court 1976)
4. The Sea Peoples came from Central Europe. They destroyed the
Mycenaean civilization in Greece and subsequently ravaged Troy,
Hattuša and the places in the Eastern Mediterranean mentioned by
Ramesses III. (Schachermeyr 1982)
5. The first attacks of the Sea Peoples took place under Merneptah, fol-
lowed by the Trojan War and the collapse of the Mycenaean civiliza-
tion. Finally, a second Sea Peoples’ invasion caused the destruction
of Hatti. (Taylour 1983)
6. The Sea Peoples came from the Adriatic Sea and Central Europe.
Within an interval of about one generation, they brought first the
Aegean and later the Levant under their control. (Bouzek 1985)
7. The Sea Peoples were a loose confederation of scattered pirates and
corsairs that had formed after the collapse of the great civilizations.
(Sandars 1985)
8. The end of the Bronze Age

began with earthquakes
that, with some delay,
destroyed central trading
settlements in Egypt, Syr-
ia and Greece over hun-
dreds of kilometers. At the
same time, wandering Sea
Peoples threatened coast-
al towns in the Eastern
Mediterranean. To fend
them off, Greek kingdoms
built their great fortress-
es and, because of huge A number of captured Shasu bedouins from the reign of Seti I.
expenses, went bankrupt.

As a result, social unrest
Suggestions
erupted and triggered the
collapse of long-distance The crisis years comprised three wars
trade as well as famine. The Sherden appear in the records of Merneptah as
(Helck 1987) mercenaries of both Egypt and their opponents. Possibly, the end of the Bronze Age could not be explained because one
9. A sequence of earth- important factor had been missing – the Luwians. Much as the func-
quakes at the end of the tion of a three-legged kitchen stool cannot really be understood if one
LH IIIB period extended from Pylos to Kastanas in Macedonia all leg is missing, the end of the Bronze Age remains incomprehensible if
the way to Troy. (Kilian 1988) only the Hittites and Mycenaeans are taken into account without the
10. A change in warfare technology caused the disruptions. Before the Luwians.
crisis years, military conflicts had been fought with battalions of During the period between 1200 and 1180 BCE, archaeological exca-
chariots. Later, the focus was on mobile infantry units. (Drews 1993) vations from Greece to Asia Minor to Egypt reveal the same findings,
and that is destruction. However, this does not mean that the agent of
The most recent attempt by U.S.-based archaeologist Eric H. Cline to destruction was always the same.
provide an overview of the events also resulted in raising more ques- Over twenty years ago, I proposed a chronological reconstruction
tions than providing answers. of the political and economic development in the countries around the
Eastern Mediterranean during the 13th century BCE. It causally links
three wars comprised of reciprocal attacks. First, the so-called Sea
Peoples’ invasions took place, during which the navy of allied Luwian
petty states from the Aegean region advanced to the southeast. The
Luwians who had emanated from the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea
were then attacked a few years later by allied Greek forces – and this is
6.3 The Initial Sea Peoples’ Raids

After the Mycenaeans had wrested control of maritime trade from
Minoan Crete around 1430 BCE, a time of prosperity began for the
Greek mainland lasting nearly 200 years. Around 1250 BCE, however,
political unrest became evident. Large citadels were built and old resi-
dences were fortified, not just in Greece but also in Asia Minor, possibly
in anticipation of imminent hostilities.
A wave of destruction spread across the Eastern Mediterranean
sometime thereafter, and many urban centers and in particular their
palaces fell victim. Dozens of port cities in Cyprus, Syria and Pales-
tine were destroyed. Apparently the capital Hattuša was wiped out
overnight – and with it the Hittite Empire. And yet, the Sea Peoples’
invasions marked only the beginning of the great upheaval. Later, Troy
went up in flames and despite partial reconstruction was condemned
The artisans working on the royal tombs in western Thebes lived under strict surveillance in this excavated to insignificance thereafter. The Mycenaean palaces of the kings in
settlement at Deir el-Medina. Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos and other locations in mainland Greece also
perished in the seemingly all-encompassing devastation.
The destruction recorded in archaeological remains is also reflected
memorialized in the tradition of the so-called Trojan War. And finally, in documents that originated at the time. Well known is a letter from
a civil war – without any external influences – broke out in Greece. the king of Ugarit to his royal colleague on Cyprus:
This model explains the information transmitted in excavation results,
contemporary documents and later traditions. The three phases of this “The enemy ships are already here, they have set fire to my towns
Zeroth World War are described separately in the following sections. and have done great damage in the country. Did not you know
that all my troops were stationed in Hittite country, and that all my
ships are still stationed in Lycia and have not yet returned? So that
“It has often been remarked that the more we learn the less we know and this the country is abandoned to itself …” after Nancy Sandars 1985,
certainly applies to our understanding of the end of the Late Bronze Age and 143
the role of the Sea Peoples. lt is one thing to call attention to all the problems
raised by past historical reconstructions, but quite another to create a new In one of the last inscriptions from Hattuša Suppiluliuma II boasts how
reconstruction to replace those found wanting.” James D. Muhly 1984, 54 he defeated the attackers:
“Clearly what is needed is a new way of looking at ‘The Crisis Years’ and the
Bronze Age/Iron Age transition in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean.” “I, Suppiluliuma, the Great King, immediately reached the sea.
James D. Muhly 1992, 19 The ships of Alasiya met me in the sea three times for battle, and I
smote them; and I seized the ships and set fire to them in the sea.
But when I arrived on dry land, the enemies from Alasiya came in
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
multitude against me for battle.” KBo XII 38 (CTH 121) III 1’–13’,
Mycenaeans
after Trevor Bryce 2005, 332
Meshwesh
In the end, however, it was the Hittite Kingdom that fell. A causal con-
Ahhiyawa
Achaea
Danaya
nection between enemy attack and the demise of the Hittites seems
therefore likely.
Paeonia
TROJAN WAR
1182 BCE
Ciconia
Keftiu
Thrace
Wiluša
Trojan
Teker
SEA PEOPLES‘
Serden
Mysian
INVASIONS
1192 BCE
Šeha
Arzawa
Karkiša
Carian
Phrygian
Denjen
Maša
Mira
Luwians
Lukka
Lycien
Lukka
Pitasa
Arawanna
Hapalla
Depiction of the Sea Peoples’ invasions at the mortuary temple of Ramesses III.
Tarhuntašša
Lower Lands
BLACK SEA
Pala
Alasya
Kizzuwatna
Suggestions
Paphlagonia
The Luwian petty states formed a coalition

Kaška
Hittites
Hatti
1192 BCE
RAIDS
The political situation in Asia Minor around 1200 BCE is usually visual-
ized in the form of a map in which almost all of Anatolia was controlled
Amurru
Ugarit
by the Great King of Hatti, either directly or through vassal treaties.

Halizon
Istidina
The Great King himself would have been overjoyed if this had really
been the case. In fact, the core Hittite Kingdom and the region where
Hittite was spoken were actually quite small.
Mitanni
Left page: The Sea Peoples can be traced back to the Aegean. Apparently, they consisted of Luwian petty
kingdoms, who had formed an alliance and attacked Hatti from the south.
Most importantly, Hatti had always been surrounded by neighbors

who tended to be oppositional and hostile. Towards the end of the 13th
century BCE, the situation threatened to get out of hand. The north was
constantly dangerous because of the hordes of Kaška and Azzi, who
were never well-disposed
towards the Great King. In
the east Mitanni pressed on
towards Hittite territory; at
times they seized control of
the major copper deposits of
Ergani Maden in Išuwa near
the upper Euphrates. The
situation in the south was
particularly challenging. Kiz-
zuwatna had been a devoted
vassal for generations. Now,
it rebelled against the empire
and was openly hostile. And
finally, in the west, it was
necessary to use a kind of
Most Sea Peoples’ warriors are depicted wearing a feather
chief vassal to lead the petty crown as their characteristic headdress.
kingdoms. Perhaps the king
of Mira assumed this task
because Mira was then the largest and most influential country in the
west. The Great King of Hatti thus became highly dependent, because if
his chief vassal refused allegiance it could mean the end of the empire.
And this is exactly what appears to have happened.
Perhaps the trigger for the decision to engage in war was the con-
quest of Cyprus. Tudhaliya IV unexpectedly attacked the island, pos-
sibly to get access to its copper resources. For the first time the Hittite
army was using ships for its raids. The Luwian kingdoms in western
Asia Minor played an active role in long-distance trade and may have
depended on Cyprus as a port of call. At the same time they were rare-
ly truly loyal to the Hittite king, even when they were committed as
Right page: Representation of captured Sea Peoples (feather crown bearers) at the mortuary temple of
Ramesses III in Medinet Habu in western Thebes.
vassals. Hatti may have gone too far by conquering Cyprus and
throwing long-distance trade into disarray. None of the Luwian “As for the foreign countries, they made a conspiracy in their islands. All at
once the lands were on the move, scattered in war. No country could stand
petty kingdoms could stand against the Hittite forces on their own,
before their arms, from Hatti, Kode [Kizzuwatna], Carchemish, Arzawa and
but united they had a chance to throw off their oppressors.
Alashiya. They were cut off. A camp was set up in one place in Amurru. They
The Luwians therefore entered into a military alliance and built
desolated its people, and its land was like that which has never come into
a fleet of fast, agile vessels for invasions. Instead of moving against being. They were advancing on Egypt while the flame was prepared before
the Hittite forces over land, they now dashed across the sea and them. Their league was Peleset, Tjeker, Shekelesh, Denyen and Weshesh, united
quickly reached the important Hittite borderlands of Cyprus and lands. They laid their hands upon the land to the very circuit of the earth, their
Syria. Seemingly overnight, the acclaimed mercenary armies of the hearts confident and trusting: ‘Our plans will succeed.’”
Lukka and Sherden had become marine forces which no longer Sea Peoples’ inscriptions in Medinet Habu (Breasted)
fought alongside the Hittite king but against him – they had formed “The Lukka Lands and Arzawa were the focus of the unrest. In the strong Egyp-
the coalition known as the Sea Peoples. tian phrase they ‘quivered in their bodies’.” Nancy Sandars 1985, 140
Suppiluliuma II now led the government in Hatti. He found
“The Arzawan countries may sometimes have combined their forces for
himself exposed to large, well-prepared attacks in the south, some-
large-scale military operations, particularly against powerful enemies like the
thing he could hardly have been ready for. For the first time in
Hittites.” Trevor Bryce 2011, 366
the history of the Hittite Empire, the king’s forces had to engage
in naval battles, even three in succession. These may have ended “Indeed it is quite possible that all groups listed in the Egyptian records origi-
undecidedly, because the two opponents later faced each other on nated in Anatolia, particularly western Anatolia.” Trevor Bryce 2005, 338
land. The marauding Luwian “Sea Peoples” eventually received “It is also a known fact in the history of ancient Asia Minor that neighbors or
support from the Black Sea region. A wave of destruction rolled vassals of the Hittite Empire often became particularly dangerous if changes in
from the north towards Hattuša. The Kaška had taken advantage of domestic politics were looming in Hatti.” Susanne Heinhold-Krahmer 1977, 47
the preoccupation of the Hittite armies and were themselves blaz- “There is, however, one document that seems to indicate that a western Anato-
ing a trail towards the capital. When they arrived, the city had been lian state achieved approximate parity with the Hittite Empire in the last years
evacuated: If nothing else, the smoke caused by conflagrations on of its existence.” Ilya Yakubovich 2010, 85, referring to KBo 18.18 (CTH 186.4)
the horizon should have warned the inhabitants. They had escaped,
“Nevertheless the western Anatolian region may well have provided the
and carried with them whatever was portable. All the conquerors
genesis for the movements of the ‘Sea Peoples’. For this seems to have been
could do was to set fire to the temples and government buildings.
the region where the political structures established by the major Bronze Age
Of course, the Hittite troops fighting in the south heard that the powers first began to crumble and disintegrate.” Trevor Bryce 2005, 338
capital had been captured. Somewhere on the battlefield the Great
King may have fallen, whereupon his soldiers lost their fighting “Starved and exhausted by the futile struggle against the sea-borne enemy in
spirit. In this way, the Hittite hegemony over central Asia Minor the south, she [Hattuša] became an easy prey for the hordes of the Kaška and
reached an unspectacular end. It had lasted a little over 400 years – the Muški sweeping from north and west.” Itamar Singer 2011, 373
and it would be 3000 years before it would resurface again.
6.4 The Trojan War as a Mycenaean of the Trojan War thus seamlessly integrates into the archaeologically
Counterattack documented wave of destruction after 1200 BCE.

Suggestions
No written records have survived describing the events after 1192 A prophylactic counterattack
BCE. Hattuša was abandoned, not just by the Great King but also by
his scribes, and the ruling caste in Egypt became entangled in dynastic Once the Luwians had secured southeast Asia Minor, Cyprus and the
turmoil. In Greece, the knowledge of writing was not used for political coast of Syria, and when even Hattuša was defeated and the Hittite
purposes. Memories that have been transmitted to us from this eventful ruling class removed, the petty states from western Asia Minor sud-
period originated much later. denly controlled an area stretching from Macedonia across Anatolia
Subsequent generations in Greece unanimously attributed the cul- to Syria and Canaan, where it touched upon the Egyptian dominion.
tural demise at the end of the Bronze Age to the Trojan War. Among The Luwian attacks had focused on the centralized elite to crush Hittite
Greek historians there was broad agreement that this caused the end of hegemony, while the domestic population in the interior – who spoke
the so-called heroic age. Homer tells of his ancestors facing an alliance Luwian for the most part – was not really harmed. Therefore, the eco-
of petty states stretching from Macedonia in northern Greece over the nomic base of the region, agriculture, crafts and the mining of mineral
whole of western Asia Minor to Cilicia and even gaining support from resources, remained largely intact. Together with this vast territory, the
peoples in the Black Sea region (Iliad 2.816–877). The Greek memory Luwians now dominated almost all ore deposits in the Eastern Medi-
terranean, as well as the trade routes on land and at sea.
It appears that the Mycenaean kingdoms on the Greek mainland
were not attacked by the Luwians. Some Mycenaean ports of call on
PA P H L AG O N I A the coast of western Asia Minor – especially Miletus – could have been
THRACE HALIZON
CICONIA PHRYGIA affected or changed sides. But in general the Greeks had no clear reason
PA E O N I A
TROY
to intervene. However, both the access to the Black Sea region as well
MAEONIA
as the connection through Cyprus and Syria to Mesopotamia were now
MYSIA under Luwian control. Considering the distribution of mineral resourc-
ACHAEAN es, arable land, the path of the perennial rivers and of the trade routes,
C A R I A LY C I A
the Mycenaeans were about to face a superior force for an extended
period of time. To avoid complete dependence, and after careful con-
Greek forces Trojan allies sideration and extensive preparation, they seem to have engaged in a
coalition themselves with the ultimate purpose to raid western Asia
Minor. Homer says many Greek aristocrats, including Odysseus, had
initially refused to become involved in this war. When everybody
finally joined in, it took another two years to build the fleet. Deploying
almost 1200 ships, the Greek troops fell upon the coasts of western Asia
After the Hittite Empire was defeated, united Greek contingents engaged in a war against a coalition of Minor and destroyed dozens of Luwian coastal cities, long before they
western Anatolian states.
set sail for Troy. The Luwians were unable to defend such a large terri-
tory as well as their hometowns.
This was then the reason why the wave of destruction continued
soon after the Sea Peoples’ invasions and with reversed opponents.
Both main waves of attacks went in the same direction from west to
east. However, the driving forces were different. The united troops
from western Asia Minor stormed against Syria in the form of the Sea
Peoples’ invasions. About ten years later, united Greek forces attacked
western Asia Minor – and this was later remembered as the “Trojan
War.” The Trojan War described by Homer and other ancient authors
was thus a counterattack against the previously victorious Sea Peoples.
As a matter of fact, the Trojan allies listed by Homer in the Iliad coincide
well with the most likely provenance of the Sea Peoples. In addition,
the question why the Sea Peoples were unable to make more of their
victory, for instance by settling in the conquered territories, can now
also be answered. Many had to return to their homelands to defend
themselves.
In the inscriptions of Medinet Habu, one of the countries explicitly
identified as a victim of the Sea Peoples’ raids is Arzawa – a heartland of
the Luwians in western Asia
Minor. This would make no Artist’s impression of a scene from the Trojan War.
sense if the Sea Peoples were

themselves Luwians. But
Arzawa did not fall in the fell victim to World War II. Since some previously powerful opponents
initial wave of destruction, it and partners of Egypt were swallowed up by the earth, Ramesses III
was only destroyed by subse- could easily claim that their defeat was his military triumph.
quent counterattacks by the The exact determination of the date of the Sea Peoples’ invasion of
Mycenaean Greeks. Fifteen Ugarit (after January 1192 BCE) now permits additional calculations
years later, Egyptian writers with respect to the duration of the crisis years. Dares of Phrygia (44),
did not pay much attention according to Isidore (1.42) the oldest chronologist after Moses, reports
to historic accuracy. They exactly how long the Trojan War lasted: ten years, six months and
may not have even cared twelve days. According to Homer (Iliad 12.15), the entire conflict last-
much about who exactly was ed ten years. Eusebius of Caesarea dates the destruction of Troy, and
fighting whom. In the end, hence the ultimate end of the conflict, firmly to the year 1182 BCE. Sup-
both Hatti and Arzawa suf- Laomedon, the father of Priam, is killed by an arrow shot posedly the decisive attack, during which the city of Troy finally went
by Heracles during the first Trojan War, here shown in the
fered – much like when both east pediment of the Temple of Aphaia II, Glyptothek, down, took place during the night of the seventh full moon, as some
Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima Munich. have said; it would have been 13 July 1182 BCE. If this was the case, the
Sea Peoples’ invasions and the Trojan War combined lasted about ten
years and six months altogether.
“If the Assuwa confederation was really centered in the northwestern part of
the peninsula [of Asia Minor], as seems probable, it corresponded strikingly
in make-up and geographical extension to the Trojan confederation of the
Iliad. Moreover, it was just such a political alignment which may reasonably be
supposed to have blocked further Mycenaean expansion toward the east and
southeast, thus greatly reducing Mycenaean trade with the east between
c. 1240 and c. 1220 BCE.” William Foxwell Albright 1950, 169
“We have to understand Troy as western Asia Minor at the time of the Trojan
War.” Gerald Avery Wainwright 1959, 206
“For it is related in our records how once upon a time your State stayed the
course of a mighty host, which … was insolently advancing to attack the
whole of Europe, and Asia to boot.” Plato, Timaeus 24e (Lamb)
“Twelve cities of men I’ve stormed and sacked from shipboard, eleven I claim
by land, on the fertile earth of Troy. And from all I dragged off piles of splendid
plunder, hauled it away.” Achilles in Homer, 9.398 (Fagles)
A Greek warrior chases a Trojan. The latter wears a feather crown, the characteristic headdress of the Sea
Peoples.
6.5 Civil War on the Greek Mainland

After 1200 BCE, upheavals and local destruction on the Greek main-
land initiated the end of the heroic age. In many places, various cultural
achievements that were closely linked to the palace administration –
especially writing – were lost. Some places were destroyed, many com-
pletely abandoned, but in areas at a distance from the former power
centers new settlements were established. Archaeological excavations
indicate that after 1180 BCE several new noble residences were built
in the lower city of Tiryns, of which at least one was attached to the
outer wall of the citadel. Also, in the center of the Argive plain new
residences appear completely
unprotected on open ground. The
Mycenaean civilization contin-
ued for some generations without
direction before it eventually dis-
appeared from the scene. The Mycenaean Warrior Vase from around 1100 BCE reflects a memory of warfare.
Numerous hypotheses have
been advanced to explain the
Mycenaean demise, but so far
none has been truly convincing. to gain access to mineral resources and trade routes. Troy may not even
After writing was lost, people have been the focal point of the encounter; instead it was merely the
transmitted memories for centu- scene of the last battle in this great conflict.
ries in the form of oral tales, the Although the Mycenaean Greeks ultimately prevailed against the
great Epic Cycle of which only Luwians, even by capturing Troy, their culture too was doomed to dis-
relics are preserved today. Homer appear. Parts of the Epic Cycle (Homecomings or Nostoi) tell what hap-
used excerpts from this material After Troy had fallen, a scribe at the Palace of pened back home while the Mycenaean kings were fighting at Troy.
as a basis for his poetry. Nestor at Pylos scratched a labyrinth into the Their wives and less competent deputies had taken their thrones. When
wet clay on the back of a Linear B tablet. the surviving victorious kings returned, many of these deputies did not
want to give up their power. A civil war broke out and progressively
Suggestions consumed one citadel after another.
T he Mycenaeans could not take advantage of their Books 1–4 and 13–24 of the Odyssey would thus provide a graphic
and accurate description of the political conditions prevailing on the
victory
Peloponnese around 1175 BCE. Homer suggests that the kingdoms
The Trojan War was not fought to release a kidnapped woman, as in the Argolid had already fallen into the hands of the rioters. At the
Homer tells his audience in such an appealing fashion, but more likely royal court of Odysseus in Ithaca, chaos prevailed, since 108 men
“They besieged Ilium for ten years, and during this period the domestic affairs
of the individual attackers took a turn for the worse. The younger generation
revolted, and the ugly and criminal reception they gave the troops when they
returned to their own cities and homes led to murder, massacre and expulsion
on a large scale.” Plato, The Laws 3.678 (Saunders)
“For also after the Trojan War the Grecians continued still their shiftings and
transplantations; insomuch as never resting, they improved not their power.
For the late return of the Greeks from Ilium caused not a little innovation; and
Captured Sea Peoples at Medinet Habu.
in most of the cities there arose seditions; and those which were driven out,
built cities for themselves in other places.”
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.12 (Hobbes)
simultaneously courted queen Penelope in competition for the succes-
sion of the legitimate ruler. In Pylos, on the other hand, Odysseus’s son
Telemachus was still able to see how Nestor ruled in the traditional
manner.
Even in Greece the wave of destruction appears to have continued
advancing from east to west. Thus, Pylos – and later Ithaca – may have
been among the last palaces to fall into the hands of the insurgents.
Linear B tablets from the last days at the Palace of Nestor indicate that
people were preparing themselves against an attack. In the Odyssey, the
prophet Theoclymenus, who first had fled from Argos to Pylos (and
later to Ithaca), described how the last defenders of Pylos may have felt.
“There is a sound of mourning in the air; I see cheeks wet with

tears. And look, the panels and the walls are splashed with
blood. The porch is filled with ghosts. So is the court – ghosts
hurrying down to darkness and to Hell. The sun is blotted
from heaven and a malignant mist has crept upon the world.”
Homer, Odyssey 20.353 (Rieu)
“The sun is blotted from heaven“ has been interpreted as referring to

a total eclipse of the sun that occurred in Greece on 16 April 1178 BCE.
7. Iro n Ag e
7.1 Migrations at the Beginning of the Iron Age

During and after the attacks of the Sea Peoples, extended migrations
took place. The relief at the mortuary temple of Ramesses III in Medinet
Habu shows migrating families carrying their belongings on oxcarts.
Many scholars presume that these wandering groups formed coalitions
with the Sea Peoples. The explanation of the cause of migration usually
depends on the motives assumed for the Sea Peoples’ invasions.
On the Greek mainland, 80 percent of all settlements were complete-
ly abandoned. While some palaces show traces of violent destruction,
others seemed to have remained unthreatened but were emptied nev-
ertheless. The Mycenaean culture continued to exist on a significantly
reduced level for another 150 years or so until it vanished completely.
While the former centers of power in Greece were largely depop-
ulated, the population density grew elsewhere, in particular at the
periphery and in regions to which long-distance trade relations had
previously been maintained. Such regions included, among others,
Euboea, Rhodes, Cyprus as well as the Levant coast from Syria to
Canaan. Even Sicily, Sardinia and large parts of Italy soon profited
from the collapse of the Bronze Age kingdoms.
Suggestions
A new beginning in distant lands
Previous pages: Pergamon (shown here the Roman sanctuary of Trajan) has been intensively investigated The invasions of the Sea Peoples resulted in an unparalleled fall from
since 1871. Yet, little is known about the Late Bronze Age occupation of the site. the peak of wealth of aristocratic leaders in the heroic age to a simple
168 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N IRON AGE • 169
ultimately profited from tributes paid by the rural population, became

wealthy. Thus only the highest echelons of the strictly hierarchical soci-
ety benefited from cultural progress. The writing system, especially
that common in Greek palaces, was highly complicated and downright
incomprehensible to the uninitiated. The development of general edu-
cation or the emergence of a literary tradition would hardly have been
possible within these structures of the Bronze Age society.
Given these circumstances, Mediterranean cultures had probably
reached the zenith of their cultural development in the 13th century
BCE. Any further progress would have required a destruction of exist-
ing structures and a completely new beginning. Therefore the crisis
years during the 12th century BCE – as brutal as they were – could
be seen as a cleansing thunderstorm that prepared the ground for a
comprehensive political and economic restart. Many cultural develop-
ments of fundamental importance that are relevant to our society today
sprang up soon after this cultural incision. Among them are the alpha-
betic writing systems, the oldest texts of western culture (including the
Old Testament and the Homeric epics), monotheism and the minting
After years of destruction shortly after 1200 BCE, many residents moved away from the Aegean to regions
of coins.
they knew because of the long-distance trade.
agricultural society. The people returned to their indigenous, indepen-

dent and decentralized way of life. Many left their ancestral homes and
settled in distant lands. After such a complete collapse of a political
system, the survivors often have little more than their lives and skills to
take with them, so it made sense to make a fresh start in distant lands
that were known from the maritime trade.
Migrations led to a profound mixing and cross-fertilization of dif-
ferent ethnic groups and eventually to the formation of completely new
centers and cultures. As a consequence, the transition from the Bronze
Age to the Iron Age can be seen as something other than just a cultural
setback. The political systems of the Late Bronze Age had been extreme-
ly simple. Rival city states and petty kingdoms that had controlled and
fought each other defined the political landscape. Agriculture had
always been the main pillar of the economy, while international trade
was virtually limited to metals and luxury goods. Only the rulers, who
“There is a lot of evidence, both archaeological and linguistic, for a southward

7.2 Caria
shift of Anatolian people from the plateau to northern Syria, with groups from
Caria, Lycia and perhaps Arzawa carving out new small states on the fringes of
the old Hittite Empire.” Nancy Sandars 1985, 143 The mountainous coastal landscape south of the Meander (Turkish:
Büyük Menderes) is called Caria. The area offers a wealth of natural
“In any case, Luwian elements amongst the Late Bronze Age peoples of Anato-
harbors, but is only poorly connected to the hinterland. With the excep-
lia continued with some vigor beyond the end of the Bronze Age through the
tion of Xanthos and Indos, most rivers drain into the Meander and not
succeeding ‘Dark Age’, and figured prominently in the Iron Age civilizations of
towards the coast, so that only a few fertile floodplains and coastal
the first millennium.” Trevor Bryce 2005, 349
plains exist. Nevertheless, in ancient times Caria was at the intersection
“After the taking of Illium, certain Trojans, escaping the hands of the Grecians, of major trade routes. This southwest corner of Asia Minor is where the
landed with small boats in Sicily; and having planted themselves on the bor- land and sea routes from the Orient reach the Aegean Sea – an area that
ders of the Sicanians, both the nations in one were called Elymi.” has been of great strategic importance for thousands of years.
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 6.2 (Hobbes) The prime archaeological site in Caria is Miletus. Because Mile-
tus has been explored systematically by archaeologists since 1899, its
“Because iron, copper and mineral workings in general had been overlaid with
settlement history is well documented. During the first half of the 2nd
sludge and had been lost to sight, so that it was virtually impossible to refine
millennium BCE (1900–1400), Miletus thrived under Minoan influ-
fresh supplies of metal. Even if there was the odd tool left somewhere on the
ence. At least the upper class of the society appears to have come
mountains, it was quickly worn down to nothing by use. Replacement could
from Crete. During this time, rulers and merchants of the old palaces
not be made until the technique of mining sprang up again among men.”
on Crete established trade routes primarily to gain access to metals.
Plato, The Laws 3.678 (Saunders)
Trading posts and colonies around the Aegean were used to protect
these routes. After Crete had been taken over by Mycenaean Greeks,
Miletus, too, came under Mycenaean influence around 1400 BCE. At
about 1300 BCE, the city suffered from a massive conflagration. Hittite
documents tell that the Great King Muršili II (1318–1290 BCE) in his
second year of reign, i. e. around 1316 BCE, had sent his army to fight
against the Luwian core state Arzawa and its two major cities Millawa-
nda and Apaša. Archaeologists today equate Millawanda with Miletus
and Apaša with Ephesus.
After Miletus had been rebuilt, the city walls appeared similar to
Hittite fortifications, suggesting that the days of Mycenaean influence
were over. Later, Great King Hattušili III (1266–1236 BCE) complained
in the so-called Tawagalawa letter to the king of Ahhiyawa about a cer-
tain Piyama-Radu of Arzawa, who, from Millawanda, led war against
western vassals of the Hittites. Researchers are now of the opinion that
Ahhiyawa refers to Mycenaean Greece. Thus, it seems that Arzawa, in
the middle of the 13th century BCE, had seriously harassed those pet-
ty states in western Asia Minor that had clearly sided with the Hittite
king. Remarkably, Miletus does not seem to have suffered from the excavations of Bronze Age Miletus after 1994, as a matter of principle
upheavals during the crisis years (1192–1182 BCE). only distinguished between Minoan, Mycenaean and Hittite civiliza-
tions. As a consequence, political maps of the 13th century BCE show an
extension of the Hittite Empire to the west all the way to Miletus. There,
Suggestions and only there, it borders seamlessly with the Mycenaean sphere of
A Carian domination of the Aegean influence. Such a situation may have existed for a short period of time,
but it could hardly have been typical for the Bronze Age. Even dur-
The name Caria is derived from the Luwian word Karuwa for “steep ing times when Miletus was under Minoan or Mycenaean influence,
land.” In Hittite times, this region was called Karkiša. In ancient Greece, this influence would only have applied to the geographically isolated
it was called Καρία (Caria) and today in Turkish, Karya. According to city, and not to the surroundings. The Bronze Age lasted for almost
the Greek historian Herodotus (1.171), who was from the Carian port 2000 years. During this time the Carian hinterland had, in all likeli-
city of Halicarnassus, modern Bodrum, “the Carians themselves sup- hood, been settled by predominantly endemic Anatolian peoples who
pose that they are dwellers on the mainland from the beginning.” spoke Luwian or a language derived from it at least during the 2nd mil-
The interpretations of the excavations at Miletus widened the gap in lennium BCE. Like almost all other regions of Asia Minor, from time
which the Luwian culture had disappeared, for one can hardly find the to time Caria had been subjected to hegemonic claims of the Hittite
word Luwian in reports that have accumulated for over a century. The central government, only to look for ways to shake it off again.
Heidelberg-based archaeologist Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier, who directed Today we know more about the actual Carians from historical
documents than from archaeological fieldwork. The latter has almost
exclusively been done on
Sappho coastal sites that showed a
Democritus Alcaeus
Pittacus clear Minoan or Mycenaean
Oenopides influence (Miletus, Müsgebi,
Metrodorus
Anaxagoras
Iasos) and/or concentrated
on centers or settlement lay-
Homer
ers from the period of Greek
Hesiod Alcman
colonization (Stratonikeia).
Socrates
Solon
Xenophanes
In Hittite documents,
Heraclitus Karkiša (next to Lukka and
Callinus
Hipponax Wiluša) counts among the
Pythagoras twenty-two Luwian king-
Hippo
Melissus doms of the Aššuwa alliance.
Thales It had formed during the 15th
Anaximander
Anaximenes century BCE to defend its
Hippodamus
members against hegemonic
Herodotus claims of the Hittite Empire.
Aeschines
Although Great King Tud-
Almost all Greek poets, mathematicians, philosophers and historians before Plato came from Asia Minor. Greek-Carian mythical creature. haliya I (ca. 1460–1420 BCE)
convincingly claims to have defeated this alliance, it was the Hittite “Of these, the Carians have come to the mainland from the islands; for in the
Empire that disappeared for good 200 years later, while the Luwian past they were islanders, called Leleges and under the rule of Minos … Since
culture continued to thrive. Minos had subjected a good deal of territory for himself and was victorious
In the Iliad (2.869), Homer stated that the city of Miletus belonged to in war, this made the Carians too at that time by far the most respected of all
Caria, that the Carians spoke a language of “barbaric pharynx sounds” nations.” Herodotus, Histories 1.171 (Godley)
and that they were allies of the Trojans. Both Herodotus (1.171) and
“It was the Carians who originated wearing crests on their helmets.”
Strabo (7.2) state that the Carians had previously been called Leleges.
Herodotus, Histories 1.171 (Godley)
According to Strabo (13.59) they had founded eight cities whose ruins
display a characteristic masonry and were partly still visible back then. “For Minos was the most ancient of all that by report we know to have built a
One of these settlements, located a few kilometers inland from Hali- navy. And he made himself master of the now Grecian Sea, and both com-
carnassus, is named Pedasa (6.20). In Hittite times, the region in the manded the isles called Cyclades … expelling thence the Carians and consti-
far eastern hinterland of Caria was called Pitasa. During the 6th and 5th tuting his own sons there for governors.”
century BCE, Pedasa was even more significant than Halicarnassus, its Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.4 (Hobbes)
neighboring city.
“The only recently deciphered Carian [has] developed very likely … from
Carians are often associated with Phoenicians. The terms “Carian”
Luwian.” Jörg Klinger 2007, 24
and “Phoenician” seem to be synonymous with foreign and oriental in
Homer and Herodotus. Carians were considered enterprising, coura- “The Carians, as well as their neighbors, the Lycians, could very well have been
geous and sea-savvy. Their maritime achievements were so renowned a part of the Sea Peoples.” Alexander Herda 2013, 434
that they were also known as “sea people,” a fact that makes one think “After Troy was taken, the Carians steadily increased their power and became
of the Sea Peoples of the Egyptian temple inscriptions. Greek historian masters of the sea.” Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 5.84.4 (Oldfather)
Diodor (5.84.4) as well as church writer Eusebius of Caesarea mention
a Carian naval supremacy during the late 8th century BCE. “In Asia Minor and even in Libya, the Carians and Lelegians dwelled on for
According to Herodotus (1.146) there were no women from Greece some time. The Lydians, Phrygians, Mysians and Lycians, which had been
involved in the founding of the Greek colonies in western Asia Minor; considered in antiquity to be branches of one and the same nation … founded
only men had come and subsequently married Carian women. This certain states in Asia, which lived on for centuries.” Johann Uschold 1836, xv
means that famous Greek citizens of Carian cities, such as Thales and
Herodotus, were half Carian and had Carian ancestors. Therefore, it is
not surprising that Herodotus (1.171) considered Carians “by far the
most respected of all nations.” Although during his time Greeks ruled
the Carian coastal cities, a large part of the population was still of Asian
Minor descent and communicated in their native language.
Herodotus (1.171) also states that “the Carians were those who first
set the fashion of fastening crests on helmets.” Such crests were the per-
haps most important characteristic of the Sea Peoples’ representations
at Medinet Habu.
7.3 Phrygia
During the 13th century BCE, western central Asia Minor was part of the
Hittite Empire. According to administrative documents from Assyria,
a group of people named Muški seems to have existed on the terri-
tory of the collapsed Hittite Empire for several centuries. A certain Mita
of the Muški has been repeatedly recognized as powerful potentate in
central Asia Minor at the end of the 8th century BCE. According to Gre-
co-Roman historiography, the influential king Midas reigned over the
Great Kingdom of Phrygia at that time.
Royal residence and capital of the Phrygian kingdom was Gordium,
which was located close to where the Porsuk drains into Sakarya Riv-
er (the ancient Sangarius). The town, which had been settled over the
entire Bronze Age, was located at an important east-west route that had
already been frequented intensively during the Late Bronze Age. When
the Hittite Empire was destroyed in the early 12th century BCE, Gordium The large tumulus of Gordion is about 50 m high and 300 m wide. The grave contained the remains of a 60-
to 70-year old noblemen; probably King Gordios.
was abandoned by its residents. Soon after, however, new populations

settled there. In the 10th century BCE, a citadel protected by ramparts
went up, and a palace district was built in the same place during the 9th
century. Around 800 BCE the palace fell victim to a fire. At that time,
other cities in central Asia Minor (Ankara, Alişar, Hacıbektaş) displayed
a Phrygian presence. In Hattuša, a Phrygian city was built that covered
the entire area of its Hittite predecessor. During the 8th century BCE, the
Phrygian kingdom of Dascylium in northwestern Asia Minor extended
to Tyana in Taurus. The kingdom’s central locations were Gordium and
Midas city. Near Gordium, a royal necropolis with large tumuli went
up, of which the most famous one, the so-called Midas Mound, was
built around 740 BCE. Archaeologists were able to explore the intact
grave, which also contained a great number of valuable burial gifts.
They found the skeleton of a 60- to 70-year old unidentified man.
The Phrygian language clearly does not belong to the Anatolian lan-
The Artemis of Ephesus probably represents a transitional form of the former Phrygian mother goddess
guage group. In order to write Phrygian, an alphabetic script was used
Cybele to the Greek and later Roman goddess. that had been transferred from Phoenicia and resembled Greek.
Gordion, the capital of Phrygia, was located at the intersection of a trade route to Babylon and the valley of The Midas Monument in Phrygian Yazılıkaya, about 50 km from Afyon, includes on the right margin a
the river Sangarius. Phrygian inscription whose last word can be deciphered as Midas.
Suggestions The city of Gordium, supposedly named after its founder Gordias,
In Midas’s hands everything turned to gold has been explored archaeologically since 1950 and is considered the
only extensively researched city of influence during the Early Iron Age
A Homeric Hymn (no. 5, To Aphrodite) mentions that Phrygia possessed in Asia Minor. The excavations demonstrate that the location has been
many fortresses. In the Iliad, Homer states that the Phrygians were inhabited since at least 2500 BCE. The Bronze Age settlement layers of
“aggressive” (2.864) and riding on horses (10.432), which apparently Gordium, however, are not well known, because they are hidden under
was rare or even unique at the time. Strabo (12.4.4; 14.5.29) describes the foundations of the Phrygian era. Findings of Luwian hieroglyphic
Phrygians as “barbarians and warriors” who had migrated to Central writing indicate to which civilization this place belonged.
Asia from Macedonia and Thrace around the time of the Trojan War. Gordium’s development as a city peaked only after the fall of the
According to Homer, during the Trojan War the kingdoms of the south- Hittite Empire. The immigrants did not completely oust the local pop-
eastern Balkans had fought on the side of the Trojans. If troops from ulation, but rather complemented them. Apparently, the immigrating
these regions had actually been involved in the Sea Peoples’ invasions Phrygians kept in touch with their country of origin, which contrib-
and had thus contributed to the fall of the Hittite Empire, their migra- uted to the empire’s enormous economic success. The Phrygian king-
tion to central Asia Minor would make sense: The victorious powers dom was likely composed of a coalition or confederation of various
would have taken over key trade routes that previously had been on principalities. The American prehistorian Machteld Mellink described
Hittite territory. One counter argument against possible immigration the west Phrygian culture as “incredibly powerful,” and expressed the
from the Balkans, however, is that the Phrygian language is not related opinion that many of its achievements rooted in the previous – almost
to Thracian. unknown – Late Bronze Age culture. Behind these words, one might
argue today, lies the hidden Luwian culture. Those who want to learn 7.4 Lydia
more about the Luwians would only need to dig one to two meters
deeper into the ground at Gordium.
The fabulous wealth of Phrygian kings, among whom the names According to Hittite documents, the Šeha River Land – which later
of Gordias and Midas were apparently common over several genera- became Lydia – was one of the most prominent Luwian petty states
tions, has been preserved in the legend of king Midas, in whose hands of the Late Bronze Age. Researchers agree that its center was located
everything turned to gold. When Midas bathed in the Pactolus River in the valley of the Gediz (the Hermus River in antiquity). It is equally
(today Sart Çayı), he transferred this gift to the river, thereby turning certain that Sardis was a place of central importance to this region. Sar-
the Pactolus into the richest gold-carrying river and the kings of Sardis dis was situated on a major east-west route, more specifically, the one
on its banks into the wealthiest rulers of Asia Minor at the time. that stretched from Ephesus on the Aegean coast to Susa at the Persian
According to Herodotus, even the Egyptians considered Phrygians Gulf 2500 kilometers away. Goods, and with them most likely a great
to be the most ancient people: deal of knowledge, traveled along this road from Babylonia to western
Asia Minor and further onward from there, to the coastal cities of the
“When Psammetichos [II] having become king desired to know Aegean. Consequently, architectural monuments and rock facades in
what men had come into being first, they suppose that the Phry- Lydia that have survived display an idiosyncratic blend of oriental and
gians came into being before [the Egyptians].” Herodotus, Histo- Aegean traditions.
ries 2.2 (Macaulay) Excavations by American archaeologists at Sardis prove that a set-
tlement in this location has existed since at least the 3rd millennium BCE
and that Late Bronze Age traditions continued during the so-called
dark centuries of the Early Iron Age. In addition to the thriving east-
“It is possible that the Phrygians were among the ‘People of the Sea,’ who also
west trade, Lydia’s unbelievable wealth was based primarily on rich
have been credited with the destruction of Hattuša.”
mineral resources, but also on their high-quality artisan crafts, the pro-
Martha Sharp Joukowsky 1996, 368
duction of fine fabrics and on the possession of abundant livestock.
“Many features of the West Phrygian Culture were undoubtedly inherited from Since 2005, the area around Lake Gyges (today Lake Marmara)
the West Anatolian culture of the Late Bronze Age.” Machteld Mellink 1965, 323 about 10 kilometers north of Sardis has been systematically explored by
archaeologists. As part of a survey conducted by Christopher H. Roos-
evelt and Christina Luke from Boston University, archaeologists discov-
ered at least four (two large and two smaller) citadels, which probably
had been built around 1700 BCE and were inhabited until 1200 BCE.
The two smaller citadels (Kızbazı Tepesi and Gedevre Tepesi) were
each 1 hectare in size. The second largest citadel (Asartepe) extends
over 3.8 hectares. In Kaymakçı, the largest and most complex of the
four citadels, the fortress walls enclose an area of 8.6 hectares. This is
almost five times the size of the citadel of Troy VI. Kaymakçı covers the
entire lower peak of the Gül-Dağ mountain ridge on the western shore
of Lake Gyges. The citadel consists of terraced, eccentric rings around
an almond-shaped central platform of 35 by 60 meters, which lies in
the most elevated and best-protected area. Within the fort, numerous twenty-two generations, until their last ruler – the unfortunate Croesus
remains of walls have been preserved, including a megaron-like build- – ascended to the throne. Croesus reigned from about 555 to 541 BCE.
ing that covers an area of 14 by 18 meters. A far-reaching scatter of pot- According to Herodotus (1.3), Lydian dynasties lasted for 505 years.
tery outside the citadel is interpreted as evidence for a sprawling lower One of the most famous ancestors was Gyges, a king who usurped
city. Because of its size and level of complexity, Kaymakçı is considered the throne most likely in 680 BCE. The sum of years from Gyges’s first
a central location as well as a center of power for the local settlement year of government plus the number of years mentioned by Herodotus
network and the whole region; thus, according to the investigating brings us to 1185 BCE. From this follows that, at the time of Herodotus,
archaeologists, it would likely be the center of Šeha River Land. memories were apparently still in existence that reached all the way
back to the beginning of the Dark Ages.
Linguistically speaking, the names of Lydian kings (i. e. Sadyattes,
Suggestions Alyattes) belong to the same type as the names of Luwian dynasties
Impressive c astles on mountaintops (Maduwatta) from the time of the last Hittite king. This means that
Early Iron Age societies in western Asia Minor took up traditions from
Despite all the excitement about the discovery of Kaymakçı, one should the Bronze Age.
not forget that the castle and its neighbors, in terms of their location,
have little in common with other Luwian settlements. Nowadays it is “Of course we must not say, on the basis of what we proposed, that ‘the Lyd-
even possible to prove with statistical methods that Luwians had almost ians were Luwians’ … The name Luwian was only maintained as a designation
exclusively settled in fertile flood plains and in the immediate vicinity of the Lydians, who proved to be the stronger ones. The new interpretation
of running waters – and often inhabited these sites continuously for provides a welcome confirmation of the former existence of the name Luwians
more than a millennium. Kaymakçı, however, did not evolve gradu- in the West.” Robert Beekes 2003, 48–49
ally, but appears to have been a soberly planned building complex, on
a mountain top to boot, nowhere near a source of running water. Its
construction is evidence of central planning (knowledge), the poten-
tial to implement this plan (power) and a need for protection (i. e. the
existence of a threat). It is not a tell site, in which numerous settlement
layers have been piled on top of one another. On the contrary, in many
areas the bare rock is covered by only a few centimeters of dust. Thus,
Kaymakçı could hardly have been the only center of the region over
a long period of time. Maybe it was an alternative or temporary seat
of government in times of threat, a kind of Camp David, or a refuge
stronghold for the inhabitants of a region that was located at the junc-
tion of two major mountain passes. – I, for one, am convinced that even
greater discoveries could be made in this geographical area, perhaps
even discoveries including the actual royal residence.
In some statements of questionable reliability, Herodotus claimed
that Lydian dynasties were first established at the time when Agamem-
non at Mycenae became king (around 1216 BCE) and had ruled for
7.5 The Philistines in Canaan and Palestine Philistine and Peleset in the
near future.
Philistine ceramics are
During the 12th century BCE, the Philistines settled on the fertile coast very similar to contempo-
of Palestine. They founded five city states (Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, rary Greek pottery. And the
Gath and Gaza) which then formed a confederation. At first, these city Old Testament says that the
states were still under the auspices of Egypt. When Egyptian power Peleset came from Crete.
waned at the end of the 12th century, the Philistines assumed the hege- This would suggest that
mony in the region. Palestine is named after their inhabitants as “Land Mycenaean Greeks were
of the Philistines.” involved in the Sea Peoples’
The origin of the Philistines has not yet been fully clarified. The Philistine crater from Tel Zippor, Israel, dating to the
th
invasions. However, the
11 century BCE. The shape and the careful decoration in
majority of researchers consider them to have been among the Sea one color are similar to Mycenaean potters from mainland Peleset were given the right
Peoples, where they appear as “Peleset.” The Philistines could thus Greece. to settle in the most fertile
have come from the Aegean and thus most valuable areas
islands or the Greek main- of Palestine that had until then been under Egyptian control. Not only
land. Other researchers con- did the Egyptian government let the Peleset settle, but it also gave them
sider the Philistines to be a rights and responsibilities. It is hard to imagine that barbarian people,
Sea People, too, but assume who had launched a hideous attack on Egypt shortly prior to that,
the west and south coasts of would have been granted these benefits. Also, a Greek participation in
Asia Minor as their areas of the actual Sea Peoples’ invasions is not consonant with the generally
origin. amicable relations between the New Kingdom in Egypt and Mycenae.
It is quite conceivable that the Philistines derived from the Peleset
and that those in return were Mycenaean Greeks from Crete and from
Suggestions the Greek mainland. Since the Mycenaeans fought against the coali-
Friends of Egypt tion of Luwian states, they were likely to be political allies of Egypt.
Hence, they may have received the best settlement sites in Canaan as
The name Palestine already a reward for their vigor and victory. The Peleset thus did not belong
appears in Luwian stone to the coalition of Luwian petty states. The reason that they are still
inscriptions in the North counted among the Sea Peoples is that their retaliations contributed
Syrian city of Aleppo dur- massively to the destruction during the crisis years.
ing the 11th century BCE. It
is therefore virtually impos-
sible to derive the topo-
graphic term from the arrival “The time has come when all our ideas about the so-called Sea Peoples should
of the Peleset. It is possible be set aside and the text re-examined in a fundamental way, as a whole.”
that researchers will disen- The Peleset belonged to the Sea Peoples. It is believed that Alessandra Nibbi 1972, Preface
tangle the terms Palestine, the Philistines were derived from them.
Melid
7.6 Phoenicians Ḫilakku

Bit-Zammāni
Šubria
Kummuhu
Gurgum
Current state of knowledge Ašša
Yu’addi/- Gidāra
Bit-Gabbār
The Phoenician culture stands out, among other reasons, because it Qawa (Que)
Gargamiš
Ḫuzirina
Bīt-Baḫiāni
Naṣibīna
had almost no territory. Its heartland was only a narrow, rugged strip Aššur
Bīt-Agūsi
of river valleys along the Syrian, Lebanese and Canaanite coast of the Pattina/Unqi
Bīt-Agūsi
Mediterranean Sea. After the destruction during the crisis years shortly
after 1200 BCE and subsequent reforms, Phoenician merchants con-
Ḥamat/Lu’aš
ducted their business with the few commodities available at the time. Laqe
However, it soon dawned on them that arts and crafts would generate Arados
the highest margins. It was then that the Phoenician population began Suhu
to produce textiles, furniture, ivory carving, glass and metal goods that Byblos Hindānu
oh
were valued throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean. In
eḥ
am
tR
regard to the processing of
Be
Sidon
Ar
precious metals, Phoenician Tyros
artisans set new standards.

Thus metals were also trans- After the Sea Peoples‘ raids, around 900 BCE, the Fertile Crescent consisted largely of Luwian-Aramaic
ported over long distances, principalities.
together with luxury goods

and spices. In the 12th and
11th century BCE, iron gradu- The Phoenicians were also excellent hydraulic engineers. Near Dor,
ally replaced bronze. Israel, one can still find docks built of ashlar masonry as well as paved
The Phoenicians founded platforms. In the port city of Haifa, north of Achziv, the inhabitants
maritime bases abroad to had carved semicircular basins out of submarine platforms created by
help them control the largest abrasion that reached far off into the sea. In Sidon, they had developed
possible sections of the trade a hydraulic system of basins and channels in which the wind largely
routes. These settlements determined the water supply. It channeled sediment-free water into the
developed into manufacto- basin and prevented the ports from silting up.
ries and factories. The Phoeni-
cian maritime trade followed
routes that were already used Suggestions
during the Late Bronze Age. Impulses from Luwia
Its primary focus was on ore
deposits in Cyprus, Sicily, The texts on the walls of the Egyptian mortuary temple at Medinet
Sardinia, Etruria and south- Habu and various documents show that some of the Sea Peoples settled
ern Spain, as well as on sev- This Syrian nobleman features thick black hair that is held in Canaan. These immigrants had great skill in navigation and ship-
eral islands in the Aegean. back by a dark hairnet. A cape is wrapped around his robe. building and were likely to have acquired a certain audacity during
many years of conflict. In contrast, the traditional inhabitants of Canaan 7.7 The Etruscan Culture
regarded themselves as solid artisans and specialists of maritime trade.
Both populations together would have been predestined to create a cul-
ture such as that of the Phoenicians. The origin of the Etruscans, who lived in north-central Italy, is still a
British archaeologist John Manuel Cook realized that the coasts of subject of discussion. The Etruscan culture probably formed locally,
Lebanon and the locations of its port cities showed great similarity to but it is unclear whether it originated from the indigenous population
the Aegean coast of western Asia Minor. In both cases, the coastal cities or through immigration. The origin of its language, too, has not been
are not only far away from the relatively landlocked country, but also clearly determined.
isolated from one another. Already in ancient times there were two different hypotheses to
It is possible that, after the crisis years, some of the survivors from these questions: Some writers argued that the Etruscans originated
kingdoms of western Asia Minor moved to what is now Lebanon and from Lydia in Asia Minor, and had migrated after 1000 BCE to the ter-
contributed to the foundation of Phoenician cities there. Consequently, ritory of modern day Tuscany. This thesis is supported by apparent
maritime trade routes of the Phoenicians followed the ones previously similarities in the languages and arts. Genetic research, too, strengthens
established during the Late Bronze Age. Of the Carians, a Luwian peo- this view: gene sequences have shown that even some of the Tuscan
ple, it is said that they maintained an outpost in Libya (Pausanias 3.1.1 cattle are related to those from northwestern Asia Minor.
and 4.1.1). In turn, settlers from the Phoenician city of Tyre founded the Other researchers assume that the Etruscan culture developed in
trading post of Carthage, located in modern Tunisia, in the 9th century central Italy from the Villanovan culture. This theory is supported by
BCE, which later achieved great power. The close connection between the seamless transition of the Villanovan into the Etruscan culture. Dio-
Luwians and Libyans during the Sea Peoples’ invasions may have been nysius of Halicarnassus advocated this theory as early as the 1st cen-
renewed during the Early Iron Age in the form of the axis Phoenicia- tury BCE. Today it is a common assumption that the Villanovan culture
Tunisia. emerged from local farmers, Phoenician seamen and Indo-European
Italians. When immigrants from Asia Minor (Tyrrhenians) mixed with
this population, the Etruscan culture developed.
“Obviously, the trade routes of the 2nd millennium BCE never fell completely
into oblivion during the so-called Dark Age that fell between Bronze and Iron
Age.” Hans Georg Niemeyer 1990, 47 Suggestions
“For Minos was the most ancient of all that by report we know to have built a Roots in western Asia Minor
navy. And he made himself master of the now Grecian Sea, and both com-
In ancient Greece it was commonly believed that the Etruscans origi-
manded the isles called Cyclades … expelling thence the Carians and consti-
nated from northwestern Asia Minor. Herodotus wrote (1.94) that emi-
tuting his own sons there for governors.”
grants from Lydia had founded the later Etruscan settlements in central
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.4 (Hobbes)
Italy. They were reported to be well-versed in seafaring, trading, arts
and crafts and thus laid the basis for the Etruscan and, subsequently,
the Roman culture. Aeneas, a descendant of the ruling dynasty of Troy,
is considered to be the founder of the ancient Roman dynasty that suc-
ceeded that of the Etruscan in ruling on Italian ground.
The hypothesis that, after the crisis years, some of the Luwians set- “So the King divided the population in two groups and determined by drawing
tled in today’s Italy can be substantiated by archaeological finds. Espe- lots which should emigrate and which should remain at home. The lots were
cially when it comes to the monumental tomb architecture and burial drawn and one section went down to the coast at Smyrna, where they built
gifts, there are clear parallels with Asia Minor. Burial customs change vessels, put aboard all their household effects and sailed in search of a liveli-
particularly slowly; and the impressive burial mounds in central Italy hood elsewhere. They passed many countries and finally reached Umbria in
show a striking resemblance to the extensive tumulus fields near the the north of Italy.” Herodotus, The Histories 1.94 (de Selincourt)
old Phrygian and Lydian capitals. Like their Late Bronze Age predeces-
“About this time two brothers, Lydus and Tyrrhenus, were joint kings in Lydia.
sors, individual Etruscan cities never formed a union. They remained
Hard pressed by the unproductiveness of their crops, they drew lots to see
independent city states, which at best formed a loose confederation.
which should leave his country with part of the population. The lot fell upon
Etruscan engineering was of the same caliber as the hydraulic
Tyrrhenus. He sailed to Italy, and from him the place wherein he settled, its
engineering during the Late Bronze Age. In Italy, entire schools were
inhabitants, and the sea received their famous and their lasting names.”
devoted to the study of hydraulic engineering. Even after Etruria had
Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 1.1.4 (Shipley)
been subjected to Roman rule, the Romans consulted graduates of these
schools for difficult technical projects. The main task consisted of dry- “The city of Rome, according to my understanding, was at the outset founded
ing up wetlands in floodplains and coastal plains. The surplus water and inhabited by Trojans, who were wandering about in exile under the leader-
was then redirected to arid fields via a sophisticated drainage system. ship of Aeneas and had no fixed abode.” Sallust, Bellum Catilinae 6.1–3 (Rolfe)
Near Orbetello, in the Tuscan province of Grosseto, a unique coastal
“I am amazed that the Italians are allied against me, given the fact that we have
regulation was installed that still works today, which included well
common origins in the Trojans and they have as much interest as I in avenging
thought-through artificial canals and tunnel route currents and counter
the blood of Hector on the Greeks.” Sultan Mehmed II to Pope Pius II according
currents alternately to prevent silting.
to Michel de Montaigne (1580), Essays 2.36 (Screech)
Above all, the Etruscan language seems to be so closely related to
the Indo-European languages of Asia Minor that linguists have even
interpreted Etruscan as a “colonial Luwian language.” A number of
Etruscan words and personal names correspond to Luwian counter-
parts. Such a relationship is also suggested by the so-called Disc of
Magliano, a circular lead disc 8 centimeters in diameter, which came to
light around 1883, most likely through illegal excavations in the prov-
ince of Grosseto in Tuscany. It was probably found in a burial ground
dating to sometime between the 7th to 3rd century BCE and is now exhib-
ited in the Archaeological Museum in Florence. The disc is engraved on
both sides in a spiral arrangement running towards the center using
Etruscan script. With about seventy words, this is one of the longest
Etruscan texts. The form and type are reminiscent of the Phaistos Disc.
8. So u rce s
8.1 The Homeric Epics

Homer is considered to have been the first poet of the West. The pre-
vailing scholarly consensus places him in the 8th century BCE. His
epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, revolve around the Trojan War. Homer
derived the subject of his poetry from the great Epic Cycle that had
been preserved in the collective memories of the heroic era of the Late
Previous pages: In 1702, Jakob Perizonius established the paradigm that is still valid today claiming that the Medieval buildings close to the surface are carefully restored at many sites in Turkey – as seen here in
supposed eyewitness accounts of Dares and Dictys are purely fictitious. Laodicea. The settlement remains of the Luwians lie several meters below.
196 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N SOURCES • 197
Bronze Age. The Epic Cycle was passed down orally from generation to
generation after the knowledge of writing had been lost among Greek
peoples.
When writing was reinvented in its alphabetic form, Homer used
it to preserve his poems for
posterity. Because of its out-
standing literary quality, his
work soon became a huge
success. Homer had thus
taken a well-known story
as the basis for his poetry.
Using his literary brilliance
to provide sophisticated
entertainment and intellec-
The Greek ships in front of Troy next to a column at the entrance to the port, according to a relief that
tual stimulation to his audi- relates the story of the Little Iliad in pictures.
ence, he decided to modify
these well-known tales. His form had to be chosen so as to capture his audience’s attention. Accord-
The so-called Midas Monument was probably part of a
subjects and his narrative place of worship dedicated to the goddess Cybele. ingly, Homer’s epics consist of numerous heroic sagas and love stories.
Thus it was not Homer’s ultimate goal to provide historical facts. Yet,
the popularity of the Iliad and the Odyssey caused the memory of the
orally transmitted events to fade into the background, while the stories
told by Homer attracted the limelight.
Some elements of Homer’s poetry can, with much certainty, be
traced all the way back to the Bronze Age. Among them are phrases and
expressions that already could be found on the Linear B tablets of the
Greek palaces. The so-called catalogue of ships too, that lists the Greek
armed contingents heading for Troy, reflects the political geography at
the end of the Bronze Age. Even the heroic battles between various bat-
talions of chariots (which could be found in the Eastern Mediterranean
only up to about 1200 BCE) had been occasionally mentioned in the
Hittite texts in a similar form.
Greek colonies
Greek colonies of the Early Iron Age.

Suggestions
of the Homeric epics, to which the Homer papyrus in London (from
After the heroic age civil war broke out the first half of the 2nd century CE) and the Homer papyrus in Berlin
(from the 3rd century CE) belong. The oldest surviving manuscript that
The two works commonly attributed to Homer may not have been reproduces the complete text of Homer’s Iliad dates back to the 10th
written by a single author. Passages such as Odysseus’s re-conquest century CE.
of his palace in Ithaca seem almost like eye-witness accounts – only
the bard was spared from death so that he could transmit the events
for posterity. Descriptions of the landscape of Troy, however, seem to
have been written in the 8th century BCE or had undergone extensive
“It seems fairly clear that no one used the name ‘Homer’ to refer to an individu-
rewriting, for Homer never mentions any outskirts of Troy. Entire pas-
al person until c. 500 BC, Xenophanes and Herakleitos created him to find fault
sages of text, such as the aforementioned catalogue of ships and, most
with him.” Emily Vermeule 1986, 86
importantly, the travels of Odysseus (Odyssey, Books 9–12), may have
been taken as a whole from external sources. “It could be that there were a number of ‘creative geniuses’ who contributed
The American classicist Gregory Nagy of Harvard University and significantly to the development of the epics. Quite possibly this part of the
his team argue in favor of this approach. They notice that there is no process began long before the late eight century.” Trevor Bryce 2005, 370
memory of Homer as a person. Had he actually lived in the 8th or 7th
century BCE, anecdotes would have preserved an account of him, as
was the case with Hesiod. Homer, however, seems more like Hercules
– a personification of outstanding achievements, to make these more
human, more understandable and easier to communicate.
The Troy excavator Wilhelm Dörpfeld argued that Homer had lived
in the 12th century BCE, about a generation after the Trojan War. In this
case, he may have been one of the original poets contributing to the
Epic Cycle, but not the author of the complete Iliad and Odyssey, which
were written down only 400 years later. A fragment by Diodorus (7.2)
says that Homer died “before the return of the Heraclides.” Since Dio-
dorus dates the Trojan War to 1184 BCE and, according to him, 80 years
had passed until the return of the Heraclides, Homer would have lived
before 1100 BCE (see Wirth 1993, 519 and 524).
The core of the Epic Cycle was undoubtedly conceived by brilliant
poets. Perhaps they or their parents still knew the royal courts of the
heroic age from personal experience. Those who orally preserved these
epics over many generations deserve admiration, too. Finally, there
were the actual authors who wrote down the work in the 8th century
BCE. Perhaps they did a large amount of research or traveled extensive-
ly in order to transmit the events accurately. Another thousand years
separate the first written version from the oldest surviving fragments
8.2 Non-Homeric Accounts of the Trojan War
Today, most people think that the stories surrounding the Trojan War
were transmitted in only one epic: Homer’s Iliad. But this view is less
than 200 years old. A number of comprehensive reports of the Trojan
War still exist today, the so-called non-Homeric accounts on Troy. As
it turns out, Homer had used only small parts of the Epic Cycle for his
poetry. The plot of the entire Iliad only treats, in detail, events over the
course of fifteen days and five nights. In order to appreciate Homer’s
episodes, the audience had to know the whole framework of legends.
These had to be transmitted in one way or another. This and the fact
that a number of people were concerned that the quality and popular-
ity of Homer’s work could distract from what really happened spurred
other authors to produce comprehensive accounts of the Trojan War.
However, when it comes to examining ancient texts, there seems to be
an imbalance between the attention that Homer’s work received on the
one hand and the little interest in the non-Homeric accounts of Troy on In 1788, Jean-Baptiste Gaspard d’Ansse de Villoison published the first edition of the Iliad Codex Venetus A,
the other. including its scholia.
Homer is generally considered to have offered the Greek perspective

of the conflict, while many of those non-Homeric Troy reports relayed term suggests that those stories involve divine forces. But the opposite
a rather Troy-friendly version of events. During the Middle Ages, it is true: the non-Homeric sources contain virtually no mythology. It is
was those stories that became popular and common knowledge, not the Homer’s account in which the gods determine the course of history.
Homeric epics. They had a lasting impact on European thinking. For The poet even claimed to know what gods talked about in conversa-
over a thousand years, aristocratic families, royal dynasties and entire tions. How did he find out? Precisely for these reasons, Homer was
nations traced their family lines back to Troy. Some historians have considered non-authentic, at least until the Enlightenment. Homer had
considered Troy “the common heritage of Europe” and “the idea of not been around at the time of the Trojan War, and he claimed that gods
a genealogical relationship within Europe,” but these notions are not intervened in human affairs. Both these considerations made his work
related to Homer, because during the peak of the European enthusiasm seem unreliable.
for Troy, Homer’s work had been neglected and was only known from To date, much inspiration in Aegean prehistory has its source in
hearsay. Homer’s poetry. Charles Maclaren was able to locate Ilion based on the
Apparently, not a single attempt has been made so far to compare information provided by Homer. And when, during the excavations,
the content of non-Homeric reports on Troy with the findings made geophysicists unexpectedly discovered trenches in the bedrock, Man-
during 140 years of excavations. At the same time, numerous stud- fred Korfmann and his head philologist, Joachim Latacz, interpreted
ies link Homer’s work to the archaeological findings at Troy. On the these as “obstacles against approaching chariots,” because the digging
462 pages of his textbook entitled Troy and Homer the retired Hellenist of a trench is indeed mentioned in the Iliad (although on the Greek side).
Joachim Latacz mentions the existence of non-Homeric sources on Troy The interest in Homer was only revived at the end of the 18th cen-
only once and with only one word: he calls them mythographs. The tury and soon turned into an obsession because the works of Homer
supported the thinking of the new humanism in the 18th and 19th cen- 8.3 Dio Chrysostom
tury. In this respect, it was helpful that in 1788 a manuscript of the Iliad
from the 10th century was published; the Codex Venetus A with numer-
ous scholia and marginalia. Since then, for about seven generations, Greek poetry was almost non-existent during the first two centuries
Homer’s work has received major attention in the curricula of Western CE. Consequently, Dio Chrysostom, who was born in Prusa (today
schools, possibly causing today’s scholarship to lose the necessary dis- Bursa) in northwestern Asia Minor in 40 CE, had almost no contempo-
tance. The identification of Luwians and their role in the Sea Peoples’ raries on par with him when it came to rhetorical skill. Dio hailed from
movements and in the Trojan War now provides a welcome opportu- one of the most respected and wealthiest families in Prusa and enjoyed
nity to look at some neglected ancient texts from a new perspective. an exquisite education in dialectic, rhetoric and philosophy. He had
the opportunity to travel extensively. Initially these were voluntary
trips; later, however, he was forced to travel, for he had been expelled
from Rome, all of Italy, and his native Bithynia for four decades. Of
Dio’s entire body of work, eighty speeches have been preserved; how-
“Up until the 16th century the Trojan War is seen as a real event of world-histori- ever, two extensive historical works were lost. He earned his nickname
cal importance.” Elisabeth Lienert 2001, 204 Chrysostom, “golden mouth,” quite rightly, through his astute literary
essays, moral philosophical teachings, subtle anecdotes and intelligent
“Everyone should be a Greek in his own way! But he should be a Greek none-
wordplay.
theless!” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1831, 83
“The first German philhellenes borrowed their ideals – self-cultivation, dis-

interested contemplation of the beautiful, good, and true, admiration of the Suggestions
ancients – from aristocratic models; but the incorporation of nineteenth-centu- Hieroglyphic columns in Egypt tell of the Trojan War
ry philhellenism into the founding ideals of Prussia’s new research universities,
secondary schools, museums, and art academies after 1810 universalized these In his eleventh speech, Dio provided a detailed description of the events
values and in effect imposed them on generations of middle-class Germans.” leading up to the Trojan War, which in some respects differs from the
Suzanne L. Marchand 1996, xviii popular version. The way he derived the story is noteworthy, too:
“I, therefore, shall give the account as I learned it from a certain

very aged priest in Onuphis, who often made merry over the
Greeks as a people, claiming that they really knew nothing about
most things … My informant told me that all the history of ear-
lier times was recorded in Egypt, in part in the temples, in part
upon certain columns … He added that these stories about Troy
were included in their more recent records.”
Dio Chrysostom, 11.37–38 (Cohoon)
Onuphis is situated in the Nile Delta in the immediate vicinity of

Saïs; that is exactly where Solon, six centuries before Dio, first learned
from a wise temple priest “In an era without greatness … Dio, who for good reasons was later called
about hieroglyphic columns ‘golden mouth’, was besides Plutarch probably the most fascinating figure,
describing a glorious victory clever and amiable, destined to escape from the world and yet committed to
of his Greek ancestors over action.” Winfried Elliger 1967, 44
a power in the distant past
“When I asked him [the Egyptian priest] to give this account, he hesitated
(Plato, Timaeus 21e–22b).
at first, remarking that the Greeks are vainglorious, and that in spite of their
Dio goes on to describe
dense ignorance they think they know everything.”
the city of Troy as the “the
Dio Chrysostom, Discourses 11.37–39 (Crosby)
greatest of all in Asia”
(11.57). He continues to say
that “of all cities, Troy was
the wealthiest” (11.63) and
that during the war against
Greece, more and more allies
had flocked to support the
Trojans (11.79). The Greeks
had a hard time during the
fighting at Troy. They were Orations of Dio Chrysostom edited by Johann Jakob
Reiske, 1784.
plagued by famine and pes-
tilence, and a serious conflict
broke out amongst their leaders (11.79). Such statements can also be
found in Plato’s report of the Saitian priests about the downfall of a
powerful enemy of the Greeks (Timaeus 24e, Critias 120e, Timaeus 25c).
Even this city’s historically unique burial under mud (Timaeus 25d) can
be found in Dio’s description of Troy: Apollo and Poseidon allowed the
rivers to flood the city and to wash it away (11.76).
Dio tells this story to prove that Homer’s Iliad is historically incorrect
and therefore misleading. According to Egyptian records, Greeks and
Trojans had even agreed on a ceasefire and peace, after they had worn
each other down. The surviving Trojan princes Hector and Aeneas later
left their homeland to establish colonies elsewhere and rise “to become
master of all Europe” (11.141).
It is clear that, parallel to the Greek tradition of the Trojan War,
another line of transmission had been preserved in Egypt.
8.4 Dictys Cretensis Suggestions

The Greeks attacked Luwian port cities
The Ephemeris belli Troiani of Dictys of Crete (Dictys Cretensis) is a Latin According to Dictys, Troy and not Mycenaean Greece initiated the Tro-
novel consisting of six volumes about the Trojan War. It is based on a jan War. He says that Priam’s sons had intended to “carry the entire
Greek text from the 1st or 2nd century CE that had been lost, except for war to Greece” (2.8; Frazer). The idea that Greece, in early times, had
two papyrus fragments. The Latin version was composed by Lucius been threatened by an aggressor, runs contrary to Homer, but can also
Septimius during the 3rd or 4th century CE. The Ephemeris belli Troiani be found in Plato (Timaeus 25b).
claims to be based on the eyewitness account of the Cretan Dictys, who The Greeks responded by attacking coastal towns in the northwest
fought on the Greek side in the Trojan War. His recordings are said to of Asia Minor. The Greek hero Ajax assaulted neighbors who had
have been discovered by accident in his grave in the year 66 BCE. But it friendly relations with Troy. He ravaged the rich cities of Pitya and
is by no means proven that the account of finding the Dictys originals Zelea, and, “not being content with these, laid waste Gargarum, Arisba,
is authentic. The chronicler, the Cretan Dictys, is said to have accom- Gergitha, Scepsis and Larissa with marvelous swiftness” (2.27). Ajax
panied his king, Idomeneus of Knossos, to Troy and to have taken the also “made an attack against Phrygia, capturing cities and causing gen-
Greek side, while writing about the siege and conquest of Troy. eral destruction. Within a few days, he returned to camp, victorious
Unlike Homer, Dictys makes no reference to divine intervention. laden with booty” (2.41).
This gives his report a more modern and authentic character. The work According to Dictys, Troy had been embedded in an environment
was rediscovered in the 12th century and it played a pivotal role in the of friendly and prosperous neighboring cities – Late Bronze Age settle-
reception of the story of Troy during the Middle Ages up until early ments which for the most part have yet to be located. Dictys says that
modern times. For Byzantine scholars, Dictys was the leading authority the island of Lesbos was part of Troy’s sphere of influence. Lesbos today
on Troy, followed by Homer, Euripides and Virgil. In Western Europe, belongs to Greece and has been researched archaeologically. Excava-
the ranking was: Dares, Dictys, Virgil and Ovid. tions show that the material culture of the Late Bronze Age indeed
From late antiquity onward, the story of Dictys’s journal, in amus- corresponds with that of Troy. If the historical details mentioned in
ing prose addressed to a knowledgeable and sophisticated audience, Dictys’s report were fictitious, with regard to Lesbos they were really
came to be taken literally. During the Middle Ages, when Homer’s Iliad well-invented.
was considered lost or was known only in an abridged version, Dic- Allies from Ethiopia and even India are said to have come to the aid
tys’s account, together with that of Dares, formed the basis of historical of Troy (4.4). “Many men followed each of the leaders we have listed;
knowledge about the Trojan War. In 1702, however, not quite 20 years their different customs and different languages caused them to fight
after the Ottomans had threatened to conquer Vienna for the second in disorder and turmoil” (2.35). Coming from the east, the ships of the
time and 170 years before Troy was rediscovered on Hisarlık, the Dutch allies first went to Rhodes “which they soon discovered to be an ally of
classical scholar Jakob Perizonius established the paradigm still accept- Greece” (4.4) – another fact that has been verified through archaeologi-
ed today that Dictys’s and Dares’s works were entirely fictitious. cal research.
Dictys lists the Trojan allies and distinguishes between political
allies, who were contractually obliged to support Troy, and merce-
nary armies, who had been hired for large sums of money. This type of
mutual aid was common practice in the Late Bronze Age, as documents
from Hattuša, Ugarit and Thebes indicate.
In his report, Dictys also mentions (2.18) that the Greeks had tak- 8.5 Dares Phrygius
en along special trade vessels for taking home booty. The distinction
between agile warships that could be drawn onto the beach and bul-
bous cargo ships is particularly revealing. Many classical scholars have The Iliad mentions a Dares of Phrygia, who was a priest of Hephaestus
thus far assumed that commercial vessels had been drawn onto the (5.9, 5.27). Under the pseudonym Dares Phrygius a Latin novel entitled
beach, like the ships of the invaders in the Iliad. Actually, heavy com- Acta diurna belli Troiani appeared in the 5th century CE that allegedly
mercial ships such as the one known from Uluburun must have moored provides an eyewitness account of the Trojan War. Historians today
at a quay, as they would have broken apart had they been pulled onto tend to think that this Latin version was based on a Greek original,
the shore. since the Roman sophist Claudius Aelianus (Varia Historia 11.2) in the
2nd century CE and the Greek writer Ptolemaeus Chennus in the 1st cen-
tury CE testify to the existence of a Greek book by Dares.
Isidore, bishop of Seville and historian (ca. 560–636), compiled the
“Achilles and his army, seeing at the outset that the inhabitants of Ilium were
knowledge of antiquity of the Mediterranean that still existed in the
enclosed by walls, tried to carry on the war outside and, by making raids all
West around 600 CE in his fundamental work Etymologiae. He mentions
round, to take away from them all the surrounding places.”
Dares in one breath with Moses and Herodotus:
Strabo, Geography 13.1.7 (Jones)
“Meanwhile Achilles suspected that the states bordering on Troy were Trojan “The first authors of history: Among us Christians Moses was
allies and, so to speak, a Trojan arsenal. Accordingly, taking some ships, he the first to write a history, on creation. But among the pagans,
attacked Lesbos and easily took it by storm … Then, as all of his soldiers Dares the Phrygian was first to publish a history, on the Greeks
demanded it, he attacked the wealthy cities of Scyros and Hierapolis with all and Trojans, which they say he wrote on palm leaves. After
of his forces; and these he utterly destroyed without any trouble in a few days. Dares, Herodotus is held as the first to write history in Greece.”
Wherever he went, the country was completely pacified and plundered, and Isidore of Seville, The Etymologies 1.42 (Barney)
everything was thrown into turmoil; anything that might be helpful to Troy
was either overturned or destroyed … But Achilles was by no means content The content of Acta differs from that of the Iliad in some important
with what he had already done. Therefore, he attacked the Cilicians and, within ways. It can be considered a counterpart to the Ephemeris belli Troiani by
a few days, took Lyrnessos by storm. He filled his ships with much wealth.” Dictys Cretensis; the latter looks at the same historical events, but from
Dictys Cretensis, Journal of the Trojan War 2.16–17 (Frazer) a Greek perspective. Dares, being Phrygian, represents the Anatolian
point of view and therefore tends to be more supportive of the Trojan
side. Some important moments of the plot in Homer’s epic, such as the
wrath of Achilles, the main theme of the Iliad, can be better understood
thanks to the background that Dares provides.
Achilles falls in love with Polyxena, daughter of the Trojan king
Priam, and asks her mother for permission to marry her. The queen
turns to the king, and Priam says that he would only grant permission
if a formal peace treaty is signed beforehand; something that obviously
did not happen. The description of events is more rational, and history
takes its course without intervention from heroes or even gods, which
makes it similar to the report of Dictys Cretensis. According to Dares,

Troy was ultimately defeated because the city had been betrayed by
Antenor and Aeneas. The two had opened a gate at night so that the
Greek forces could enter the citadel.
Suggestions
T he Luwian states formed an alliance and built a fleet
For nearly a thousand years, widespread enthusiasm for the Anatolis-

tic depiction of Dares prevailed in Europe. Then suddenly, shortly
after the Ottomans had besieged Vienna for the second time, this pas-
sion disappeared. In 1702, the Dutch classical scholar Jakob Perizoni-
us established “once and for all” that the works of Dares and Dictys
were “irrefutably” forgeries. This paradigm has since become firmly
anchored in humanities textbooks. Perizonius, however, was in every
way a philhellene; he had replaced his original Dutch name Voorbroek Edition of Dares from 1569.
with a Greek one and would only mention Turks in cases where they
were directly involved with Europe. Nevertheless, he was open-mind-
ed in many ways and firmly believed in the historicity of the Trojan We now know that the reference to Minoan sea power (thalassocra-
War. Considering his approach to use more than one source and to cy) in Thucydides (1.4; 1.8), Herodotus (3.122) and Diodorus (5.84.1)
find a compromise between unbelief and gullibility, Perizonius prob- can claim to be historically justified. Should Dares’s statement that the
ably would have been the first to admit that his findings were only Asian side – that is the Luwian side, probably with the exception of
tentative. – What would happen if scholars in ancient philology recon- Troy – had no ships turn out to be historically correct, it could illumi-
sidered their paradigms from time to time, in particular when new evi- nate a few pending issues for which excavations alone could thus far
dence has come up? After all, the physical sciences have gone through provide no answers. Dares says (7): “And so they unanimously decided
quite some transformations since 1702 – and have greatly benefitted as to ready a fleet and set out for Greece.”
a result. The Luwian states may have possessed thriving economies based
Possibly one of the most informative passages in the work of Dares on agriculture, metals and trade along domestic routes. The sea routes,
is a rather casual remark in Chapter 6: however, had been controlled initially by Minoan lords, and after
1450 BCE by Mycenaean, who apparently hired at least in part Canaan-
“Europe had bred many warlike men who would come to ite ships, as indicated by the wreck of Uluburun. If the Asians (i. e.
Greece’s aid, while they themselves, who lived in Asia, had spent the Luwians) had jointly decided to build a substantial fleet in a short
their time in idleness and built no ships.” (Frazer) period of time around 1200 BCE, it might explain some peculiarities of
the Sea Peoples’ inscriptions in Medinet Habu: first and foremost the
surprise repercussions that these raids obviously had, and also the fact
that the invaders were known by name as former foot soldiers.
The remarkably sophisticated type of ship that the Sea Peoples were 8.6 Quintus of Smyrna
using might also be explained in this way. We may safely assume that
the Kingdom of Troy had built its wealth in part by controlling the
trade through the Dardanelles. Such control could only be exercised Quintus of Smyrna was an ancient Greek poet who probably lived in
militarily. Consequently, the Trojans must have possessed agile ships the 3rd century CE. He produced just one epic that is still extant. His
and excellent nautical skills in order to navigate the straits, if necessary work is mostly referred to by its Latin title Posthomerica, and thus the
even against the current. Should the Luwians decide to form a military poet’s name is also rendered in the Latin form Quintus Smyrnaeus.
alliance and to build a fleet, it would be fitting to do so under Trojan Quintus transmitted the stories about Troy using a variety of sources
supervision and using a Trojan ship type as a model. In this way the without identifying them.
Kingdom of Troy would have assumed some sort of leadership as far as His work is a sequel to Homer’s Iliad and begins exactly where,
naval actions were concerned. And this, in turn, could explain why the according to Homer, the Trojan War ends. In 14 books with a total of
combined Greek and Luwian armies had gathered, of all places, before 8772 verses, Quintus relates the legendary events that had taken place
the gates of Troy in order to fight the decisive battle. Depictions of the during the last few weeks of the war, from the fall of Troy to the begin-
Sea Peoples’ invasions indeed show that many invaders wore feather ning of the Odyssey. His work is divided into many successive, more or
headdresses. They also bore the name Tkr – for Teucer. Both elements less independent stories, and these are each largely self-contained. The
are closely linked to Troy. only surviving manuscript of Quintus’s epic was discovered around
1460 by Cardinal Basilios Bessarion in Otranto, Calabria, and the first
Dares attempts to present hard facts – up until the last sentence of his printed edition of the work attributed to the workshop of the Venetian
work: printer Aldus Manutius appeared in 1504.
“The war against Troy lasted ten years, six months, and twelve
days. The number of Greeks who fell, according to the Journal Suggestions
that Dares wrote, was 886,000; the number of the Trojans 676,000.” The ruins of Troy disappeared beneath the mud
Dares, 44 (Frazer)
Quintus intends to close the chronological gap between the events
Even though the specific numbers regarding the victims of the war may that had been recounted in the Iliad and those described in the Odys-
have been invented, their order of magnitude is still remarkable. sey. He therefore mimics Homer in terms of vocabulary, language,
syntax, meter and rhythm, parables, narrative style and construction.
Like Homer, Quintus also focuses on the people, their dialogues and
actions. Evidence that would allow conclusions to be drawn about the
topography of the city of Troy and its surroundings are rare and appear
primarily in the form of attributes. It is said of Troy that it was “strong-
walled” (9.539) and had “enormous walls” (12.89).
Still, some parallels to excavational finds from Troy can be found
in Quintus, which raises the question as to where the poet may have
received his information. For example, it is said that the Mycenaeans, in
order to protect themselves from attacks by Trojans, erected fortification
walls and towers at their homes (14.633). This could be regarded as a “Poseidon himself tore open
hint at the construction of the Cyclopean citadels in Mycenaean Greece The bowels of the earth and caused a great upward gush of water
around 1250 BCE. Elsewhere Quintus explains how the Trojan citizens Together with slime and sand. With all his might he shook
prepared themselves for siege: Sigeion, making the beaches rumble, and Dardania
From its foundation. So that enormous fortress vanished
“Nor do we have any lack of food and drink. Under the sea and sank down into the ground
In the palace of wealthy Priam abundant supplies When it yawned asunder. Only sand could still be seen,
Are safely stored away, so that even greater numbers When the sea had retreated.”
Gathered for a lengthy period would enjoy Quintus, 14.646–653 (James)
Sufficient food, supposing another army three times
As large should come here eager to help us in our need.” Something quite similar to such torrential floods can also be found in
Quintus, 10.20–25 (James) Plato’s Timaeus 25d.
These lines correspond with the architectural realignment of Troy VIIa

after the destruction of Troy VIh which may have occurred around “In a sad way the old age of the heroic epic turned childish and prostituted
1250 BCE (some archaeologists now favor a date around 1300 BCE). At itself in form of the Posthomerica of Quintus of Smyrna. He transmits trivial pas-
that time, large storage jars were created under the floors. Quintus also sages of the heroic saga, which had been read at school, into Homeric verses,
describes in dramatic terms and the barren parroting would euthanize if the follies would not sometimes
how the victorious Greeks become so strong that one breaks out in laughter.”
“brought the women of Troy Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff 1905, 216
from all directions” (14.11).
“Among the late Greek epic poets Quintus is by far the worst. The anaemic
The latter statement matches
pastiche served up by Quintus is utterly devoid of life.”
information that was found
Hugh Lloyd-Jones 1969, 101
in the Linear B tablets from
Pylos, where women from “What a blunder of the Muses, that they, like Quintus indicates (12.308),
western Asia Minor are men- appointed just him to be the epic poet, him – we may summarize the opinions
tioned specifically as work- – the worst poet of antiquity.” Ernst Günther Schmidt 1999, 141
ers in textile factories.
“To begin a book about a poem by discussing negative views of it, only to
However, the most strik-
rebuff these views by means of one’s own innovative scholarship, has become
ing parallel does not con-
clichéd practice in the re-evaluation of traditionally non-canonical Classical
cern excavation findings,
texts.” Calum Alasdair Maciver 2012, 24
but Plato. In the last lines of
his work, Quintus describes “The neglect of this poem has been remarkable.”
what happened to the ruins Calum Alasdair Maciver 2012, 26
of Troy after the city had
Quintus Smyrnaeus (Kointou Kalabrou paraleipomenōn
been ravaged by the Greeks: Omērou) from 1505, printed by Aldus Manutius in Venice
with handwritten notes by Conrad Gesner.
8.7 Eusebius of Caesarea

Eusebius of Caesarea (about 260–340 CE) was a late ancient Christian
theologian and historian. He had access to many sources, public records,
church libraries and private collections including works that no longer
exist today. Eusebius wrote a work in Greek entitled Chronicle that for
centuries was regarded and widely appreciated as the source of all his-
torical knowledge. The first part of the Chronicle contained a collection
of chronologies of different peoples from the earliest times up to the
year 325 CE. The second part (the Canons) provides a historical over-
view from the “creation” up to 325 CE in parallel columns, including
a chronology of regnal years and Olympic Games. Hieronymus later
translated this Book 2 into Latin.
In one column for each, the chronologies of the respective peoples
are listed, including the Assyrians, Hebrews, Sycionians, Argivians,
Athenians and Egyptians. In the best manuscripts, all these columns In the Chronicle of Jerome, as reproduced by Eusebius, all columns for the year 1182 BCE are interrupted by
are interrupted across the entire sheet in the year 1182 BCE to make the words TROIA CAPTA (“Troy was taken”).
room for the statement “TROIA CAPTA” – Troy was taken.

Apparently, for the chronicler and church father Eusebius it was
evident that the Trojan War was a momentous historical event. The fall (556–467), Epicharmus (550–460), Aeschylus (525–456), Bacchylides (5th
of Troy is highlighted even more than the birth of Christ. Eusebius’s century), Herodotus (5th century), Sophocles (496–406), Euripides (485–
guide to chronology was used by medieval clerics again and again. 406), Thucydides (460–400), Philoxenus (435–380), Xenophon (430–354),
Plato (427–347), Aristotle (384–322), Lycophron (3rd century), Timaeus
(345–250), Livius Andronicus (280–207), Naevius (270–201), Seneca (4
Suggestions BCE–65), Pliny (23–79), Plutarch (46–120), Pausanias (2nd century) and
T he overarching historical event Proclus (412–485).
Given the overwhelming evidence, the tendency of some historians
The above entry in Eusebius’s chronology might be expected to put an to view the Trojan War solely as an invention of Homer is not con-
end to the debate about the historicity of the capture of Troy at the end vincing. Many authors from ancient Greece mentioned the conflict, and
of the Bronze Age. This, however, is not at all equivalent to the Trojan almost without exception did not doubt its historicity. They were, how-
War as described by Homer. In antiquity, virtually no authors ques- ever, highly critical of Homer’s account of the events. Evidence sug-
tioned the historic authenticity of the Trojan War, but for most the real gests that a conflict involving Troy ended with the city being captured
conflict had little in common with the epics of Homer. and that this was an event of great political and cultural significance.
Among the ancient authors who mention the Trojan War in their
writings are: Hesiod (8th/7th century), Stesichorus (630–555), Sappho
(late 7th century), Alcaeus (7th century), Ibycus (6th century), Simonides
“The significance of the fall of Troy could not have been better displayed
8.8 John Malalas
visually. What is more, this is the only historical event standing out like that in
terms of the layout. Each reader had to wonder what the matter was regarding
TROIA CAPTA, where one could read this story, and who the relevant historian John Malalas was an East Roman historian in late antiquity. He was
would be.” Marc-René Jung 2001, 14 born around 490 CE in Antioch on the Orontes in Syria, where he most
likely worked in the imperial administration or as a legal scholar in the
service of the Antiochian Patriarch. Soon after the catastrophic earth-
quake that occurred in Antioch in 526, Malalas moved to Constantino-
ple and thus into the center of the Eastern Roman Empire; there he died
at the age of about 80 years. His name, Malalas, is Syrian and means
rhetorician.
John is the author of the oldest almost completely preserved world
chronicle. Consisting of eighteen books, it was written in Greek. The
main manuscript from the 12th century is partially damaged and con-
tains text that had been worked on by someone else and, furthermore, is
no longer complete. The work enjoyed great popularity and, even cen-
turies later, was imitated by many. Malalas used an almost colloquial
writing style to make his work accessible and to entertain his audience.
In his colorful account of the events, he mixes historical and mythologi-
cal moments of the story without ever citing his sources. Since Mala-
las’s source material could not be understood, researchers have treated
his work with contempt and for a long time have deemed it inadequate.
Suggestions
Tros built two cities: Troy and Ilion
It cannot be stated clearly enough: No source can be regarded as his-

torically accurate, regardless of whether it is the chronicle of a Byzan-
tine historian, a hexameter by Homer, or an ancient Egyptian temple
inscription. Ancient texts only become relevant and helpful when their
contents can be matched with findings from archaeological excava-
tions. Even then, ancient documents will not provide historical truth;
they can, however, provide helpful suggestions for further research
and ways of interpreting finds.
Excavations in Crete that have been conducted since 1900 revealed
a horizon of destruction at the end of the Neopalatial period (around
If the events had actually happened in this or in a similar way, the

voluntary surrender of the Minoan petty kingdoms may be regarded
as one of the most unsound strategic decisions in world history. After
this happened, Minoan domination of the sea trade was lost once and
for all.
Malalas offers more stimulating information. For example, he states
that the Mycenaeans went through the Hellespont and were suddenly
attacked by the king of the region (4.12). Subsequently there was a naval
battle, in the course of which the Anatolian attacker died. The Greeks
then stormed his metropolis (possibly Maidos, located on the north
shore of the Dardanelles). Many medieval authors consider this inci-
dent to have been the actual cause of the dispute between the Greeks
and Trojans.
Furthermore, Malalas writes that the Kingdom of Troy extended all
across Phrygia:
Edition of John Malalas’s Chronographia from 1831. “At that time Tros, the father of Ilios and Ganymede, reigned
over Phrygia. He built two cities, one called Troy, after himself,
and the other called Ilion, after Ilios his elder son. When he had
1430 BCE) across almost the entire island. Palaces were destroyed and completed the walls of the cities, he summoned all the toparchs,
set on fire, most likely by Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland who or rulers, of the land of Europe, except for Tantalos, emperor of
had been conquering Crete. It is worth noting that the palaces had been the land of the Mykenaians.” Malalas, 4.15 (Jeffreys)
abandoned prior to the destruction and that the fugitives had taken
portable and valuable goods with them. It was long doubted that the Those who allow themselves to be inspired by the writings of ancient
Greeks would have been sufficiently powerful to conquer the whole historians may recognize in this an echo of the Aššuwa league or of the
island of Crete by themselves. But John Malalas provides a surprising Trojan contingents listed in the Iliad, whose territories extended all the
explanation for the seemingly unopposed advance of the Greeks: He way to the Axios River in Macedonia. Furthermore, there may have
claims that the Cretan king Minos had an illegitimate son named Mino- been a city called Troy in addition to the fortress Ilion on Hisarlık.
taur, who was to follow his famous father on the throne. The minor
kings of the island considered the rule of a bastard to be an affront and
were thus plotting against him. They invited Theseus, the king of Thes-
saly, the northernmost Mycenaean kingdom, to fight against Minos’s
successor. In the case of a victory, they would leave him not only Mino-
taur, but the whole country without a fight. “So Theseus went immedi-
ately to Crete to attack Minotaur, while all the [Minoan] senators and
the army abandoned Minotaur and decided to flee to the city Gortyn”
(4.23; Jeffreys).
“Confused in content, mixing fable with facts, important events and minor
8.9 Joseph of Exeter
incidents, it is clearly intended not for educated readers but for the masses.”
Alexander Alexandrovich Vasiliev 1952, 184
Joseph of Exeter (in Latin: Josephus Iscanus) was a cleric and writer of
“Malalas’s direct or indirect sources have not yet been established with cer-
the 12th century who lived in Exeter and wrote poems in Latin. His best
tainty: they must have included official records and local chronicles of Antioch
known work is a hexametric epic entitled Daretis Phrygii Ilias De bello
together with general histories and universal chronicles. Uncriticial, confused,
Troiano (“The Iliad of Dares the Phrygian: On the Trojan War”) that he
and often childish, Malalas preserves many otherwise unknown facts.”
completed around 1190. Subsequently he took part in the Third Cru-
Arnaldo Dante Momigliano 1970, 641
sade, from which he returned unharmed in 1194.
“Malalas has preserved a great amount of the most important data which Joseph’s epic presents the most widely-known version of the story
otherwise would have been lost.” Albert T. Olmstead 1941, 22 of the Trojan War of his time, beginning with Jason and the Argonauts.
In contrast to Dares, on whose account his work is based, Joseph dis-
played a vivid imagination and expressiveness; he embellished the his-
torical original and added several episodes without naming his sources.
Suggestions
“The city twice reduced to ashes by destruction”
Certain statements in different medieval accounts of Troy correlate

surprisingly well with the findings made during the excavations on
Hisarlık – even though the city had been destroyed 2000 years before
the medieval texts were composed. Drawing on Dares’s report, Joseph
of Exeter tells how Troy was attacked twice in relatively short intervals.
This is how his poem begins:
“My complaint is the tears of the Trojan Women and Troy given
up to its fates, the two wars of the leaders, the city twice reduced
to ashes by destruction.” Joseph of Exeter, 1.1 (Bate)
Archaeologists have found evidence of two violent destructions at

Troy, those of Troy VIh and Troy VIIa, but some still attribute the first
one to an earthquake. – Joseph also says that a certain Aeacus of Aegina
had been involved in the construction of the fortress wall. Aeacus had
purposely implanted a predetermined breaking point into the wall,
and had told his son Telamon of Salamis about it. Telamon belonged to
Heracles’s troops, who carried out the first attack on Troy:
“But Telamon sneaks up stealthily and overcomes the hard resis- more violently, forcing the smaller river to move away so that it
tance of the stones with his iron bar. And now, with the turned can get right up to the city. You would think they were striving
wall about to fall headlong, he steps back.” Joseph of Exeter, to see who could get closer, such was the meeting of the two cur-
1.415 (Bate) rents, such the continual roaring of the mutual strife.” Joseph of
Exeter, 1.524–536 (Bate)
The vulnerability of the city wall of Troy in a particular place is hinted
at in various ancient sources, including Homer, who says that Troy was It looks as though some accurate information from the time of the Tro-
most vulnerable “near the fig tree” (Iliad 6.431). Excavations by Wil- jan War was preserved through written records into the Middle Ages.
helm Dörpfeld indeed revealed a place where the fortification wall was In any case, Homer is not the only nor even the best source of sugges-
less solidly built and had completely fallen over. Dörpfeld interpret- tions concerning the possible appearance of Late Bronze Age Troy.
ed this as the result of an earthquake. The subsequent reconstruction
(Troy VIIa) with narrow streets and numerous storage vessels is also
mentioned in Joseph’s account. “He [Priam] soon reintegrates the scattered town and spreads it wide.
His verses also provide a vivid description of the partly artificial A sounder bastion keeps at bay the Greek division. First, the wounded walls are
course of the river Dümrek. Whether the following passage is from the healed and breathe beneath his hand; the ramparts are content with just six
original Dares version or whether it comes from another source is not openings. … He now is glad the towers fell, for now he has a greater tool – his
clear: loss is gain.” Joseph of Exeter 1190, Daretis Phrygii Ilias 1.485 (Rigg)
“The river Simois irri-

gates nearby countryside
as it travels from another
world to see Troy. By its
long journey through
many kingdoms and cit-
ies it would like to have
earned the right to flow
out into the sea finally
as a Trojan River. And
while it gazes in unend-
ing amazement at Troy
it delays its faltering
course, slows down its
already sluggish flow,
and causes the whole city
to be encircled. The sea
An edition of Joseph of Exeter (Joseph Iscanus): Daretis
is angry at the delay to Phrygii Ilias De bello Troiano from Basel dating back to 1541.
its waters and presses in
8.10 Benoît de Sainte-Maure

Benoît de Sainte-Maure (died 1173) was a French-language author from
Sainte-Maure in the county of Touraine, which was one of the fiefdoms
of the English Crown on French soil. By order of the English court of
Henry II Plantagenet and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, around 1170
Benoît wrote the Roman de Troie (The History of Troy in Romance Lan-
guage), a comprehensive narrative of 30,300 verses. It is based on the
Historia de Excidio Troiae of Dares Phrygius and the Ephemeris belli Troiani
of Dictys Cretensis, the two main sources on Troy in medieval times.
From these, however, Benoît only took the basic framework which he
then imaginatively and cleverly enriched with love stories, chivalrous
battle scenes and scholarly digressions. The Historia destructionis Troiae
by Guido de Columnis, published in Latin in 1287, is said to have been
based primarily on the Roman de Troie, and from this numerous transla-
tions emerged in various vernacular languages of Europe. Benoît de Sainte-Maure composed the Roman de Troie in 1170 CE.
Suggestions “In Benoit’s time a more detailed (Latin) Dares text still existed.”
No mortal has ever seen a city that was so vast and so Gustav Körting 1874, 70
prosperous
In short, it is quite conceivable that several Greek and Latin versions of
Benoît himself names Dares as his source for the material (verse 125– the Historia of Dares were extant during the Middle Ages. This would
126) up until the destruction of Troy, but he says that this is a very explain the discrepancy between the enormous respect that ancient his-
rare book, although the traditional Dares text was readily available in torians held for Dares and the plain contempt with which historians of
Benoît’s time. He also says that he would adhere strictly to the original, the 19th and 20th century treated the transmitted version.
although his description goes far beyond the Dares text which is cur- Many passages of Benoît cannot be found in the versions of Dares
rently available. These are indications that a more detailed version of and Dictys that we know of today. The level and preservation of detail
Dares existed in Benoît’s day. About 500 years before Benoît (around in Benoît’s writing is often remarkable. He wrote in medieval French;
660), the chronicle of Fredegar was written. It contains a transcription a translation into contemporary French was issued by Emmanuèle
of the chronicle by Eusebius, who in turn had lived almost another 400 Baumgartner (1987). It reads (line 2863–3186):
years earlier (around 260–340). Fredegar mentions a text Historia Dare-
tis Frigii de Origine Francorum that is not identical with the Historia de “Scholars read in their books what is still today a veritably
Excidio Troiae of Dares that we know. Thus Benoît may indeed have accepted fact, namely that throughout the world there never
used a different version of Dares as his main source. existed a city that would have been comparable to Troy. This
applies to its beauty, its size, the wealth of raw materials and
simply its abundance. … The Trojans had found their city [Troy “The title Roman de Troie is inaccurately translated as ‘Troy novel’. Roman de
VIh] devastated, but they built it a hundred times better again by Troie means: History of Troy in Romance language, i. e. French.”
erecting a city [Troy VIIa] of perfect beauty and noble appear- Marc-René Jung 1992, 12
ance. … High towers were raised around the whole city, made
“There is nothing in the works of Benoît that compels us to regard the work
by mixing chalk and sand. … People had built more than a thou-
preserved to us under the name of Dares as the source. The sum of those plac-
sand houses, which were intended for the kings and aristocrats.
es where Benoît significantly exceeds our Dares rather testifies a dependence
The worst fortified would not have been afraid of all armed
on a more detailed template that would be identical with the original that in
forces of the kingdom of France. … The population of the whole
turn can be derived from the present Dares text.” Rudolf Jäckel 1875, 63
surrounding countries had been invited to come to the city and
live there. And all these people populated the place so densely “Offside rose Ilion, the main fortress of Troy. Priam had it built for his personal
and covered it with houses that it would have cost you without a use and – so rest assured – never since then has there been a mortal who
doubt three days and more to walk all around it.” would have been able to build something similar. The citadel had been erected
on the highest point of Troy, and who designed it really was a master architect!
This Troy has little in common with the Homeric Troy and almost noth- It looked like being carved from a single block of rock that was circular at its
ing in common with the one that has been excavated on Hisarlık. It is base and narrowing towards its tip. But even there its circumference reached
a unique, vast and prosperous city – to this day, nothing like this has five hundred toises [1000 meters] and more – so was Ilion. From there, you
been found through archaeological excavations in the Troad. A simple overlooked the whole country, and if you saw this rock from down below, it
explanation, of course, would be that nothing like this could be found seemed to be so high that you might have thought it reached the clouds.”
because it had all sprung from Benoît’s imagination. But Benoît never Benoît de Sainte-Maure 1170, Roman de Troie (Baumgartner)
tires of referring to his source Dares, of whom he explicitly states that
“he is not mistaken,” for example when he gives the names of the six
gates of Troy or when he describes the extraordinary richness of the
altar in the palace of Priam.
8.11 Guido de Columnis

Around 1271, the archbishop of Salerno, Matteo della Porta, encour-
aged the judge Guido de Columnis (around 1220–1290) from Messina,
the capital of the Sicilian province, to write a work about the fall of Troy
in Latin. The archbishop died after Guido had completed the first chap-
ter, and without his encouragement, the work remained unfinished for
fifteen years. Until finally in 1287, the author produced the remaining
34 chapters in less than three months. Guido explains that he based
his work on the then generally recognized “eyewitness accounts” of
Dares the Phrygian and Dictys the Cretan. However, there are such
significant parallels to the Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure
(around 1160) that it has long been assumed that this was indeed his
main source.
Guido’s work, entitled Historia destructionis Troiae, claims to be a
truthful account of the historical events. It was a huge success, translat- The judge and author Guido de Columnis in a German translation of his work, dating to 1450.
ed into many common languages and was still being printed centuries
later. The first book ever printed in the English language, and the first
book printed in England, was a translation of Guido’s account: the Troy
Book by John Lydgate, published in 1420. This was followed by publica-
tions in 1450 in French with the title La destruction de Troye by Jacques
Miletus, in 1599 in German, entitled Historische, warhaffte und eigentliche
Beschreibung von der alten Statt Troia, and finally in 1665, 400 years after
the first publication, in Italian as La storia della guerra di Troia.
Suggestions
Sophisticated artificial watercourses
Had Heinrich Schliemann in 1868 aimed to prove the historicity of the

Trojan War as described by Guido de Columnis rather than Homer, our
view of Aegean prehistory today might be completely different. The
adaptations of the Troy legend by Benoît de Sainte-Maure and Guido de
Columnis were amongst the biggest publishing successes in medieval
Europe; they remained popular for well over half a millennium. Both In medieval reports Troy is depicted as a contemporary city.
versions, however, contain extensive passages that are found neither
The artificial incision through the coastal ridge at Troy has the same dimensions as the ship trackway in Today’s sole of the 30 m deep artificial incision through the coastal ridge at Kesik, 5 km west of Hisarlık (Troy).
Corinth: 40 to 50 m wide and up to 30 m deep. Guido de Columnis emphasizes the excavation work at Troy.
in the report by Dares nor “For its [Troy’s] foundations were established in the depths of
in the one by Dictys, both the earth, made with deep excavation and ample width. … Its
of which Guido claims he avenues extended in a long and straight line, in the midst of
had consulted for his work. which the brisk and invigorating air of dawn poured forth sweet
Interestingly enough, Guido and varied breezes … Through the middle of this city ran a river
refers to a Greek version of called Xanthus, which, by dividing the city into two equal parts,
Dares that had existed dur- in its unfailing course offered many conveniences to the inhabit-
ing Guido’s lifetime and ants of that city. … In addition, this river, flowing through hidden
is no longer extant. Guido channels on account of the requisite abundant supply of water,
describes the architectural purified the city by prearranged floods, by means of skillfully
style and decorations of the made canals and underground sluices, and by these baths the
houses, the craftsmen one accumulated impurities were cleaned away.” 5.114–179 (Meek)
met in Troy and games that
were popular there. He paid Guido relates that Priam, in order to repopulate his city after it had
special attention to the com- been ruined during the first Trojan War and subsequently rebuilt under
plex water installations: his reign, relocated people from the surrounding villages. In fact, the
This paved trackway enabled boats to be moved overland
across the Isthmus of Corinth – for over 1000 years.
settlement of Hanay Tepe, a few kilometers south of Hisarlık, had been
abandoned after the destruction of Troy VIh. It is conceivable that the
inhabitants of Hanay Tepe were resettled within the protecting walls “Likewise, we want to leave the question undiscussed whether Guido de
of Troy. Columna in his Historia destructionis Troiae really only paraphrased the Roman
A thousand years of enthusiasm for the Troy-friendly perspective as de Troie or whether he might not, as he confessed himself, have made use of a
advanced by Dares culminated in Guido’s work – and from there really detailed Dares or Dictys text that was in his hands.” Gustav Körting 1874, 71
took off for another 400 years. Its success suddenly faded when the
“King Priam, however, for the location of his dwelling and a site for his own
Ottoman Empire expanded. A few years after the Ottomans reached
mansion ordered the great and famous Ilium, as his great palace was called,
the gates of Vienna for the second time, the work of Dares was declared
to be constructed in a higher place of the city out of the towering native rock
a fake. Plato gradually moved to the center of philological interest
in the city. And the master fortress of great security which was hewn by force
through translations and adaptations by Thomas Taylor (1758–1835)
from this native rock was glorious Ilium. From its foundation to the highest
and Friedrich August Wolf (1759–1824). Within one or two generations,
point which roofed it over in the shape of a sphere, its height reached a sum-
Guido’s work was forgotten. To this day, no one has noticed that the
mit five hundred feet above the tops of the towers not far from it on the ram-
descriptions of Troy provided by Guido de Columnis and the one of a
parts, which were themselves far higher than that same height. On account of
powerful prehistoric enemy of the Greeks in Plato’s Critias (115c–117a)
their enormous height, the summits of its towers were concealed by a cloak of
are largely identical – even including the mention of a unique artificial
clouds streaming by continually, and from their very lofty summits the com-
cut into the coastal ridge and subterraneous navigable channels.
plete extent of adjacent regions in the whole province, and even distant spots,
could be conveniently observed.”
Guido de Columnis 1287, Historia destructionis Troiae 5.202–215 (Meek)
9 . Lu w i a n St u d i e s a n d i t s G o a l s
9.1 Closing the Research Gap
Combining linguistic, archaeological, and geological research related

to Western Anatolia around 1200 BCE, I have come to the conclusion
that neither natural disasters nor outside invaders caused the end of the
Bronze Age in the Mediterranean. Rather it was a result of three con-
secutive wars that went on in this area at the time. All three wars have
been recorded in one way or another by ancient scribes.
At this stage, the reconstruction of the events at the end of the Bronze
Age as presented here only forms a working hypothesis. It does, how-
ever, have the advantage that the end of the Bronze Age in the Medi-
terranean can be explained by bringing the seemingly unrelated Sea
Peoples’ attacks, as relayed by Egyptian scribes, the Trojan War and a
subsequent civil war on the Greek mainland in one logical order.
In a nutshell, these are the main arguments put forward in this book:
• During the 2nd millennium BCE, western Asia Minor was home to a
number of small- and medium-sized kingdoms. In their combined
economic and political power, these were roughly equal to the
Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations.
• I propose to call this civilization Luwian and its population the
Luwians. This is meant to be an encompassing term for all people
who would not have considered themselves to belong to either the
Greek or the Hittite cultures. The Luwian states have thus far been
largely overlooked as a potential regional power.
• Troy, too, belonged to the Luwian realm and the Kingdom of Troy
at times gained region-wide political significance between 1800 and
238 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N LUWIAN STUDIES AND ITS GOALS • 239
1200 BCE. During the Late Bronze Age, Troy ranked as the grandest
and most important metropolis among the people living around the
Mediterranean. The archaeological site at Hisarlık, now commonly
referred to as Troy, is only a small part of the former city. In prin-
ciple, Hisarlık is to Troy what the Kremlin is to Moscow, a topo-
graphically elevated citadel with an expansive history of its own.
• The invasions of so-called Sea Peoples around 1200 BCE, as described
in Egyptian temple inscriptions, and the Trojan War belong to the
same chain of events. The Sea Peoples were a military alliance of
Luwian petty states. They achieved considerable success within a
short period of time and were a few years later themselves attacked
and defeated in their home cities by a comparable alliance of the
Mycenaean kingdoms.
I initially presented these

arguments over twenty
years ago in a book (Ein Bore holes close to Tiryns (here in 1985) revealed a Late Bronze Age settlement 5 m under the surface. In the
neuer Kampf um Troia) pub- foreground: geoarchaeologist Prof. Tjeerd H. van Andel from Stanford University.
lished in 1994 in German and

known mostly by archae- the most advanced natural scientific methods right from the begin-
ology insiders. Since then, ning.
much evidence has come up • From a pool of 340 well-defined settlements of the Luwian civili-
to reinforce this reconstruc- zation dating to the 2nd millennium BCE a few can be selected for
tion of events, and to my large-scale excavations.
knowledge very little has • The Troy myth that existed from antiquity to the time of Shake-
been found that would argue speare rests on genuine memories of the Bronze Age city, which
against it. If the hypothesis is have been preserved and transmitted in ancient and medieval texts
valid, a number of opportu- up until today. The recognition of the Luwian civilization now
nities for future archaeologi- offers a chance to reexamine and possibly reinterpret historiograph-
cal inquiries arise: ic sources spanning over 2000 years.
• Past events much like those in the present are primarily determined
• Archaeologists can inves- by politics, the economy and technological advances. By examining
tigate a thus far little- In 1984, in the ground-floor office of Geology Corner these topics more closely, we might be able to better understand
known civilization in in the Old Quadrangle of Stanford University, those past cultures.
geoarchaeological investigations began that led to the
western Turkey by using founding of Luwian Studies in 2014.
• Archaeology was conceived at a time when Europe fought the Otto-
man Empire. Until the 20th century, paradigms were formulated to
amplify European civilizations while belittling those on Turkish soil.
The author giving a lecture at the Heidelberg Academy of Science in April 2001. Below the foundations of the classical period, there often are Late Bronze Age settlements – as shown here
in Olympia.
By finally overcoming these long outdated resentments, archaeolo- For over a century, intensive investigations have been almost com-
gy may help to bridge the rift between eastern and western cultures. pletely absent in Late Bronze Age western Turkey. Addressing this
knowledge gap is one of the most promising research opportunities
With respect to the city and Kingdom of Troy, there are numerous indi- in Mediterranean archaeology. To help bridge this gap, the non-profit
cations that during the 13th century BCE, the latter covered the entire foundation Luwian Studies has been established in 2014. It is based in
Biga peninsula – from Edremit to the Marmara Sea. A city of the same Zurich, Switzerland. The sole purpose of the foundation is to promote
name was located on the western edge of this region. It may well have the study of cultures of the 2nd millennium BCE in western Asia Minor.
been a hundred times larger than the archaeological site Hisarlık as The foundation’s research (as well as my own since 1991) is almost
known around 1990. A verification of this hypothesis would be desir- exclusively privately financed. Consequently, the perspectives pre-
able and promising. An excavation 6 to 7 meters deep, in a location sented are independent of national interests and research institutions.
about 300 meters west of the citadel knoll of Hisarlık (at the drilling site The foundation aims to encourage politicians and business leaders to
128 of geoarchaeologist Ilhan Kayan) may suffice to determine whether stimulate further studies of Luwian sites by archaeologists from Turkey
the Late Bronze Age city of Troy is buried underneath floodplain sedi- and abroad. Some deep soundings in the right places could suffice to
ments (see Zangger & Mutlu 2015). I thus encourage Turkish scholars complement the existing understanding of Aegean prehistory.
to explore the alluvial plain of Troy, west of the citadel, in more detail
and use physical scientific methods in order to identify hidden remains
of the Late Bronze Age city.
9.2 Proposed Methods The ideas presented with-

in the framework of Luwian
Archaeology is the study of the physical remains of people of the past. Studies aim to encourage
This includes organic matter (such as kitchen waste) and artificially looking at the existing
influenced landscapes. If people possessed the knowledge of writ- sources from a different per-
ing and produced documents, we call it historical time. The study of spective and to provide sug-
these texts is the task of historians. Due to the complexity of the mat- gestions for future research.
ter, archaeological and historical research are divided by geographical They are strictly hypotheses.
or linguistic regions (Egyptology, ancient Greek, ancient Near Eastern Accordingly, the research
studies etc.), time periods (prehistory, ancient history etc.) and content program presented is primar-
(architectural history, philology, art history etc.). The various sources ily committed to a hypothet-
are examined within each of these areas of research and according to ical-deductive methodology.
specialized aspects. As a consequence, scientific insights which arise A research program is hypo-
from related materials are subject to and influenced by different princi- thetical-deductive when it
ples, doctrines and trends. The division does not favor the recognition formulates hypotheses that
of supraregional structures. are falsifiable, i. e. they must
In addition, for over a century, there has been a trend in science be able to be disproved by
towards greater specialization. The more specific the observation, the empirical findings. How the
more accurate its scientific merit. The focus on details, however, makes hypotheses were generated
it harder to recognize large patterns. In order to reconstruct complex plays a subordinate role.
chains of events, the compartmentalization and focus of one’s own In helicopter geophysics, a so-called “bird” sends
As long as they are consis-
electromagnetic waves of different frequencies into the
area of expertise needs to be overcome. Indeed, a number of individual ground. They penetrate the ground at different depths, are tent, plausible and empiri-
specialists in Aegean prehistory and ancient Near Eastern studies have reflected and then measured. cally verifiable, they must be
previously argued that a large hitherto unnoticed culture must have regarded as scientific.
existed in western Turkey during the 2nd millennium BCE. All the same,
the many indications pointing towards the existence of a Luwian cul- Luwian Studies uses a natural scientific methodology based on the fol-
ture have never been systematically pursued. lowing steps:
1. Formulation of plausible and well-founded hypotheses (deductive

approach).
2. Collecting and analyzing observations from the widest possible
range of physical scientific fields (empirical method).
3. Critical review of original observations and collecting new data.
This procedure is used to test the hypothesis that there has been a pre-
viously little-studied culture in western Asia Minor that played a key
Floodplain sediments can be on top or below an archaeological site. Only drillings provide clarity. role in the downfall of the Hittite Empire. The thesis is in many respects
Roman Empire
During archaeological surveys, surfaces are systematically screened by a number of field walkers. The Roman Empire, here in its expansion in the 2nd century CE, served as a role model for Europe during
the Enlightenment.
diametrically opposed to the established textbook paradigm, but it is by Alexander the Great in 334 BCE. For thousands of years prior, the
inherently consistent. stream of cultural innovations was not from west to east, but from east
New discoveries in the transition from the prehistoric to historic to west. Hence, patterns prevailing after the 4th century BCE can by no
period could also one day lead to supplementing the current meth- means be extrapolated into the 2nd and 3rd millennium BCE.
odology of Aegean prehistory. After all, the discovery of Aegean One closing comment to consider: Archaeological excavations
civilizations was essentially the achievement of an amateur, Heinrich almost never reach deep enough.
Schliemann. By unearthing civilizations that were about a thousand
years older than classical antiquity, he caused some embarrassment
in those days among the opinion leaders of archeology. They eventu-
ally responded by extrapolating the knowledge that was already estab-
lished for classical antiquity into the preceding prehistoric period. Even
today, German-speaking opinion leaders for the Aegean Bronze Age
are often trained as classical archaeologists or ancient historians. Thus,
their core expertise lies in the time after the first Olympic Games at
776 BCE. It appears to have been overlooked thus far that a dramat-
ic change took place between Mycenaean and Hellenistic times. The
Eastern Mediterranean only became Hellenistic after the annexation
246 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N EPILOGUE • 247
“Zangger has attempted to apply the rigors of scientific methodology to

explaining the end of the Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
Daniel Pullen 1994, 522
“Of all departments of mental capitalism science is the one with the most com-
plete economy of attention. Science does not just generate knowledge; it also 1 0. E p i l o g u e
exploits its own knowledge production: scientists do not work for idealistic
purposes, but for the sake of a career in which attention is the reward. One
As a natural scientist, I am trained to believe in the significance of
does not become a scientist to get rich, but rather to become famous.”
facts. When it comes to physical scientific research, many scholars are
Georg Franck 1998, 182
convinced that what can be done should be done, because we are ulti-
“Summing up this account of the development of classical archeology, a strik- mately aiming to recapitulate how nature works. I remember a long,
ing persistence in its main themes becomes visible. … A real change in the relaxed chat that I and a group of my fellow undergraduates had with a
self-understanding of classical archeology is difficult to detect. … An era in well-established physics professor. Our conversation revolved around
which art had no central social value cannot be explored with the standards of the responsibility of the scientists in the Manhattan project (trying to
classical archeology.” Reinhard Bernbeck 1997, 24–25 develop the first atomic bomb). The professor was utterly convinced
that scientists were obliged to find out what can be found out. Politi-
“The amalgamation of prehistory and early history with Nazi ideology and poli-
cians then have to determine whether they utilize the available knowl-
cy showed consequences in the postwar period. In West Germany people were
edge or not. I did not share this thinking back then, and I still don’t.
satisfied … with an almost entirely atheoretical archaeology. The collection of
Even if we accept that scientists are partially responsible for the way
facts and their chronological and spatial order had become the top research
their discoveries are used, a natural scientist will inevitably encounter
goal.” Reinhard Bernbeck 1997, 30–31
some friction when working on interdisciplinary projects with research-
“Facts like words are by themselves useless. They must be combined as a ers in the humanities − and I count archaeology among these. This is
means to an end. Their duty is at the lowest to provide the basis of a reason- because researchers in the humanities are more aware of how facts
able theory.” John Pendlebury 1939, xxviii are inseparably linked with values. To them, the inherent value even
“Any theory is justifiable which agrees with the greatest number of facts
shapes the fact itself. If a researcher makes a discovery – regardless of
known at the time and neither contradicts a vital fact nor human nature and
whether it’s a physical scientist or an archaeologist – it immediately
reason.” Leonard R. Palmer 1961, 254
raises the question of the ultimate value of this new insight. Added
to this is the fact that there is more than one form of value to be con-
“It is [methodologically] inadmissible to assert that the Sea Peoples consisted sidered. Does the discovery reinforce or question existing scholarship?
of different peoples with similar habitus that were defeated in 1177 BCE by How is the peer community likely to react? Will the government I work
Ramesses III, just because this is how the texts of Medinet Habu relate it.” for welcome the discovery? Will it boost or harm my career if I support
Eberhard Zangger 1994, 75 the new view? Simply put, if no one sees a benefit, the discovery – no
“1177 B. C. – The Year Civilization Collapsed”, Eric H. Cline 2014 (book title) matter how momentous it seemed at first – will not be followed up on.
Research in the humanities is much more oriented towards potential
“Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the
markets than the scholarly community is prepared to admit.
stakes are so low.” Wallace Stanley Sayre (1905–1972)
The argument I hear most frequently in discussions with archaeolo-
gists goes something like this: “I prefer a system that I know, whether
248 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N EPILOGUE • 249
it is flawed or not, over a system that I don’t know and whose flaws I These principles are particularly evident in Anatolian archaeology.
can’t even fathom.” For a physical scientist, accepting this approach Over the past century, a handful of pioneers have made momentous
takes some getting used to, for we are trained to eat existing theories discoveries in Anatolian prehistory, but unfortunately many of these
for breakfast every day. discoveries were not pursued further. How regrettable! Archaeology
In business, people running global enterprises have realized that would benefit tremendously if we were more willing to question exist-
their organizations are not ideally suited to promoting research. The ing paradigms. After all, human cultures have benefitted from progress
processes required to keep a large organization on track limit the lee- – why shouldn’t archaeological research?
way that is indispensable in research; they also make it expensive and
time-consuming. For this reason the development of a new drug, for
instance, might be delegated to a small spin-off. After a number of
years, when the drug is ready for market, this spin-off is then bought
up by the original parent company. Steve Jobs put the team that devel-
oped the original iPod in a barn, “to protect it from my own organiza-
tion,” as he put it.
University-based research, however, has gone in the opposite direc-
tion, because it lies in the hands of governmental employees − some
might call them bureaucrats. In 2013, I wrote to the Turkish Minister
of Culture to inform his Excellency of the opportunities an enhanced
investigation of the Luwians might bring. The reply was, I should “pre-
pare an application file according to the Law Nr. 2863.” There is no
better way to sum up the feelings and fate an explorer has in today’s
world.
A clerk has to follow the rules, while a researcher has to question
them. This leaves university professors in a somewhat ambivalent posi-
tion. Should they follow the rules – or should they question them? After
a while, most choose the path of least resistance and stick to the rules.
This might explain why so many discoveries in archaeology – in par-
ticular in Aegean prehistory – were made by laypeople or outsiders
rather than by university-based or government-funded archaeologists.
When confronted with a challenge, government officials tend to con-
sult their superiors. This is even truer in a generation raised on political
correctness. The result is that only the people with the most institu-
tional power get to decide which principles in research are credible and
which are not. Researchers are thus anxious to acquire as much insti-
tutional power as possible – rather than aiming to break new ground.
And by the same token, those who do make discoveries are unlikely to
gain institutional power.
GLOSSARY • 251
Glo s s a r y
A
Abu Simbel – rock temple in southern Egypt
Abydos – ancient city in the Troad
Abydos, Egypt – ancient city in Upper Egypt
Achaea – name for Mycenaean Greece; the southern Greek mainland from
1600 to 1100 BCE
Achaeans – collective name used by Homer for all Greek-speaking people
Achilles – hero of the Greek mythology and great warrior of the Trojan War
Acropolis – a city’s citadel, mostly built on nearby elevated ground
Adramyttion – ancient city on the coast at the Gulf of Edremit in the north-
west of Asia Minor
Adrasteia – ancient city in the Troad
Aeacus (also spelled Eacus) – Greek mythological figure, regarded as progeni-
tor of the Aeacidae who had settled on Aegina; Achilles and Ajax are
counted among the Aeacidae
Aegean prehistory – branch of archaeology that deals with the Bronze Age
cultures around the Aegean Sea
Aeneas – Greco-Roman mythological figure and second most famous Trojan
hero after Hector
Aeschines of Cnidus – astronomer and father of Eudoxos, a physician who
studied with the followers of Socrates
Aeschylus – Greek tragedian (around 525–456 BCE)
Agamemnon – legendary king of Mycenae, leader of the Greeks in the Trojan
War
Ahhiya, Ahhiyawa – Hittite name for Mycenaean Greece
252 • T H E L U W I A N C I V I L I Z A T I O N GLOSSARY • 253
Ajax or Aias – son of King Telamon, mythological Greek hero Anaximenes – a Pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus who was active in the
latter half of the 6th cent. BCE
Akkadian cuneiform – script system from the Middle East that was adopted
by the Hittites Ancient history – the entire historical time span from 2000 BCE to 600 CE
Akrotiri – excavation site and Minoan settlement on the volcanic island of Ancient Near East – Egypt and the Near East (synonymous for Middle East)
Thera (Santorini) until the time of the Persian conquest (539/525 BCE)
Alaca Höyük – Neolithic and Hittite settlement in Alaca, central Turkey Ancient Oriental Studies – branch of historical research that covers the cul-
tures of the Ancient Near East from the first emergence of cuneiform
Alaksandu – King of the Luwian state of Wiluša (possibly Troy) during the
texts (4th mill. BCE) to their disappearance (around the birth of Christ)
13th cent. BCE
Ancient times – historical term that covers the civilizations of the Mediterra-
Alasiya, Alashiya – ancient name of Cyprus
nean and the Near East from the end of prehistory (mid-4th mill. BCE)
Alcaeus of Mytilene – Greek lyric poet (7th cent. BCE) from the island of Lesbos to the Middle Ages (from the 6th cent. CE)
Alcman – an Ancient Greek choral lyric poet, assumed to have been born in Antandos – ancient city in the Gulf of Edremit on the south coast of the Troad
Sardis
Antenor – aged Trojan hero; according to various sources traitor to the city of
Alexander the Great – Alexander III of Macedon (lived 356–323 BCE), king of Troy
the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon
Antioch on the Orontes – ancient Syrian city (today city of Antakya, Turkey)
Alexandria Troas – ancient port city, located in the Troad about 30 km south
of Hisarlık Antiquity – Greek and Roman history (also called classical antiquity)
Alişar – ancient Anatolian city in the modern Yozgat Province of Turkey Apaša – capital of the Luwian kingdom Arzawa, most likely predecessor of
Ephesus
Alyattes – name of Lydian kings during the 7th and 6th cent. BCE
Aphrodisias – ancient city in Caria, a region in the southwest of present-day
Amarna – ruins on the right bank of the Nile (more correctly Tell el-Amarna), Turkey
capital and seat of government under Akhenaten (Egyptian name:
Achet-Aton) Apodoulou – Minoan settlement in central Crete
Amarna archives, Amarna letters, Amarna correspondence – large body of Apollo – Olympian deity in Greek and Roman mythology
correspondence written in Akkadian cuneiform from the palace of the Apollodorus of Athens – a Greek scholar, historian and grammarian during
Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten (Achet-Aton) the 2nd cent. BCE
Amenhotep III, Amenophis III – Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty; Arawanna – Late Bronze Age kingdom on the southwest coast of the Black Sea
reigned approx. 1388–1351 BCE
Argivians – people living in the Argolis in the northeast of the Peloponnese
Ammurapi – name of the last ruler of Ugarit (around 1200 BCE) where the Bronze Age citadels of Mycenae, Tiryns, Argos, Mideia and
Amurru – kingdom in western Syria and northern Lebanon during the 14th– Nafplio are located
12th cent. BCE Argolid – Greek region in the northeast of the Peloponnese, heartland of the
Anatolia, also called Asia Minor – the territory of present-day Turkey with the Mycenaean civilization
exception of Thrace Argonauts – group of heroes in Greek mythology who went on an adventur-
Anaxagoras – a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (510–428 BCE), born in Kla- ous sea voyage in search of the Golden Fleece
zomenai in Asia Minor Arisbe/Arisba – ancient city in the Troad, mentioned by Homer
Anaximander – a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (610–546 BCE) who lived in Aristotle – Greek philosopher (384–322 BCE), pupil of Plato
Miletus
Arzawa – kingdom in the west of Asia Minor during the 2nd mill. BCE, alter- B
nating enemy or vassal of the Hittites
Babylon – region on the lower reaches of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris;
Arzawa provinces – the kingdoms of Šeha, Mira and Hapalla in addition to major power in the Near East during the 2nd mill. BCE
Arzawa itself
Bacchylides – Greek lyric poet in the 5th cent. BCE
Asarlik – Late Bronze Age site in the Troad, located south of the Karamen- Ballı Dağ – hill south of the plain of Troy; in the 19th cent. assumed to be site
deres floodplain of ancient Troy
Asartepe – Late Bronze Age citadel near Lake Gyges in western Turkey Barker Webb, Philip – English botanist and geologist (1793–1854), visited
Hisarlık in 1819
Ashdod – ancient port city on the coast of historic Palestine (present-day
Israel) Bass, George – U.S. archaeologist and one of the early practitioners of under-
water archaeology
Ashkelon – ancient port city on the coast of historic Palestine (present-day
Israel) Baumgartner, Emmanuèle – French philologist (1940–2005), specialist in medi-
eval literature
Asia – term for the northwestern part of Asia Minor (possibly derived from
Aššuwa) Bay – Egyptian chancellor at the time of Siptah and Twosret (1193–1187 BCE)
Becker, Helmut – German geophysicist and geoarchaeologist, specialist for
Asia Minor – area of present-day Turkey without the European part (also
magnetometry
called Anatolia)
Benoît de Sainte-Maure – 12th cent. French-speaking author from Sainte-
Aslan, Rüstem – ethnologist and prehistorian, professor at Çanakkale Onsekiz Maure in the county of Touraine, France, well-known for his Roman de
Mart Üniversitesi, director of the Troy project Troie, a novel about the Trojan War
Assaracus – a son of Tros, the legendary founder of Troy Beşik Bay – natural bay, approx. 10 km southwest of Hisarlık
Aššur – a historical city on the upper Tigris in northern Iraq Beşik plain – embayment and beach near Troy, formed during the Bronze Age
through accumulation of sediment
Aššuwa/Aššuua league – short-lived confederation of petty states located in
the northwest of Anatolia during the time of the Hittite emperor Tud- Best, Jan G. P. – Dutch prehistorian
haliya I (15th cent. BCE) Beycesultan – large (> 1 km in diameter) archaeological site near Çivril in
Assyria – kingdom on the Tigris River in northern Mesopotamia, powerful western Turkey, inhabited from the 4th mill. until 1700 BCE; excavated
by James Mellaart between 1954 and 1959
during the 2nd mill. BCE, capital Aššur or Ashur
Beyköy – tell settlement north of the Turkish city of Afyon
Athribis – ancient Egyptian city, located in the Nile Delta
Biga peninsula – region in northwestern Asia Minor making up the ancient Troad
Aurichalcite – rare mineral that consists mostly of copper and zinc, natural
alloy of brass Bintliff, John – English landscape archaeologist, professor at the University of
Leiden
Axios – river near present-day Thessaloniki in Greek Macedonia
Bithynia – Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor
Azzi – a Late Bronze Age confederation of kingdoms of the Armenian high-
Bittel, Kurt – German prehistorian (1907–1991), former excavator of Hattuša
lands
and president of the German Archaeological Institute
Blegen, Carl – U.S. classical archaeologist (1887–1971), excavator of Troy and
Pylos
Bronze Age – cultural era of the Old World whose begin and end differ from Çatalhöyük – large settlement dating to the Neolithic, situated on the Ana-
one region to the next, in the Eastern Mediterranean it lasted from 3000 tolian plateau in present-day Turkey; since 2012 part of the UNESCO
to 1200 BCE world heritage
Burckhardt, Jean Louis – Swiss traveler, geographer and orientalist (1784–1817) Catalogue of ships – part of Homer’s Iliad providing a list of Greek troops
with ships, leaders and places of origin
Büyük Menderes River – river in western Asia Minor, called Maeander in
ancient times Chania – Minoan port city in the north of Crete
Byzantine period – the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during Chronicle of Fredegar – world chronicle from the 7th cent. CE, written in Latin
late antiquity and the Middle Ages
Ciconia – province west of Thrace, mentioned by Homer as an ally of the Trojans
Byzantium – predecessor city of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul)
Cilicia – the south coastal region of Asia Minor in antiquity
Civilization – a society in which cities, a centralized government system, and
C trade relations had existed and which had also possessed the knowl-
Caldera – a special sort of volcanic crater that forms when an emptied magma edge of writing
chamber collapsed Clarke, Edward Daniel – English mineralogist (1769–1822), geology professor
Callinus – an ancient Greek poet who lived in the city of Ephesus in Asia at the University of Cambridge
Minor in the mid-7th cent. BCE Classical archaeology – archeological sub-discipline that deals with the an-
Calvert, Frank – English amateur archaeologist (1828–1908) who drew Heinrich cient cultures of the Mediterranean, especially the Greek and Roman
Schliemann’s attention to the location of ancient Troy on hill Hisarlık Claudius Aelianus – Roman author and teacher of rhetoric (175–235), provides
Canaan – historical term (common from 1500 to 1200 BCE) for the region numerous quotations from the works of earlier authors, which are
along the Syrian-Palestinian coast otherwise lost
Çanakkale – provincial capital in Turkey, located on the southern shore of the Codex Venetus A – most famous passed-down manuscript of Homer’s Iliad,
Dardanelles from the 10th cent. CE
Çandarlı – town located on a spit of land at the Aegean coast in Turkey’s Izmir Colophon – an ancient city in Ionia, said to have been destroyed in the Trojan
Province War
Cape St. Mary – the southwest corner of the Biga peninsula, the mainland Colossi of Memnon – two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III,
cape that is facing Lesbos west of the modern city of Luxor
Cape Uluburun (Grand Cape) – spit of land in the Antalya Province in south- Constantine the Great – Roman emperor (reigned 306–337)
ern Turkey; in 1982, the wreck of a merchant ship dating from around Constantinople – predecessor city of Istanbul (also please see Byzantium)
1300 BCE was discovered off the coast of Uluburun
Cook, John Manuel – a British classical archaeologist (1910–1994)
Carchemish or Karkemish – ancient Near Eastern city on the Euphrates River
at the border between Syria and Turkey Corinth – Greek city on the Isthmus of Corinth, connects the Peloponnese
with mainland Greece
Caria – ancient landscape in the southwest of Asia Minor
Cretan hieroglyphs – still undeciphered Cretan script, in use ca. 20th–15th
Carians – people who resided in southwestern Asia Minor; according to cent. BCE
Homer allies of the Trojans
Critias – unfinished work by the Greek philosopher Plato
Carthage – ancient city on present-day’s Tunisian coast, founded by Phoeni-
cian settlers in the 9th cent. BCE Croesus – the last king of Lydia, famous for his wealth and generosity
(reigned ca. 555–541 BCE)
Cuneiform Luwian – writing system used by the Hittites to write texts in Lu- Dictys of Crete (Dictys Cretensis) – author of a report on the fall of Troy; Latin
wian; it differs only marginally from the usual Hittite cuneiform script version since the 4th cent. CE
Cuneiform script – one of the earliest systems of writing, consisting of wedge- Didyma – ancient sanctuary with a famous Apollo temple, located in the west
shaped marks on clay tablets, emerged in Sumer in the late 4th mill. BCE of present-day Turkey
Cybele – goddess who had originally been worshiped in Phrygia (Asia Mi- Dio Chrysostom – Greek orator, writer and philosopher (1st cent. CE) from
nor), later in Greece, Thrace and Rome as well Prusa (present-day Bursa)
Cyclades – Greek island group in the Aegean Sea Diodorus Siculus – Greek historian (1st cent. BCE) from Sicily
Cycladic culture – Early Bronze Age culture of the Cyclades in the Aegean Dionysius of Halicarnassus – Greek scholar and historian (1st cent. BCE)
Sea, ca. 3200–2000 BCE Dodecanese – group of Greek islands in the eastern Aegean
Cyclopean masonry – Late Bronze Age architectural style used for fortification Dörpfeld, Wilhelm – German architect and archaeologist (1853–1940); directed
walls excavations in Troy after the death of Heinrich Schliemann
Cyme – ancient city located on the coastline of Asia Minor, said to have been Dümrek – river (ancient name Simoeis) that runs through the Troad and flows
destroyed in the Trojan War into the Karamenderes near Hisarlık
Cypriot syllabary – a syllabic script used on Cyprus ca. 11th–4th cent. BCE
Cypro-Minoan – an undeciphered syllabic script used on Cyprus ca. 1550– E
1050 BCE
Early Iron Age – the period after the Bronze Age, i. e. the first few centuries
Cyzicus – Greek city on the southern coast of the Marmara Sea; today called after 1200 BCE
Balız, located near Erdek
Edremit – city on the Turkish Mediterranean coast (at the Gulf of Edremit) in
the western province of Balıkesir
D Egyptology – academic discipline that explores all aspects of the ancient
Dallam, Thomas – an English organ builder (1575–1620), kept a diary of his Egyptian civilization until the end of Roman rule in the 4th cent. CE
travels through Turkey Ekron – ancient Philistine city state in historic Palestine (present-day Israel)
Danaya – ancient Egyptian name for Mycenaean Greece Elam – ancient civilization in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran
Dardanelles – strait between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara (ancient Eleanor of Aquitaine – wealthy and powerful woman during the High Middle
name: Hellespont) Ages (ca. 1122–1204)
Dares of Phrygia (Dares Phrygius) – author of a report on the fall of Troy, dat- Epano Englianos – archaeological site of the Palace of Nestor at Pylos on the
ing back to at least the 2nd cent. CE southern part of the Peloponnesian west coast
Dascylium – Phrygian kingdom of Dascylium in northwestern Asia Minor Ephesus – important Greek city on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, near
during the 8th cent. BCE present-day Selçuk, about 70 km south of Izmir
Deir el-Medina – Egyptian artisan village near the Valley of the Kings in west- Epic Cycle – collection of ancient Greek hexameter verses that tell the story of
ern Thebes the Trojan War and have been passed down orally for a long time
Democritus – an influential ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosopher (ca. Epicharmus of Kos – Greek comic playwright (550–460 BCE)
460–370 BCE) from Abdera in Thrace
Ergani Maden – rich copper mines in the Diyarbakır Province of southeastern
Denyen – one of the tribes making up the Sea Peoples Turkey
Erichthonius – father of Tros, the legendary founder of Troy Gaza – ancient port city on the Mediterranean coast of historic Palestine (to-
day located in the Gaza Strip)
Etruria – ancient landscape and heartland of the Etruscans in central Italy
Gedevre Tepesi – small Late Bronze Age citadel near Lake Gyges
Etruscans – ancient people that had settled during the 9th cent. BCE in Etruria
in central Italy Gediz – river in western Turkey that drains into the Gulf of Izmir about 30 km
northwest of Izmir, it formed an about 20-km wide river delta
Euboea – second-largest Greek island, separated from the mainland by the
narrow Gulf of Euboea Geoarchaeology – research discipline dedicated to the reconstruction of
ancient environments and the correlations between landscape develop-
Euphrates – the western of the two rivers that define Mesopotamia, flows
ment and human habitation
south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq and
empties into the Persian Gulf German Archaeological Institute – Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI),
archaeological research institution of the German Federal Foreign Of-
Euripides – Greek tragedian (485–406 BCE)
fice
Eusebius of Caesarea – Christian theologian and historian of late antiquity,
German new humanism or Neuhumanismus – movement within the humani-
probably from Palestine (ca. 260–340)
ties that emerged in Germany in 1750; it revived the ideas of classical
Evans, Arthur – British archaeologist (1851–1941), considered to be the dis- antiquity
coverer of the Minoan civilization, excavator of the Minoan palace of
German Research Foundation – Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG),
Knossos on Crete
federal German research funding organization
Gökçeada – island in the Aegean Sea, west of the Gallipoli peninsula; formerly
F called Imbros
Forchhammer, Peter Wilhelm – German philologist and archaeologist (1801– Gordias – name of at least two members of the royal rulers of Phrygia
1894) at the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, produced a map of
the plain of Troy Gordium – the capital city of ancient Phrygia, modern Yassıhüyük, about
70–80 km southwest of Ankara
Forrer, Emil – Swiss assyriologist and hittitologist (1894–1986), devoted him-
self to the decipherment of Hittite and Luwian writings Gournia – ancient Minoan port city on the north coast of eastern Crete
Fredegar – a term used for the so-called chronicle of Fredegar dating to the 7th Great Hittite Kingdom – term for the Hittite Kingdom at the time of its great-
cent. CE est expansion (ca. 1350–1200 BCE)
Greek Dark Ages – period ca. 12th–8th cent. BCE in ancient Greece, when the
knowledge of writing had been lost
G
Grosseto – province in Tuscany, Italy
Gallipoli – peninsula that is located in the European part of present-day Tur-
key, borders on the Dardanelles in the south and on the Gulf of Saros Guido de Columnis, Guido delle Colonne – judge and writer (ca. 1220–1290)
in the north from the Sicilian province capital of Messina
Ganymedes – according to Diodorus Siculus, a son of Tros, the legendary Gül-Dağ – mountain ridge on the western shore of Lake Gyges, crowned by
founder of Troy the fortress of Kaymakçı
Gargarum – a city on the foot of Mt. Ida, according to Dictys of Crete de- Gulf of Edremit – embayment south of Mt. Ida, forming the southern border
stroyed by the Greek hero Ajax of the Troad
Gath – ancient city in historical Palestine (present-day Israel) Gyges – name of a Lydian king (reigned 716–678 BCE)
Gyges – today Lake Marmara, a lake in Manisa Province, western Turkey, in Hephaestus – Greek god of fire and metal arts
the alluvial valley of Gediz River
Heracles – hero of Greek mythology
Heraclides – descendants of Heracles in Greek mythology
H
Heraclitus – Heraclitus of Ephesus, a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (ca.
Hagia Sophia – Byzantine church that was built in late antiquity, today a 535–475 BCE) from Ionia
landmark of Istanbul
Hermos – ancient name of the Gediz River
Haley, Joseph Boyd – U.S. linguist, found out that hundreds of place names
Herodotus – Greek historian (484–430 BCE)
in Greece originated from a pre-Greek linguistic family during the 3rd
mill. BCE Heroic age – the Greek heroic age, according to Hesiod, one of the five ages
of man in mythology; the period between the coming of the Greeks to
Halicarnassus – ancient Greek city, predecessor of modern Bodrum in Turkey
Thessaly and the Greek return from Troy
Halizon – an Anatolian tribe from the south coast of the Black Sea; according
Hesiod – Greek poet (8th–7th cent. BCE)
to Homer allies of the Trojans
Hierapolis – according to Dictys Cretensis, the name of a city that was at-
Halys – please see Kızılırmak
tacked by Achilles during the Trojan War
Hama – Syrian city on the Orontes River that has been settled since the 5th Hieroglyphic Luwian – Indo-European language common in Asia Minor ca.
mill. BCE 20th–6th cent. BCE that used pictorial script signs
Hanay Tepe – Bronze Age settlement in the southeastern part of Troas, a few Hieronymus – please see Saint Jerome
kilometers south of Hisarlık
Hippo – a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher (5th cent. BCE)
Hapalla – Hittite name for a state located west of Central Anatolia
Hippodamus – ancient Greek architect (498–408 BCE) from Miletus, consid-
Hatshepsut – Egyptian queen (ruled 1479–1457 BCE) ered to be the father of urban planning
Hatti – name of the Hittite empire Hipponax – ancient Greek poet (6th cent. BCE) from Ephesus and later Kla-
Hattians – people in Central Anatolia before the arrival of the Hittite tribes zomenai
(also called Proto-Hattians) Hisarlık – name of a tell on the eastern edge of the Karamenderes floodplain;
Hattili – language of the Hattians, the indigenous population of Central Ana- since 1870 excavation site of the fortress of Ilion, royal residence of the
tolia kings of Troy
Hattuša – capital of the Hittite Empire; near the present-day village of Hittite – also known as Nesite, extinct Indo-European language once spoken
Boğazkale, 150 km east of Ankara by the Hittites, recorded in documents from the 16th cent. to the begin-
ning of the 12th cent. BCE
Hattušili III – Hittite king (reigned ca. 1266–1236 BCE)
Hittite hieroglyphs – early, misleading term for hieroglyphic Luwian
Hau-nebut – Egyptian term for “inhabitants of the Aegean”
Hittites – Hittite culture; ancient Anatolian people who established an empire
Hector – figure of Greek mythology; eldest son of Priam and commander-in- centered in northern Central Anatolia that lasted from about 1600 to
chief of the Trojan army 1200 BCE
Hellespont – ancient name of the Dardanelles Hittitologist – a specialist in the study of the ancient Hittites
Henry II Plantagenet – King of England (ruled 1154–1189), married to Eleanor Homecomings – lost part of the Epic Cycle which told the entire history of the
of Aquitaine Trojan War in verse
Homer – first poet of the West, author of the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey J
(probably 8th cent. BCE); his actual existence is disputed
Jablonka, Peter – an Austrian prehistorian, participated for many years in
Hrozný, Bedřich – Austrian-Czech linguist and orientalist (1879–1952), deci- excavations and fieldwork at Troy
pherer of the Hittite script
Jason – Greek mythological hero, leader of the Argonauts
I Joseph of Exeter (Latin Josephus Iscanus) – cleric and Latin poet of the 12th
cent. from Exeter in Devon county, England
Iasos – ancient Greek city in Caria
Ibycus – Greek poet (6th cent. BCE)
K
Ida – please see Mount Ida
Kadesh, Qadesh on the Orontes – major Syrian city of the 2nd mill. BCE; site of
Idomeneus – in Greek mythology a king of Crete and participant in the Trojan an important battle between Hatti and Egypt in 1275 BCE
War
Kadıkalesi – settlement mound on the Aegean coast of Turkey
Iliad – epic tale by Homer that covers a time near the end of the Trojan War
Kaniš – please see Kültepe
Ilion, Ilios – name of the royal fortress of Troy as used by Homer
Karamenderes – please see Scamander
Ilus – son of Tros, said to have founded Troy in a plain, naming it after him-
Karkiša – Late Bronze Age petty state in western Anatolia, later presumably
self Ilium
Caria
Indo-European language – a family of several hundred related languages and
Karnak – temple and main house of the God Amun-Ra in ancient Thebes, near
dialects, predominant in ancient Anatolia and Mycenaean Greek
present-day Luxor
Iolcos – unexcavated Mycenaean citadel located beneath the modern town of
Kaška – ancient Near Eastern people who had settled in northwestern Anato-
Volos in Thessaly
lia, perpetually hostile towards Hatti
Ionia – term for the central west coast of Asia Minor that had been settled by
KASKAL.KUR – group of cuneiform characters in Akkadian and Hittite that
Greeks during Early Iron Age
has been interpreted to designate underground waterways
Iron Age – cultural epoch of the Old World; here the time after 1200 BCE
Kayan, Ilhan – Turkish geoarchaeologist, retired professor at Ege University
Ishtar – goddess of the Sumerian and Akkadian pantheon, the divine personi- in Izmir
fication of the planet Venus
Kaymakçı – Late Bronze Age citadel, located west of Lake Marmara Gölü in
Isidore of Seville – Roman Catholic bishop and historian of late antiquity, who the present-day Turkish province of Izmir
gathered and compiled the knowledge of antiquity that had still been
available (560–636) Keftiu – ancient Egyptian geographic term, possibly the name for Crete
Istidina – petty kingdom on the south coast of the Black Sea, contemporary Kesik – artificial incision into the coastal mountains 5 km west of Hisarlık, ca.
with the Hittite empire 500 m long and 30 m deep (in Turkish “kesik” means cut)
Išuwa – ancient kingdom, located on the upper Euphrates in Anatolia Kesik Tepe – mound near Kesik
Ithaca – island in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece; home of Kızbazı Tepesi – small Late Bronze Age fortress near Lake Gyges
Odysseus according to Homer Kızılırmak – Turkey’s longest river; runs through eastern Central Anatolia in a
great arc (ancient name: Halys)
Kizzuwatna – Hittite name for the Cilician plains
Klazomenai – ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia Latacz, Joachim – German classical scholar and expert on Homer, important
supporter of Troy excavator Manfred Korfmann
Knossos – Minoan city and largest Minoan palace on Crete
LeChevalier, Jean Baptiste – a French scholar, astronomer and archaeologist
Kober, Alice – U.S. classicist who contributed to the decipherment of Linear B
(1752–1836), suggested that Troy was located near Pınarbaşı, at the
Kom al-Samak – altar at the ancient Egyptian palace complex of Malqata on southern end of the Scamander floodplain
the west bank of the Nile at Thebes Leleges – ethnic group of people in ancient Anatolia, according to Herodot
Kom el-Hettan – modern term for the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III on and Strabo an early name for the Carians
the west bank of the Nile, opposite Luxor Lemnos – an island of Greece in the northern part of the Aegean Sea, known
Korfmann, Manfred – German archaeologist (1942–2005) specialized in pre- for the Early Bronze Age settlement of Poliochne
history; professor at the University of Tübingen, excavation director at Lesbos – Greek island in the Aegean Sea opposite the coast of Asia Minor
Troy from 1988 until his death
Levant – coasts and hinterland of the states located on the Eastern Mediter-
Kretschmer, Paul – a German linguist (1866–1956), concluded in 1896 that ranean coast
people speaking an Anatolian language had settled in Greece before
Greek-speaking people arrived there Libya – in Late Bronze Age the land west of Egypt that had been settled by
Libyan people
Kültepe – important Bronze Age settlement and trading city in Central Anato-
Linear A – script system that had been used on Crete ca. 17th–15th cent. BCE in
lia (also called Kaniš or Neša)
parallel to the Cretan hieroglyphic script, from which it was probably
Kythira, Cythera – Greek island opposite the southeastern tip of the Pelopon- derived
nese
Linear B – Mycenaean syllabic script that was in use from ca. 15th to 12th cent.
BCE, first in Crete, later on the Greek mainland as well
L Lion Gate, Hattuša – southwest entrance in the 6.8 km long enclosure wall of
Hattuša
Labyrinth – an elaborate maze, most likely designed to keep evil spirits away
Lion Gate, Mycenae – the main entrance of the Bronze Age citadel of Myce-
Lachish – ancient city in historic Palestine, around 40 km southwest of Jerusa-
nae, southern Greece, dating to the middle of the 13th cent. BCE
lem
Livius Andronicus – earliest known Latin poet (around 280–207 BCE)
Lake Copais – artificially drained lake at present-day Gla, an important Myce-
naean settlement in Boeotia, Greece Lower Land – Hittite term for the region to the southwest of the Hittite core
realm
Lalanda – an area within the Lower Land, to the southwest of the Hittite core
realm Luke, Christina – U.S. archaeologist at Boston University, conducts fieldwork
around Lake Gyges
Laodicea – ancient city on the Lycus River in Phrygia, in the southwest of
present-day Turkey Lukka – Egyptian name of a people viewed as hostile by the Egyptians; they
had settled in the southwest of Anatolia (presumably Lycia)
Laomedon – legendary king of Troy, father of Priam
Luwia – proposed term for western Asia Minor during the Middle and Late
Larissa, Larisa – name of an ancient city, mentioned by Homer, most likely Bronze Age
located on the coast of the Biga peninsula southwest of Troy (also the
name of a settlement at the mouth of the Hermus River) Luwian civilization – people who lived in western Asia Minor during the 2nd
mill. BCE and possessed the knowledge of writing
Lasithi – region in the east of Crete
Luwian cuneiform – please see Cuneiform Luwian
Luwian hieroglyphic – please see Hieroglyphic Luwian Mastic – a resin obtained from the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus), was used as a
preservative in wine since the 6th mill. BCE
Luwians – Indo-European people who lived in western Anatolia at least since
2000 BCE Meander – name in classical times for the Büyük Menderes River
Luwili, Luwian – term for the Luwian language Mecca – a city in the Hejaz in Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Muhammad and the
site of Muhammad’s first revelation of the Quran
Luwiya – early Hittite name for the area inhabited by Luwian-speaking people
Medieval, medieval period – the Middle Ages in European history, 5th–15th
Luxor Temple – ancient Egyptian temple, located in present-day Luxor on the cent. CE
east bank of the Nile River
Medinet Habu – mortuary temple of Ramesses III in western Thebes, built
Lycia – ancient Greek name of an area in the southwest of Asia Minor (in Hit- around 1170 BCE
tite probably Lukka)
Mehmet III – Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (ruled 1595–1603)
Lycophron – Greek grammarian and poet from the city of Chalcis on the
island of Euboea (ca. 320–280 BCE) Melissus – Melissus of Samos, Greek philosopher (5th cent. BCE) from the
island of Samos
Lydgate, John – English monk and poet (1370–1451), composed an amplified
translation of the Trojan history of Guido de Columnis, the first book Mellaart, James – British prehistorian (1925–2012), discovered various Neolith-
to be printed in the English language ic tells in Turkey, in charge of the first excavations in Çatalhöyük and
Beycesultan
Lydia – an Iron Age kingdom in western Asia Minor
Mellink, Machteld – U.S. prehistorian (1917–2006), expert on ancient Anatolia
Merneptah – Egyptian pharaoh (ca. 1213–1203 BCE)
M
Meshwesh – an ancient Libyan tribe mentioned in Egyptian sources
Macedonia – historical area, located on the southern Balkan peninsula, pres-
ently part of the territory of Greece and the Republic of Macedonia Mesopotamia – name of the Tigris-Euphrates river system; Bronze Age Meso-
potamia included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian
Maclaren, Charles – influential Scottish publisher and lay geologist (1782– empires
1866), published two books proposing that Troy is located on Hisarlık
Messara, Mesara – coastal plain in southern Crete
Maeonia – according to Homer, the inhabitants of Lydia; allies of the Trojans
Messenia – region in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese
Magliano Disc – circular lead disc, 8 cm in diameter, engraved with Etruscan
script in a spiral pattern, discovered in Magliano, present-day Tuscany Metrodorus – a Pre-Socratic philosopher (5th cent. BCE) from the Greek town
of Lampsacus on the eastern shore of the Hellespont
Maidos – tell settlement in present-day Eceabat, located on the north shore of
the Dardanelles Midas – emperor of Phrygia in the 8th cent. BCE
Malalas, John – a Greek chronicler from Antioch (ca. 491–578) Midas city – Phrygian Yazılıkaya, a Phrygian archaeological site 27 km south
of Seyitgazi in western Turkey, containing the Midas Monument
Malia – Minoan palace, situated on the northern coast of Crete
Midas Monument – a rock-cut facade showing a temple front with incised
Manutius, Aldus – leading publisher and printer of the Venetian High Renais-
decorations, located in Midas city, contains a dedication in Old Phry-
sance (1449–1515)
gian to Midas (ΜΙΔΑΙ FΑΝΑΚΤΕΙ), dating to the 7th or 6th cent. BCE
Marmara Sea – inland sea of the Mediterranean (ancient name: Propontis),
Midas Mound – a tumulus, 53 m in height, about 300 m in diameter, on the
connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the Bosphorus and the
site of ancient Gordion (modern Yassihöyük, Turkey)
Dardanelles
Middle Ages – historical period from the end of antiquity to the beginning of
Maša – Late Bronze Age petty state in western Asia Minor (in antiquity prob-
modern times in European history (ca. 5th–15th cent.)
ably Mysia)
Middle Bronze Age – in the Eastern Mediterranean the time between 2000 and Mycenae – important Bronze Age site on mainland Greece
1550 BCE
Mycenaean culture – term for the Late Bronze Age culture (ca. 1600–1100
Middle East – southwest Asian subcontinent that includes Asia Minor, the BCE) on the southern Greek mainland
Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, the Arabian and the Sinai
Mysians – according to Homer, allies of the Trojans from western Asia Minor
Peninsula, and the Armenian and Iranian highlands
Middle Helladic – the Middle Bronze Age period on the Greek mainland
(2000–1550 BCE) N
Miletus – ancient Greek city on the west coast of Asia Minor Naevius – Roman poet (270–201 BCE)
Millawanda – Hittite name for a city on the Anatolian coast of the Aegean, Nagy, Gregory – professor of Classics at Harvard University, specialized in
most probably Miletus Homer and archaic Greek poetry
Milojčić, Vladimir – Yugoslav-German archaeologist (1918–1978), professor at Neo-Hittite – Luwian-, Aramaic- and Phoenician-speaking Iron Age petty
the University of Heidelberg states that arose in Syria following the collapse of the Hittite Empire
Milos, Melos – Greek island in the Aegean Sea Neša – please see Kültepe
Minoan culture – Bronze Age culture on Crete Nešili, Nešite, Neshite – one of a number of terms for the Hittite language
Nestor – according to Homer, the king of Pylos, fought on the Greek side in
Minos – Cretan king during Minoan times
the Trojan War
Mira – Hittite name of a state west of Central Anatolia
New Palace Period – time period of the Minoan civilization (ca. 1700–1430
Misraim – the Hebrew and Aramaic name for the land of Egypt BCE), during which a highly sophisticated architecture had developed
Mita – powerful potentate of the Muški in central Asia Minor at the end of the Nişantaş inscription – 8.5-m wide and longest known Luwian hieroglyphic
8th cent. BCE, possibly identical with king Midas inscription so far, found in Hattuša (Nişantaş = marked rock)
Mitanni – late Bronze Age petty state in the north of present-day Syria Non-Homeric Troy reports – all written accounts of the Trojan War, except for
the Iliad by Homer
Monastiraki – archaeological site from Minoan times on Crete, abandoned
after 1700 BCE Nostoi (Returns of the Greeks) – part of the Epic Cycle that covers the home-
coming of major Greek heroes like Agamemnon and Menelaus after
Mount Ida – mountain range, located in the Troad in northwestern Turkey the Trojan War
(Turkish Kaz Dağı); also the name of the highest summit on Crete
Nubia – area in the south of Egypt, whose inhabitants had been of dark skin
Mount Lebanon – once densely forested mountain range in Lebanon color
Muntaner, Ramon – governor of Gallipoli from 1305 to 1309 nuwa’um – term used by the Assyrian merchants of Asia Minor to describe
Muršili II – Hittite emperor (reigned ca. 1318–1290 BCE) the Luwian-speaking people
Müsgebi – Mycenaean settlement and burial ground on the Aegean coast of

western Asia Minor O
Muški – a group of people that existed for several centuries on the territory of Odysseus – Greek mythological hero, king of Ithaca at the time of the Trojan
the collapsed Hittite Empire and may have played a role in the demise War
of the Hittites
Odyssey – epic tale by Homer, telling the adventures of Odysseus on his return
Muwattalli II – Hittite emperor (reigned ca. 1290–1272 BCE) from the Trojan War
Oenopides – an ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer, who lived Paphlagonia – region north of the Hittite core territory, inhabited by the
around 450 BCE on the island of Chios Kaška; listed by Homer among the allies of the Trojans
Old Hittite Kingdom – Hittite rule over central Asia Minor, ca. 1650–1430 BCE Papyrus Harris I, also called Great Harris Papyrus – one of the oldest and best
preserved hieroglyphic papyri (40 m in length) reports, among other
Old Palace Period – epoch of the Minoan culture during which the first pal-
things, doings and achievements of Ramesses III (today exhibited in
aces had been established (around 1900–1700 BCE)
the British Museum in London)
Olympia – sanctuary of Zeus in the northwest of the Peloponnese, Olympic
Paris – Greek mythological figure; son of the Trojan king Priam
venue of antiquity
Olympic Games – religious and athletic festivals held every four years (start- Pausanias – Greek writer of the 2nd cent. from Asia Minor, wrote a detailed
ing in 776 BCE) at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, Greece travel report on Greece
Onuphis – place in ancient Egypt, located in the Nile Delta Pedasa – ancient Greek town located a few kilometers inland from Halicarnas-
sus
Orichalkos – Modern Greek word for brass
Pedasos – a town south of Troy that was attacked by Greek forces during the
Orontes – river in Lebanon and Syria
Trojan War
Orthostats – in archaeology: squared upright-standing stone blocks
Pefkakia Magoula – archaeological site at the port city of Volos in the Thessaly
Otranto – port city in the region of Calabria, Italy region in mainland Greece
Ottoman Empire – empire of the dynasty of the Ottomans from about 1299 to
Pelasgians – term for prehistoric non-Greek-speaking groups in Greece, which
1923; in Europe also called Turkish Empire
may have come from the Troad
Ovid – Roman poet (ca. 43 BCE – 17 CE)
Peleset – one of the Sea Peoples’ tribes
Oxhide ingots – Late Bronze Age metal slabs of copper or tin resembling the
hide of an ox Peloponnese – peninsula in the south of mainland Greece, heartland of the
Mycenaeans
Penelope – wife of Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey
P
Pactolus River – today Sart Çayı, stream through Sardes, said to have been Percote – town on the southern shore of the Dardanelles, ally of the Trojans
rich in gold in antiquity Pergamon – ancient Greek city in the west of Asia Minor near the Aegean
Paeonia – the land and kingdom of the Paeonians, roughly coinciding with the coast
present-day Republic of Macedonia; according to Homer, an ally of the Pergamos – name of the royal citadel of Troy as used by Heinrich Schliemann
Trojans
Perizonius, Jakob – original name Jakob Voorbroek, a Dutch classical scholar
Pala – a region in Bronze Age Anatolia where the Palaic language was spoken;
(1651–1715)
northwest of Hattuša
Pernicka, Ernst – an Austrian chemist, specialized in archaeometry
Palace of Nestor – major Mycenaean palace and administrative center on the
hill of Epano Englianos north of Pylos in the western Peloponnese Pernier, Luigi – an Italian archaeologist and academic (1874–1937), now best
Palaic – Indo-European language belonging to the Anatolian language group, known for his discovery of the Phaistos Disc
of which only fragments have been preserved Persian Empire – imperial dynasties centered in Persia (Iran) starting in 550
Palestine – area between Syria and Egypt in the Levant BCE
Palmer, Leonard Robert – English author and professor of comparative philol- Petra – a historical and archaeological city in southern Jordan, famous for its
ogy at the University of Oxford (1906–1984) rock-cut architecture
Petras – Minoan site in northeastern Crete Porsuk – river in western Asia Minor, drains into Sakarya River (the ancient
Sangarius) at Gordium
Phaistos – Minoan palace on Crete
Phaistos Disc – circular clay disc of about 15 cm in diameter with a spiral Port of Nestor – artificial port basin near the Palace of Nestor at Pylos; discov-
arrangement of characters, retrieved from the palace of Phaistos on ered during the 1990s and dating to the 13th cent. BCE
Crete Poseidon – in Greek mythology god of the sea and brother of Zeus
Philhellenism – intellectual movement influenced by German new humanism Prehistory – research branch of archaeology, deals with the history of human-
that evolved in the 1820s in Europe and enthusiastically embraced all kind from the emergence of the first stone tools to the advent of written
things Greek
documents
Philistines – Near Eastern people mentioned in the Bible that, most likely
Priam – Greek mythological figure, king of Troy during the time of the Trojan
coming from the Aegean, had settled in the coastal areas of Palestine in
War
the 12th cent. BCE
Philoxenus – Greek poet (435–380 BCE) Priam’s Treasure – extensive depot find from the 3rd mill. BCE, discovered
and wrongly attributed to king Priam by Heinrich Schliemann
Phocaea – an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia,
northwest of modern Izmir; said to have been attacked by Greek forces Proetus – a mythical king of Argos and Tiryns; according to Strabo, he
during the Trojan War ordered the construction of the Cyclopean walls through the aid of
engineers from Lycia
Phoenicians – ancient people who had lived mainly in Phoenicia in the area of
present-day Lebanon and Syria on the Mediterranean coast Prusa – ancient name of the present-day city of Bursa in northwestern Turkey
Phrygia – ancient name of a region in western central Asia Minor; named after Psammetichus, Psammetichos – the name of three Egyptian pharaohs of the
the Phrygians, who had immigrated from the Troad and Thrace in the 26th Saite Dynasty
12th cent. BCE
Ptolemaeus Chennus – Greek writer (1st cent. CE)
Pirinkar – winged deity in the procession of gods at Yazılıkaya, the Hittite
rock sanctuary near Hattuša Pulak, Cemal – professor of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University,
co-excavator of the shipwreck of Uluburun
Pitasa – petty state in western Asia Minor during Hittite times; located be-
tween Karkiša (Caria) in the west and the Hittite core realm in the east Pylos – Late Bronze Age Palace of Nestor in the southwest of the Peloponnese;
also name of a modern town in the vicinity
Piteya – ancient city near the eastern entrance to the Dardanelles, said to have
been destroyed by Greek forces during the Trojan War Pyrgos – town in the southwest of the Messara plain on Crete
Pittacus of Mytilene – an ancient military general (640–568 BCE) and one of Pythagoras of Samos – an Ionian Greek philosopher and mathematician (ca.
the seven sages of Greece 570–495 BCE)
Piyama-Radu – name of a man from Arzawa, mentioned in the so-called
Tawagalawa letter to the king of Ahhiyawa; led a war against western
Q
vassals of the Hittites in the middle of the 13th cent. BCE
Quintus Smyrnaeus – ancient Greek poet (probably 3rd cent. CE); author of
Plato – Greek philosopher (427–347)
Posthomerica, an epos in which he drew upon the archaic stories of the
Pliny – actually Gaius Plinius Secundus; better known as Pliny the elder Epic Cycle
(23–79); Roman writer, author of a natural history in 37 books
Plutarch – Greek writer (46–120)
R Scamander – river that originates in the Ida Mountains and crosses the Trojan
plain (also called Skamandros or Karamenderes); according to Homer,
Ramesses I – Egyptian pharaoh and founder of the 19th dynasty (reigned the gods originally called the river Xanthos
1292–1290 BCE)
Scepsis – an ancient settlement in the Troad, said to have been destroyed by
Ramesses II – Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th dynasty (reigned 1279–1213 BCE) Greek forces during the Trojan War
Ramesses III – Egyptian pharaoh of the 20th dynasty (reigned 1182–1151 BCE) Schliemann, Heinrich – German businessman and archaeologist, conducted
Retjenu – ancient Egyptian name for Canaan large-scale excavations at Hisarlık, where he discovered the ruins of
Ilion, the royal citadel of Troy
Rhodes – Greek island off the southwestern coast of Asia Minor
Scyros – name of a place in Asia Minor that was attacked by Greek forces dur-
Rhytion – city near Pyrgos, Crete, in the southwest of the Messara plain
ing the Trojan War; also name of an island in the Aegean
Roman Empire – territories that had been dominated by Rome between the 8th
Sea Peoples – confederation of tribes who attacked Egypt in the late 13th and
cent. BCE and the 7th cent. CE
early 12th cent. BCE
Romanou – Greek village on the southwest Peloponnese near the silted up
Port of Nestor Šeha (also Šeha River Land) – Hittite name for a state west of Central Anatolia
Roosevelt, Christopher H. – U.S. archaeologist, professor at Boston University Seneca – Roman poet and writer (4 BCE – 65 CE)
and specialist in the archaeology of western Anatolia Sesdos – ancient settlement on the north coast of the Dardanelles, said to have
been attacked by Greek forces during the Trojan War
S Seti I – Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th dynasty (reigned 1290–1279 BCE)
Sadyattes – Lydian king (624–619 BCE) Seti II – Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th dynasty
Saint Jerome – also known as Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, Roman Shasu – Egyptian name for semi-nomadic people who lived in Syria and
church father, saint, scholar and theologian (347–420) Palestine
Saïs – Greek name of an ancient Egyptian town in the western Nile Delta; site Sherden – one of the Sea Peoples’ tribes
of an important battle between Egypt and the Sea Peoples in 1208 BCE,
capital during the reign of the 26th dynasty Sidon – archaeological site and modern town in Lebanon
Sakarya – the ancient Sangarius; third longest river in Turkey, runs through Sigeion – port city during the 4th cent. BCE, located west of Illion
ancient Phrygia
Simoeis, Simois – please see Dümrek
Salian dance / Salic dance – traditional armed warrior dance and horse dance
Simonides – actually Simonides von Ceos; Greek lyric poet (556–467 BCE)
figure still practiced today
Siptah – Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th dynasty
Samothrace – Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea near the Dardanelles
Sanctuary of Trajan – temple at the highest point of the acropolis of Pergamon Skamma Andros – please see Scamander
Santorini – archipelago in the south of the Cyclades, centered around the Smyrna – ancient Greek city on the Aegean coast of Anatolia, known today as
main island of Thera Izmir
Sappho – Greek lyric poetess (late 7th cent. BCE) Socrates – Greek philosopher and Plato’s teacher (469–399 BCE)
Sardis – capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia in the west of Asia Minor Solon – Greek statesman und poet (ca. 640–560 BCE)
Şarhöyük-Dorylaion – ancient settlement in Asia Minor, near the modern city Sophocles – Greek tragedian (496–406 BCE)
of Eskişehir
Source convergence – the process of obtaining knowledge by combining Telemachus – Greek mythological figure, son of Odysseus
different sources, e. g. documents and the results of natural scientific
Tell – settlement mound created through repeated human settlement (Turkish:
investigations
höyük)
Source criticism – in history, the process of evaluating an information source
Tell Deir Alla – settlement mound in present-day Jordan
Sphinx – in the arts, mythological figure with the body of a lion and the head
of a man Tell el-Fara – settlement mount in the Nile Delta
Spratt, Thomas – English vice admiral and geologist (1811–1888) Tenedos – island off the coast of the Troad (today the Turkish island of Boz-
caada)
Stesichorus – Greek lyric poet (630–555 BCE)
Teucer, Teucrians – term commonly used for the people of Troy after 1200
Strabo, Strabon – antique Greek historian and geographer (ca. 63 BCE – 23 CE) BCE
Stratigraphy – the investigation of layer sequences in archaeology and geology Thalassocracy – state or group of states that bases its power on maritime trade
Suppiluliuma II – last Hittite emperor (reigned 1205–1192 BCE) and has a fleet at its disposal
Sycionians – people of an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Thales – a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer (ca.
Peloponnese 624–546 BCE) from Miletus in Asia Minor
Syria – area between Euphrates and Mediterranean Sea south of the moun- Thebes – ancient and modern city in central Greece
tains of Anatolia Thebes – Greek name for the former capital of Egypt during the New King-
dom; present-day Luxor
T Thebes – settlement most likely in the Gulf of Edremit, said to have been
destroyed in the Trojan War
Tafur, Pedro – Spanish traveler, historian and writer, visited Troy in the fall of
1437 Theoclymenus – Greek mythological figure
Tanaja – Egyptian name for Mycenaean Greece Thera (Santorini) – volcanic island in the Aegean Sea; an outbreak, probably in
Tantalos – according to John Malalas, the emperor of the land of the spring of 1628 BCE, destroyed and buried the settlement of Akrotiri
Mycenaeans Theseus – Greek mythological hero, king of the Mycenaean kingdom of Thes-
Tarhundaradu – king of Arzawa who corresponded with Pharaoh saly
Amenhotep III Thessaly – geographic region and Mycenaean kingdom in northern Greece
Tarhuntašša – undiscovered city in the south of Central Anatolia, after the Bat- Tholos tomb – a burial structure characterized by its false dome used in in
tle of Kadesh (1275 BCE) it had temporarily become the capital of the several cultures in the Mediterranean and west Asia
Hittite Empire
Thrace – region on the European side of the Dardanelles
TAVO – Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, a focal point of research of the
German Research Foundation (DFG) from 1969 to 1993 Thucydides – Greek historian (460–400 BCE)
Taylor, Thomas – an English translator and Neoplatonist (1758–1835), the first Tigris – the eastern of the two rivers that define Mesopotamia, flows south
to translate into English the complete works of Plato from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq and empties
into the Persian Gulf
Tel Haror – Bronze Age archaeological site in the Negev Desert
Timaeus – title of a dialogue by the Greek philosopher Plato
Telamon – Greek mythological figure, king of Salamis and participant in the
first Greek attack on Troy Timaeus from Tauromenium – ancient Greek historian (345–250 BCE)
Tiryns – Bronze Age archaeological site and citadel, located in the Argolid, V
Greece
Ventris, Michael – English architect (1922–1956) who in 1952 deciphered the
Tjeker – one of the Sea Peoples; please also see Teucer Linear B script
Tragliatella – Italian town where an Etruscan wine jug, engraved with a laby- Villanovan culture – earliest Iron Age culture of northern Italy that had its
rinth and the name “Truia” (Troy), was found center in present-day Tuscany
Troad, Troas – ancient name of the landscape around Troy southeast of the Virgil – Roman poet (70–19 BCE)
Dardanelles, separated from the rest of Anatolia by a mountain range
Trojan War – term for a fatal early-historical conflict between the united
Greeks and a coalition of western Anatolian states in Greek mythology
W
and ancient texts Walma – Hittite name for a state west of Central Anatolia
Tros – king of Troy in Greek mythology Wiluša – late Bronze Age state in western Asia Minor, mentioned in Hittite
Troy – location in Greek mythology; since Heinrich Schliemann, Troy has texts; possibly Troy
been generally equated with the Bronze Age archaeological site on hill Winckler, Hugo – a German archaeologist and historian (1863–1913) who
Hisarlık in the northwest of Asia Minor uncovered the capital of the Hittite empire at Boğazkale, Turkey
Troy dance – ceremonial dance performed in early Italy when a city was Wolf, Friedrich August – a German philologist (1759–1824)
founded, specifically before the city walls were to be erected
Woudhuizen, Frederik Christiaan – a Dutch linguist, produced substantial
Troy debate – controversy among German prehistorians with respect to the publications on Luwian and the ethnicity and language of the Sea
exploration and significance of Troy Peoples
Tudhaliya IV – Hittite emperor (reigned 1236–1215 BCE)
Tumulus – grave mound or burial mound X
Twosret – female Egyptian pharaoh of the 19th dynasty (reigned 1193–1185 BCE) Xanthos – please see Scamander
Tyana – an ancient city in Central Anatolia, capital of a Luwian-speaking Neo-
Xenophanes – Xenophanes of Colophon, a Greek philosopher, theologian and
Hittite kingdom in the 1st mill. BCE
poet (ca. 570–475 BCE)
Tyre – important Phoenician city on a small island off the coast of present-day
Xenophon – Greek writer (430–354 BCE)
Lebanon
Tyrrhenians – a people of northwestern Asia Minor that were closely related
to the Etruscans, mentioned by ancient Greek historians Z
Zeleia – the name of an ancient town or city in the Troad; an ally of the Tro-
U jans
Ugarit – ancient trading hub, located at the Mediterranean coast on present-

day Syrian territory, capital of a state by the same name
Uluburun shipwreck – sunken sailing ship from the Late Bronze Age, found
in 1982 near Cape Uluburun off the southwestern coast of Turkey
Upper Land – Hittite term for the central realm around Hattuša
Uwas – Cretan petty king
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About the author
Dr. Eberhard Zangger, born in 1958, is President of the Luwian Studies foundation
and an expert in the reconstruction of archaeological landscapes. His full-time
geoarchaeological research began in 1982. He earned a master’s degree from the
University of Kiel, a PhD in geology from Stanford University, and at the University
of Cambridge was a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Earth Sciences
and a Research Fellow of Clare Hall. Zangger has worked on archaeological excava-
tions and surveys in the countries around the eastern Mediterranean, including
mainland Greece, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt and Tunisia, as part of projects directed
by universities based in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, and
Greece. His four-year study of the Argive Plain received financial support from and
was published by the German Archaeological Institute. Zangger was co-director
and chief physical scientist of the Berbati-Limnes Survey and of the Pylos Regional
Archaeological Project (PRAP). His landscape reconstructions include the Late
Bronze Age palaces of Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos and Iolcos, and have appeared in the
American Journal of Archaeology, the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, the Journal of
Field Archaeology, Hesperia, and, most recently, Olba. Zangger’s books addressing
a general audience – of which “The Luwian Civilization” is the fourth – have been
published in English, German, Japanese, Turkish, and other languages. He lives in
Zurich, Switzerland.

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The Luwian Civilization

© 2016 Eberhard Zangger EBERHARD ZANGGER

Cover illustration: © Christoph Haußner

Production and Distribution

2. A New Perspective of the Aegean Bronze Age  13

6.4 The Trojan War as a Mycenaean Counterattack  154

7. Iron Age  167

3.1 Who Are the Luwians?

“Already in 1986, [Harvard professor of linguistics Calvert] Watkins interpreted

3.2 Habitat and Natural Resources

No region around the Eastern Mediterranean offers such a large, con-

part of the Eastern Mediterranean that is as mineral-rich as western

Artist’s reconstruction of parts of the Neolithic settlement Çatalhöyük.

Gold Silver Copper Lead

Along the Aegean coast of Turkey, a number of famous archaeologi-

3.5 Luwian Scripts

were discovered, mainly in Carchemish and Hattuša. In 1917, the

In 1961, British linguist Leonard Robert Palmer, a professor at Oxford

3.7 The Phaistos Disc

Reputable scholars usually tend to avoid controversial issues that have

“In the Mesara is Phaistos.

In (the territory) of this, what Nestor (has).

3.8 The Missing Link

Eastern studies, is based on the study of documents from excavated

linguistic branch of ancient Near Eastern studies, which also relies on

Region People City Script Name

Upper Tigris Assyria Aššur cuneiform Aššur

Central Anatolia Hittite Hattuša cuneiform Hatti

Syria/Palestine Canaanite Kadesh cuneiform Amurru/Retjenu

Greece Achaean Mycenae Linear B Tanaja

Crete Minoan Knossos Linear A Keftiu

Cyprus Cypriot Enkomi Cypro-Minoan Alasiya

Western Luwian Apaša, Troy, Luwian Arzawa, Wiluša,

The study of material remains, however, is the responsibility of

Black Sea Sitagroi

Suggestions Decla Malia

Evans to direct scholarly attention to any culture on Turkish soil. As a

of Central Europe no longer wanted to be regarded as descendants of

“I don’t choose to be told by every barbarian I meet that he is a man and a

4.1 Late Bronze Age Shipwrecks

In 1982, a sponge diver near Cape Uluburun in southern Turkey, 8.5 kilo-

Excavations in Tiryns in 1907.

Most probably, there was

in politics, economics and technology. If one were to follow the prin-

4.3 Minoan Crete

Around 1430 BCE, trac-

4.4 Hatti – the Hittite Empire

In virtually all publications on ancient Anatolia, the Hittite civilization

It is quite conceivable that

The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut at western Thebes.

The New Kingdom, from

periphery. At that time, inter-

4.6 Petty Kingdoms in Syria and Palestine

Dor Megiddo transported by water to Egypt and by land to Mesopotamia. Evidence

Known Late Bronze Age settlement sites in the Middle East.

Troy VI+VIIa remains Canal

River gravel Buried City of Troy

5.1 The History of Troy

settlement of relatively mod-

fame is derived from Hom-

2. A New Perspective of the Aegean Bronze Age 13

6.4 The Trojan War as a Mycenaean Counterattack 154

7. Iron Age 167