Tunna might have been founded during theHittite Old Kingdom by the sons of the kingḪattušili I, some time during the late Middle and early Late Bronze Age.[10]
Beginning with the reign of the Hittite kingŠuppiluliuma I, Tunna was referred to in state treaties of the Hittite Empire as the cult site of the goddess Ḫallara, who headed the local pantheon.[3][11][8]
According to theBronze Tablet and the Ulmi-Teššub Treaty, Tunna was a location in the region ofTarḫuntašša in the Ḫūlaya River Land where the hypostasis of the storm godTarḫuntaš bearing the epithet ofpiḫaššaššiš (𒁉𒄩𒀸𒊭𒀸𒅆𒅖) was venerated,[11][9] withpiḫaššaššiš Tarḫuntaš (𒀭𒌋𒁉𒄩𒀸𒊭𒀸𒅆𒅖) possibly meaninglit.'Tarḫuntaš of Lightning'.[12]
Tunna was mentioned alongsideḪupišna andZallara in a Hittite local deity list, and a Chief of the Cooks was responsible for the cult inventory of the country of Tunna.[9]
Although Tunna has been suggested as a possible location for the capital of thekingdom of Atuna,[14] this latter kingdom was instead likely located further north, in northern Cappadocia.[15][16][17]
Since Atuna later obtained the territory of the Tabalian kingdom ofŠinuḫtu, it was likely in the region immediately south of theHalys river's southernmost bend, to the immediate north of Šinuḫtu, and to the west of the kingdom ofTabal proper[15][18][19] and around the site which the present-day village of Bohça,[20] which was possibly its capital and where the king Kurtî of Atuna had erected a stele.[21]
Phonetically, the name Tunna could not represent a variant of a possible form*Atunna, since the initial/a/ did notdisappear in theLuwian language, which also suggests against identifying Tunna with Atuna.[22]
The country around Tunna might have corresponded to the lands of Upper Tunnas (Hieroglyphic Luwian:𔑏𔖱𔗔𔑢𔐤𔗔,romanized: sarras Tunnas[23][24][25]) and Lower Tunnas (Hieroglyphic Luwian:𔐓𔐤𔖹𔗦𔗷𔑢𔐤𔗦𔔂,romanized: annantarris Tunnas[23][24][25]) referred to in an economic inventory from the kingdom ofTabal proper recording the transfer of goods.[26]
In the 9th century BC, Tunna was destroyed during the campaign of the Neo-Assyrian kingShalmaneser III in the Tabalian region in 837 BC.[27]
The "silver mountain," Tunni, visited by Shalmaneser III during this campaign might have been identical with the site of Tunna,[28] and the country of Tunna might also have been identical with the country of Tuna mentioned in lead strips from the kingdom of Tabal proper, although this identification is still uncertain.[29]
During the 8th century BC, Tunna was aTabalian petty city-state ruled by a king named Tarḫunazzas, who was himself a vassal of the kingWarpalawas II ofTuwana.[30] In an inscription at the site corresponding to present-day Bulgarmaden, Tarḫunazzas recorded that, in exchange for his services, his overlord Warpalawas II had offered to him the Mount Mudis.[31][32][33]
Mount Mudis was a rocky outcrop of theTaurus Mountains near theCilician Gates,[34] and was likely identical with the "alabaster mountain," Mount Mulî, which the Neo-Assyrian king Shalmaneser III climbed and from where he extractedalabaster during his campaign in the Tabalian region in 837 BCE. The nameMulî (𒆳𒈬𒇷𒄿[35]) was the Akkadian form of a Luwian original nameMudis (𔑿𔑣𔗔)[36] which had experienced the Luwian sound shift from/d/ to/l/.[31][33][37]
Based on the close association of Mount Tunni with Mount Mulî in the Neo-Assyrian records, both of these mountains were located close to each other, in the northeastern end of theBolkar and Taurus Mountains, where are presently located the silver mines of Bulgarmaden and thegypsum mine at Porsuk-Zeyve Höyük.[31][1][33][38]
New defensive structures were built at Tunna during the reign of Warpalawas II.[27]
Another petty-king of Tunna who was vassal of the kings of Tuwana might have been Masauraḫissas, who possibly reigned in the middle or late 8th century BC,[1] and who is known from an inscription by his general Parḫwiras.[27] Masauraḫissas's name might possibly have been a Luwianisation of a Phrygian nameMasa Urgitos.[39]
Barat, Claire; Köker Gökçe, Emine; Pichonneau, Jean-François; Sadozaï, Chamsia (2022)."Porsuk – Zeyve Höyük: Rapport préliminaire de la campagne 2021" [Porsuk – Zeyve Höyük: Preliminary Report of the 2021 Campaign].Anatolia Antiqua = Eski Anadolu.30:67–81. Retrieved13 April 2024.
Weeden, Mark (2017). "Tabal and the Limits of Assyrian Imperialism". In Heffron, Yağmur; Stone, Adam;Worthington, Martin (eds.).At the Dawn of History: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honour of J. N. Postgate. Vol. 2.Winona,United States:Eisenbrauns. pp. 721–736.ISBN978-1-57506-471-0.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Tynna".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
