Kussara (Kuššar) was a MiddleBronze Age kingdom inAnatolia. The kingdom, though apparently important at one time, is mostly remembered today as the origin of the dynasty that would form theOld Hittite Kingdom.
Kussara is occasionally mentioned (as Ku-ša-ra) in the clay tablets of theOld Assyrian traders in Anatolia, and less often in the earlyHittite Kingdom (as KUR URU Ku-uš-ša-ra).[1] It has been equated with the modern Turkish city ofKayseri.[2] Massimo Forlanini impercisely situated it southeast ofKanesh, but north ofLuhuzzadia/Lahu(wa)zzandiya, between Hurama andTegarama (modern dayGürün).Trevor Bryce imprecisely situated it to "the south-east of theKizil Irmak basin in theanti-Taurus region, on or near one of the main trade routes from Assyria and perhaps in the vicinity of modern Şar (Comana Cappadocia)".[3]
Pithana and his sonAnitta, forerunners of the later Hittite kings, are the only two recorded kings of Kussara. Their exploits are known chiefly from the so-called Anitta Text, one of the earliest inscriptions in theHittite language as yet discovered.[4]Pithana took control overKanesh (Neša)[5] and its important trade centrum in roughly 1780 BC. The people later revolted against the rule of his son, Anitta, but Anitta crushed the revolt and made Kanesh his capital. Kussara itself, however, appears to have retained ceremonial importance.[6] Anitta also defeated the polities ofZalpuwa andHattum, after which he took the title ofGreat King.[7] Most scholars also accept a further king,Labarna I, to be a member of the Kussaran dynasty.[8]
It is notable thatHattusili I, recognized as one of the firstHittite kings, referred to himself as "man of Kussara", although his capital (from which he likely took his name) wasHattusa.[9] Again, Kussara seems even then to have retained some importance, since this was where Hattusili called a council on his own succession.[10]
The language or dialect of Kussara is neither found nor described in either the Assyrian or Hittite texts, but from the evidence of Old Assyrian trade tablets, it is known that a palace and akarum (Assyrian trade station) existed in the city.[11] The Kings of Kussara became the Kings of Kanesh in the Karum IB period of Kanesh. Hattusili I andHattusili III mentioned the origins of the Kings of the land of Hatti as Hattusili I styled himself: "man of Kussara . . . Great KingTabarna, Hattusili the Great King, King of the land ofHatti."[12] No other town or land was ever mentioned by a King of Hattusa as the origin of the Kings of Hattusa.
Because the Kings of Kussara and their clan formed the base of the Old Kingdom of the Hittites, the Hittite language (known as 'Nesili' to its speakers after the city of Kanesh or Nesa) was the language of the ruling officials. It is assumed that the language of Kussara wasIndo-European, because if it were not, many more non-Indo-European elements would be expected in its apparent successor, Hittite.Craig Melchert concluded in the chapter "Prehistory" of his bookThe Luwians (2003–17): "Hittite core vocabulary remains Indo-European". The Anitta Text records that when Pithana captured Kanesh, he did no harm to it, but made the inhabitants "his mothers and fathers." Some scholars have taken this unique statement to mean there were cultural and/or ethnic affinities between Kussara and Kanesh.[6]