Vassals and Adversaries: Mitannians, Hittites and Alalakh

K. Aslihan Yener (Koç University and University of Chicago)

Recent research at the site of Tell Atchana, ancient Alalakh, in the province of Hatay (southern Turkey) has clarified the history of the city in the Late Bronze (LB) I, II and Early Iron I periods. While it was previously thought that the city was continuously inhabited from c.2000BC to about 1190BC, it can now be seen that there were several periods of abandonment and/or political realignment. The first, during the transition after the destruction of the Level VII Palace (final Middle Bronze Age), gradually ushered in a period of Mitannian overlordship in Levels IV-VI followed by a Hittite takeover in Levels III-I. Local responses to foreign imperial domination were varied and can be seen both in texts and in the hybrid local material culture that grew to incorporate features of Mitanni and Hittite origin. Textual references suggest that Alalakh could be fickle in its political alliances and remained proud of its local Amorite heritage. Excavations confirm that the site was burned at least three times in the Late Bronze I-IIa. Most if not all of the site was finally abandoned around 1300/1290BC and reoccupied briefly in Level O (c.1140BC) by a population that utilized a combination of local Bronze Age-derived wares, LH IIIC-Middle Developed ware, and Handmade Burnished Ware. This is the first time that this particular cultural facies has been discovered in the Amuq and may have some relation to the ‘Sea Peoples’ phenomenon of widespread migration in the 12th century Mediterranean. This paper details the new findings from field seasons 2006-2011 and begins to reconstruct the historical narrative of this important site in the LBI-Iron I.

Dr. Yener is the director of the Tell Atchana (ancient Alalakh) excavation and professor in the Department of Archaeology and History of Art, Koç University and at The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago.

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