This volume is a revised and improved version of my PhD dissertation, written between 2016 and 2019 and defended in May 2020 at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW), New York University. I extend my deepest gratitude to my dissertation committee: Lorenzo d’Alfonso (ISAW-NYU, advisor), Beate Pongratz-Leisten (ISAW-NYU), Daniel Fleming (NYU), Mauro Giorgieri (Pavia), and Amir Gilan (Tel Aviv), for their invaluable guidance throughout the writing of the original work. The preparation of this dissertation also included research stays at the University of Würzburg in 2018 and 2019-2020, made possible by the generous hospitality of Daniel Schwemer and the Department of Altorientalistik.
The final manuscript of this volume was completed in August 2022 at the Netherlands Institute for the Near East (NINO), University of Leiden, with the exception of Chapter 7, which was written in 2023. Most of the research and revisions necessary for completing this work were carried out in Leiden, thanks to a postdoctoral fellowship at the same institute (2021–2022). Corrections and final revisions, including references to recent and forthcoming studies, were added throughout 2023. However, some publications released after 2022 could not be thoroughly discussed due to the advanced stage of the publication process.
The preparation of this book involved substantial revisions to the dissertation, including the selection, abbreviation and enhancement of content, aided by newly published studies. While the overall structure closely follows the original work and maintains its focus on historical and documentary analysis, several sections addressing the culture, religion, and society of Kizzuwatna have been significantly reorganized into a dedicated chapter (Chapter 8). Chapter 2, which focuses on the historical geography of Kizzuwatna, has been shortened due to space constraints, particularly in §2.3, where the discussion of Egyptian toponyms allegedly referring to Kizzuwatna and Cilicia has been abbreviated. Similarly, the analysis of relations between Cilicia, Egypt, and Cyprus has been omitted from the book. The discussion of languages in Kizzuwatna, primarily in Chapter 3 (§3.3) and secondarily in Chapter 8 (§8.2, §8.5.2), underwent significant revision. These changes were prompted mainly by impactful publications that became available after 2020, necessitating a reassessment of Kizzuwatna rituals. The new research led to adjustments in some of my earlier proposals, particularly regarding the status of Luwian in Kizzuwatna and the composition of the Kizzuwatna ritual corpus. Chapter 5 includes new editions of previously unedited fragments, specifically treaties between Telipinu and Išpudaḫšu, and Taḫurwaili and Eḫeya (§5.4.4, texts [1] and [3]). In the same chapter, the discussion of Išpudaḫšu’s seal (§5.2) has been both abbreviated and refined. Chapter 7, which addresses the Hittite Imperial period (ca. 1350-1180 BCE), was not part of the original dissertation but has been added to provide a complete history of the region up to the end of the Late Bronze Age.
I owe a debt of gratitude to many whose support and contributions, both direct and indirect, made it possible to complete this study and publish it in this series. I would like to thank the editors at Brill for their support, patience, and meticulous editing, especially Katelyn Chin, Emma de Looij, Katerina Sofianou, and Pieter te Velde; I would also like to thank Sarah Burgin for her excellent assistance in revising and improving the English. My deepest thanks go to Mark Weeden, former editor of the Handbuch der Orientalistik series, for accepting this book for publication and for his invaluable advice, which led to significant improvements. I am also grateful to Mirko Novák for his review, comments – particularly on the archaeological sections – and many helpful suggestions. Several colleagues provided feedback and advice, kindly reading sections of this work before publication, sharing their forthcoming contributions or engaging in valuable discussions via email and in person; in particular, I would like to thank Michele Cammarosano, Stephen Durnford, Ben Haring, Susanne Görke, Alwin Kloekhorst, Alvise Matessi, Craig Melchert, Geraldina Rozzi, Zsolt Simon, and Ilya Yakubovich. A special note of thanks goes to Willemijn Waal and Carolien van Zoest for their exceptional hospitality and support during my postdoctoral work at NINO in Leiden. I am also grateful to the colleagues and friends who made my time in Leiden so enjoyable, Miriam Müller, Julia Hamilton, Lucy Bennison-Chapman, and Helene Sokolows.
I am indebted to Marie-Henriette Gates and the Kinet Project, Mirko Novák and the Sirkeli Project, as well as Andreas Schachner and the DAI, for sharing imagery and data from their excavations, and for granting permission to use images of seal impressions from Ḫattuša. For permission to publish various images, I am grateful to several colleagues, institutions, and their staff, in particular the Vorderasiatisches Museum and Alrun Gutow, the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz and Gerfrid Müller, and the British Museum in London for images of cuneiform tablets, as well as the Special Collections at Bryn Mawr College Libraries for original images from the Tarsus excavations. For providing data, photographs and images that were instrumental in preparing this volume, I extend my thanks to Gojko Barjamovic, Werner Blaudszun, Martina Derada, Éric Jean and Susanne Rutishauser. Finally, heartfelt thanks to Sara Giacomelli for her unwavering support and assistance in prepararing the final indexes and bibliography.
Questo libro è dedicato ai miei genitori, Donata e Mauro.
Andrea Trameri
Würzburg, September 2024