Alashiya
Bronze Age polity of the Eastern Mediterranean
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History
The name Alashiya is found on texts written in Egyptian, Hittite, Akkadian, Mycenean (Linear B) and Ugaritic. The name may be the origin of the later Biblical term Elishah.
Hittites
Around 1400 BC, the Hittite king Arnuwanda I chastised his vassal Madduwatta for raiding Alashiya, asserting that it was Hittite territory. Madduwatta replied that he had been unaware of the Hittite claim:
The father of his Majesty [had never informed] me, [nor] had his Majesty ever informed [me] (thus): ʻThe land of Alasiya is mine— recognize it as such!ʼ
Although Madduwatta's statement can be interpreted as prevarication, no surviving texts from this period refer to Hittite involvement in Alashiya and the empire's military situation would have made direct control unlikely. Thus, the political reality behind this statement remains unclear.
Around 1200 BC, the Hittite kings Tudḫaliya IV and Šuppiluliuma II waged military campaigns in Alashiya and forced its king to sign a treaty of submission.
Egypt
The Amarna letters (c. 1350 BC) include communications with the king of Alashiya. These mainly concern copper from Alashiya and requests for silver or ivory in return. One letter refers to 500 talents of copper (probably about 12.5 tons) and makes excuses as to why so little copper has been sent. The Pharaoh is also referred to by the King of Alashiya as his "brother", indicating that the king regarded himself as an equal, probably because of the economic power of his kingdom. Papyrus Anastasi IV, written several centuries later, also refers to copper (as well as cows) sent from Alashiya to Egypt.
The extant ending of the Story of Wenamun records how Wenamun, a priest of Egypt, had been blown off course on the sea journey from Byblos to Egypt and ended up on Alashiya. Wenamun reports that he was almost killed by an angry mob, but was rescued by Hatbi, the "princess of the town".
List of Amarna letters from Alashiya
- EA 33; Title: An Alliance in the Making
- EA 34; Title: The Pharaoh's reproach answered
- EA 35; Title: The hand of Nergal
- EA 36; Title: More about copper
- EA 37; Title: More about silver
- EA 38; Title: A brotherly quarrel
- EA 39; Title: Duty-Free
- EA 40; Title: Duty-Free, Governor to Governor
Ugarit
In other correspondence, the King of Ugarit pleads for military assistance from the King of Alashiya. Another document from Ugarit records the banishment of two princes to "the land of Alashiya". One further text found at Ugarit may contain a further clue to the location of the capital city of Alashiya, as it could imply that the city was located on a mountain. However, this word has more usually been translated as shore. The first recorded name of a Cypriot king is Kushmeshusha, on letters sent to Ugarit in the 13th century BC.
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Identification
Alashiya is known to have been located on Cyprus, though it is currently unclear whether the kingdom comprised the whole of Cyprus, with the capital city moving location (perhaps starting with Enkomi), or was always sited at Kalavasos, or whether Alashiya comprised only one region of Cyprus (if any part of the island at all). The political structure of the kingdom remains unclear, as the material culture of the island shows considerable variation and no evidence for a centralized political authority during the Late Bronze Age.
Alashiya was located in part by textual evidence showing that it was a major source of copper for other East Mediterranean states, which it traded along maritime routes. Alashiya therefore needs to be situated somewhere where there was sizable Bronze Age copper production, on the coast, and in the East Mediterranean. Additional clues in the text include references to cultural and military links to Southwestern Anatolian groups such as the Lukka.
The identification of Cyprus with Alashiya was supported by the 2003 publication by Yuval Goren et al. of an article in the American Journal of Archaeology detailing the petrographic and chemical analysis of a number of the Amarna and Ugaritic letters sent from Alashiya. These examinations of the provenance of the clay indicates a source in southern Cyprus, near Kalavasos and Alassa, where remains of Late Bronze Age settlements have been found.
Alternative hypotheses have included areas of Syria or Turkey, but it is now generally (although not universally) agreed that Alashiya refers to at least part of Cyprus.