The New Inscription from Türkmenkarahöyük and its Historical Context

Abstract

The publication of a hieroglyphic inscription found at Türkmenkarahöyük in the Konya region and the associated survey-work in the area have raised numerous questions about the location of the city of Tarhuntassa, the aftermath of the Hittite Empire and the dating of the Hieroglyphic inscriptions which mention a king called Hartapu. In this paper we review the evidence for the location of Tarhuntassa that we deem relevant for deciding whether it could have been situated at Türkmenkarahöyük, and further reconsider the dating of the Hartapu inscriptions, arriving at the conclusion, already warranted by the evidence before the discovery of the new inscription, that there must have been two kings called Hartapu, who lived in very different epochs.