Dating Hartapu: the troubled relationship between archaeology and texts

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse and contextualise a recently discovered inscription from Türkmen-Karahöyük in southern Anatolia. The inscription is in Luwian hieroglyphic and refers to a certain ‘Great King’ Hartapu and his military exploits against the Muška (a people often identified as the historical Phrygians). It has provisionally been dated to the 8th century BC. This date, however, presents us with a number of problems, most notably in terms of historical context. For if this Hartapu was indeed a powerful ruler in the 8th century BC, why do we not hear about him in contemporary Assyrian texts (which do mention other kings in the area)? And how could this be squared with the fact that the Phrygian kingdom flourished precisely at a time when Hartapu claims to have defeated various kings and supposedly ruled over a significant swathe of land? These and other problems warrant a re-examination of the evidence, especially now that the 8th century BC date has already been adopted as a reference point for the interpretation of archaeological data from Türkmen-Karahöyük. This paper highlights several methodological pitfalls and discusses the possibilities and limitations of interpretations of the currently available historical, archaeological, linguistic and epigraphic evidence.