Zippalanda and Ankuwa: the geography of Central Anatolia in the second millennium B.C.

• Author: Gorny, Ronald L.

The recently published book Zippalanda: Ein Kultzentrum im hethitischen Kleinasien appears at a very appropriate time and is bound to spur further research into a variety of interesting questions related to Hittite history and geography. As the most thorough attempt to evaluate critically evidence related to the Hittite cult center of Zippalanda, the book deserves a careful examination.

The primary goal of Zippalanda is to provide a complete overview of Hittite texts associated with the town of Zippalanda, as well as to describe its topography, cult, and relationships with other central Anatolian cities (p. 5). This aspect of his project is well done and makes the book a valuable resource. In the process, however, M. Popko attempts to secure the identification both of Zippalanda with the well-known Hittite settlement at Alaca Hoyuk (pp. 29-31) and of nearby Kalehisar/Karahisar with Mt. Dahha, an associated cult area (pp. 2629, 31). This other aspect of the book, while interesting, is not compelling, and it is to this part of the volume that I wish to address the majority of my comments.

The main body of the manuscript contains the collection of transliterated and translated Hittite texts (in German) which either mention the town of Zippalanda or are related to the important "Festival of Zippalanda." These appear in the Spartan style typical of the Texte der Hethiter series. Accompanying commentaries provide useful explanations of the texts. The manuscript itself is plain and bereft of any accompanying photos, maps, or charts. Such illustrative material would have been useful for helping the reader to visualize the topographic and geographical setting. Inasmuch as the Alaca orthostats play such a significant part in Popko's attempt to link Zippalanda with Alaca Hoyuk (see below), photographs of the stone carvings would have been useful. Technically, the manuscript is very well done, though a few minor typographic errors and omissions mar the final manuscript. Note, for example, p. 36, n. 1, where Bergotter should be Berggotter; p. 93, where an extra von is included before Sanahhuitta in the twelfth line; p. 96, where KBo XVII 11 should be added after KBo XVI 71 in Ah. Text; p. 147, where KBo XVI 49 IV is transposed to read KBo XVI IV 49; and p. 327, where the first mention of Alaca should be noted as having occurred on p. 13. None of these flaws affects the integrity of the manuscript.

The publication of Zippalanda is very timely since recent work in the Kanak Su Basin of central Anatolia (see map) has revived interest in the historical geography of the region. Not only has renewed work begun at Alisar Hoyuk (Gorny 1994, 1995a), but additional work has been carried out at nearby (Cadir Hoyuk (Gorny 1995b) and atop the important site of Kerkenes Dag (Summers and Summers 1994). Other excavations have been carried out recently by the Yozgat Museum at Mercimek Tepe (in Yozgat itself) and at Cemalli Hoyuk (in the Gelingullu Dam area).

My own thoughts regarding Zippalanda are colored by our work at Alisar Hoyuk which has been discussed in several previous publications (Gorny 1990; 1993; 1995a; 1995b; 1995c; and forthcoming). In my dissertation (Gorny 1990: 395-436), for instance, I defended the idea that Alisar is to be equated with the Hittite town of Ankuwa (for other views, see Gurney 1973; Forlanini 1980; and Unal 1984), while also suggesting that nearby Kusakli Hoyuk [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 1 OMITTED] could be the site of Hittite Zippalanda (Gorny 1990: 433-34).(1) Popko's publication, however, which identifies Alaca Hoyuk with Zippalanda, calls into question the equation of both Alisar with Ankuwa and Kusakh with Zippalanda. Since Ankuwa and Zippalanda are often noted in association with each other, they must have been reasonably close. Therefore, if Zippalanda was located at Alaca, as the author suggests, it would probably preclude the identification of Alisar with Ankuwa. This fact was not lost on Popko, who identifies Ankuwa with Eskiyapar (p. 32; also cf. Temizer 1988: xxvii-xxix). This turn of events calls for some thoughtful reflection on the reasons behind Popko's identification of Zippalanda with Alaca and how the whole issue relates to Alisar and Ankuwa.

To begin with, I believe that the relative locations of Ankuwa and Zippalanda (vis-a-vis Bogazkoy) can be pieced together with a variety of Hittite sources. The first piece of evidence comes from the lengthy description of the itinerary taken by a royal retinue to meet the obligations of the springtime AN.TAH.SUM-festival (Guterbock 1960). The text states that after leaving Hattusa, the procession moves on to the area of Haitta for the thirty-second and thirty-third days of the festival with an apparent stop at Mt. Piskurunwa. The nights of the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth days are spent in and around Hurranassa. The king finally reaches Zippalanda on the thirty-sixth day and proceeds to Ankuwa for the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth days. The distance between the two communities, therefore, is clearly one day's travel or less.

The distance between Ankuwa and the capital is suggested by a cult trip narrated in KUB 25.28 i 1-10,(2) which states that Ankuwa is reached after a three-day journey from the capital, with stops at Imralla and Hupikassa. Assuming a pace of thirty to thirty-five kilometers a day, the trip suggests a distance of one hundred kilometers, more or less, or roughly the distance between Bogazkoy and Alisar. If Ankuwa could be reached from Zippalanda in less than a day, as indicated by the AN.TAH.SUM-festival texts, the two towns must have been no more than thirty to thirty-five kilometers apart.

That Ankuwa is south of Zippalanda may be deduced from several additional texts. The first (KBo 30.155 rev. 4-11; KUB 20.25 + 10.78) makes it clear that Ankuwa was reached from Zippalanda via the "southern road" ([KASKAL.IM.U.sub.19].LU). Hence we have our first directional clue: Ankuwa lies south of Zippalanda.

The nuntarriyashas or autumn festival, provides a parallel, but abbreviated, version of the AN.TAH.SUM itinerary which points us in the same direction. Festival texts indicate that the Hittite king, after performing his cultic duties in the capital, travels "down" (katta) to Harranassi and Zippalanda by way of the "Zippalanda Gate" (KUB 55.5 obv. [?] i 10', restored in Houwink ten Cate 1988: 174; and Kosak 1976: 61; for the...