Millawanda

KUR URU Milawa(n)ta

The Hittite sources generally put in relation Millawanda with the Ahhiyawa Land. The oldest reference to Millawanda dates back to the campaign of Muršili II in Western Anatolia: an uncertain passage dated to the third year of his Annals, describes a military expedition led by his generals Gulla and Malaziti against this city, in order to repress an insurrection supported by the King of Arzawa, Uhhaziti, and the King of Ahhiyawa. Afterwards, Millawanda it’s mentioned within the deeds of Piyamaradu in Western Anatolia. The “Tawagalawa’s Letter” in particular provides further data about links between Millawanda and the Ahhiyawa Land; in this text Millawanda appears as a sort of protectorate of the King of Ahhiyawa, ruled by Atpas, moreover known from the “Manapa-Tarhunta’s Letter”. Finally the city, named Milawata, is the core of a document ascribed to Tudhaliya IV: it deals with an epistolary text, known as the “Milawata’s Letter”, dispatched by the Hittite King to an unspecified addressee, where the question of the boundaries of Milawata constitutes matter of diplomatic negotiation. Millawanda is generally identified by the scholars with classical Miletus. [RGTC 6, 268; RGTC 6/2, 104]