Hayasa(𒆳𒌷𒄩𒄿𒀀𒊭)-Azzi(𒆳𒌷𒀀𒍣) or Azzi-Hayasa (Hittite: URUḪaiaša-, Armenian: Հայասա) was a Late Bronze Age confederation in the Armenian Highlands and/or Pontic region of Asia Minor. The Hayasa-Azzi confederation was in conflict with the Hittite Empire in the 14th century BCE, leading up to the collapse of Hatti around 1190 BCE. It has long been thought that the Hayasa-Azzi have played a significant role in the ethnogenesis of Armenians.
Location
Hittite inscriptions deciphered in the 1920s by the Swiss scholar Emil Forrer testify to the existence of the mountainous country, Hayasa-Azzi, lying to the east of Hatti in the Upper Euphrates region. Its western border seems to have alternated between Samuha (probably just west of modern Sivas) and Kummaha (likely modern Kemah, Erzincan). These areas later geographically overlapped, at least partially, with the Upper Armenia province of the later Kingdom of Armenia and the neighboring region of Lesser Armenia.
Hayasa-Azzi seems to have been bordered by Isuwa (later known as Sophene, now known as Elazig) and Pahhuwa (perhaps near modern Divriği or Bingol Province) to the south or the west. The eastern extent of Hayasa-Azzi is unknown, although some have placed it in the area of modern Tercan, or as far east as Lake Van or the Ararat Plain.
The name Hayasa might possibly be connected to the Iya(ni)/Iga(ni) of Urartian texts. Both Hayasa and Iya(ni)/Iga(ni) have been connected to the Aia of Greek mythology. Alternately, another theory proposes a connection to the Huša(ni), mentioned by the Urartian kings Argishti I and Sarduri II in the 8th century BCE. Iya(ni)/Iga(ni) and Husa(ni) were both probably located in modern Ardahan Province of Turkey.
It is possible that the name Azzi survived into the Classical era as Aza, a city located in the Kelkit River Valley. Alternately, a form of the name Azzi may have continued into the 17th century CE as Azntsik, a district of Ani-Kammahk (Kemah) in Upper Armenia.
Azzi is not to be confused with the similarly named Alzi (Alshe), which was located further south.
Political structure
The exact nature of Hayasa's and Azzi's relationship is uncertain. They are generally thought to have been a confederation of two different kingdoms in what is now northeastern Turkey: Hayasa, in the north, and Azzi, in the south. While separate entities, the two lands were politically and probably linguistically connected. However, there are alternate theories regarding the nature of their relationship. Some have suggested that Azzi was a region or district of Hayasa or that Hayasa and Azzi were different names for the same location. Vartan Matiossian argues that Hayasa was an ethnonym while Azzi was the polity or land in which the Hayasans lived. According to Massimo Forlanini, Hayasa and Azzi may have denoted the same polity, with the name having switched from Hayasa to Azzi following the establishment of a new ruling dynasty or capital.
The Hittite king Suppiluliuma I's treaty with Hakkani of Hayasa addresses "the people of Hayasa." According to Igor Diakonoff, this likely suggests that the Hayasans had a peoples' assembly or council of elders. Similarly, Mursili II later conducted negotiations with "the elders" of Azzi. The nearby land of Pahhuwa may have had a similar governing council.
A possible alternate interpretation of these treaties is that these councils consisted of the chieftains of the various tribes who made up the Hayasa-Azzi confederation.
Although frequently at odds with Hatti, Hittite texts mention that the Hayasans served as charioteers in the Hittite army.
The capital of Hayasa-Azzi is unknown, but its main fortress was Ura, possibly located somewhere near modern Bayburt or along the Kelkit River. Another fortress, Aripsa, may have been located on the shore of Lake Van.
Religion
Not much is known about the Hayasan pantheon but some names survive via Hittite records. It may have involved a triad comprising Ugur, Inanna, and Tarumu.
- Ugur – The chief god of the Hayasan pantheon. Represented by the divine ideogram U.GUR in Hittite records, which is equated with the Sumerian god Nergal. This god's name is unknown, but it may have been a variation of the Hattian god Šulikatte. Probably the father of Terettitunnis and Tarumu. May also have been associated with the Semitic El (Elkunirša in Hittite).
- Inanna – The consort of the chief god of Hayasa. Like her husband, her name has not survived, but it is speculated that she was associated with the Hittite Asertu.
- Terittitunnis – Perhaps related to Greek Triton.
- Tarumu – The sixth god of the Hayasan pantheon. Perhaps connected to Tarhu.
- Baltaik – Possibly a goddess connected to West Semitic Ba'alat (Astarte), with a probable Armenian diminutive suffix -ik (such as is present in the name of the goddess "Astɫik"). Alternately, it could etymologically derive from Proto Indo-European *bʰel– (meaning 'bright'), via the *bʰel-to form.
- Izzistanus(?) – A proposed reconstruction of a damaged name "s/t-an-nu-us". Perhaps a version of Hattian Estan (Ezzi Estan: 'good Estan').
- Unag-astuas or Unagastas – A deity mentioned in the treaty with the Hittites, but with unknown qualities. Possibly connected, etymologically, to Astvats (Classical Armenian: Astuas), a name still used today for God in Armenian Christianity. May have been a form of the Subarian god Astuvanu (Astupinu), who is equated with Sumerian Nergal.
Early history
All information about Hayasa-Azzi comes from the Hittites, there are no primary sources from Hayasa-Azzi. As such, the early history of Hayasa-Azzi is unknown. According to historian Aram Kosyan, it is possible that the origins of Hayasa-Azzi lie in the Trialeti-Vanadzor culture, which expanded from Transcaucasia toward northeastern modern Turkey in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. The Trialeti-Vanadzor-connected site of Sos Höyük IV, located in the Erzurum region, may have been associated with Hayasa-Azzi.
Tudhaliya III and Suppiluliuma I (1360s–1320s BCE)
The Hittite king Tudhaliya III chose to make the city of Samuha, "an important cult centre located on the upper course of the Marassantiya river" as a temporary home for the Hittite royal court sometime after his abandonment of Hattusa in the face of attacks against his kingdom by the Kaska, Hayasa-Azzi and other enemies of his state. Samuha was, however, temporarily seized by forces from the country of Azzi. At this time, the kingdom of Hatti was so besieged by fierce attacks from its enemies that many neighbouring powers expected it to soon collapse. The Egyptian pharaoh, Amenhotep III, even wrote to Tarhundaradu, king of Arzawa: "I have heard that everything is finished and that the country of Hattusa is paralysed" (EA 31, 26–27). However, Tudhaliya managed to rally his forces; indeed, the speed and determination of the Hittite king may have surprised Hatti's enemies including the Kaska and Hayasa-Azzi. Tudhaliya sent his general Suppiluliuma, who would later serve as king himself under the title Suppiluliuma I, to Hatti's northeastern frontiers, to defeat Hayasa-Azzi. The Hayasans initially retreated from a direct battle with the Hittite commander. The Hittitologist Trevor R. Bryce notes, however, that Tudhaliya and Suppiluliuma eventually:
invaded Hayasa-Azzi and forced a showdown with its king Karanni (or Lanni) near the city of Kumaha. The passage (in the 'Deeds of Suppiluliuma') recording the outcome of this battle is missing. But almost certainly, the Hittite campaign resulted in the conquest of Hayasa-Azzi, for subsequently Suppiluliuma established it as a Hittite vassal state, drawing up a treaty with Hakkana, its current ruler.
The Hayasans were now obliged to repatriate all captured Hittite subjects and cede "the border [territory] which Suppiluliuma claimed belonged to the Land of Hatti." Despite the restrictions imposed upon Hakkani, he was not a completely meek and submissive brother-in law of the Hittites in political and military affairs. As a condition for the release of the thousands of Hittite prisoners held in his domain, he demanded first the return of the Hayasan prisoners confined in Hatti.
During their reigns, the cuneiform tablets of Boğazköy begin to mention the names of three successive kings who ruled over a state of Hayasa and/or Azzi. They were Karanni (or Lanni), Mariya, and Hakkani (or Hukkana). Hakkani married a Hittite princess. When Suppiluliuma had become king himself, Hakkani proceeded to marry Suppiluliuma's sister.
In a treaty signed with Hakkani, Suppiluliuma I mentions a series of obligations of civil right:
My sister, whom I gave you in marriage has sisters; through your marriage, they now become your relatives. Well, there is a law in the land of the Hatti. Do not approach sisters, your sisters-in law or your cousins; that is not permitted. In Hatti Land, whosoever commits such an act does not live; he dies. In your country, you do not hesitate to marry your own sister, sister-in law or cousin, because you are not civilized. Such an act cannot be permitted in Hatti.
Mursili II (1320s–1290s BCE)
The kingdom of Hayasa-Azzi remained a loyal Hittite vassal state for a time, perhaps hit by the same plague which claimed Suppiluliuma and his son Arnuwanda II. But, in Mursili's seventh year (three years before Mursili's eclipse – so, 1315 BCE), the "lord of Azzi" Anniya took advantage of Pihhuniya's unification of the Kaskas and raided the Land of Dankuwa, a Hittite border region, where he transported its population back to his kingdom.
Cavaignac wrote of that period that Anniya "had sacked several districts and refused to release the prisoners taken." Anniya's rebellion soon prompted a Hittite response. The Hittite King Mursili II, having defeated Pihhuniya, marched to the borders of Hayasa-Azzi where he demanded Anniya return his captured subjects. When Anniya refused, Mursili immediately attacked the Hayasa's border fortress of Ura. In the following spring, he crossed the Euphrates and re-organized his army at Ingalova which, about ten centuries later, was to become the treasure-house and burial-place of the Armenian kings of the Arshakuni Dynasty.
Despite Mursili's Year 7 and probable Year 8 campaigns against Hayasa-Azzi, Anniya was still unsubdued and continued to defy the Hittite king's demands to return his people at the beginning of Mursili's Ninth year. Then, in the latter's Year 9, Anniya launched a major counter-offensive by once again invading the Upper Land region on the Northeast frontier of Hatti, destroying the Land of Istitina and placing the city of Kannuwara under siege. Worse still, Mursili II was forced to face another crisis in the same year with the death of his brother Sarri-Kusuh, the Hittite viceroy of Syria. This prompted a revolt by the Nuhašše lands against Hittite control. Mursili II took decisive action by dispatching his general Kurunta to quell the Syrian rebellion while he sent another general, the able Nuwanza (or Nuvanza) to expel the Hayasa-Azzi enemy from the Upper Land. After consulting some oracles, the king ordered Nuwanza to seize the Upper Land territory from the Hayasan forces. This Nuwanza did by inflicting a resounding defeat against the Hayasa-Azzi invaders at the Battle of Ganuvara; henceforth, Upper Land would remain "firmly in Hittite hands for the rest of Mursili's reign under the immediate authority of a local governor appointed by the king." While Mursili II would invade and reconquer Hayasa-Azzi in his tenth year, its formal submission did not occur until the following year of the Hittite king's reign.
The Annals of Mursili describe the campaigns of Mursili against Hayasa-Azzi below: