kingdom · Anatolia and the Levant

Hilakku

800 BCE – 600 BCE (approx.)

Hilakku, a land of mountain chiefs in Rough Cilicia that resisted Assyrian armies and gave its name to Cilicia.

Origins

Hilakku was the Assyrian name for the rugged Taurus country of western Cilicia, behind the coast of modern Mersin. It appears in Assyrian sources from the 9th century BCE as a land of local rulers, west of the plain of Que.

Rule and society

Little is known of its government. Its people raided the lowlands and resisted Assyrian control from mountain strongholds. In 696 BCE Sennacherib put down a revolt led by Kirua, ruler of Illubru, and later Sanda-sharme of Hilakku sent his daughter to the harem of Ashurbanipal.

Decline and legacy

Hilakku remained outside firm Assyrian rule, and after Assyria's fall its lands formed part of the Kingdom of Cilicia. Its name survived in Greek as Kilikia.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

HilakkuKingdom of Cilicia 600 BCE – 401 BCE

Connections (1)

Hilakku paid tribute to Assyrian Empire713 BCE – 640 BCE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Hilakku. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hilakku
MLA: “Hilakku.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hilakku. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Hilakku.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hilakku.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Hilakku’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/hilakku (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻