kingdom · Anatolia and the Levant

Tarhuntassa

1280 BCE – 1180 BCE (approx.) · capital Tarhuntassa

Tarhuntassa, a Hittite royal city and later a rival appanage kingdom, whose rulers challenged the great kings at Hattusa.

Origins

Around 1280 BCE Muwatalli II moved the Hittite capital, with the gods of Hattusa, to Tarhuntassa, a city in southern Anatolia whose site is still unknown. His son Urhi-Teshub moved the court back, and Hattusili III made Tarhuntassa an appanage kingdom for Muwatalli's other son Kurunta.

Rule and society

Tarhuntassa ruled the Lower Land towards the Mediterranean as a high-ranking vassal. A treaty between Tudhaliya IV and Kurunta, on a bronze tablet found at Hattusa in 1986, defines its borders and privileges. Seals suggest Kurunta later claimed the title great king.

Decline and legacy

Rivalry between Tarhuntassa and Hattusa weakened the empire in its last decades. Both collapsed c. 1180 BCE; afterwards a great king Hartapu, known from inscriptions at Kızıldağ, ruled in the region.

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻