kingdom · Anatolia and the Levant

Wilusa

1400 BCE – 1180 BCE (approx.) · capital Wilusa

Wilusa, a kingdom of north-western Anatolia in Hittite texts, widely identified with Homer's Troy and its city of Ilios.

Origins

Wilusa appears in Hittite records from the 15th century BCE, first as part of the Assuwa league. Most scholars identify it with Troy at Hisarlik, guarding the entrance to the Dardanelles, whose sixth and seventh cities were large walled citadels with a lower town.

Rule and society

Its kings ruled as vassals of the Hittite Empire. Around 1280 BCE Muwatalli II made a treaty with Alaksandu of Wilusa, whose name resembles Alexandros, Homer's Paris, and the treaty invokes a god Appaliuna. Later letters show the Mycenaean king of Ahhiyawa contesting control of Wilusa and the deposition of a king named Walmu.

Decline and legacy

Troy VIIa was destroyed by fire around 1180 BCE, at the end of the Late Bronze Age, and Wilusa vanishes from written sources. Greek epic transformed its memory into the story of the Trojan War.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (2)

  • Wilusa was part of Assuwa1430 BCE – 1400 BCE
  • Wilusa was a vassal of Hittite Empire1300 BCE – 1180 BCE

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻