Lukka lands

The term Lukka lands (sometimes Luqqa lands), in Hittite language texts from the 2nd millennium BC, is a collective term for states formed by the Lukka people in south-west Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). The Lukka were never subjugated long-term by the Hittites, who generally viewed them as hostile. It is commonly accepted that the Bronze Age toponym Lukka is cognate with the Lycia of classical antiquity (8th century BC to 5th century AD).

The states formed by the Lukka (lower left) were located in south-west Anatolia/Asia Minor.

Origins

The earliest known reference to the Lukka is from an inscription at Byblos dated to 2000 BCE, citing "Kukun, son of the Lukkan." It is understood to have an Anatolian context.[1] Bryce suggested a Luwian connection:

Other groups seem to have remained in or returned to their original homelands. Notable amongst these were the Luwian-speaking inhabitants of the Lukka Lands in south-west Anatolia. These became prominent in the countries which in the first millennium BC the Greeks called Lycaonia and Lycia. The countries in question were part of the original Lukka homeland. In Lycia the native population was joined by immigrants from other regions, probably including Crete. But the original inhabitants retained a number of features of the civilization and culture of their Bronze Age Luwian ancestors, most evident in the names of their deities and in their language, which was closely related to Bronze Age Luwian. Further, there is a notable persistence of Hittite and Luwian place-names in first millennium Lycia; thus Arnna (Greek Xanthos) derives from Late Bronze Age Awarna, Ptara (Greek Patara) from Patar(a), Pinara from Pinal ], Tlawa (Greek Tlos) from T/ Dalawa, Oenoanda from Wiyanawanda. With the exception of the last of these, all are names of settlements in the Xanthos valley region. The survival of such a contingent of names of Bronze Age origin denoting towns or communities in close proximity to each other seems to reflect a stable population group which remained relatively unaffected by the upheavals which were associated with the demise of the major Bronze Age kingdoms…

— Trevor Bryce[2]

Mosetto comments that Lucania is named after the Lucca without opining on their ultimate origins.[3] Melchert suggested "the term "Lukka" might have applied to a specific region in the southwest of Anatolia, inhabited by Luwian-speaking peoples but without clearly defined boundaries and with no overall political organization as well as any other regions, or all regions collectively, with a predominantly Luwian population" as the older term "Luwiya" disappeared from historical memory.[4]

Location
A reference map of related regions in the Classical and Roman ages.

There is no consensus on the precise location of the Lukka lands. Bryce believed they extended "from the western end of Pamphylia, through Lycaonia, Pisidia and Lycia."[2][5] Keen thought it was "evident that the Lukka Lands extended as far north as Millawanda/Miletos; the border, such as existed, was probably along the Maiandros valley" and that [the Lukka] were driven out of Caria by the Leleges at the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE.[6]

History

Soldiers from the Lukka lands fought on the Hittite side in the famous Battle of Kadesh (c. 1274 BC) against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II. A century later, the Lukka had turned against the Hittites. The Hittite king Suppiluliuma II tried in vain to defeat the Lukka. They contributed to the collapse of the Hittite Empire.

The Lukka are also known from texts in Ancient Egypt as one of the tribes of the Sea Peoples, who invaded Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean in the 12th century BC.[2][5]

See also

Notes
  1. Robbins, Manuel. Collapse of the Bronze Age: The Story of Greece, Troy, Israel, Egypt, and the Peoples of the Sea. United States, Authors Choice Press, 2001.
  2. Bryce, Trevor. The Kingdom of the Hittites, p. 348-349. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, 1999.
  3. Mosetto, Mario. Origins of European Peoples: Part One: Ancient History. United States, AuthorHouse UK, 2018.
  4. The Luwians, p. 43-44. Netherlands, Brill, 2003.
  5. Yakubovich, Ilya. Sociolinguistics of the Luvian Language. Studies in Indo-European Languages & Linguistics 2. Leiden: Brill, 2010.
  6. Keen, Antony G.. Dynastic Lycia: A Political History of the Lycians and Their Relations with Foreign Powers, C. 545-362 B.C., p. 219. Netherlands, Brill, 2018.
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