Piyama-Radu

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Piyama-Radu (also spelled Piyamaradu, Piyama Radu, Piyamaradus, Piyamaraduš) was a warlike aristocratic personage whose name figures prominently in the Hittite archives of the middle and late 13th century BC in western Anatolia. His history is of particular interest because it appears to intertwine with that of the Trojan War.

[edit] Meaning of the name

The name appears composed of the Luwian forms piyama "gift" plus radu which may be the name of a (divine) benefactor.[1] Other Luwwian names of this type (Piyama-X) are attested, such as Piyama-Kurunta. See Theophoric names, and compare to the Hebrew form Nathaniel ("Gift of El").

[edit] The Exploits of Piyama-Radu

Perhaps the most concise description of Piyama-Radu was that he was a kinglet at Wilusa (Troy). He overthrew a Hittite client king in Wilusa ([W]Ilios=Troy) named Kikunni (Kukunni). He tried to reassert his own dynastic claim by staging an invasion of Lazpa/Laspa (Lesbos)—"sacker of cities" (ptoliporthios) being a royal victory title during the Bronze Age. This he probably did in concert with an application to the Great King of Hatti[2] to be accepted into Hittite vassal status as a sub-king. When his application was deprecated, he rebelled, wishing to assert his putative dynastic rights. The Great King of Hatti suppressed him through the agency of a certain other trusted vassal, Manapa-Tarhunta.

Because he had asserted himself against the Great King of Hatti, and allied himself with the Great King of Ahhiyawa (Achaea, i.e Mycenean Greece), his characterization in the Hittite archives is that of "troublemaker", "adventurer", "freebooter", or "mercenary"; from his own point of view he may have considered himself merely to be asserting his own rightful (hereditary?) status. The salience of his exploits in the record, together with his name and claim, render dynastic parameters plausible.

[edit] Identification with Homeric personages

Piyama-Radu has been conjectured to correspond to the archetype embodied in the epic/legendary Priam of Troy in the Iliad. The epic Priam's son Paris/Alexandros, identified with Alaksandu, a Wilusan king known to have made a treaty with the Hittite monarch Muwatalli II, has a less speculative identification.[3]

If Piyama-Radu was no more than an irksome advendurer, it must be one of those curious (though not uncommon) "flash-in-the-pans" of history that his name has persisted for more than 3000 years. Nevertheless, at least one French source has no hesitancy in designating him as roi ("king").[4]

[edit] Hittite archives

The relevant Hittite archival correspondence referring to him include:

  • Manapa-Tarhunta letter "...a notorious local troublemaker called Piyamaradu is harrying Wilusiya, a land of the Assuwa federation loosely allied with the Hittite Empire. The Hittite king has apparently ordered Manapa-Tarhunda to drive out Piyamaradu himself, but Manapa-Tarhunda's attempt has failed, so that the a Hittite force is now sent out to deal with the problem."
  • Tawagalawa letter "The letter would be more appropriately known as the 'Piyama-Radu letter'".
  • Milawata letter "Like the Tawagalawa letter and also the Manapa-Tarhunta letter, the Milawata letter mentions the infamous adventurer Piyama-Radu; but as a figure of the past."

[edit] References

  1. ^ Arzawa Pages
  2. ^ Muwatalli II according to Gurney; Hattusili III, according to an earlier consensus)
  3. ^ Transanatolia
  4. ^ "Une rapide campagne est nécessaire pour s'assurer de la loyauté de l'incertaine Arzawa et du roi Piyamaradu."[1]

[edit] Bibliography

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