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Hittite inscriptions deciphered by E. Forrer
testify to the existence of a mountain country, the Hayasa, lying
around the Lake of Van. Hayasa or Khayasa identified with Haik, Hayk
or Hark, was inhabited before the coming of Armens. The suffix sa of
Hayasa corresponds to the stan, derivative of Hayasatan (Armenia).
Greeks knew about this country (Hayasa) and their writers wrote about
Armenians or hayers. The cuneiform tablets of Boghaz Keuy have
preserved the names of four succesive kings who ruled in Hayasa. They
were Karannish, Mariyash, Hukkanash and Anniyash, the four covering a
period of 55 years, from 1390 to 1335 B.C.
The first-named of this kings made incursions
into the Hatti or Hittite empire, which were checked by the Emperor
Dudhaliyash and hid successor, Subbiluliuma. Mariyash, the next king
of Hayasa, who had married a Hittite princess, was punished with death
because of his breach of matrimonial contract. Hukkanash, the third in
the line, also married a Hittite princess, the sister of the Emperor
Subbiluliuma.
The marriage treaty of this couple contained
some interesting stipulations peculiar to the time. “My sister, whom I
gave you in marriage,” says the Hatti rular, “ has sisters; through
your marriage, they now become your relatives. Well, there is a law in
the land of the Hatti. Do not approach sisters-in-law or your cousins;
that is not permitted. In Hatti Land, whosoever commits such an act
does not live; he dies. . . In your country, you do not hesitate to
marry your own sister-in-law or cousin, because you are not civilized.
Such an act cannot be permitted in Hatti.”
Despite these restrictions imposed upon
Hukkanash, he was no meek and submissive brother-in-law in political
and military affairs. As a condition for the release of the thousands
of Hittite prisoners held in his domain, he demanded first the return
home of the Hayasan prisoners confined at Hatti. The Hittite Empire
had been subject to contant harassment by its eastern neighbors, from
the basin of the upper Euphrates to Aravanna (Erevan of today) and
Tebruzzi (Tabriz). One of the most important of these enemies crouched
on its eastern border was the kingdom of Hayasa-Azzi (the name Azzi
represents the Alzi or Alzini of the Assyrian and Urartean
inscriptions).
"Mursil, the Hittite Emperor," say Cavaignac,
speaking of that period, " was busy in the wars waged against Azzi or
Hayasa, which were as bitter as those waged against Arzava (Weatern
Cilicia). About the beginning of Subbiluliuma's reign, that country
(Hayasa-Azzi) was subject to Hittite influence, but won its freedom
later on. Annyash, the King of Hayasa, had sacked several districts
and refused to release the prisoners taken. He had created a political
uniom of the tribes of Armenia, and organized a kingdom which extended
from the River Iris (Yerhil-Irmak) to the Lake of Van."
Hayasa's good fortune did not continue long,
however. The Hittite Mursil II, having consulted the oracles, invaded
Hayasa in 1340 B.C. In the following spring he crossed the Euphrates
and reorganized his army at Ingalova-Angegh, Angl-which, about ten
centuries later, was to become the treasure-house and burial-place of
the captured fortresses lay on the west side of the Lake of Van.
The Annals of Mursil thus describe
these campaigns:
"The people of Nahasse arose and besieged" (name
indecipher-able).
"Other enemies and people of Hayasa likewise.
. . . They plundered Institina, blockaded Ganuvara. . . with
troops and chariots. And because I had left Nuvanzas, the chief
cupbearer, and all the heads of the camp and troops and chariots in
the High Country, I wrote to Nuvanzas as follows; "See, the people of
Hayasa. . . have devastated Institina, and blockaded the city of
Ganuvara." . . . And Nuvanza led troops and chariots for aid and
marched to Ganuvara. . . And then he sent to me a messenger and
wrote to me; "Will you not go to consult for me the augur and the
foreteller? Could not a decision be made for me by the birds and the
flesh of the expiatory victims?" "And I sent to Nuvanza this
letter: 'See, I consulted for you birds and flesh, and they commanded,
Go! because these people of Hayasa, the God U, has already delivered
to you; strike them!' "And as I was returning from Astatan to
Carchemish, the royal prince Nana-Lu came to meet me on the road and
said, 'The Hayasa enemy having besieged Ganuvara. Nuvanza marche
against him and met him under the walls of Ganuvara. Ten thousand men
and seven hundred chariots were drawn up in battle against him, and
Nuvanza defeated them. There are many dead and many prisoners.' "
"And when I arrived in Tiggaramma, the chief cup-bearer Nuvanza and
all the noblemen came to meet me at Tiggaramma. I Should have marched
to Hayasa still, but the chiefs said to me, 'The season is now far
advanced, Sire, Lord! Do not go to Hayasa.' And I did not go to
Hayasa. Hayasa as a fighting power was practically eliminated by the
expedition of Mursil II in 1340 B.C. But after Mursil's premature
death in 1320 B.C. the Hatti empire suffered a series of shocks. His
elder brother Arvandas (Erouand) had also died young. A natural
phenomenon, the eclipse of the sun, had terrified the people. A
dreadful epidemic of some sort took a vast number of lives, including
that of the Queen. The population of the capital was decimated to such
a degree as to require the forced immigration of new inhabitants from
adjoining countries. Taking advantage of the ensuing debacle, Mursil's
nephew, Arma-u-as (Aramais?), contested against the heir-apparent for
the succession to the crown. Still more serious was the menace of the
sucession to the crown. Still more serious was the menace of the
external enemies of the land, especially those of the North and East,
who devastated the country in revenge for Mursil's conquests. A record
exists of the incursion of the Kaskas or Kaskians, who crossed the
Halys River with 800 chariots and advanced as far as the capital,
which they plundered.
The King was compelled to remove the idols
and the paraphernalia for the worship of the dead to a safer place.
The Kaskas-whose home was Armenia- attacked by way of Amasia. Leonard
King describes them as an "unruly people" living between the Euphrates
and the Lake of Van, and a constant menace to the Hatti. "No Hatti
King," says he, "was able to establish his power there permanently."
It may therefore be safely assumed that Hayasa still exerted its
influence. In any case, however, the days of Hattite hegemony were
numbered. The Assyrians forged ahead and gradually spread their
domination over southern and western Armenia.
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