The name Awarikkus/Warikkas is not Luwian,[8] and several etymologies have been proposed for it, including a Hurrian one and various Greek ones:[7]
one proposal is that the various forms go back to a unique form *Awarikas;[8]
another suggestion is that 𔐓𔗬𔗜𔗔 was pronounced Awarkus and represented an Ancient Greek name Euarkhos (Ευαρχος), meaning "fit for rule," while 𔗬𔖱𔓯𔗧𔗦 corresponded to the Cypriot name recorded in Greek as Rhoikos (Ροικος) and in Eteocypriot as wo-ro-i-ko (𐠵𐠦𐠂𐠍), meaning "crooked" and "lame."[9]
The name Awarikkus referred to in the Karatepe and Çineköy inscriptions as ʾwrk (𐤀𐤅𐤓𐤊), and Warikkas is referred to in the Hasanbeyli and Cebelireis inscriptions as WRYK (𐤅𐤓𐤉𐤊).[7]
The scholars Trevor Bryce, Max Gander consider Warikas and Awarikus to be the same individual.[13][14][15]
The scholars Stephen Durnford and Max Gander consider Awarikus/Warikas to be different from the king WRYK of the Cebelireis inscription, whom they identify as a later ruler who reigned in the 7th century BCE.[16]
Awarikus claimed descent from one Muksas, who is also referred to in his Phoenician language inscriptions as MPŠ (𐤌𐤐𐤔), and also appears in Greek sources under the name of Mopsos (Μοψος) as a legendary founder of several Greek settlements across the coast of Anatolia during the early Iron Age. This suggests that Awarikus belonged to a dynasty which had been founded by a Greek colonist leader.[7][13][17]
Awarikus became a vassal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the rule of its king Tiglath-pileser III,[18] who listed Awarikus as one of his tributaries in 738 BCE.[7][19]
Awarikus seems to have remained a loyal vassal of the Neo-Assyrian throughout most of his reign, thanks to which he was able to reign in Ḫiyawa for a very long period until throughout the rules of Tiglath-pileser III and his successor Shalmaneser V, and was still reigning when Sargon II became the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.[11][13][20][21][22]
In his inscription from his later reign, Awarikus claimed to have enjoyed good relations with his overlord, the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II, with Awarikus's relation with Sargon II appearing to have been an alliance or partnership through a treaty according to which Sargon II was the protector and suzerain of Awarikus.[23][7] According to this inscription, Awarikus had a very close relationship with Sargon II, and he declared that Sargon II himself and the Neo-Assyrian royal dynasty had become "a mother and father" to him and that the peoples of Ḫiyawa and Assyria had "become one house."[13]
According to this same inscription, Awarikus had built 15 fortresses in the west and east of Ḫiyawa.[24][13]
At one point during his reign, Awarikus promoted a certain Azzattiwadas to a position of authority subordinate to the crown, likely as a regional ruler in eastern Ḫiyawa, although exact details of Azzattiwadas's exact rank have so far not survived.[25][3][7]
Alternatively, Azzattiwadas was the regent while Awarikus was still too young to rule.[26][15]
After Sargon II's son-in-law and vassal, the king Ambaris of Bīt-Burutaš, had rebelled against the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 713 BCE, he deposed Ambaris and annexed Bīt-Burutaš.[24][27]
As part of his reorganisation of the Anatolian possessions of the Neo-Assyrian Empire after the annexation of Bīt-Burutaš, in 713 BCE itself Sargon II imposed a Neo-Assyrian governor on Ḫiyawa who also had authority on Bīt-Burutaš, as well as on the nearby kingdoms of Ḫilakku and Tuwana.[24][13][21][7]
Under this arrangement, Awarikus became subordinate to Aššur-šarru-uṣur, who was the first governor of Que, as Ḫiyawa was called in the Neo-Assyrian Akkadian language. Thus, Awarikus was either reduced to the status of a token king or deposed and demoted to a lower position such as an advisor of the governor, while Aššur-šarru-uṣur held all the effective power although the Neo-Assyrian administration sought to preserve, for diplomatic purposes, the illusion that Awarikus was still the ruler of Ḫiyawa in partnership with Aššur-šarru-uṣur.[24][28][21]
Thus Hiyawa and other nearby Anatolian kingdoms were placed the authority of Aššur-šarru-uṣur.[29][30][31] Following the appointment of Aššur-šarru-uṣur, Awarikus of Ḫiyawa and Warpalawas II of Tuwana became largely symbolic rulers although they might have still held the power to manage their kingdoms locally.[21]
The reason for these changes was due to the fact that, although Awarikus and Warpalawas II had been loyal Neo-Assyrian vassals, Sargon II considered them as being too elderly to be able to efficiently uphold Neo-Assyrian authority in southeastern Anatolia, where the situation had become volatile because of encroachment by the then growing power of Phrygian kingdom.[21]
The appointment of Aššur-šarru-uṣur as his superior might have led to tensions between him Awarikkus, who had likely been left disillusioned with Neo-Assyrian rule after his long period of loyal service to the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Therefore, Awarikus might have attempted to rebel against the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and therefore in 710 or 709 BCE he sent an embassy composed of fourteen delegates to Urartu to negotiate with the Urartian king in preparation for his rebellion.[24][27][32][7]
This embassy was however intercepted by the king Midas of Phrygia, who was seeking a rapprochement with the Neo-Assyrian Empire and therefore handed it over to Aššur-šarru-uṣur.[24][27][32]
Awarikus was consequently deposed, and possibly executed, by the Neo-Assyrian Empire for attempting to revolt, after which Ḫiyawa was annexed into the Neo-Assyrian Empire as the province of Que, and Aššur-šarru-uṣur was given full control of Que, which merely formalised the powers that he had already held.[24][33][32]
The exact fate of Awarikus is however unknown,[34] and he might already have been dead by the time that Midas handed over his delegation to Assur-sarru-usur, hence why no mention of punishing him appears in the Neo-Assyrian records.[35]
In 705 BCE, Sargon II campaigned against the Cimmerians in Tabal, where he died in battle against a Tabalian ruler called Gurdi of Kulummu. Following Sargon II's death, the Neo-Assyrian Empire lost control of its Anatolian territories, which descended into a state of chaos.[36]
Among the territories which were destabilised in the aftermath of Sargon II's death in battle was Ḫiyawa, where Awarikus's subordinate Azzattiwadas organised a significant military force to restore authority throughout the kingdom by expelling possible Cimmerian or Phrygian invaders.[37] As part of his efforts to protect Ḫiyawa, Azzattiwadas built a series of fortifications throughout the kingdom similar to how his overlord had done, one of which was a hill-top fortified settlement named Azzattiwadaya after himself. Azzattiwadas also claimed to have expanded the territory of Ḫiyawa, to which he declared having brought prosperity, as well as filled the granaries of the city of Pahar and replenished the grazing lands with sheep and goats.[38][39]
These actions of Azzattiwadas were done in the name of the House of Muksas, which he restored to power by placing Awarikus's son on the throne of Ḫiyawa.[40]
Hawkins, John D.[in German] (2000). Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions. Vol. 1: Inscriptions of the Iron Age. Part 1: Text, Introduction, Karatepe, Karkamis, Tell Ahmar, Maras, Malatya, Commagene. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN978-3-110-10864-4.
Weeden, Mark; Taniguchi, Junko (2024). Hawkins, John David[in German] (ed.). Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions: Volume 3: Inscriptions of the Hittite Empire and New Inscriptions of the Iron Age. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter. ISBN978-3-11077899-1.
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