Hayasa-Azzi
[1] Hittite inscriptions deciphered in the 1920s by the Swiss scholar Emil Forrer testify to the existence of the mountainous country, Hayasa-Azzi, lying to the east of Hatti in the Upper Euphrates region.
[1] Hayasa-Azzi seems to have been bordered by Isuwa (later known as Sophene, now known as Elazig) and Pahhuwa (perhaps near modern Divriği or Bingol Province) to the south or the west.
[2][3] The eastern extent of Hayasa-Azzi is unknown, although some have placed it in the area of modern Tercan,[4] or as far east as Lake Van[2][5] or the Ararat Plain.
[7][8] Alternately, another theory proposes a connection to the Huša(ni), mentioned by the Urartian kings Argishti I and Sarduri II in the 8th century BC.
[4] Alternately, a form of the name Azzi may have continued into the 17th century CE as Azntsik, a district of Ani-Kammahk (Kemah) in Upper Armenia.
[9] The capital of Hayasa-Azzi is unknown, but its main fortress was Ura, possibly located somewhere near modern Bayburt or along the Kelkit River.
According to historian Aram Kosyan, it is possible that the origins of Hayasa-Azzi lie in the Trialeti-Vanadzor culture, which expanded from Transcaucasia toward northeastern modern Turkey in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC.
The Egyptian pharaoh, Amenhotep III, even wrote to Tarhundaradu, king of Arzawa: "I have heard that everything is finished and that the country of Hattusa is paralysed" (EA 31, 26–27).
[17] However, Tudhaliya managed to rally his forces; indeed, the speed and determination of the Hittite king may have surprised Hatti's enemies including the Kaska and Hayasa-Azzi.
The Hittitologist Trevor R. Bryce notes, however, that Tudhaliya and Suppiluliuma eventually: invaded Hayasa-Azzi and forced a showdown with its king Karanni (or Lanni) near the city of Kumaha.
[18][16]: 162–163 The Hayasans were now obliged to repatriate all captured Hittite subjects and cede "the border [territory] which Suppiluliuma claimed belonged to the Land of Hatti.
"[16]: 163 Despite the restrictions imposed upon Hakkani, he was not a completely meek and submissive brother-in law of the Hittites in political and military affairs.
During their reigns, the cuneiform tablets of Boğazköy begin to mention the names of three successive kings who ruled over a state of Hayasa and/or Azzi.
Such an act cannot be permitted in Hatti.The kingdom of Hayasa-Azzi remained a loyal Hittite vassal state for a time, perhaps hit by the same plague which claimed Suppiluliuma and his son Arnuwanda II.
The Hittite King Mursili II, having defeated Pihhuniya, marched to the borders of Hayasa-Azzi where he demanded Anniya return his captured subjects.
[19] In the following spring, he crossed the Euphrates and re-organized his army at Ingalova which, about ten centuries later, was to become the treasure-house and burial-place of the Armenian kings of the Arshakuni Dynasty.
[20] Worse still, Mursili II was forced to face another crisis in the same year with the death of his brother Sarri-Kusuh, the Hittite viceroy of Syria.
This Nuwanza did by inflicting a resounding defeat against the Hayasa-Azzi invaders at the Battle of Ganuvara; henceforth, Upper Land would remain "firmly in Hittite hands for the rest of Mursili's reign under the immediate authority of a local governor appointed by the king.
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?
[9] Other regions of Azzi probably correspond to areas of the Nairian state of Urartu, mentioned in Assyrian records from around this same time.
[30][14] Some scholars argue that the Hayasan king name Mariya is connected to Sanskrit marya, meaning 'young man, warrior', and thus indicates a possible Indo-Iranian presence (perhaps related to the Mitanni) in Hayasa-Azzi.
The main temples of many pre-Christian Armenian gods such as Aramadz, Anahit, Mher, Nane, and Barsamin were located where Hayasa had likely been.
[38] Ani-Kammahk, probably the Kummaha of Hittite sources, was the main cultic center of the goddess Anahit and the location of the Armenian royal tombs during the Classical era.
[43] The mentioning of the name Armenia can only be securely dated to the 6th century BC with the Orontid kings and very little is known specifically about the people of Hayasa-Azzi per se.
[16]: 158–163 Igor Diakonoff argues the pronunciation of Hayasa was probably closer to Khayasa, with an aspirated h. According to him, this nullifies the connection to Armenian Hay (հայ).
"[3] Additionally, Khayasa can be reconciled with Hay as the Hittite h and kh phonemes are interchangeable, a feature present in certain Armenian dialects as well.
