Samuha

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Samuha is an as-yet-undiscovered city of the
Hittites. It served as a religious
centre and, for a few years, as the military capital for the
empire.

1. Religion

Samuha's faith was syncretistic. Rene
Lebrun in 1976 called Samuha the "religious foyer of the
Hittite Empire".

In the treaty between the Hittite king Mursili II and Duppi-Tessub of Amurru (c. 1315 BC), the Hittites swear by the god
Abara whose sanctuary was in Samuha. The treaty further mentions a
Storm God in classic Anatolian style. It is unknown if Abara and
this Storm God were equivalent.

CTH 480 is a ritual ascribed to Samuha, which Melchert has dated on linguistic grounds to the
Late Hittite period (1350-1200 BC). It shows Hurrian influence. Middle Hittite Revisited The treaty
between Suppiluliuma I and Shattiwaza of Mitanni further names the Storm God of Samuha as
the Hurrian Teshub, but this could be for the sake of
diplomacy.

In addition, the Hattusa tablets CTH
710-2 preserve festival rites to a goddess whom the scribes equated
to Akkadian Ishtar. Mursili appointed his youngest son
Hattusili III priest of the goddess
of Hurrian name Sausga / Shaushka in Samuha, and when Hattusili was
governing on behalf of the throne then sited at Tarhuntassa he adopted "the Ishtar of
Samuha" as protector. It is thought that the Ishtar and Sausga
are equivalent.[1]

Mursili II also wrote KUB 32.133. According to Ada Taggar-Cohen, KUB 32.133 tells of
this time:

    King Tudhaliya III "ordered a new cult for the
    [Kizzuwatnan] Deity of the Night to be established in Samuha.
    However, a short while after “the wooden-tablet-scribes and the
    temple-men (=priests) came, and they falsified the ceremonies and
    the cultic obligations (ishhiules), which he had mandated
    for the temple of the Deity of the Night. Mursili, the great king,
    [after hearing about the incident] rewrote the cultic obligations
    on the spot.”) Tudhaliya III introduced a new deity to the cult of
    Samuha. He did it by entrusting the priesthood with written tablets
    (in cuneiform), which are tablets of i�hil. By these tablets the
    priests are obliged to fulfill the worship of that deity. But the
    priests did not like the change in their cultic procedure and they
    rewrote the tablets. Mur�ili II, who learned of their conduct,
    rewrote the tablets anew and imposed the laws and regulations of
    the new cult, which was transferred from Kizzuwatna to Samuha. We
    learn three things from the Hittite text: 1) the introduction of a
    new cult is formalized through tablets of ishhiul upon
    which the regulations and laws of the cult are written; 2) the
    introduction of a new cult is initiated by the king and carried out
    by cult professionals, in our case the priests; 3) the priests tend
    to reject changes to their familiar cult practice and adhere to
    their old ways, unless forced by the leadership to change
    them.


2. History

Samuha was a primary base of field operations for the Hittites
while the Kaskas were plundering the
Hatti heartland, including the historic
capital Hattusa, during the 14th century
BC under kings Tudhaliya I-III and Suppiluliuma I. During this period, the
religions of Samuha and Sapinuwa became influenced by the faith of
the Hurrians.

Excavations at Sapinuwa have revealed
that at the beginning of this time, Sapinuwa held the archives for
the kingdom. Under either Tudhaliya I
or Tudhaliya II, Sapinuwa was burnt.
Hattusili III later recorded of
this time that Azzi had "made
Samuha its frontier".

Samuha then became the base for the reconquests of Tudhaliya III and his then-general
Suppiluliuma. The Deeds of Suppiluliuma report that he brought
Kaska captives back to Samuha after a campaign toward Hayasa
(connected somehow with Azzi) on Tudhaliya's behalf. Tudhaliya
III himself centralised the faith of Kizzuwatna to Samuha.

(Mursili further records in his annals that when Suppiluliuma
was king, the Arawannans invaded the land of the Kassiyans near
"Sammaha". Some translators think that this may be a Late
Hittite pronunciation of "Samuha"; compare the mid 14th
century BC "Suppiluliuma I" with late 13th century BC
"Suppiluliama". However,
elsewhere Arawanna and Kassiya are not associated with Samuha.
Mursili in his fifth year - c. 1317 BC - moved to the city of
Ziulila in the vicinity of Sammaha to rescue the Kassiyans.)

Mursili appointed his youngest son Hattusili III priest of the Sausga / Ishtar
in Samuha. The Hittites of Hattusa apparently remembered the
goddess of Samuha as a protective deity.

Samuha disappears from the historical record after Hattusili
III.

Category: Hittite Capitals

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