Two new inscribed Storm-god stelae from Arsuz ((I)over dotskenderun): ARSUZ 1 and 2

Abstract

In 2007 two stelae, each bearing figures of the Storm-god leading a ruler and a duplicate Hieroglyphic Luwian text, were discovered at Ulucinar (formerly Arsuz), on the Turkish coast south of (I)over dotskenderun. The inscription is the work of a Suppiluliuma, son of Manana, king of the land of Walastin, now understood as the Luwian designation of the Amuq plain with its capital at the Iron Age site of Tell Tayinat. The stelae, probably dating to the later tenth century BC, record the successful reign of the ruler and his happy relations with the Storm-god. Historically important is a passage which describes this Amuq king's victory over the Cilician plain, the city of Adana and the land of Hiyawa.