Pala (Anatolia)

Pala (cuneiform pa-la-a[1]) was a Bronze Age country in Northern Anatolia. Nothing more is known about Pala than its native language, which is the Palaic language (palaumnili), and its native religion.[2] The only person known who is of Palaic origin is a ritual priestess Anna.[3]

Pala Pala
Unknown–at the latest 1178 BC
The location of Pala in Northern Bronze Age Anatolia
Capital	Unknown
Common languages	Palaic
Religion	Palaic religion
Historical era	Bronze Age
• Established	Unknown
• Disestablished	at the latest 1178 BC
Preceded by Succeeded by Hattians Paphlagonia
Today part of	Turkey

Location

The country of Pala can be located in the Black Sea region. There are two possibilities where Pala may have laid in this region. The first possibility is the country known as Paphlagonia in classical antiquity. The second possibility is the territory which was called Blaene in antiquity. Both equations are based on phonetic similarity. A country named *Bla leading to Blaene in cuneiform script only could have been written as pa-la-a.[4]

History

In the Old Hittite period Pala was mentioned as an administrative area under Hittite jurisdiction in the Hittite laws.[5] At the end of the Old Hittite period, contact between the Hittites and Pala ceased because of the Kaskian capture of the Black Sea region.[6] It is likely that the Palaic peoples disappeared with the Kaskian invasion.[7]

Mythology

The Palaic mythology is known from cuneiform ritual texts from the temple of the Palaic storm god in the Hittite capital Ḫattuša where the cult of Palaic deities continued even when contacts between Hittites and Pala had disappeared.[8] The following deities are known:

Name	Gender/Number	Notes	Alternative Names	Hittite or Luwian equation
Ziparwa[9]	god	Palaic major god,[10] storm god[11]	Zaparwa, name of Hattian origin[12]	Tarḫuna, Tarḫunt[13]
Kataḫzipuri[14]	goddess	wife of Zaparwa[15]	Kataḫziwuri,[16] name of Hattian origin[17]	Kamrušepa[18]
Tiyaz[19]	god	sun god[20]	Tiyad[21]	Sun God of Heaven, Tiwaz[22]
Gulzannikeš[23]	goddesses	fate goddesses[24]	Gulzikannikeš[25]	Daraweš Gulšeš[26]
Ḫašamili[27]	god		Ḫašammili, name of Hattian origin[28]
Inar[29]	goddess
Kamama[30]	god		Kammamma[31]
Hearth[32]	deity	hearth deity
Šaušḫalla[33]	deity		Šaušḫilla[34]
Ḫilanzipa[35]	deity		Ḫilašši[36]
Ḫašauwanza[37]	deity
Aššanuwant[38]	deity			Aššiyat[39]
Ilaliyantikeš[40]	deities		Ilaliyant[41]
Kuwanšeš[42]	deities
Uliliyantikeš[43]	deities			Uliliyašši[44]

Literature

• Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Harrassowitz Verlag: Wiesbaden 2008. ISBN 978-3-447-05708-0
• Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009. ISBN 978-3-447-05885-8

References

1. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 60.
2. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
3. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
4. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
5. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 60 f.
6. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
7. Ramat, Anna Giacalone; Ramat, Paolo (2015). The Indo-European Languages. Routledge. p. 172. ISBN 113492187X. The Palaic peoples were very quickly overwhelmed by the invasions of the Kaskas, a non-IE people from the East, who swept them away and for centuries kept attacking the Hittite kingdom
8. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
9. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
10. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
11. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
12. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
13. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
14. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
15. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
16. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
17. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
18. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
19. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
20. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
21. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
22. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 59.
23. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 59.
24. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 59.
25. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
26. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, S. 50.
27. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
28. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
29. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
30. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
31. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
32. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
33. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
34. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
35. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
36. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
37. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
38. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 59.
39. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 59.
40. Maciej Popko: Völker und Sprachen Altanatoliens. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 61.
41. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
42. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 58.
43. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 59.
44. Piotr Taracha: Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia. Wiesbaden 2009, p. 59.