over some of the western lands for himself, while he still remained,
at least officially, a Hittite subject.
So what was the actual purpose of the Madduwatta document?
What we have in the Hittite archives must be a copy of an original
sent to Madduwatta himself–otherwise, there would be no point
in the document at all. I think it most likely that the so-called
Indictment is intended as a prelude to a new set of agreements
between Madduwatta and his current Hittite overlord Arnu-
wanda. The subject-ruler is called upon to acknowledge his past
misdemeanours as a means of clearing the space for a new pact
with the Great King, involving concessions on both sides:
Madduwatta would still continue to hold sway over the territories
he had won in the west, while acknowledging overall Hittite
sovereignty, and keeping out of the territories the Hittites already
claimed as their own. Arnuwanda may well have hoped that this
would be enough to keep western lands like those of the Arzawa
group out of the Hittites’hair–a least for the time being.
All this is my take on the Madduwatta document and my
attempt to read between its lines. Can you provide a more plausible
interpretation?
PROBLEMS ELSEWHERE
We don’t know what eventually became of Madduwatta, but his
current boss Arnuwanda had to turn his attention urgently to
threats to his kingdom’s security from other regions. A serious
crisis had emerged in the homeland’s northern territories when
Kaska tribal groups crossed the Hittite frontier and sacked many
cult-centres in the region. The devastation inflicted by the invaders
is described in a prayer to the Sun-Goddess by Arnuwanda and his
queen Asmunikal:
The Kaska-men destroyed your temples and smashed your
images, O gods. They plundered silver and gold, libation
vessels and cups of silver, gold and copper, your objects of
bronze and your garments, and they shared them among
themselves. They divided up the priests, the holy priests, the
priestesses, the anointed ones, the musicians, the singers, theLION OR PUSSYCAT? 71