THE TIDE TURNS
Surviving fragments of DS provide us with scraps of information
about Tudhaliya’s campaigns of reconquest. Most of these campaigns
were conducted in partnership with his comrade-in-arms Suppilu-
liuma. As far as we can tell, the overall plan of recovery was to
concentratefirstly on the enemies nearest the Hittites’operating base
at Samuha, in particular the Kaska people in the north and the
warriors of the land of Azzi-Hayasa in the northeast. Their forces
wereflushed from the homeland, and the Hittites followed up their
counterattacks against them by invading and plundering their own
lands. The Kaska region in particular was subjected to repeated
onslaughts. These inflicted heavy casualties and ended with large
numbers of prisoners-of-war, booty-people, being brought back to
the Hittites’base territory. Suppiluliuma was later to take away Azzi-
Hayasa’s independence and make it a Hittite subject-state. Then, as
the homeland was slowly won back, Tudhaliya and Suppiluliuma
turned their attention further westwards. Here, they liberated former
Hittite subject-territories like the Hulana River Land and then went
on to attack and ravage the countries that had occupied them.
But the most dangerous of all the Hittites’Anatolian enemies
had yet to be confronted. Arzawa formed the largest and most
powerful enemy bloc, and the territories it covered in the west were
vast. Conquests of them would take Hittite armies far from their
homeland. Unfortunately at this time, Tudhaliya seems to have
suffered repeated bouts of illness (perhaps as a result of war
wounds?) and was increasingly confined to his bed in Samuha. But
resolution of the Arzawa problem could not be delayed indefinitely,
and Suppiluliuma sought from the king permission to take over his
forces as sole commander-in-chief for operations against the
western invaders:‘O my lord! Send me against the enemy from
Arzawa!’ The king gave his consent, and thus Suppiluliuma’s
Arzawan campaigns began.
His undertaking was no easy one, and its ultimate success long
remained elusive. To be sure, he claimed great victories against his
foe, but he suffered major setbacks as well. As one group was
defeated, others rose up and joined forces with fellow enemy-groups
78 WARRIORS OF ANATOLIA