Along the road to Tarḫuntašša – Journeys, Tributes and Celebrations
The importance of Hittite Southern Anatolia is well known, mainly because it was the key area of connection between the core of the Hittite Empire and the contemporary’s kingdoms of North-western Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt. Differently from Northern Anatolia and the Central Black Sea area, for this region we have few sources describing ritual pilgrimages and/or travels of the royal family and the court during festivals, which could help in giving a more accurate knowledge of its territory. In this paper I will examine the content of some Hittite tablets dealing with the journey of an unknown official along the road that goes from Central to South Anatolia, reaching the area of Tarḫuntašša and beyond. With the help of these sources, and others relevant for our purposes, I will try to explore new paths in the study of the Hittite Lower Land from a geographical and liturgical perspective.