Anatolian Trade with Europe and Anatolian Geography and Culture Provinces in the Late Bronze Age

Abstract

In another article in this volume, James Macqueen has re-examined the political geography of Western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age on the basis of the Hittite texts. As long ago as 1957 we discussed these problems together at Beycesultan and the results that he has reached independently agree in all major points with mine, which are shown in Fig. 1. For the last fifteen years travel and exploration has carried me through most of the territory here discussed, and with this advantage the archaeologist is able to make a contribution towards the problems raised by the inadequacy of the texts which are not concerned with geographical details, but with politics. In a study of this kind an initial knowledge of the terrain and its archaeological remains is essential. In my opinion a thorough knowledge of classical, i.e. mainly Roman and Byzantine conditions in Anatolia is a definite disadvantage, for the conditions imposed by this essentially foreign occupation bear no relation to earlier patterns of settlement and the possibility of chance survivals of place names tends to distract the student of Second Millennium geography. Many of our troubles stem from rash identifications of place names of which one may single out those of Millawanda-Miletus, Lukka-Lycia and Ahhiyawa-Mycenaean Greece (or Rhodes) as key points in any geographical reconstruction.