Ursu and Ḫaššum

Abstract

Professor Garstang, Whose excavations and geographical studies have so notably increased sources of information about, and our knowledge of, eastern Cilicia in early times, will have watched with interest, and perhaps with amusement, the way in which, in modern studies of texts, locations proposed for Ursu have jumped about over a considerable area, in which physical features might be expected to restrict the possibilities. As the story of Ursu in the second millennium ends just before that of Qizzuwadana begins, so far as our present information goes, it may not be inappropriate to dedicate a brief account of the development of evidence about, and the changes of opinion concerning, the situation of the city and the land to the friend who has often discussed Qizzuwadana with me during the last thirty years; the course taken is not without its lessons for criticism, which should be a form of intellectual discipline.The reason for believing that Ursu was a city in the mountainous region Ibla was an inscription of GU.DE.A, that for identifying Ibla with part of the Amanus was based on texts concerning Naram-Sin. The argument seemed simple and logical enough for Peter Jensen to identify Ursu with Arsuz, by which, probably, he understood no more than a location on the coastal strip west of the Bailan Pass.