Tabal Kingdom: Map & History
Tabal, later reorganised into Bīt-Burutaš or Bīt-Paruta, was a Luwian-speaking Neo-Hittite state which existed in southeastern Anatolia in the Iron Age.
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Tabal, later reorganised into Bīt-Burutaš or Bīt-Paruta, was a Luwian-speaking Neo-Hittite state which existed in southeastern Anatolia in the Iron Age.
Modern Countries Once Part of Tabal Kingdom
At its mapped extent, Tabal Kingdom covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Tabal Kingdom's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Tabal Kingdom in Depth
History
A possible but uncertain early reference to Tabal from the Late Bronze Age might have been the "Land of Tuali" (Middle Assyrian Akkadian: 𒆳𒌅𒀀𒇷, romanized: māt Tuali) whose king was member of a coalition of 23 rulers whom the Middle Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser I defeated during his first campaign in Nairi. The name Tuali might have been an Akkadian form of a Luwian original name Tuwattis which had experienced the Luwian sound shift from /t/ to /l/. The name Tuali/Tuwattis appears to have belonged to an ancestral king of the kingdom, whose name was then reused by the later kings of this state.
Another possible but uncertain reference to Tabal might have been the prince Tuwattis whose image was carved in the Lion Gate of Malatya.
Geography
The kingdom of Tabal was one of the several states located in the larger region of Tabal, and was the northernmost and largest of them: the territory of Tabal proper was bounded to the north by the Halys river and it covered the areas surrounding what is presently the city of Kayseri in the modern Turkish provinces of Kayseri, Nevşehir, and Niğde until as far south as the region corresponding to present-day Aksaray. To the west, Tabal reached Lake Tatta, while it bordered Malizi in the east.
Some inscriptions referencing its king Tuwattis II nevertheless suggest that the kingdom of Tabal might have had some control in the areas to the north of the Halys river as well.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Tabal (state) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Tabal Kingdom: Key Facts
| Form of government | monarchy |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | 8th century BCE |
Facts from Wikidata Q727710 (CC0).
Tabal Kingdom Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Tabal Kingdom appears, with the other states of the time.
Tabal Kingdom Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 38,587 km² in 726 BCE.
Tabal Kingdom: Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Tabal Kingdom exist?
The Tabal Kingdom is dated to 900 BCE – 701 BCE, in the Bronze & Iron Age Civilizations era.
What was the capital of the Tabal Kingdom?
The capital of the Tabal Kingdom was Artulu.
How large was the Tabal Kingdom at its peak?
At its peak in 726 BC the Tabal Kingdom covered about 38,587 km².
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