The Hittite Titletuhkanti-

Abstract

The so-called Tawagalawas Letter – the longest and most controversial document in the Ahhiyawa dossier – opens with the well-known incident in which (as hitherto understood) Tawagalawas sends a message to the Hittite king demanding recognition as a vassal and requesting the dispatch of thetuhkanti- to conduct him into the royal presence. The king dispatches theTARTĒNU, one of his sons, but Tawagalawas refuses to go with him and demands immediate recognition on the spot. The demand is refused and the king protests to the king of Ahhiyawa in this letter about the insult inflicted on his representative.Dr. Itamar Singer has shown, in an article later in this volume, that the applicant for vassaldom was most probably not Tawagalawas at all but Piyamaradus, whose activities are the subject of the rest of the document. The present article however is concerned rather with the rank of the envoy sent by the Hittite king.