This article discusses one of the main problems of the Zalpa-text, namely that its mythological part deals with the relations between Zalpa and Nesa, but leaves Hattusa unmentioned, whereas its historical part deals with the relations between Zalpa and Hattussa, but contains no reference to Nesa. Following Martinez' 2016 suggestion that in the text's historical part Hattusa does not have the function of capital of the kings who feature in this story, but is merely used as a military base for the campaigns against Zalpa, it will be argued that during the historical events described in the Zalpa-text these kings in fact ruled from Nesa. A major consequence of this interpretation is that Nesa was the capital during the reigns of the early Hittite kings Huzziia 1 and Labarna I and also that HattuSili I ascended the throne there before he moved his court to Hattusa.

INTRODUCTION

The Old Hittite Zalpa-text (CTH 3.1)' consists of two parts: a mythological and a historical one. Although both parts deal with the city of Zalpa (hence the name "Zalpa-text"), the exact relationship between the two has not been satisfactorily explained. One of the main mysteries is the fact that the mythological introduction tells about adventurous events taking place between the cities Zalpa and Nesa, whereas the historical remainder deals with the military clashes between Zalpa and Hattusa. In the mythological part no mention is made of Hattusa, whereas in the historical part Nesa is fully absent from the storyline. (2)

In an attempt to solve the problem of the seeming mismatch between its two parts, in this article I will provide a new analysis of the Zalpa-text, focusing on the roles that the cities Hattusa and Nesa play in it.

IDENTIFYING THE PROTAGONISTS OF THE HISTORICAL PART OF THE ZALPA-TEXT

First it is important to determine the historical context of the Zalpa-text. This can be done by identifying the rulers who within the composition's historical part are described as launching several campaigns against Zalpa: ABIABI LUGAL "the grandfather of the King," LUGAL SU.GI "the old King," and LUGAL "the King." Although in the literature several proposals for the identification of these three individuals can be found, (3) I follow Beal (2003: 22-25), who argues that they represent the following successive Hittite kings: "the King" = Hattusili I, "the old King" = his predecessor Labarna 1 (who was the husband of Hattusili I's aunt Tauananna), and "the grandfather of the King" = Labarna I's predecessor, probably called Huzziia I (4) (the father of his wife Tauananna and thus the grandfather of Hattusili I). (5) The attractiveness of Beal's proposal lies in the fact that the designations of the three successive kings from the Zalpa-text nicely fit the family relations among Hattusili I, Labarna I, and Huzziia I, as can be reconstructed on the basis of other Hittite sources. Especially the fact that the predecessor of "the King" is called "the old King" and not "the father of the King" is a perfect match with...