Tegarama (Old Assyrian: Tergarma; Hittite language: Takarama; Luwian language: Lakarma/Lukarma) was a city in Anatolia during the Bronze Age. It is often identified with Gürün and biblical Togarmah.
A fortified city in Kammanu (on the border of Tabal) mentioned in Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions of the ninth, eighth, and seventh centuries BC (reigns of Shalmaneser III, Sargon II, and Sennacherib) as Til-garimmu/Til-garimme.
Middle Bronze Age
The city contained a palace, a karum and an
colony office.
[Veenhof, K.R., Eidem, J., Wäfler, M. Annäherungen: the Old Assyrian Period. Mesopotamia Saint-Paul, 2008 ] It was important in terms of trade which included tin, textiles, wool, slaves and wine. The city was inhabited during the Old Assyrian Kingdom and
Hittite Empire.
[Bajramovic, Gojko Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period p.133, Museum Tusculanum Press, 2011 ]
Late Bronze Age
Reign of Tudhaliya III
The city was sacked by
Isuwa during the early reign of the
Hittite king Tudhaliya III on the eastern border.
Reign of Suppiluliuma I
During his victorious campaign against
Mitanni,
Hittite king Suppiluliuma I halted in Tegarama and inspected his forces before attacking and capturing
Karkemish.
[Burney, Charles Historical Dictionary of the Hittites Scarecrow Press, 2004 ] Consequently, city must have been on the road from
Hattusa to Karkhemish.
Iron Age
Reign of Sargon II
The vassal ruler of
Melid,
Tarhunazi, revolted against
Sargon II rule, seeking assistance from king Midas of
Phrygia.
[http://oracc.org/rinap/Q006482] After Sargon sacked Melid, Tarḫun-azi sought refuge in Til-garimme. Sargon eventually captured the city, imprisoned Tarḫun-azi and his family, and incorporated the city into the empire.
[http://oracc.org/rinap/Q006482]
Reign of Sennacherib
The city seems to have been occupied by the armies of a certain king called Gurdî, king of the city
Urdutu (possibly identical to Gurdî the king of Kulumma), who was warring against Sennacherib.
Sennacherib besieged the city, incorporated the use of
battering rams. Sennacherib claims to have destroyed the city, turning it into a "mound of ruins"
[http://oracc.org/rinap/Q003491] (lit.
tīlli-ù-karme, which some scholars speculate to be a pun).
[Borger, HKL 1 p.319] It is possible this pun was used previously by Tiglath-pileser III in reference to the city,
[http://oracc.org/rinap/Q006333][Yamada AoF 33 (2006) p.232] which he located in
Gurgum.
[http://oracc.org/rinap/Q003448]
Theories
The exact location of the city in Anatolia is disputed.
Oliver Gurney placed Tegarama in Southeast Anatolia.
[map on inside cover of Gurney, The Hittites, Folio Society edition] Others have located it in central Anatolia near the town of Gürün,
Sivas Province about 90 miles (140 km) east of
Kanesh.
[Burney, Charles. Historical Dictionary of the Hittites. Scarecrow Press, 2004 ]
Gürün
Til-garimmu is usually identified with modern Gürün, biblical Tōgarmā, classical Gauraene/Gauraina, Old Assyrian Tergarama, Hittite Takarama, and Luwian Lakarma/Lukarma. However, no pre-Roman remains have been discovered at Gürün.
Akçadaǧ
Akçadaǧ, ca. 30 km west of Malatya, has been tentatively suggested as an alternate location.
Changing location
One theory is that the name of the city was 'moved' to another settlement during the history.
[Bajramovic, p.131]
Biblical tradition
The city is sometimes associated with
Bible Togarmah.
[Bajramovic, p. 312][Austerlitz, Eddie History of the Ogus p.36, 2010, ][Srinivasan, Liny Desi Words Speak of the Past p.175 Author House (2011?), ]
Bibliography
- YAMADA, SHIGEO. "The City of Togarma in Neo-Assyrian Sources" Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 33, no. 2, 2006, pp. 223-236. https://doi.org/10.1524/aofo.2006.33.2.223