Qaṭna

Qaṭna (Tell Misrifeh) is located east of the Orontes river, 18 km northeast of Homs (Syria). Like Alalaḫ, it used to be under Mitannian control, but Qaṭna's loyalty seems to have swinged from the First Syrian war up until its destruction. While King Idadda apparently became a Hittite vassal, his successor Akizzi swore loyalty to Akhenaton. This shift could be the reason for the destruction of the city by Šuppiluliuma or his allies.

Tell Misrifeh was first excavated by R. du Mesnil du Buisson (1924–1927). It was under his direction when the first cuneiform tablets, which revealed the city’s name, were found. In the 1990s and 2000s, renewed excavations by the Syrian Antiquities Department and the Universities of Tübingen and Udine gave way to the discovery of an archive of 62 tablets in the ruins of the palace of King Idadda.

The archive of Idadda was recently published by Richter & Lange (2012). The most important set of texts is the letters written by Hittite officials, revealing what appears to be an ultimatum for Qaṭna to swear loyalty to Šuppiluliuma (Oliva 2015). Considering that the palace was put to the torch around this time, one can guess the outcome of such ultimatum. Of further interest is the Hurrian language in use throughout the documents, evidence of the Hurrian speaking population in this region.