Letter from the king to Pulli, a kingdom officialbased in Tapikka. Pulli had previously written to the king regarding dangerous enemies, as well as lack of “troops”, because some of them had left the city and others had been stationed elsewhere. The context suggests that these men were stationed in the same location as the addressee, thus Ḫattuša. Since the letter refers to the harvest of crops, the “troops” (ÉRINMEŠ) are probably not intended as military personnel, but they are field workers (Hoffner H.A. 2009a, 133). The king recommends caution with this enemy and assures that the issue will be promptly addressed through oracular inquiries: the oracles will ascertain whether a direct intervention of the king is necessary.

The letter includes a secondary message in the reverse, addressed from Šanda to Uzzū, presumably the scribe of the king and the scribe of Pulli in Tapikka. Šanda sends his greetings and reassurance of support for the situation in Tapikka.

• H.A. Hoffner, Letters, 2009: 132-134
• M. Marizza, Lettere, 2009: 85
• S. Alp, HBM, 1991: 152-155 (Nr. 21)

Alp S. 1991b, 152-155; Hoffner H.A. 2009a, 132-134; Marizza M. 2009a, 85. Some philological comments in Hout Th.P.J. van den 2010b, 398-399.

Autography: Alp S. 1991a, n. 21 (= HKM 21).

Small tablet written in landscape orientation, broken in half but almost completely readable with the exception of small gaps. A 3D model is available on HPM, but no photographs. A photograph of the obverse was published in Alp S. 1991b, Tafel 11.

The tablet is inscribed beginning in the obverse and the text continues on the lower edge, the reverse and the upper edge. The secondary letter, in the reverse, is separated from the previous text with a double paragraph line.

MS (mh.); diagnostic signs AḪ, AK, DA, IT, LI, TAR. There are no late sign forms.

The corpus of letters from Tapikka (Maşat Höyük) dates to the first half of the 14th c., and might have been written during the late reign of Arnuwanda I or during the reign of Tudḫaliya III. Most of them are probably to be dated in the latter’s reign.