The problem of ethnogenesis and the political history of the Kaskians

Zh.V. Kаgazezhev

Abstract. The article examines an important part of the history of the Ancient Near East, covering the stages of ethnogenesis and the political history of the indigenous population of Anatolia – the Kaskians. There are no analytical works on the history of Kaskians in Russian historiography. They appear sporadically in the research, in the context of the confrontation with the Hittite Empire. Ethnogenetic data show that the Kaskians were part of a larger Hatti people and occupied the southeastern regions of the Black Sea region. The analysis of sources, many of which are being introduced into scientific circulation in Russian historiography for the first time, allows us to state important events that influenced the history of the Middle East and neighboring regions. During the XVII – XII centuries BC, there was a gradual expansion of the territory of the settlement of the Kaskians and their political influence. The Hittite Empire proved powerless against the offensive of the Kaskians, as a result of which it loses access to the Black Sea. The Kaskians captured Hattussa, the capital of the Hittite Empire, and other cities several times, threatening the very existence of the state. In the XIII century BC. The Kaskians are beginning to actively interfere in the internal political processes in the Hittite state. Contrary to the main version of the role of the “peoples of the sea” in the defeat of the Hittite Empire, the analysis of written sources and archaeological data allows us to conclude that its fall as a result of the offensive of the Kaskians by the end of the XIII century BC. Further advance of the Kaskians to the southeast led to a clash with Assyria. Historical data on the possible succession of Paphlagonians and Cappadocians to the Kaskians are updated. The theory of the expansion of the Kaskians to the west, known to the Greeks as the Kavkons, who settled the Peloponnese and Attica after the Trojan War and left a noticeable mark on the political life of the region. The conclusion is made about the significant role of Kaskians in changing the ethnopolitical map of the Middle East and the early stage of the history of Ancient Greece, the ethnogenesis of the Adygs in the North Caucasus.

Keywords: Anatolia, Hatti, Kaskians, expansion, Hittites, Caucones, Kasy, Adygs

For citation.  Kаgazezhev Zh.V.  The  problem  of  ethnogenesis  and  the  political  history  of  the  Kaskians. News of the Kabardino-Balkarian Scientific Center of RAS. 2024. Vol. 26. No. 4. Pp. 145–163. DOI: 10.35330/ 1991-6639-2024-26-4-145-163