Wasusarmas

Wasusarmas (Hieroglyphic Luwian: 𔓬𔖢𔑙𔒅𔗔‎, romanized: Wassu-Sarrumas) was a king of the Neo-Hittite kingdom of Tabal proper in the broader Tabalian region who reigned during the mid-8th century BC, from around c. 740 BC to c. 730 BC.

The Luwian name 𔓬𔖢𔑙𔒅𔗔‎ was pronounced as Wassu-Sarrumas.

The name Wassusarmas was theophoric in nature, and was composed of the name of the Hurrian god Šarruma, to which was prefixed the Luwian term wāšu, meaning lit. 'good', and which was itself a cognate of Palaic wāsu- (𒉿𒀀𒋗), meaning lit. 'well', and of Sanskrit vásu- (वसु) and Avestan vohu- (𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎), both also meaning lit. 'good'.

Wasusarmas is referred to in Neo-Assyrian Akkadian sources as ᵐWassurme or ᵐUassurme (𒁹𒌑𒊍𒋩𒈨).

Wasusarmas was the son of the previous king of Tabal, Tuwattis II. Both Wasusarmas and Tuwattis II may have been part of a dynasty which had ruled Tabal for much of the 1st millennuum century BC, with an earlier king, Tuwattis I, having ruled Tabal in the late 9th century BC, and who might have been an ancestor of Tuwattis II and Wasusarmas.

By c. 738 BC, the Tabalian region, including Tabal proper under the reign of Tuwattis II, had become a tributary of the Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III (r. 745 – 727 BCE), either after his conquest of Bit Agusi over the course of 743 to 740 BC caused the states of the Tabalian region to submit to him, or possibly as a result of a campaign of Tiglath-pileser III there.

Wasusarmas had styled himself using the prestigious titles of "Great King" (Hieroglyphic Luwian: 𔐒‎, romanized: uras ḫantawattis) and "Hero" (Hieroglyphic Luwian: 𔐕‎, romanized: ḫastallis). Along with the revival of this title by the possibly contemporary king Ḫartapus who ruled a state further to the west, this was the first time that a Luwian ruler had adopted these titles after the end of their use by the rulers of Karkamiš in the 10th century BC, thus making Wasusarmas the first king in Central Anatolia to have used them after the fall of the Hittite Empire.

Wasusarmas's Topada inscription also arranged the hieroglyphic signs in which it was written into a royal aedicula, which was the first use of this practice since the Late Bronze Age.