As Troy is an important regional centre, located at the edge of the Hittite Empire, it seemed likely that there would be references to Troy in the Hittite archives. Wilusa, referred to in the Hittite tablets as the name of a kingdom in western Anatolia, was the ancient Anatolian name for Troy. However, the tablets themselves give no clear indication of where Wilusa was situated geographically and so the connection could not be proved.
However in recent years a series of breakthroughs and inspired detective work have enabled scholars to establish the Hittite geography and the location of Wilusa.
Seven years ago Professor David Hawkins of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London made an important breakthrough. In the Karabel pass which takes the road from Ephesus to Sardis over the Imolus range, not far from the modern Turkish city of Izmir, there's an ancient sculpture of an armed human figure cut into the rock.
However, no one knew what it meant, because until Hawkins' breakthrough, no-one had been able to decipher the inscription associated with the sculpture. Hawkins' translation identified the human figure as the king of a powerful western country called Mira.
The sculpture probably marked Mira's northern frontier with another kingdom called the Seha River Land. We now know that this kingdom extended north from the Karabel pass towards the northwest corner of Anatolia. When taken in conjunction with a letter, this new information helped scholars to locate the kingdom of Wilusa.
The letter was written by a king of the Seha River Land called Manapa-Tarhunda to his Hittite overlord. It describes how a notorious local trouble maker called Piyamaradu has attacked Wilusa. The Hittite king orders Manapa-Tarhunda to drive Piyamaradu out, but he fails dismally and the Hittites send out an expeditionary force to do the job themselves. Before reaching Wilusa, the Hittite force arrives first in the Seha River Land and from there march directly into Wilusa.
This leads to the inescapable conclusion that there is only one possible location for Wilusa - in the far Northwest corner of Turkey, the precise location of the site of Troy. It seems likely that Wilusa and Troy are one and the same.
Are the Greeks mentioned in the Hittite texts?
As well as a number of kingdoms that can be placed in Western Anatolia, the texts also make reference to the land of Ahhiyawa. Professor David Hawkins says that Ahhiyawa is associated with boats, islands and phrases like across the sea. The geography of western Anatolia as now established leaves no space on the Turkish mainland for the great kingdom of Ahhiyawa. Scholars have therefore suggested that Ahhiyawa is the Hittite name for Mycenaean Greece.
What can the Hittite texts and archaeology tell us about Troy and the story of the Trojan War?
In general the texts suggest that certain Mycenean kings and their allies became politically and militarily involved on the Western Anatolian coast during the Late Bronze Age. Moreover, there are six references to Wilusa in the Hittite texts a number of which suggest conflict over the site. In particular, a letter attributed to the Hittite King Hattusilli III, dated to around 1250 BC and written to the Mycenean or Ahhiyawan King, refers to former hostilities between the Hittites and the Ahhiyawans over Wilusa, which have now been discontinued in favour of peace.
"Now as we have come to an agreement on Wilusa over which we went to war" Tawagalawa Letter, c1250 BC
This text, says Bryce, gives us a firm contemporary, historical reference for a war involving Mycenaean Greeks, Trojans and Hittites.
However, Prof. Hawkins urges caution. Although excavations at Troy have revealed three destruction horizons at around 1300, 1200 and 1100BC, it is not easy to identify these with any known historical events mentioned in the Hittite texts.
While it is difficult to identify any specific event in either the archaeological record or the Hittite archives that corresponds directly to Homer's Trojan War, we may now be closer than ever to establishing a historical context behind Homer's epic tale.
Are the Illyrians mentioned in the Hittite texts?
Homeric songs describe innumerous Balkan tribes who defended Wilusa (Ilion) from Ahhiyawa (Achaeans). Therefore Illyrians might have been named not according to their ethic makeup or linguistic background but according to the side they took in the Trojan War. The name Illyrus derived from Illyssus since in Greek and Latin languages -s- > -r- is a common phonetic mutation. Hence the name Illyrus (Wilusa) could mean the champion of Ilion. Various Greek gods in Iliad can be explained through the inherited Indo European words of Albanian (Illyrian) language. Therefore Greeks translated Iliad from Illyrian sources while Illyrians must copied their texts from Hittite.
The destruction of Ilion must have been a trauma that marked the end of the ancient world order. A similar catastrophe marked the end of the Roman empire and the long fragmentation of European civilization in small kingdoms in constant warfare with one another. The War of Ilion was the first World War that engulfed many people living in remote corners of Mediterranean. The destruction of Wilusa marked the diminishing of the trade superpower. The emergence of Achaeans as sea power disrupted the trade routes in Mediterranean basin creating an economic disaster among people across Asia, North Africa and Europe. The destruction of Roman Empire plunged Europe into almost one thousand years of Dark Ages. A similar fate was waiting for Indo Europeans in Asia Minor and southern Balkans after the destruction of Wilusa.