AHHIYAWA
Fig 1. Homeric depiction of the . Few topics have aroused greater controversy than the identity and location of this land. In the 1920s Emil Forrer equated Ahhiyawa with the Homeric Achaia, observing that Homer refers not to Greeks but to Achaeans. His view attracted both supporters and skeptics. Locations for Ahhiyawa have been proposed for the western mainland of Anatolia, the Aegean islands, Thrace and the mainland of Mycenaean Greece. In fact most specialists have envisaged its extending over more than one of these. The least plausible location would be entirely on the Anatolian mainland. With the title of “Great King” for the rulers of Ahhiyawa, it cannot have covered only a very restricted area; and western Anatolia now appears fully occupied by the various components of Arzawa, before and after its division by Mursili II. Likewise a carefully argued case for locating Ahhiyawa as an island realm with a narrow coastal strip on the Anatolian mainland from Mi