The country known as Ahhiyawa, or Ahhiya, is mentioned in a few Hittite texts over a period of 200 years up to the reign of King Tudhaliya IV around 1230 BC.
From these texts it is apparent that it is a country of some importance as the ruler is addressed in a friendly and respectful manner and gifts are regularly exchanged. In one document he is referred to as being potentially of equal rank to the kings of Babylon, Egypt and Assyria.
The question of the actual position and identity of Ahhiyawa has been much discussed but it is now generally agreed that it was a seafaring nation situated on the Aegean coast of Turkey and may be linked to the Mycenaean Greeks who fought in the Trojan War.
