Қола дәуіріндегі Азия Кішісіндегі Хаяса-Аззи конфедерациясы

Late Bronze Age confederation in Asia Minor

Hayasa Azzi or Azzi Hayasa (, ) was a Late Bronze Age confederation in the Armenian Highlands and/or Pontic region of Asia Minor. The Hayasa Azzi confederation was in conflict with the Hittite Empire in the 14th century BC, leading up to the collapse of Hatti around 1190 BC. It has long been thought that Hayasa Azzi may have played a significant role in the ethnogenesis of Armenians.

Hittite inscriptions deciphered in the 1920s by the Swiss scholar Emil Forrer testify to the existence of the mountainous country, Hayasa Azzi, lying to the east of Hatti in the Upper Euphrates region. Its western border seems to have alternated between Samuha (probably just west of modern Sivas) and Kummaha (likely modern Kemah, Erzincan). These areas later geographically overlapped, at least partially, with the Upper Armenia province of the later Kingdom of Armenia and the neighboring region of Lesser Armenia. or as far east as Lake Van. The name Hayasa might possibly be connected to the Iya(ni)/Iga(ni) of Urartian texts. Both Hayasa and Iya(ni)/Iga(ni) have been connected to the Aia of Greek mythology. Alternately, another theory proposes a connection to the Huša(ni), mentioned by the Urartian kings Argishti I and Sarduri II in the 8th century BC. Vartan Matiossian argues that Hayasa was an ethnonym while Azzi was the polity or land in which the Hayasans lived. The Hittite king Suppiluliuma I's treaty with Hakkani of Hayasa addresses "the people of Hayasa." According to Igor Diakonoff, this likely suggests that the Hayasans had a peoples' assembly or council of elders.

Mursili, himself, could now take satisfaction in the reduction of the hostile and aggressive kingdom of Hayasa Azzi once more to a Hittite vassal state. Many of the former districts and towns of Hayasa Azzi become their own independent city states following the breakup of the Hayasa Azzi confederation at the end of the 13th century BC. The territory of Hayasa Azzi may have corresponded, at least partially, to Diauehi of Urartian era texts.

The similarity of the name Hayasa to the endonym of the Armenians, hay, and the Armenian name for Armenia, Hayk’ or Hayastan, has prompted the suggestion that the Hayasa Azzi confederation was involved in the Armenian ethnogenesis, or perhaps had been an Armenian speaking state. assa/ asa are, respectively, Hittite and Hieroglyphic Luwian genitive suffixes. Therefore, Hayasa could have been a Hittite or Luwian name meaning "land of the Hay." While the language or languages spoken in Hayasa Azzi are unknown, there does seem to have been a prevalent non Anatolian Indo European linguistic element. This language seems to have had some similarities to Ancient Greek and could have been an early Armenian dialect. Vartan Matiossian argues instead that this name is a form of Classical Armenian mari, also meaning 'young man'. Both the Sanskrit and Armenian words ultimately derive from the same Proto Indo European root, *. A few of the gods of Hayasa Azzi recorded in treaties with the Hittites could be connected to Armenian or Greek traditions. Unag Astuas is likely connected, at least etymologically, to Classical Armenian Astuats (Modern Armenian: Astvats), which means 'God' and continues to be used in Armenian today. Baltaik could be a goddess connected to West Semitic Ba‘alat (Astarte), with a probable Armenian diminutive suffix ik (such as is present in the name of the Armenian goddess, Astłik). Terittituniš might be connected to the Triton of Greek mythology. The treasury and royal burials of the Arsacid (Arshakuni) dynasty would be located in this region as well during the 1st millennium BC. Ani Kammahk, probably the Kummaha of Hittite sources, was the main cultic center of the goddess Anahit and the location of the Armenian royal tombs during the Classical era. According to the prominent linguist Hrachia Acharian, the name of the city Kummaha could derive from kmakhk’, the Armenian word for 'skeleton'. However, there is almost no evidence of a close Armenian Phrygian connection. The term Hayastan bears resemblance to the ancient Mesopotamian god Haya (ha ià) and another western deity called Ebla Hayya, related to the god Ea (Enki or Enkil in Sumerian, Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian). Thus, the Great Soviet Encyclopedia of 1962 posited that the Armenians derive from a migration of Hayasa into Shupria in the 12th century BC. This is open to objection due to the possibility of a mere coincidental similarity between the two names.

The mentioning of the name Armenia can only be securely dated to the 6th century BC with the Orontid kings and very little is known specifically about the people of Hayasa Azzi per se. Igor Diakonoff argues the pronunciation of Hayasa was probably closer to Khayasa, with an aspirated h. According to him, this nullifies the connection to Armenian Hay (հայ). Additionally, he argues that asa cannot be an Anatolian language suffix as names with this suffix are absent in the Armenian Highlands. Diakonoff's criticisms have been refuted by Matiossian and others, who argue that, as Hayasa is a Hittite (or Hittite ized) exonym applied to a foreign land, the asa suffix can still mean "land of." Additionally, Khayasa can be reconciled with Hay as the Hittite h and kh phonemes are interchangeable, a feature present in certain Armenian dialects as well.