Grapes and Wine in pre-Roman Anatolia: Evidence of Large-Scale Viticulture from Southern Cappadocia, the Land of the Storm-God of the Vineyard

Abstract

In the fluid ethnolinguistic and cultic landscape of protohistoric Anatolia, the Storm God Tarhunza was among the chief deities of the Luwian pantheon. Bringing with his lightning rain and fertility, much needed in the semi-arid Anatolian plateau, this deity was directly associated with agricultural production and abundance.1 The rock relief of Ivriz, located on the northern foothills of the central Taurus, beautifully depicts this connection (see Fig. 1): Warpalawas, a late eighth century bce ruler of the local post-Hittite kingdom of Tuwana,2 stands in front of the imposing figure of Tarhunza, who is here portrayed bearing bundles of cereals with one hand, while with the other he holds bunches of grapes hanging from a vine growing on his