Middle Empire

Commonly referred to as the Middle Kingdom

(Telipinu is usually considered the last king of the Old Empire. For other scholars, the Middle Empire is sometimes begun with Tudḫaliya II. The creation of a “Middle Empire” is most useful in terms of the Hittite language, which has a “Middle Hittite” dialect. There is no real break in Hittite history either at Telipinu or Tudḫaliya II, although Tudḫaliya II's reign does show the introduction of many Hurrian influences previously unseen in Ḫatti.)

Seal of Telipinu (SBo I.89). Anonymous Tabarna seal. See Easton (1981) 41.

Telipinu becomes king: Ḫuzziya I tried to have Telipinu and Ištapariya killed, but Telipinu received word of the attempt, drove out Ḫuzziya and his accomplices, and took the throne.

The death of Ḫuzziya I and his five brothers: Ḫuzziya I had five brothers whom Telipinu exiled to estates for supporting Ḫuzziya when he attempted to kill Telipinu. During Telipinu’s reign, Ḫuzziya I and his five brothers were killed by Tanuwa the Staff Bearer, supposedly without Telipinu’s knowledge. Tanuwa, Taḫurwaili, and Taruḫšu (all of whom had killed sons of Ammuna at one point or another) were condemned by the pankuš (the assembly), but Telipinu overruled the decision and made them into farmers instead (Telipinu, after all, benefited greatly from their neferious activities).

The Telipinu Proclamation: He drew up his Proclamation in an attempt to end the constant assassinations and to secure the means of succession in the Hittite realm. See The Telipinu Proclamation.

The empire during the reign of Telipinu. Telipinu is the first king to make a treaty with another state, namely Kizzuwatna.

Military Exploits: He appears to have solidified the Hittite territorial position and even expanded it a little. He destroyed the city of Ḫaššuwa. The losses of Arzawa, the lands beyond the Taurus (principally Kizzuwatna), and Syria were accepted. He is the first king to make a treaty with a foreign state, that of Kizzuwatna (CTH #21). The Kizzuwatnan king Išputaḫšu claimed the title of Great King, and the kingdom was powerful for the next century. He defeated Luḫḫa.

The Hittite Laws: Hoffner (1995) p. 214 considers the first attestation of the Laws to have been compiled by Telipinu. His reasoning is that the script matches and that Telipinu’s proclamation includes laws at the end of it, and is a legal document itself.

Culture and Society

Telipinu begins the trait with which the Middle Kingdom begins and ends: that of legal reforms. The Laws and the Telipinu Proclamation represent Telipinu’s interest in legal matters.

Foreign Relations

Kizzuwatna: Išputaḫšu, son of Pariyawatri, claimed the title Great King of Kizzuwatna. Made a parity treaty with Telipinu, referred to in a catalogue text. Fragments of this treaty have been found, written in both Akkadian and Hittite. Išputaḫšu’s seal uses a central field of Luwian heiroglyphs, probably to be read “Šarri-Tešup”.

The earliest treaties between Hittite kings and foreign rulers are unfortunately badly fragmentary. All later Hittite treaties included a historical introduction of previous relations between the Hittite ruler and his treaty partner which justified the making of the treaty. Any historical introuctions which may have existed in these early treaties have unfortunately been lost. The earliest treaty to preserve this historical introduction is that between Tudḫaliya II and Šunnaššura of Kizzuwatna. But this document, taken along with the similarly styled Indictment of Madduwatta from the same reign, makes it clear that the tradition had already become well established. So at some unknown point, perhaps from the very beginning, treaties included the historical introduction. Strictly speaking, there is no need for such an introduction, so we might inquire about its origins. Fortunately, given our knowledge of Hittite society, not only are these introductions not surprising, but they are actually expected. We have seen how the various Ḫattian inspired mythological texts were actually ritual texts with a mythological, semi-historical introduction justifying and explaining the ritual. When they began to form treaties with their foreign neighbors, the Hittites seem to have simply transfered this tradition over to their treaty documents. The tradition would continue unabated until the end of Hittite history, and it would continue to affect treaties well after the disappearance of the Hittite empire.

Seal of Alluwamna (SBo I.86). His seal is a named Tabarna seal. In some respects, his seal is closer to Telipinu's seal than it is to Taḫurwaili's. For this reason, Easton (1981) would prefer to place Alluwamna before Taḫurwaili.

Easton (1981) 33f. has argued that Alluwamna should be placed before Taḫurwaili rather than after him.

Alluwamna was banished to Malitaškur by Telipinu for partaking in a revolt (Easton (1981) 27).

Rise of a Hurrian Kingdom

(Since Ḫantili was the son of his predecessor, and we have no real information about Alluwamna’s reign, I tentitively give it some length, which would increase the odds of Idrimi’s early career falling in this reign, but I have no real chronology for Idri-mi’s early career. Hell, his later career is difficult enough! Idri-mi’s inscription is found in ANET pg. 557f.)

Statue of Idri-mi of Alalaḫ. The autobiography of Idri-mi is inscribed on this statue. (British Museum collection. Photo source: British Museum ps256054)

A unique autobiography written by Idri-mi of Alalaḫ sheds some dim light not only on the weakness of the Hittite kingdom in this period, but also on the rise of the Hurrian kingdom of Mittanni in Syria and northern Mesopotamia, which would assume its position as Ḫatti’s greatest rival in this period. Idri-mi’s autobiography is so unique because it is inscribed on a statue of himself which seems to have become some sort of dynastic heirloom. Even after it had been smashed in the final destruction of Alalaḫ several generations after Idri-mi’s life, it’s pieces seem to have been carefully buried by some reverent individual.

Idri-mi’s life story reads like a great romantic adventure - the prince, driven from his home and forced to spend long years in exile, returned victoriously to reposess his homeland and live out a glorious reign. Or at least, this is the story he tried to present. The reality was somewhat different.

Idri-mi was a young son of Ilim-ilimma, the ruler of Ḫalap, and a wife of his from the nearby city of Emar. Ilim-ilimma’s kingdom encompassed not only Ḫalap itself, but also the lands of Mukiš, Niya, and Ama’e. At some point, “an evil deed happened in Ḫalap”, and Idri-mi and his brothers fled to Emar, the residence of their mother’s family.

The empire of Mitanni united the Hurrian kingdoms, including the kingdom of Ḫalap and its dependencies.

The nature of the “evil deed” is not specified, but it may have been the violent suppression of a revolt in the kingdom against its Hurrian overlord, since Idri-mi reported that his forefathers had had treaty relations with the Hurrian king. If so, then Idri-mi’s forced flight would indicate the Hurrian king’s victory and the ousting of Ḫalap’s ruling family. What we seem to be witnessing is the end of the period of division within the Hurrian lands, as the various contending kingdoms were slowly brought under the thumb of the Hurrian kingdom of Mittanni. Ḫalap itself, although clearly within Hurrian lands, had so far successfully been able to resist being classified as Hurrian. This kingdom, with a long, proud tradition of its own, was not about to let itself be absorbed under the label “Hurrian”. Idri-mi felt no differently. He recognized that his anscestors had treaty relations with “the kings of the Hurrian warriors”, but he refused to recognize Ḫalap as Hurrian. This belief did not originate with him. Even the Hittite kings recognized Ḫalap as somehow different from the other Hurrian entities of Syria (See the seige of Uršu).

In Emar, Idri-mi proved more ambitious than his older brothers. Feeling disgraced at having been ousted from Ḫalap, he took his horse, chariot, and groom and left Emar, crossed through the wilderness and entered the territory of Sutian tribesmen. He only stayed with them for a night before moving on to Ammia in the land of Canaan. He found natives of his father’s kingdom residing in Ammia, and when they recognized him as the son of their old lord they became his men. For several years Idri-mi stayed in Ammia, growing older and gathering together a force around him. How the history of the Hittites and of the Hurrians correlates with this phase of Idri-mi’s career is not at all clear, and the next point at which we can try to make a correlation will not occur for several more reigns in Ḫatti. As such, we must set aside Idri-mi’s adventures for now and return to the highlands of Anatolia.

Seal of Ḫantili II. A rosette style seal. See Rüster, Christel (1993).

The first Great King in several generations to receive the royal blood from his father.

A land grant text of king Alluwamna records the granting of land to his son, Ḫantili. Two of the Offering Lists (See Hittite Offerings Lists, B and E) have a Ḫantili listed after Alluwamna. It would be very difficult to deny the existence of a Ḫantili II on the basis of this information alone, let alone the rest of the evidence available. See Otten (1987) 25.

Foreign Relations

Kizzuwatna

Ḫantili II was not in a position to change anything in the international balance of power, and had to be content with a continuation of the existing conditions. Friendly relations with the kingdom of Kizzuwatna continued with the securing of a treaty between Ḫantili and Kizzuwatna’s king Paddatiššu (HDT #1). Like the one sealed by their predecessors, Telipinu and Išputaḫšu, this treaty promised mutual friendship on strictly reciprocal terms.

Seal of Taḫurwaili (Bo 69/200). See Easton (1981) 41. Taḫurwaili's seal bears his name.

Taḫurwaili’s placement is very uncertain and is based largely on stylistic considerations about his seal. It is not known whether or not this Taḫurwaili is the same Taḫurwaili active in the reigns of Ammuna, Ḫuzziya I, and Telipinu. A Taḫurwaili is referred to in CTH #23, a fragmentary text which may date to the reign of either Telipinu or Alluwamna. His role in the text is entirely unknown.

As a first cousin of Telipinu, he must have been the son of one of Ammuna’s brothers. This would have made him a direct male descendent of Zidanta I, so that his royal blood stemmed ultimately from Zidanta’s wife. It was tenuous, but the blood line was carried on.

Foreign Relations

Kizzuwatna: Taḫurwaili made a parity treaty with Eḫeya of Kizzuwatna. Its terms were very similar to those between Paddatiššu and Ḫantili II.

Seal of Zidanta II. (Spelled "Zidanza") See Otten (1987)

(Contemporary of Paratarna of Ḫurri (~1480) and Idri-mi of Alalaḫ)

It is very difficult to say much about his blood line.

Idri-mi and the Loss of Kizzuwatna

The Hittites’ relations with their southern neighbor in Kizzuwatna seems to have had a rocky start under Zidanta's reign, with each kingdom seizing territory belonging to the other, but relations soon settled down and continued as usual under Zidanta II’s reign. Like his predecessors, Zidanta made a parity treaty with his counterpart in Kizzuwatna, a ruler named Pilliya. It was to be the last such parity treaty that a Hittite king would ever make with a king of Kizzuwatna. In the east the Hurrian kingdom of Mittanni continued its westward expansion under the rule of its king Paratarna. During Zidanta’s reign, this Hurrian king conquered Kizzuwatna and made Pilliya into his own vassal. This conquest was the pinnacle of Hurrian expansion, and right away Paratarna’s dominion was challenged. Having won the Cilician plain, his access to it was soon threatened, not from the Hittites, but rather from an unlikely enemy from the south.

As we have seen, Idri-mi of Ḫalap had fled into the wilderness in hopes of finding support for his cause. He spent seven years in the wilds of Canaan gathering warriors around him. After these years had passed, bird and sheep omens revealed to him that the time was right to return to his homeland. So he constructed boats, gathered together his troops, and set sail for the land of Mukiš, a land which had once been subject to his father.

When he landed there, he found the residents of Mukiš ready to rally to his cause, greeting him with gifts of cattle and sheep. So apparently without a struggle Idri-mi took possession of Niya, Ama’e, Mukiš, and Alalaḫ. When his brothers heard this, they reconciled some unnamed differences they had with their younger sibling and Idri-mi duly established them within his territory.

The most striking thing about Idri-mi’s territorial list is not what it includes, but what it doesn’t. Idri-mi did not accomplish what must have been his underlying ambition, the retaking of Ḫalap, his ancestral home. In fact, Mukiš and Ḫalap would never again be reunited. Instead, Idri-mi found himself at odds with Ḫalap’s current overlord, Paratarna of Mittanni. For another seven years Idri-mi engaged in hostilities against the Mittannian king. Finally, unable to recover his dynasty’s seat, Idri-mi sent his messenger Anuanda to Paratarna in hopes of securing peace;

“{I} told (him) about the services of my forefathers when my forefathers had been in their (i.e. the Hurrians) service and (when) what we had said was pleasing to the kings of the Hurrian warriors, and (that) they had made an alliance based on a solemn oath among themselves. The mighty king heard of our former services and of the oath they had sworn to each other - they had read the wording of the oath to him, word by word as well as (the list of) our services. He accepted my greeting. I increased the gifts indicating my loyalty, which were heavy, and returned to him (his) lost household. I swore him a mighty oath as to my status as a loyal vassal.

“And (so) I became king in charge of Alalaḫ, and kings from the right and the left came up to me.” (ANET pg. 557 (minor alterations))

Cylinder seal of Idri-mi of Alalaḫ. The seal was subsequently used by Idri-mi's son, Niq-mepa, as well.

One of these kings was Pilliya of Kizzuwatna. An agreement between Idrimi and Pilliya, which was to take effect once Idri-mi swore his oath of loyalty to Paratarna, was discovered by archaeologists in the ruins of the city of Alalaḫ.

Having submitted to his Hurrian master, Idri-mi proved himself to be an enthusiastic partisan. The terrritories to his south, east, and west all belonged to his Hurrian lord, but to the north lay exposed territories belonging to a distant and feeble Hittite dynasty. Seeing where the opportunity for glory and wealth lay, Idri-mi seems to have briefly occupied his time by plundering Hittite lands,

“I took ...-soldiers and went up against the country of the Hittites and I destroyed seven of their fortified places; these are the ... fortified places: Paššaḫe, Damarut-re’i, Ḫulaḫḫan, Zise, Ie, Uluzina and Zaruna. The country of the Hittites did not march against me, I could do what I wanted. I took prisoners from them, plundered their riches, possessions, and property, and distributed it to my soldiers, my auxilary troops, my brothers, and friends. I myself took a share like theirs. Then I returned to the country of Mukiš and entered (in triumph) into my city Alalaḫ.” (ANET 557f.)

The sorry state of the faction torn Hittite dynasty comes through clearly in Idri-mi’s testimony. After this one time vagabond had become greatly enriched by these initial victorious and profitable campaigns, and he seems to have become preoccupied by internal improvements and an effort to create stability, using his plundered wealth to establish himself like a proper king,

“I had a house built by means of the prisoners, the provisions, riches, possessions and property which I had brought down from the country of the Hittites; I made my throne like the throne of kings, my brothers like brothers of kings, my children like their children, and my guardsmen like their guardsmen. I made the Sutu-tribes within my country settle in secure settlements, and those who did not want to live in settlements I made do so. And I placed my country on a firm footing and made my towns as they were before like .... As to the cultic regulations which the gods of Alalaḫ had established, and the sacrifices and offerings which our forefathers had performed for them, I have constantly performed them exactly as they had performed them.” (ANET 558)

The Hittites were never able to take vengence on this annoying petty king. After a long reign - it lasted thirty years - Idri-mi would pass on to the underworld, giving over his throne to his son Addu-nirari.

Foreign Relations

Kizzuwatna: Zidanta II made a parity treaty with Pilliya of Kizzuwatna. See Otten, JCS 5 (1951), and Beal (1986) 428ff.

Seal of Ḫuzziya II. Named Tabarna seal with central rosette (See Easton (1981) 38, 41)

Changing Landscape in the South

In 1458, in the 22nd year of his official reign, Thutmose III of Egypt (1479-1425) began the sole rule of his reign, no longer having to deal with Ḫatšepsut, the dowager queen and co-regent of Egypt, who had been the real power on the throne up until that time. Thutmose appears to have spent most of that co-regency with the army, and the beginning of his sole rule would fundamentally alter Egypt’s role in the Near East.

Thutmose’s grandfather, Thutmose I, had conducted previously unparalled military campaigns as far north as the land of Mittanni. But he accomplished little more than the plundering of distant Syrian territories and the establishment of Egyptian claims in this region. His son, Thutmose II, had a short reign of perhaps eight years and restricted his activities to Palestine. Thutmose II’s wife, Ḫatšepsut, did not seem to take a great interest in Syria. So it was that after the death of Thutmose I Syria more or less slipped away from the Egyptians, and it is surely no coincidence that this was also the greatest period of Mitannian expansion into Syria. Also during this period the cities of Kadesh, under a king named Duruša, and Tunip appear to have become dominant regional powers in Syria, perhaps under Mittannian aegis (this seems certain for Tunip, at any rate). Kadesh even controlled territory as far south as the Palestinian city of Megiddo. So when Thutmose III came into his own, the Syrian vassals either rebelled, or had already freed themselves from the Egyptian yoke.

Thutmose decided to reassert Egyptian authority in Syria, and he began the process right from the very beginning of his sole rule. His first target was the powerful coalition created by Duruša of Kadesh. Duruša had made the city of Megiddo his headquarters for his stand against the Egyptian invasion, and this was where he concentrated his army. Thutmose marched out of Egypt and engaged the enemy before the city and drove them back behind the walls. It took a seven month seige for Thutmose to force the city to surrender to him. At the seige’s successful conclusion, he claimed to have secured the allegiance of 119 towns and cities, although this number seems to include towns taken by the pharaoh and his army in sub-campaigns during the course of the seige. The important city of Damascus, located in the district of Apa, was among the list, although Kadesh itself managed to avoid being taken by the Egptians at this time.

Statue of Thutmose III of Egypt

Thutmose’s second, third, and fourth campaigns seem to have been little more than shows of strength in his conquered territories in an attempt to put down what fighting spirit remained in Palestine. In his twenty-fourth regnal year - during the second campaign - a sign of Hurrian weakness was revealed by the fact that Thutmose received a large lump of lapis lazuli as a gift from the king of Assyria.

It was not until his twenty-nineth year that Thutmose campaigned in Syria again. For this campaign, he constructed a fleet which could quickly carry his troops directly to Syria by sailing along the Palestinian coast rather than by marching overland through Palestine. The fleet landed on the coastal plains before Mt. Lebanon and captured the port city Ullaza (just north of modern Tripoli), which up until that time had belonged to the territory of Tunip, a Mitannian vassal. On his homeward journey the pharaoh moved inland from Ullaza and captured the city Ardata.

The capture of Ullaza was an important victory for the furthering of Thutmose’s Syrian ambitions. It gave him a port to which he could bring his troops over water, and it also gave him easy access to inland Syria, especially to the troublesome and still independent Kadesh. Not one for hesitation, Thutmose followed up his advantage the very next year by marching on Kadesh. Unfortunately, his Syrian possessions were anything but secure. Kadesh’s territory was plundered, but the city remained uncaptured, and when Thutmose returned, he had to pacify Ardata again. In spite of these setbacks, Thutmose successfully added a new conquest to his territory, that of Ṣumur, another important port city located north of Ullaza. This city, like Ullaza, would come to play an important role in Egypt’s Syrian empire.

Thutmose spent the next two years preparing for a major offensive against the Mitannian king himself. A battle was inevitable. The Mitannian ruler could hardly continue to let the Egyptian pharaoh crush his vassals with impunity. In the meantime Tunip attempted to recapture Ullaza from the Egyptians by instigating a revolt there, and Thutmose had to put down that rebellion in his thirty-first year.

His eigth campaign, in his thirty-third regnal year, was the crowning achievement of his Syrian campaigns. Probably sailing his troops to Ullazu, he then struck inland across the Lebanese mountains and the Orontes river and into the territory of Qatna. From here he turned and marched northwards. His hope was to encounter the Mitannian king, but the Mitannian king apparently did not feel up to the challenge, and he fled before the oncoming pharaoh, abandoning his territories to their fate. Thutmose engaged the enemy west of Ḫalap, and then continued north and fought the enemy again in the land of Kargamiš. At some point in this journey, he cut down some of the cedars of Lebanon in order to make boats to be used in a crossing of the Euphrates, into Naḫarin, the Egyptian name for the Mitannian homeland. The ships were placed on cattle drawn carts and brought to the Euphrates somewhere near Kargamiš. When Thutmose reached the Euphrates, he found the stela of his grandfather, Thutmose I, and set up a stela of his own next to it. He then crossed over the Euphrates, into Mittanni proper, and turned southwards, plundering the towns he came across while the defending armies fled before him.

Thutmose probably crossed back over to the west side of the Euphrates somewhere near Emar, and then struck out across the desert towards the coast. When he entered the land of Niya, which either now or earlier when he marched north fell into Egyptian hands, he took great pride in his feats of hunting, wherein he took 120 elephants. After this he turned south, and marched against the still defiant city of Kadesh. Finally, Thutmose’s army would prove too much for this Syrian kingdom, and after a siege the city fell into Egyptian hands.

This campaign was a great victory for Thutmose. The kings of Babylonia, Assyria, and Ḫatti all sent gifts to him in recognition of his accomplishment. Ḫuzziya II may have been the Hittite king who sent the Hittite gifts, although this is uncertain. The fact that the Mittannian ruler did not send gifts is hardly surprising, but at least indicates that he was not prepared to accept his losses and seek out peaceful co-existance. After this campaign Thutmose seems to have attempted to establish some sort of permanent Egyptian authority in Syria. He bragged about his eighth campaign conquests that,

“Every year there is hewed [for me in Dja]hi genuine cedar of Lebanon, which is brought to the Court - life, prosperity, health! Timber comes to Egypt for me, advancing ... New [wood] of Negau [is brought], the choicest of God's Land ..., to reach the Residence City, without passing over the seasons thereof, each and every year. When my army which is in garrison in Ullaza comes, [they bring the tribute], which is the cedar of the victories of my majesty, through the plans of my father [(the god) Amon-Re], who entrusted to me all foreign countries. I have not given (any) of it to the Asiatics, (for) it is a wood which he loves.” (ANET 240)

Mitanni and the campaigns of Thutmose III of Egypt. This map shows the extent of territory Thutmose took from Mitanni. His actual campaigns took him as far north as Kargamiš and across to the eastern side of the Euphrates River.

Whatever Thutmose’s ambitions may have been, the Syrian states weren’t so enthusiastic about Egyptian suzreignity. Thutmose was back in his nineth campaign in order to suppress the land of Nuḫašši. Thutmose installed prince Taku on the Nuḫaššian throne. In his thirty-fifth year, Thutmose engaged a Mitannian army at Ara'na, northwest of Ḫalap, and sent them fleeing towards Naḫarin. His campaigns for the next two years are lost, but in his thirty-eigth year he was back campaigning in Nuḫašši. This victory resulted in Alalaḫ sending gifts to the pharaoh for the first time. Little information is available for the next few years, but information about his seventeenth and final campaign, in his forty-second year, has been preserved. In this year Thutmose captured the city of Irqata, located between Ṣumur and Ardata. Ṣumur, Ullaza, Ardata, and Irqata would all come to play an important role in the conflict between Egypt and Ḫatti several generations later. Having captured Irqata, Thutmose then turned inland and captured the proud city of Tunip. On his return march, he encountered Mitannian garrisons in three of Kadesh’s cities and duly took them prisoner.

This campaign seems to have stablized the situation in Syria, and for the last twelve years of his reign the old pharaoh did no campaigning. Egypt’s Asiatic empire had been established in all its essentials, reaching as far north as Nuḫašši and perhaps some territory around Ḫalap.

The Death of Ḫuzziya

Ḫuzziya II was killed by Muwattalli I.

Here we have possibly the first complete break with the ancient royal blood line. Without evidence, we cannot say one way or the other.

Foreign Relations

Kizzuwatna: Contemporary with Talzu of Kizzuwatna (A king before Šunaššura. See Beal (1986) 432.).

Seal of Muwattalli I. Named Tabarna seal. See Otten (1987)

Muwattalli’s position as the Chief of the Royal Bodyguard in his predecessor’s reign makes it likely that he was either a brother or a son of Ḫuzziya II. Upon seizing the throne, he probably installed his own brother as Chief of the Royal Bodyguard, a position held by a man named Muwa.

The Struggle in Syria

The campaigns of Thutmose III created stability in Syria for over a decade. But ancient empires were often held together by the charisma of their creator, and the real test would come after the conqueror’s death. Thutmose’s successor, Amenhotep II, campaigned near the region of Kadesh in his seventh year. While there he had to deal with the still outraged Hurrians. So he marched further north near Qatna, where he captured Hurrian chariot warriors. He then proceeded into Niya, where he received a generally warm reception. On his return march to Egypt, he captured a messenger of the Mitannian king, who seems to have been sent to incite revolt among the pharaoh’s Palestinian vassals.

Another Royal Assassination

Muwattalli was killed in a palace coup by Ḫimuili, the Chief of the Palace Servants, and Kantuzili, the Overseer of the Gold Chariot Fighters. See Otten (1987) 29f, and Beal, Diss. 333.

(Contemporary of Šauštatar of Mittanni and Niqmepa of Alalaḫ)

The War for the Throne

The succession struggle to the throne is only hinted at in the extant documents. After Great King Muwattalli I had been assassinated, Muwa, Chief of the Royal Bodyguard and probably the brother of the dead king, fled to the Hurrians and solicited their help. On the other side of the struggle Kantuzzili, one of Muwattalli’s murderers, joined forces with a man named Tudḫaliya. The two factions met in battle, and Tudḫaliya and Kantuzzili emerged victorious. Of the conspirators, it was Tudḫaliya’s who became Great King (KBo 32.185 rev. 12. See Beal, Diss. 333).

The Hittite victory over the Hurrian forces resulted in a brief reconfiguration of political alliances in Syria. Upon Tudḫaliya’s victorious accession to the throne, the king of Ḫalap went over to the Hittite side and made peace with Tudḫaliya. But the move proved premature. In spite of the momentary setback that Tudḫaliya had inflicted on his Hurrian neighbors, the Hurrian kingdom known as Mittanni was by no means a thing of the past. Ḫalap was quickly forced back into the Hurrian fold.

Muwa is mentioned in one other text fragment, that which speaks of the murder of Muwattalli, saying, “Muwa will kill the queen, your mother...” Is Tudḫaliya being addressed? And when was this written? We don’t know.

The Influence of Hurrian Culture on the Hittite Dynasty

Tudḫaliya’s queen, Nikal-mati, is the first recorded member of the royal family to bear a Hurrian name.

Madduwatta of Mt. Zippašla

Trouble on the western frontier gave Tudḫaliya the opportunity to expand his kingdom in this direction. A man named Madduwatta came into conflict with Attariššiya, the ruler of Aḫḫiya. Madduwatta was unable to stand before him, and he and his wives, sons, and troops were expelled from their land. Even this did not cause the Aḫḫiyan to relent, and he continued to pursue the fugitives. Their plight was worsened by the fact that Madduwatta did not have enough supplies to sustain his followers. Driven from his land and in desperate need of assistance, he sent to Tudḫaliya in hopes of gaining his support.

Image of what is possibly an Aegean or west Anatolian warrior, incised on the inside of a Hittite bowl found in Ḫattuša. Dates to either the late 15th or early 14th century B.C. (Bittel, Kurt, "Tonschale mit Ritzzeichnung von Bogazköy", Revue Archaeologique, Vol. 1 (1976) 11)

Tudḫaliya chose to help him - for a price. Madduwatta would not be permitted to forget this assistance. Later he would be reminded of this time when “dogs would have devoured you out of hunger. Even if you had escaped from Attariššiya, you would have died from hunger” (HDT #27 §3). Tudḫaliya gave him chariots, foodstuffs, fresh wine (aged wine was not desirable in an time before the glass bottle had been invented) and other beverages. He also offered him dominion over the land of Mt. Ḫariyati, which would have placed him close to Ḫatti. But Madduwatta was not interested in that territory, instead his heart seems to have been set on the territory of Mt. Zippašla. Satisfied with this, Tudḫaliya installed him there. In return for the Hittites’ aid, Madduwatta became Tudḫaliya’s vassal in the land of Mt. Zippašla, which he was expressly forbidden to use as a base for further conquests. Tudḫaliya’s kingdom now extended far into western Anatolia.

But Tudḫaliya was not finished. Part of Madduwatta’s treaty terms was that he had to be the enemy of Kupanta-Kuruntiya, king of Arzawa, who Tudḫaliya considered to be his own enemy and who he had plans of waging war upon. Madduwatta was also forbidden to communicate with Attariššiya of Aḫḫiya.

But Madduwatta was too ambitious to remain quitely in his mountain fastness. He gathered together troops and marched against Kupanta-Kuruntiya on his own initiative. The result was total defeat. Kupanta-Kuruntiya gathered up his army and successfully seized Madduwatta’s household, wives, sons, civilian captives, and all of his possessions. Only Madduwatta and a few men escaped, and even these few men were soon disposed of by the Arzawans.

It was up to the Hittites to save him once again. Tudḫaliya sent forth two Hittite officers, Pišeni and Puškurunuwa, along with infantry and chariotry, to his salvation. Kupanta-Kuruntiya had situated himself in the city of Šallawašši, which the Hittite troops duly attacked. They victoriously entered the city, where they discovered not only Madduwatta’s stolen people and goods, but also the wives, sons, civilian captives, and goods of Kupanta-Kuruntiya, all of which were generously given to Madduwatta. In a poetic reversal (probably too poetic to be believed), it was now Kupanta-Kuruntiya who escaped alone. As for Madduwatta, in spite of his foolishness he was once again installed in his place.

Co-regency, for a while, with his successor, Arnuwanda I.

Plight of a Sick Man

(The following translation is an altered version of that in ANET pp. 400f. To do: replace with direct translation.)

All men are subject to illnesses which they do not understand. For the ancients this was a problem to which they were particularly subject. Even among the ancients, Hittite medical knowledge was limited. The main approach to treating serious illnesses was to make a plea to a deity in an effort to determine what affront had made the deity inflict the illness on the man, and to try and determine what the man could do to restore the god’s good graces so that the divinity could take away the illness. Outside of this, a man’s best bet was a foreign doctor.

One such man to experience the terror of an unknown and serious illness was Kantuzili, who may have been the same Kantuzili who helped to kill Muwattalli I and secure the throne for Tudḫaliya II. Faced by the unknown, he rested his hopes upon the Sun God, for whom he wrote a prayer. But he also had his own patron deity upon whom he was accustomed to rely, and he did not leave either deity out of his thoughts,

“O Sun God, when you go down to the netherworld with him, do not forget to speak with that patron-deity of mine and apprise him of Kantuzili’s plight!”

But it was the Sun God to whom Kantuzili addressed his prayer. It always helped to remind a god that help had always been forthcoming in the past,

“O god, ever since my mother gave birth to me, you, my god, have reared me. You, my god, are my [refuge] and my rope. You, [my god], brought me together with good men. You, my god, showed me what to do in time of distress. [You], my god, called [me], Kantuzili, your favorite servant. Have I not known the superior power of my god since childhood?”

But more importantly, a supplicant should always remind the god of how he had walked down the path of righteousness, and what he had done for the god,

“Even when I fared well, I always acknowledged the superior power (and) wisdom of my god. Never have I sworn in your name, my god, and then broken the oath afterward. That which is sacred to my god and hence not fit for me to eat, never have I eaten it. I have not brought impurity upon my body.

“I have never withheld an ox from your stable. I have never withheld a sheep from your fold. Whenever I came upon food, I never ate it indiscriminately. Whenever I came upon water, I never drank it indiscriminately. Were I now to recover, would I not have recovered at the word of you, my god? Were I to regain my strength, would I not have regained it at the word of you, my god?”

Kantuzili’s illness was serious enough to cause him to dwell on thoughts of life and death,

“Life is bound up with death, and death is bound up with life. Man cannot live forever, the days of his life are numbered. Were man to live forever it would not concern him greatly even if he had to endure grievous sickness.”

The first step towards healing was for Kantuzili to determine the cause of the god’s anger,

“Would that my god might now freely open his heart (and) soul to me and [tell] me my fault so that I might learn about it! Either let my god speak to me in a dream - would that my god would open his heart to me and tell [me] my fault so that I might learn about it - or let the sibyl tell me, [or] let the Sun God’s seer tell [me] from the liver (of a sheep). Would that my god might freely open [his heart (and) his soul] to me and tell me my fault so that I might learn about it!”

Even if you knew your fault, you then needed to know how to soothe the angered god,

“O my god! Let me know how to improve on your worship! You are the shepard of all men. It has always been said about you [that you . . . . .]. My god who was angry at me and rejected me - let the same (god) care for me again and grant me life! Would that my god, who forsook me, [might take] pity on me! [As much as I] wearied myself with pleading before my god, it is yet of no avail. No sooner did you scrape [one thing] evil off [me] than you brought back [another] in its stead!”

Only after all of this preparation did Kantuzili feel ready to make his plea,

“Would that [the Sungod] might calm down again and that peace might return to his heart! Would that he might raise me up again out of my affliction! [O Sun God . . . . .], you are [the favorite son of] Sîn and Ningal. I, Kantuzili, your servant, have just asked for [mercy] and humbled myself. I am [now] beseeching you!

“I sing to the Sun God. See! I, Kantuzili, implore my god incessantly. Would that my god might hearken [to me]! Whenever in times past I, Kantuzili, performed the cult of my god, whenever I [. . . . .] to my god, you gave me abundance, you gave me strength. But now when I, Kantuzili, performed the cult for thee with the merchant, a mortal, holding the balance for the Sun God and upsetting the balance, what [wrong] did I do to my god?

The last bit about the balance, if not meant in some abstract way, may be a reference to a real event which omens had previously identified as being a source of the Sun God’s anger.

A personal revelation of the hardships Kantuzili was suffering through due to his illness follows in an effort to secure the god’s sympathy,

“Through sickness my house has become a house of misery. Through misery my soul drips to another place. As (one who has been) sick on new year’s day(?) - thus have I become. Sickness and misery have now become oppressive to me, so that I must declare to you, my god.

“At night sweet slumber does not overtake me on my bed. While I lie there, good tidings do not come to me. Now, my god, join your strength to that of (my) patron deity! How you could have ordained this sickness for me from (my) mother’s womb on, that I have never asked your sibyl.

A final plea to the Sun God is preserved before the text breaks off,

“Now I cry for mercy in the presence of my god. Hearken to me, my god! O, my god, do not make me a man who is unwelcome at the king’s court! Do not make my condition an offence to mankind! Those to whom I did good, none of them wishes [me] (long) life! [You], my god, [are father and mother] to me. [Beside you there is no] father or mother for me!”

Whether Kantuzili’s plea worked is unknown. But the eloquence and poignency of his suffering calls down to us thirty-five hundred years later.

Foreign Relations

The empire under Tudhaliya II. The king of Ahhiyawa was active in western Anatolia, but it is not known what sort of territory he might have possessed there. The Kaška first appear during Tudḫaliya's reign, ushering in a long era of confusion when trying to articulate Ḫatti's northern border.

Aḫḫiyawa: (= Achaea) In the West, Attarišiya, the man of Aḫḫiya, was active. He conquered the territory of a ruler called Madduwatta. Madduwatta fled to Tudḫaliya II, who protected him from Attarišiya, and saved him from starvation. He then installed him as a vassal in the mountain country of Zippašla. (See The Indictment of Madduwatta).

Aleppo: He took Aleppo and defeated Mittanni. Annexed Waššukanni to Kizzuwatna?

Arzawa: Conquered Arzawa (1^st campaign: Ḫapalla and Šeḫa River Land) and Aššuwa (2^nd campaign: Wilušiya and Taruiša (Ilios and Troy) listed among the Aššuwan lands) in the west. At some point, Kupanta-Kuruntiya was the king of Arzawa and an enemy of Tudḫaliya II’s (See The Indictment of Madduwatta.). Muwattalli II said that, after Tudḫaliya II, Hittite kings often had to campaign in Arzawan lands. See The Treaty with Alakšandu of Wiluša. Comissioned swords in commemoration of this campaign, one of which has been discovered.

Egypt: A treaty known as the Kuruštama treaty may date to this reign and have been made with Amenhotep II (1428-1400). This is the earliest known Hittite-Egyptian pact. In this as yet unattested treaty (or is it? Laroche, CTH, ascribes three fragments to this treaty (CTH #134)), the people of the Hittite town Kuruštama were resettled in Egptian territory.

Sword of Tudḫaliya II (Ertekin, FsNimet Özgüç, pg. 720). (Same sword from different views) Inscription: "When Tudḫaliya, Great King, defeated the land of Aššuwa, he offered these swords to the Storm God, his lord"

Išuwa: (Located in eastern Anatolia, north of Mittanni) Revolted during Tudḫaliya’s reign. After being defeated by the Hittite king, they sided with the Hurrians. The Hurrian king claimed that during his grandfather’s reign, Išuwa had belonged to the Hurrians, and even though they later fled to Ḫatti, they were now definitely in the Hurrian sphere (“The cattle have chosen their stable”). Tudḫaliya couldn’t recapture Išuwa, so he (successfully) attacked Kizzuwatna, a Hurrian possession, instead. See The Šunaššura of Kizzuwatna Treaty.

Kaškans: During Tudḫaliya's reign the Kaškan tribes established^? themselves in north-eastern Anatolia for the first time(?). While Tudḫaliya was invading Aššuwa (see above), the Kaškans invaded Ḫatti. Tudḫaliya’s 3^rd campaign was against the Kaškans.

Kizzuwatna: In the time of Tudḫaliya’s grandfather (Zidanta II?), Kizzuwatna had been allied with the Hittites, but at some later point it defected to the land of the Hurrians. Tudḫaliya's 4^th campaign against Išuwa resulted in the conquest of Kizzuwatna. He must have reincorporated it into the Hittite realm, since he moved one of its deities from the city of Kizzuwatna to Šamuḫa. See Beal (1986) 439f. This would place the Šunaššura of Kizzuwatna Treaty in his reign. So Tudḫaliya captured Kizzuwatna from the Mitannian king in response to the Hurrian king’s capture of Išuwa. See The Šunaššura of Kizzuwatna Treaty.

The treaty he made with Šunaššura is interesting in that it is the first indication we get for a change in the purpose of treaties. As we have seen, earlier treaties with Kizzuwatna were strict parity treaties. So when Tudḫaliya made his treaty with Šunaššura, he speaks as if he is restoring Kizzuwatna’s independence and friendship with Ḫatti. But it is a thinly disguised illusion. The language is that of equality, but the terms are not:

“The Hurrians call Šunaššura a subject, but My Sun has now made him a true king. Šunaššura must come before My Sun and look upon the face of My Sun. As soon as he comes before My Sun, the Great Men of My Sun <will rise> from their seats. No one will remain seated above him. As soon as <he wishes>, he may go back to the land of Kizzuwatna.

“Whenever My Sun summons him, ‘Come before me!’ - if he does not wish to come, whichever of his sons My Sun designates must come before My Sun. But he will definitely not have to pay tribute to My Sun!” (HDT #2 §9-10)

The rest of the treaty begins with a long section of terms which are parallel in almost all respects, reminiscent of the earlier treaties between the two lands. But after this section the true nature of the relationship becomes perfectly clear. Šunaššura was a vassal of the Hittite king. This is almost explicitely stated at one point:

“[If] the King of Ḫurri renounces his claim(?) on Šunaššura, saying as follows, ‘The land of Kizzuwatna belongs to My Sun. I^! will indeed have no illicit relations(?) [with] the land of Kizzuwatna.’” (HDT #2 §51)

The terms of the treaty flesh out this theoretical supremacy. If Tudḫaliya were to march against a foreign land, then Šunaššura would have to provide 100 chariots and 1,000 foot soldiers, and he would have to personally accompagny the Hittite ruler. Šunaššura was forbidden to send his messengers to the land of Ḫurri, or to receive messengers from that land.

Further instructions concerning messengers were given which are significant for understanding the position of messengers in general. Since messengers conveyed tablets bearing the ruler’s instructions it was important that what the messenger said matched what was written on the tablet,

“In regard to a tablet which I, My Sun, send you - a tablet upon which words have been set down - and the words <of> the messenger, which he speaks orally in response to you - if the words of the messenger are in agreement with the words of the tablet, trust that messenger, Oh Šunaššura. But if the words of the speech of the messenger are not in agreement with the words of the tablet, you, Šunaššura, shall certainly not trust the messenger and shall certainly not take to heart the evil content of that report of his.” (HDT #2 §59)

The importance of the spoken messege matching the written word can be seen in an actual example where this condition did not hold true from the reign of Ḫattušili III in his correspondence with Rameses II.

Reformation

Tudḫaliya’s extensive military conquests occupied most of his reign. His attention to the military had served him well, but it was not enough to maintain an empire. The end of his Aššuwa campaign signalled the beginning of a new phase in his reign.

“When I had destroyed Aššuwa and had returned to Ḫattuša, I performed (the festivals) of the gods and the whole Hittite population began to pay homage to me and they spoke as follows: ‘My Sun, you, our lord, are a warrior(?), but you were unable to administer justice.’” (Translation Houwink ten Cate (1970) 62)

So Tudḫaliya began to reform the law. This concern for justice, so typical of Hittite kings, would blossom in the reign of his son-in-law and hand-picked successor, Arnuwanda I.

Mittanni: Tudḫaliya II defeated Mittanni in battle. He took Kizzuwatna away from Mittanni and apparently annexed Waššukanni, later known to be the Mitannian capital, to Kizzuwatna. The result of this Hittite re-emergence was the peace established between Mittanni and Amenhotep II (1428-1400).

Cult and Practice in the Middle Hittite Era

The reign of Tudḫaliya II saw slight changes in the Hittite language emerge which have proven useful for dating texts to within a period from the reign of Tudḫaliya II through that of Tudḫaliya III. The ability to recognize these differences has led scholars to label these texts as belonging to the “Middle Hittite” dialect. The differences are the results of the natural evolution of the language, and therefore no specific ruler can be credited with implementing the changes, although his choice of scribes may have affected the changes we see. Within the Middle Hittite dialect, the characteristic changes can be seen over time to take stronger and stronger hold, ultimately resulting in the “New Hittite” dialect beginning with Šuppiluliuma I.

There is a large body of texts which were written in this dialect, but it is otherwise impossible to be more specific about them in terms of chronology. Several of these documents are ritual in nature, and extremely important in terms of understanding Hittite ritual beliefs. Since no dates or royal references are included, we can only attribute the expressed beliefs to the Hittites of the Middle Hittite era. In spite of this inexactitude, these rituals were certainly older than the texts which they were recorded on, and they probably continued in use long after they were recorded. So they are probably useful in giving us a view into Hittite attitudes in general.

Two of these ritual texts, namely Maštigga’s Ritual of Reconcilliation and Paškwatti’s Ritual to Remove Sexual Dysfunction, may provide internal evidence that they date from after Tudḫaliya’s conquests of Kizzuwatna and Arzawa, respectively, since these are the two places that these women came from. The women clearly came from a Luwian background, and therefore had similar ideas about ritual techniques.

Maštigga’s Ritual to End Domestic Quarrels

The first of these rituals, that of Maštigga, characterizes its purpose thusly,

“The word of Maštigga, the woman of Kizzuwatna: If a father and a son, or a husband and his wife, or a brother or a sister quarrel, I will treat them jointly. I will treat them as follows.” (Colo. 1-5)

The text is therefore obviously a ritual used to reconcile family members who have had a serious falling out. The ritual itself is of a typical Hittite variety. The purpose is for the two clients to ritually cross over a ‘threshold’, to change from one state to another. The dispute is seen as an impurity, and by removing this impurity, the two combatants are seen as being restored to a pure state.

Before the ritual began, a great deal of material was gathered together which would subsequently be used. Once everything was in place Maštigga, or whatever Old Woman wished to perform the ritual, began. The Old Woman set out one fist-sized loaf of sour thick-bread, one piece of cheese, and one jug of wine. The clients then held out their hands to these items, establishing a mystical connection with them. The Old Woman then broke the bread and cheese and poured out the wine, saying,

“Oh Sun God, my lord, I have just brought forth to you the venomous tongues. For themselves on this day, oh Sun God [. . .] they are about to [. . .]” (i 23-26)

This is the invocation of the deity who is appealed to in the ritual. Offerings of fine foods were made (the wine, cheese, and bread) in order to inspire a favorable attitude in the deity. The essence of the consumables was conveyed to the deity by breaking the bread and pouring out the wine. The Sun God may have been invoked due to his connection with legal disputes and justice. Here the two clients were perhaps seen in the same light as two opponents at law, and the Sun God here presided over the “satisfaction” of their claims, in the same way that litigants had to have their cases “satisfied.”

The ritual continues along these lines. Two images made of dough were placed at the clients’ feet, as were two clothed wooden images with covered heads. A hand and tongue were placed on each head. The Old Woman made blue and red woolen threads and put them on their bodies. She then took the red thread and cuts it up over them, saying to the clients,

“Because on that day you contested with one another, now the deity Andaliya has just cut off the tongues (i.e. the hostile words) of those days from you.”

The cut thread, having taken in the force of the hostile words, was then thrown into the hearth in order to destroy them.

Similarly, the Old Woman took a fish, saying,

“This fish is the steer of the sea, and as this fish is separated from the sea, now may they (the clients) separate from the tongues (and) curses of those days.”

Having pronounced the spell, the fish was likewise cast into the hearth. Similar incantations followed using white and black wool rolled up in fat, another using salt, muscle, sheep oil, and wax, another using blue and red woolen threads, images of hands and tongues made of dough. All of these items were waved before the clients and then destroyed in the same way that the hostile words should be destroyed, and then cast into the hearth.

The following spells are more interesting because they are more difficult to understand or simply more dramatic. The Old Woman made seven tongues out of fat, and then she nailed them down. After waving them over the clients, she declared,

“Here are the tongues of that day on which you used to quarrel. Now Father Sun God just hammered them down.”

They were duly cast into the fire. It is typically Hittite that an act by the ritual practitioner (i.e. the hammering down of the tongues) is credited as an act of the appropriate deity. The question is what the significance of hammering something down is. In other rituals, hammering sacrificial animals down (in particular, birds) is a way of consigning them to the gods of the underworld. Other rituals also describe the underworld as a place to which impurities are banished. Therefore, the significance of this act is surely that the clients’ impure hostilities (“tongues”) were being banished to the underworld by the power of the Sungod.

After another incantation in which dough images were purified by sprinkling water over them and consecrating them, and then waved over the clients before being cast into the hearth, we read of an example of Hittite substitute magic.

A white sheep was brought forth and waved over the clients, while the Old Woman spoke in the following way,

“This is a substitute for you! May it be a substitute for your bodies! The curses are in the mouth and tongue.”

The clients then spit into the sheep’s mouth while the Old Woman proclaimed, “You have spit out the evil curses!” The unfortunate sheep, like all the other ritual containers of impurity, had to then be destroyed and the impurity banished to the underworld. To do so, a hole was dug in the ground and then the sheep was cut open in such a way that its blood spilled into the hole. Then the carcass was also placed in the hole along with unleavened thick bread and libated wine (probably as an offering to placate the underworld deities).

The next unfortunate victim was a black sheep. Its mouth was similarly spit into, and the sheep was likewise slaughtered, but it was disposed of differently. Instead of the evil being banished to the underworld, the carcass was cut into pieces and burned on the hearth. Honey and pure olive oil were poured over it. Similarly to the practice with the white sheep, unleavened thick bread accompanies the carcass on the hearth and wine was libated, here perhaps to placate the deities of the heavens.

A piglet was the next victim, and the analogic magic resumed as the Old Woman said,

“Behold! It is fattened with grass and grain. Just as this one will not see the sky and will not see the (other) piglets again, in that way may the ritual’s clients not see the venom and curses!”

The piglet was treated as was the white sheep, being killed and buried along with bread and wine offerings.

The following analogy forbid the evil tongue from going back to the bodies of the clients just as the clay used to make a pot cannot go back to the clay pit, a black (i.e. dried?) kappani-seed cannot become white and capable of sprouting, and some dough which will not be used for the making of thick bread for the gods. An animal characterized as “swift of foot” is given blue and red thread, and is then commanded, with respect to the evil tongue, to “Lift it with the back. Lift it with the tooth.”

If modern sensitivities have not been offended yet, then the next segment of the ritual will surely do the job. The Old Woman took a puppy and waved it over the clients, saying, “(This) is a substitute for your bodies and all parts.” The clients spit into its mouth, and the Old Woman declared, “You have spit forth the curses of that day.” Like the white sheep before it, the puppy was then killed and buried.

The analogies continue. A clay kneading trough referred to as “the kneading trough of Ištar” holding oil and red wool was hidden under the clients’ cloaks so that Ištar would conceal the evil words from the clients and grant them good lives instead. A small clay vessel containing wine, pure olive oil, and honey was poured out and broken so that the evil mouth and venom could be likewise broken.

One lucky sheep followed. This sheep was consigned to the Sun God as a scapegoat for the clients. But instead of being killed, the Old Woman took the sheep for herself. This may be part of the woman’s payment for her services. Interestingly, even though the sheep was not sacrified, bread and wine were still offered.

The next section is not quite as well preserved, but the process is clearly similar. Seven tables were involved, although how is not exactly clear. The theme of seven continues when seven ḫuwaši-stones were arranged between fires on the right and left. They play an analogic role similar to the others, although the significance of the number seven is not made explicit,

“He who erected these ḫuwaši-stones in one and the same place, now they are about to be knocked over. So what came from the mouth and tongue on that day to the two clients, may those words fall just so!”

The clients then knocked over the ḫuwaši-stones using their feet. The Old Woman passed between the fires and certain garments that the clients had been wearing were cast away to be collected by the Old Woman. This act of casting away the garments probably represents the sluffing off of an old state of being and entering into a new one, the way a snake seems new when it has shed its old skin. Thus the passing between the fires by the Old Woman and the casting away of garments both represent the crossing of a threshold, a change from one state of being to another.

A bowl was then broken as should be the curses. The evil words were then wiped off of the clients by wiping them with “the grass of the Sun.”

As a final act, a cup was filled with water and natron (a natural soap). This water was poured over the clients and they washed their hands and eyes. The soiled water was then poured into a bull's horn and sealed up there by the clients. And with a final dramatic statement, the ritual is concluded with an act of permanent disposal of the evil words,

“When the former kings come back and keep account of the land and customs - may this seal be broken then!”

It it not known if this is a reference to a Hittite vision of Armageddon when all the deceased kings would return to rule over the land, or if it is simply a declaration that the seal would never be broken. Clearly, though, it was meant to be a very long time.

Paškwatti’s Ritual to Remove Sexual Dysfunction

Another woman from the other end of the kingdom also reveals her Luwian background. This is Paškwatti of Arzawa. The text as preserved does not include the colophone, but fortunately the beginning explicitly reveals the ritual’s purpose,

“Thusly Paškwatti, the Arzawan woman (she dwells in Parašša): If sexual potency does not exist in a man, or he is not a man vis-à-vis a woman:”

Whereas the Sun God was the relevant deity to call upon for Maštigga to resolve domestic quarrels, the deity that Paškwatti relied on for resolving sexual difficulties was the goddess Uliliyašši, a fertility goddess of the uncultivated wilds. Her function is etymologically clear, since her name comes from the verb uliliya- “to become green”, used to describe the ripening of plants.

The ritual lasted three days. At the very beginning, Paškwatti libated to the goddess. This is what Maštigga did when she broke bread and cheese and libated wine to the Sun God in order to attract the deity’s favorable attention. Also like Maštigga’s ritual, the needed paraphanilia were gathered together before the ritual began,

“One soldiers bread is piled up, and these things are arranged (in a pile) with it - three sweet thick breads (of) moist flour (measuring) one tarna, figs, raisons, kallaktar (i.e. opium?), parḫwenaš-grain of the deity, meal - a little of each in turn, a tuft of wool from a yanda-sheep, one wine pitcher, a robe or a cloak (belonging to) that one (namely) the man who is the client. (These) things are placed (with) the soldier’s bread.”

A virgin lifted these things, and the client was bathed. The client was to walk behind the virgin. Paškwatti (or whatever Old Woman was performing the ritual) was also bathed. The little party then took its goods to an uncultivated place in the open country. Once the virgin had lifted the soldier’s bread, Paškwatti made a gate of reeds. Once again, right away, we see two of the common and essential elements of Hittite ritual. The bathing is an act of purification, and the gate of reeds is a symbolic threshold to be used for crossing over from an old, impure state to a new, pure one.

The transition happened immediately. Paškwatti bound together the client and the virgin using red and white wool and put a spindle and distaff, symbols of femininity, into the client’s hands. The client then stepped through the gate, and as he did so Paškwatti took the spindle and distaff from his hands and gave him a bow and arrows, declaring,

“I have just taken away womanliness from you and given manliness back to you! Further, throw away the behavior of a woman! [Take] up for yourself the behavior of a man!”

A short break in the text ensues, which probably began with Paškwatti raising a thick bread in her hands, breaking it, and then beginning a description of what the client had previously done in an effort to restore his potency. This seems to have involved taking the virgin into his bedchamber where he tries, unsuccessfully, to sleep with her. This evidently establishes his need,

“She went to him down in his bedchamber, and this mortal man is one of (only) feces (and) urine. He did not find you (Uliliyašši).”

Having plainly proven his problem, he had to then entice the goddess to help him. If the goddess would use her powers to help him to impregnate his wife, she would be richly rewarded. “Rich” is the key word. This text was clearly not intended to be used by any man who was not among the highest ranks of society,

“Now he has just come down after you as one of his knees. He is continually seeking after you, oh goddess, for your godliness. Whether you are in a mountain, whether you are in a meadow, whether you are in a valley, wherever you actually are, come down to this man for (his) wellbeing! May the winds (and) the rain not continually strike your eyes!”

“He is going to make you his personal deity. He will assign a place for you. He will give you a temple. He will give you a male servant and a female servant. He will give you oxen and sheep. He will make you a recipient of cultic vows.”

“I am repeatedly entreating and calling upon you. Come! Bring with you the moon, the stars, and the Sun Goddess of the Earth! May female and male servants be running before you! May male and female deities be running before you! Come down to this man! You are his wife for (the sake of) children. Look after him yourself! May you continually be turned to him and speak on his behalf. Hand over your maidservant to him and he will become a yoke (for her). May he take his wife to himself! May he make sons and daughters for himself! They will be your male and female servants! Then they will continually give rituals, thick breads, meal, and libations to you!”

After making this speech, she lowered the broken thick bread and placed it on top of the soldier’s bread. Gathering together their things, the party made its way back to the man’s house. A new table was set up there, and the soldier’s bread was placed on it. The pitcher of wine was placed in front of it.

A piece of the broken thick bread was given to the client, and he ate it. The bread, evidently, had become connected with the goddess Uliliyašši, and by consuming the bread he helped draw her presence to him. He also drank from the pitcher three times, which is likewise connected to the goddess, so that he is said to “drink the goddess Uliliyašši”. Having established this powerful connection with the goddess, that night and the next two the client would sleep on a bed of either KUŠITU-garments or cloaks which were placed before the table. Each day, three times a day (morning, noon, and evening), Paškwatti reinvoked the godess using the words that she had already used. Each time thick loaves were broken and meal was scattered. At at least one point, a sheep was sacrificed before the table and then prepared as a meal (for who is not preserved). Invocations ensued (little of which is preserved, but they seem to be very similar to what is given above), and finally the client lay down to sleep.

This is the “incubation”. Sleeping within the goddesses’ domain (the house has been made that way by means of the dedicated table, garments, and other objects), the client awaited a message from the goddess in his dreams,

“If he sees the goddess on his body in a dream - (if) she goes with him, and (if) she sleeps with him, (then) throughout the three days I will entreat the goddess, and what dreams he sees, he will declare them. If the goddess reveals (her) eyes to him, if the goddess sleeps with him,

“then he will make (an idol of) the goddess himself. Further, if a ḫaršiyalli-vessel is good for her (as her idol), then he will install her into a ḫaršiyalli-vessel. If not, then he will install her into a ḫuwaši-stone (as her idol), or he will make her into an image. The new table which stood in the invocation, it will become that of only the goddess.”

Of course, a mortal could not force the appearance of the goddess, so if at first she did not succeed, “If he does not see [her] on his body - the goddess does not go with him in a dream, I will keep performing the same way.” With this our text ends, and we can only hope that the man’s problem was, in truth, one of impotency rather than sterility.

Seal of Arnuwanda I (SBo I.60). This seal demonstrates the first extravagent use of Luwian heiroglyphics in the central field, including the symbols for "Great King".

Began his reign under a co-regency with Tudḫaliya II (See Houwink ten Cate (1970) 80).

Possibly the strongest period of Hurrian influence on Ḫatti (Wilhelm, The Hurrians, p. 30). Hittite princes would take over religious duties previously held by Kizzuwatnian kings.

Many Instruction texts were written in the reign of Arnuwanda I, including the ḪAZANNU Instruction Text and the Instruction Text for the Lords of the Towers.

Taken as the antiyant-husband (where the man marries into the woman’s family) of Ašmu-nikal, daughter of Tudḫaliya II.

He had a son by Ašmu-nikal who bore a Hurrian name, Ašmi-Šarruma. See CAH 2.1 pg. 675.

The Annointing of a Successor

Trying to decide when in his reign the ruling king would name his successor, the so-called tuḫukanti-prince, is somewhat of a challenge when it comes to the Hittites. Examples can be cited for just about any point within a reign. If any pattern can be discerned, it is that the tuḫukanti-prince seems to have been named early on in the king’s reign, and if this prince proved himself unworthy at some point later in the reign, he would be deposed from his position in favor of some other son or relative of the king.

We have a very fragmentary text in which Arnuwanda names his son Tudḫaliya as the tuḫukanti-prince. It is useful to note that the tradition of naming a successor and recording the event for posterity continued to be a Hittite custom at this time.

“[We made] Tudḫaliya the tu[ḫukanti-prince, and they ...-ed] Tudḫaliya, and they anointed him for kingship. [They said,] ‘Let all of Ḫatti k[now!] May Tudḫaliya become Great King, Hero!’” (KUB 36.119 3-7. ed. Beal "Studies" 120)

An interesting custom preserved in this fragment is that of anointing, which is reminiscent of later Biblical parallels. The similar Biblical examples would ultimately inspire the anointing of Medieval European rulers, which is how this Near Eastern custom became known to us today. (Cf. Beal)

Unfortunately, the text does not indicate when this event occurred within Arnuwanda’s reign.

A Plea to the Gods

Tawannanna seal of Ašmu-Nikal

Arnuwanda had serious problems with the Kaškans. Many of the northern territories fell into Kaškan hands, and Arnuwanda proved unable to recover them. The territories of Nerik, Ḫuršama, Kaštama, Šeriša, Ḫimuwa, Taggašta, Kammama, Zalpuwa, Kapiruḫa, Ḫurna, Dankušna, Tapašawa, Tarukka, Ilaluḫa, Ziḫḫana, Šipidduwa, Wašḫaya, and Patalliya all fell to the Kaškans. This list included some import Hittite centers. But the most devastating of all was the loss of Nerik, the cult center of an important Storm God. Arnuwanda was completely unwilling to relinquish Hittite claims on these territories, but his only hope for recovering them lay in reconciling himself to the gods. But in order to propitiate the gods, he had to make offerings to them, and how could he do this when he had no access their temples? His resolution to this dilemma took the form of a lengthy prayer to the gods in which he and his queen Ašmu-Nikal tried to win the gods over to the Hittite cause by proclaiming how only the Hittites were capable of properly caring for the gods.

“Only the land of Ḫattuša is truly pure to you gods. Only in the land of Ḫattuša do we give offerings in a pure, great, (and) first-rate manner. Only in the land of Ḫattuša do we continually establish reverence for you gods.

“Only you gods know (this) by means of the minds of gods: formerly no one had kept account of your temples like us.

“No one had established reverence [for] your [implements] like this. No one had kept account of the goods of you gods like us, with respect to silver, gold, rhytons, (and) garments.

“Further: What images of you gods exist (made) of silver (and) gold, what is worn with age on some diety, on its body, or what implements of a god are worn with age - no one had made them new again like us.

“Further: No one had established reverence in matters of the purity of the rituals for you in the following way: No one had completed the daily, monthly, and annual rituals and festivals for you like this.

“Further: They used to mistreat the servants and cities of you gods by means of goods and labor obligations. They also used to take the male and female servants of you gods for themselves. They used to make them into their own male servants. They used to make them into their own female servants [...]

“I, Arnuwanda, Great King, [and Ašmu-nikal, Great Queen, had established(?) rever]en[ce(?) with regard to all of these things for you gods.” (CTH #375 §§2'-8')

Arnuwanda then went on to catalogue in detail the benefits that the royal couple had granted to the gods. Then came a very typical Hittite reaction to hard times,

“What matter is troublesome to some god [...] in whatever manner we are not pleasing [...]

“... Say it by means of a seer or an omen interpreter, and we will comply. We will make it right!”

“When the enemy attacked the land of Ḫatti [...] They plundered the land. They took it for themselves. [...] We continually speak to you gods. We continually advance the (legal) case to you.” (CTH #375 §§17'-18')

Having outlined the piety of the Hittites, Arnuwanda then turned to decry the actions of his Kaškan enemies,

“What lands of you gods were those of (supplying) thick breads, libations, and tribute: (The lands) from which they carried the tribute and the cult provisions:

“(The lands) from which they carried the sun disks and lunar crescents of silver, gold, bronze, and copper, the fine garments, the adupli-garments, the kušišiya-shirts, the thick breads, and the libations:

“(The lands) from which they drove the sacrificial animals, (namely) fattened bulls, fattened cows, fattened sheep, and fattened goats:” (CTH #375 §§21'-23')

There followed the list of lands devastated in that way, and then even more grim details of Kaškan sacrilidges,

“They smashed the idols of you gods in these lands.

“They plundered the silver, gold, rhytons, cups of silver and gold, gems, your implements of bronze, (and) your garments. They divided them amongst themselves.

“They divided amongst themselves the holy priests, priests, “Mother-of-the-God”-priestesses, GUDU-priests, musicians, singers, cooks, bakers, farmers, and gardeners. They made them into servants for themselves.

“They divided up your cattle and sheep. They divided up for themselves your fields - those of the thick bread - and your vineyards - those of the libations. The Kaškans took them for themselves.” (CTH #375 §§25' - 28')

The harm to the gods created by all this destruction was not left to the imagination either,

“No longer does anyone call out the names for you gods in those lands. No one gives the daily, monthly, and annual rituals. No one performs the festivals or cult rites for you.

“Further: No one brings your tribute and cult provisions here, to the land of Ḫatti. Holy priests, priests, “Mother-of-the-god”-priestesses, singers, and musicians no longer come from any (place).

“No longer does anyone bring sun-disks and crescents of silver, gold, bronze, copper ore, delicate(?) garments, adupli-garments, and kušiya-shirts for you gods, and for the Sungoddess of Arinna. [No one gives] thick breads and libations to you gods. No one drives [the sacrificial herds] of fattened bulls, fattened cows, fattened sheep, and fattened goats [for you gods].” (CTH #375)

The Kaškan conquests of Hittite cities may have driven the cults out of their native cities, but this did not free the king from his duty to properly worship the gods. Indeed, how could the king reconcile himself with the gods if he could not worship them? So worship had to continue in those cities which remained Hittite. The most important cult, that of the Storm God of Nerik, was particularly important to continue,

“Because the Kaškans have taken the land of Nerik for themselves, we are continually sending the rituals for the Storm God of Nerik and for the gods of Nerik from Ḫattuša to the city of Ḫakpiš - (namely) the thick breads, libations, oxen, and sheep.” (CTH #375 §40')

This emergency transfer of the cults of Nerik to Ḫakpiš would ultimately have a profound impact on Hittite history, fully 300 years later. For, in spite of his eloquent pleas to the gods, Nerik would not be reconquered until that far distant time, in the reign of Muršili III. When it finally was, it would become the casus belli in a fateful internal struggle for power.

After this extensive justification for the complete restoration of these lands to the Hittite fold, reality forced its ugly way into the prayer. In the end the text reveals its earthly purpose: the king was making treaties with some of the Kaškan groups, who are named, and was sending forth ritual goods to the occupied temples and trying to assure that these goods would indeed be used for ritual purposes, rather than simply taken by the Kaškans for themselves. But the king was obviously helpless to ensure that the goods would reach their destination,

“We will call the Kaškans. We will give presents to them. Further, we will make them swear oaths: What ritual items we send to the Storm God of Nerik - ‘You support it! May no one attack it on the road!’

“They will take the gifts. Then they will take the oaths. When they support it, will they belittle the words of you gods? Will they smash the seal of the oath of the Storm God?

“(No!) They will take the gifts in the land of Ḫattuša, and [they will perform(?)] the rituals for the Storm God of Nerik, (namely) the thick breads and the libations.” (CTH #375)

The Great King of Ḫatti could do nothing more than extract promises from his barbarian neighbors.

Systemization of the Empire

Whatever failings Arnuwanda may have had as a military leader are somewhat offset by the fact that he seems to have been a systemitizer of empire of repute. He was responsible for the writing of many of the so-called Instruction Texts that have been preserved. These documents have been referred to previously in an attempt to trace their origin. This genre peaks in Arnuwanda’s reign. This may be why these texts continued to be copied by later Hittite scribes, even though a good argument could be made that the system of organization they describe utterly failed the empire. Following Arnuwanda’s reign, the Instruction Text genre continued to evolve, but as the treaty system developed by Šuppiluliuma I continued to evolve in new directions, they ultimately were reduced to little more than loyalty oaths administered to Hittite officials.

Instruction Text for the Lords of the Towers

The longest, and in many ways most revealing Instruction Text is the Instruction Text for the Lords of the Towers. The Lords of the Towers were the military-civil governors of rural provinces (So Beal). While they reported directly to the king, they were not among the highest ranking officials in the Hittite kingdom. In fact, the Instruction Text for them indicates how little independent control they really had. Each rural province was centered upon a walled town which served as its capital. Within the district there were several unwalled villages associated with the more important walled towns (the “towers”, refering to the watchtowers spaced along the city’s walls) which depended upon the protection afforded by the army under the Lord’s command. Since these rural provinces usually bordered on hostile territory, special care had to be taken to protect not only the local population, but also the integrity of the Hittite border. So here we find the flip-side of the issue first introduced in the Seige of Uršu text seen in the reign of Ḫattušili I. That text revealed how the Hittites went about trying to conquer a walled town, while this Instruction Text reveals how the Hittites went about defending their own.

The Instruction text begins with the daily procedure to be followed in the border towns to ensure security. When morning arrived, the watchmen remained on watch up on the walls. The scouts prepared to set out for the day. At this point, the watch had to scan the perimeter in search of any signs of the enemy and report their findings. If all was clear, then the scouts would be let down from the city. At points distant from the city there were fortified look-out towers which the scouts of the “long road” had to take up position in. Other men would move out to the perimeter and again check for signs of the enemy. Only when it was certain that all was clear would the oxen, sheep, and fieldworkers be let down from the town into the fields and pasture.

If, during the day, any scout actually saw indications of the enemey’s prescence, he had to quickly report it so that all fieldworkers, oxen, sheep, horses, and donkeys could quickly be brought up behind the city walls, not to be let down again until all was clear.

At the end of an uneventful day, the city carefully withdrew into itself. The scouts returned to the city, driving the oxen, sheep, fieldworkers, horses and donkeys up into the town before them. Scouts would take up watch in the city’s towers. The gates would be closed and bolted, and troops would sleep behind them. Further watchmen would be assigned to the gate. But the roads would not be completely abandoned at night. Troops from the tower would hold the roads in two day shifts.

Seal of Arnuwanda I

As well as seeing to the regular duties of the soldiers, the Lord of the Tower was also responsible for keeping record of these activities. He was responsible for knowing which towers were the forwardmost towers forming the border, and which roads the enemy usually used in their attacks. A record of this information had to be made. Two scouts were assigned to each road (presumably making up a chariot crew), and three DUGUD-officials were placed in charge of all these scouts. These DUGUD-officials would ride back and forth between the scout posts under their command.

As well as the scouts, the Lord of the Tower also had to keep track of the troops of the tower. All the DUGUD-officials had to be recognized in their proper rank (four ranks were recognized). Should an enemy attack, troops had to pursue them for a distance of three days. They were then to hold the roads for a further two days. Should any DUGUD-official fail to attack the enemy, he was to be sent into the prescence of the Great King himself - not a pleasant prospect! If the Great King happened to be nearby, then the Lord of the Tower himself had to bring forth the offender.

The Lord of the Tower also had to keep track of changing situations. As the pattern of enemy attack changed, so did the identity of the forwardmost towers. The Lord of the Tower had to drive to those locations and make sure that they were properly fortified, “in the manner of a courtyard”.

The section of the text which began the description of the proper way of constructing things in a tower town is unfortunately lost. But where it picks up, we get a very clear picture of how little independent authority the Lord of the Tower really had,

“May the tower of [...] be 6 gipeššar out. Further, may it be surrounded by rain gutters and mariyawanna. May the mariyawanna be out by 6 gipeššar. May it be 5 šekan away.”

As this passage makes clear, the Lord even had to follow specific measurements when he built things in his towns!

The fortifying of a city was precisely laid out. The foundations of the wall had to be dug down into the ground (6 gipeššars down and 4 across) and extend upwards to a specific height. Alternatively, this part of the text may perhaps be describing a sloped surface running along the base of the wall which was paved with stone “[so that] water may not stand up” and help undermine the wall.

Other principles had to be followed. Gates and heads of stairs had to be door-leavened and barred. Walls had to be prepared for plastering. Roofs had to be made smooth, because “a roof - (namely) a rough one - will leak. Let it not be (so)!” A copper smith had to build bronze ḫakkunnai, which might have been caps for the ends of door posts.

Once the walls were built, their integrity had to be looked after. To this end, no one could dig into the walls nor place fires, such as torches, in them. Oxen, sheep, horses, and mules were also forbidden to be let into the mud used for making plaster, although the reason for this (practical and/or ritual) is not specified.

It was forbidden to build an inn or stable against a wall, presumably either because they were fire hazards or impeded rapid troop movement along the walls. Finally, sanitation had to be tended to; the drains had to be cleaned out every year in order to prevent them from becoming clogged.

It was not just the construction of walls that was regulated. In an astonishing example of micro-management, even the wood for burning had to comply with specific measurements! The reason for this may be because the wood under consideration belonged to the king, and he wished to make sure that his supplies were not shortchanged through the use of inferior pieces of wood. As well as wood, the king could have owned a variety of buildings in a town; houses, ox-stalls, seal houses (i.e. warehouses), and bath houses. It was the Lord’s responsibility to keep track of and supply their needs, and scrape off old plaster and replace it with new should the buildings require it. Other places had to be well built as well, namely the threshing place, vegatable gardens, temples, the bath house once again, “vegetable gardens of the forest”, and vineyards. Presumably the primary construction in a garden would be a fence or short wall of some sort.

The bath-house makes a third appearance when the king instructs that its gutters must be regularly inspected in order to keep them unclogged along with those of a cupbearer’s house and a ḫilamni-house. Similarly, whatever “bird ponds” were in the Lord’s district likewise had to be kept well maintained.

The Lord’s duties were not limited to things military. When he made the rounds of the towns in his district, he was also responsible for looking after things cultic as well. He had to keep account of the Old Men (i.e. elders. The towns local administrative body), the SANGA-priests, the GUDU-priests, and the šiwanzanna-priestesses. It was their responsibility to maintain the temples of the Storm God and other deities, and it was the Lord’s duty to point out to them when one was in disrepair. If the SANGA-priests, šiwanzanna-priestesses, and GUDU-priests did not maintain the temples, then the Lord had to assume that responsibility. The strongly conservative nature of Hittite cultic practice insisted that traditional ways be maintained,

“As it was formerly built, may they rebuild it just so!”

It was not simply the outward features of the temples which had to be maintained, but so did the proper reverant fear towards the gods, especially towards the Storm God. In such a light the Lord and the MAŠKIM-official of the town had to repair any temple that leaked. If any rhyton of the Storm God or implement of another deity was destroyed, the SANGA-priest, the GUDU-priest, and/or the šiwanzanna-priestess had to remake it.

Although the religious leaders may have been responsible for providing the implements, the Lord was responsible for keeping a record of them and sending this inventory to the Great King. The festivals for each deity had to be performed at the appropriate time. If for any cult a SANGA-priest, šiwanzanna-priestess, or GUDU-priest did not exist, one had to be promptly provided. Whatever the traditional offerings to the deity were, these also had to be provided. All of these elements; the inventory, the festivals, the existence or non-existence of cult leaders, and what the appropriate offerings were would ultimately find their way into the extensive cult inventory texts of Tudḫaliya IV a century and a half later, with the exception that the conservatism of Arnuwanda’s day would be replaced by innovations in cult practices during Tudḫaliya’s reign.

The importance of mountains, rivers, and especially springs in Hittite religion comes through clearly in this document,

“What springs of the town are behind (the town), for (each) spring make the offerings. May (offerings) exist for it! May they make them available (for the goddess)! For what spring offerings do not exist, nevertheless may (the spring’s goddess) come up for it! May (her festivals) not be uncelebrated! For what mountains and rivers offerings exist, may they make offerings to them!”

We have already seen that the Old Men of a town had certain responsibilities towards the maintanance of the town cult, but their main function seems to have been juridical. They along with the Lord and the town MAŠKIM-official had to judge legal cases carefully and carry out their judgements. Again, the conservatism of Arnuwanda’s legal system stands out,

“As is from of old; in the lands (where) an obligation of the ḫurkel-sexual sin has been done - in what town they killed them, may they kill them. But from what town they expelled them, may they expel them. Further, afterwards may those of the town bathe themselves. Then may there be a reporting. No one may let them back. The one who lets him back, they will reveal^? him.”

We saw earlier that the Hittites had certain ritual taboos involving sexual practices. These taboos were connected with ideas of religious purity, and the purpose of the townspeople bathing themselves was to remove the ritual impurity from them.

It was not only unusual sexual behavior that offended the gods, but undignified or base behavior did as well,

“Whey they worship the gods, may no one become disorderly before the gods. May no one become disorderly in the festival house.”

The instrument of the gods dignity was his priests. So a connection was drawn between behavior towards the priests and behavior towards the gods,

“Further, may reverant fear be established towards the SANGA-priests, the master craftsmen, the GUDU-priests, and the šiwanzanna-priestesses. May the SANGA-priests, the GUDU-priests, and the šiwanzanna-priestesses be fearfully reverent towards the gods!”

Presumably the master craftsmen made the first list because they were the one who created the implements and idols of the gods. This called not only for a certain amount of dignity, but also for a certain level of purity. These factors would lend a certain aura of power and distinction to such men. But they did not perform the actual rituals for the gods, and so were not responsible for maintaining the fearful reverence towards the them.

The text then resumes with the topic of the administration of justice. Justice, then as now, was expected to be blind. If someone brought a case “sealed by means of a wooden tablet”, then the Lord had to carefully judge his case. If the case became “too large” for him, he had to send it before the Great King. But corruption was not to be tolerated at any level,

“He must not decide it (in favor of) a lord. He must not decide it (in favor of) his own brother, his own sister, or his own friend. May no one take a bribe! Should he declare the winning case the loser? No! Should he declare the loser the winner? No! What is true, may he do that!”

The administration of justice, along with his other duties, made the Lord of the Tower a wandering figure, much like his king. He travelled from town to town in his district, and wherever he arrived, he would call forth the people of the town in order to hear their cases. It was his duty to fairly hear out those classes of people who otherwise would fall easy prey to injustice, such as slaves and widows. The structure of the Hittite army also resulted in another unprotected class. Troops from other lands under Hittite dominion could be called to serve duty in the Lord’s district. While in the ’foreign land’, the troops could not rely on their families or patrons to protect them, and so that duty fell upon the Lord of the Tower. The particular recension of the text which we have names the troops of Kašiyaya, Ḫimmuwa, Tagarama, and Išuwaya.

We saw in the Laws how resettled captives would be given supplies and a three year tax break in order to help them get established in their new homes. This concept was reinforced for the Lord of the Tower, where he was instructed to grant a year’s supplies to the resettled man including cattle, sheep, cheese, rennet, and wool. Should a resettled captive leave the Lord’s district, then the Lord would reassign the land to someone else. But, until the new man could take posession of the plot, the Lord would have to see to it that it was properly sowed. When captives to be resettled became available, they would have to quickly be granted land. Presumably, while a three year tax break was granted, the man would have to support himself off of his own land after the first year.

At this point the Instruction Text leaves us with a most unfortunate gap due to damage to the tablet. A “Lord of the ^GIŠTUKUL-men” is mentioned in conjunction with fields, woods, and a garden, as is the Lord of the Palace who is mentioned with oxen and sheep. Horses are mentioned without any preserved context, but in the vicinity of something belonging to the palace. It surely would have been revealing to have further information to add about the ^GIŠTUKUL-men whose role appears so slippery in the Laws. And of course, any possible connection drawn between horses and the palace would be very interesting. The text goes on to reiterate the importance of well built and well irrigated orchards. To this is added the importance of well irrigated meadows, and how they must not be grazed. Since the very purpose of a meadow is for grazing, this seems a rather unusual thing to say. One potential explanation is that the meadowland was set aside for the use of horses as the Hittite army marched through Hittite territory on their way to a campaign, or simply as pasture set aside for horses instead of cattle and sheep, but this must remain speculative. In this light, however, we might jump forward to the reign of Tudḫaliya IV again, who was responsible for a dam being built in the middle of land with no evidence of human occupation. It has been suggested that the dam was built to serve as a watering hole for horses. If this is true, then it is probably a late Hittite example of an irrigated meadow.

As well as the orchards and meadows, the vineyards also had to be well maintained and kept clean. The word of an official who must have been in charge of the irrigation ditches was to be respected.

It was paramount to the administration’s interests that farm plots not go uncultivated. It is also apparent that the administration usually didn’t have enough field-workers to take possession of all available plots. For this reason, even when fields did not have owners, or a ^GIŠTUKUL man had disappeared from his fields, others had work the field anyway. The Lord would keep track of these fields. This need resulted in what was surely a profitable arrangement. When the fields were planted and seed was being sown on fields which would soon be given to resettled captives, this was when a man could request a loan of grain from the Lord, to be repaid (possibly with interest) at the harvest. If the Lord chose to grant this loan, then he had to carefully take note of how much grain was lent, and see to it that he got the repayment at the harvest.

It was also the Lord’s responsibility to keep the troops properly provisioned with bronze scale armor, horses, bows, arrows, slings, shields, helmets “decorated with lunar crescents”, and other items which are lost to us. Along with military troops, the troops assigned to perform corvée labor were also in the Lord’s hands. These men were surely used for all of the building activities mentioned earlier.

The king seems to have had numerous palaces scattered throughout his lands, and it was the Lord’s duty to look after them. He had to look after their administration, and he also had to be watchful of theft or other crimes. The Lord watched out for whether anyone had damaged or stolen anything, or perhaps sold something. Perhaps someone had broken open a silo, or killed one of the king’s oxen or eaten up the silos and then destroyed the tablets recording the inventory in order to cover up their crime. To steal from the king’s servants was also a serious crime, and the Lord had to seek out those criminals as well and send them to the Great King. Winter presented strong temptations to steal some royal cattle, and so the Lord had to keep careful watch over them as well. The Lord had to guide the harvest activities, collect ice from the mountains in winter, and build ice-houses to preserve it for warmer months.

After this, the text approaches the issues of Spring and ^GIŠTUKUL-men again, but the text is again badly damaged, and in fact breaks off altogether. We do not know how the text continued. But even so, this is clearly a precious document for understanding the daily running of empire in the Hittite Middle Kingdom. Indeed, by revealing the activities of the provincial elite, we have learned quite a bit about the common man. The commoner seems to have been particularly suceptible to death, resulting in a constant shortage of manpower and empty fields which those who survived him would have to work. There was the constant danger of enemy attack, so that every day he could not leave his town until someone told him that it was safe to do so. The pressing need to work all available fields no matter what happened indicates that food shortages were a constant threat. There was little recourse against these hardships except to run away, which seems to have been frequently resorted to. The Hittite administration was naturally displeased by this, and we have seen their attempts to deal with it by making treaties with foreign lands largely concerned with the return of fugitives.

Foreign Relations

The empire under Arnuwanda I. The Arzawan territory represents the conquests of Madduwatta, and therefore could technically be considered part of the Hittite empire as well, depending on the fate of that ruler.

Aleppo: Still Hittite.

Aḫḫiyawa: Attarišiya, the Man of Aḫḫiya, attacked Madduwatta, a Hittite vassal. A Hittite army repelled the Aḫḫiyan army. Later, Attarišiya attacked Alašiya. Madduwatta then took Alašiya for himself. See The Indictment of Madduwatta.

Alašiya: (= Cyprus) Apparently a Hittite possession by the time of Arnuwanda I. Attarišiya, the Man of Aḫḫiya, invaded it. Madduwatta retaliated by taking it for himself. Madduwatta was ostensibly a Hittite vassal, and Arnuwanda demanded that Alašiya be returned to Hittite control. We don’t know the outcome of this conflict. See The Indictment of Madduwatta.

Arzawa: Madduwatta, a Hittite vassal, invaded Arzawa without Arnuwanda’s permission. Madduwatta was defeated by Kupanta-Kuruntiya, the king of Arzawa, and he fled to the Hittite king. The Hittite king restored Madduwatta to his lands. Later, Attarišiya, the Man of Aḫḫiya, sought to kill Madduwatta, and Madduwatta fled before his army. Again, a Hittite army saved him by fighting off the Aḫḫiyan army. Madduwatta, however, decided that his destiny lay elsewhere, and he tricked a Hittite army into an ambush. He then married his daughter to Kupanta-Kuruntiya. See The Indictment of Madduwatta.

Kizzuwatna: Apparently part of the Hittite realm. The Išmirika Protocol has the men of Išmirika swearing an oath to Arnuwanda I and his family. These men are then placed in charge of various cities in Kizzuwatna. The highest official in Kizzuwatna at this time is the BE_L MADGALTI, a provincial governor, not a king. The Išmirika Protocol also indicates that Waššukanni, the usual capital of Mittanni, was located in Kizzuwatna, apparently indicating the extent of Hittite domininion during at least part of this king’s reign. The city of Ura, a port city located on the south central coast, was under Hittite control. Loss of Mittanni? so Oğuz.

Revolts in the east might be ascribed to Mitannian backing.

Joint seal of Tudḫaliya III (on the right) and queen Šatandu-Ḫepa (?) on the left. See Alp (1980)

Testified as the tuḫukanti (crown prince) of Arnuwanda on a land grant text (LS 1)

On the eve of the Empire Period, we finally have, once again, a king who could claim the throne from his father’s blood. This will now be the unshakable rule for the rest of Hittite history.

This king’s reign represents a period of Hittite weakness. The Deeds of Šuppiluliuma are very fragmented for the period that Šuppiluliuma campaigned with his father, but certain things can be adduced. Its very unfortunate that the beginning of the Deeds is so badly damaged. It seems to have given a brief summary of the current state of the Hittite empire, including its key figures, leading up to Šuppiluliuma’s first campaigns. Great King Tudḫaliya, a man named Telipinu, a woman named Ḫarapšite, the land of Ḫayaša, and a man named Kantuzzili (probably the Priest of Kizzuwatna by that name) are mentioned.

Šuppiluliuma was largely able to pacify the Kaškans, but at the beginning of his reign he was still trying, not entirely successfully, to push back the Arzawans.

Life on the Northern Frontier

(Chronological placement within this reign remains somewhat opaque.)

“Thusly My Sun: Say to Mr. Kaššu:

“(Concerning) the matter of chariotry which you wrote to me (about) - I just recently sent forth chariotry. Watch for them!

“(Concerning) the matter of (your) brother Mr. Ḫimuili which you wrote to me (about) - I am about to send him.”

“Say to Mr. Uzzu, my dear brother: Thusly Mr. Šuriḫili, your brother: It is well with me. May it be well with my dear brother. May the gods and the god Ea, the king of wisdom, keep your wife and Mr. Tazzukuli in goodness.

“Here in your house all is well. So do not worry in any way, my dear brother” (HBM #2)

So reads a fairly typical letter sent from the capital at Ḫattuša to the border town which once stood at what are now the ruins at Maşat Hüyük. In spite of the fact that over a hundred letters have been recovered from this site, its Hittite name remains debated. It may have been a town known as Tapikka, which is mentioned several times in the letters, and would briefly be mentioned again several generations later in connection with the early career of Great King Ḫattušili III. Most of the letters cannot be placed in any sort of chronological order to each other. In fact, about the only certain chronological comment that can be made is that they were written in the reign of Tudḫaliya III. Beyond that, it seems further likely that they either largely or completely predate that part of Tudḫaliya’s reign which was covered by the so-called Deeds of Šuppiluliuma. However, since we do not know what sort of window of time is covered by the letters, it's possible that these documents may perhaps overlap the Deeds somewhat. What is certain is that the letters come to an end with the destruction of the city itself. This fact may be crucial in establishing a theory of immediately contemporary and subsequent events in Hittite history.

As for placing these letters in the early part of his reign, there are many things that point to this conclusion. The two documents which bear Tudḫaliya’s seal also bear the name of Great Queen Šatandu-Ḫepa, who is otherwise unknown. His better known queen was a woman named Tadu-Ḫepa. Since Tadu-Ḫepa survived into the reign of Šuppiluliuma I as Great Queen, Šatandu-Ḫepa must have been an earlier queen. There is also the fact that Ḫattuša was still the capital at the time the letters were written. This is important to note because at some point during Tudḫaliya’s reign, the capital seems to have been burnt down. At that time, it appears that Tudḫaliya took up residence in the city of Šamuḫa, located to the northeast in the Upper Land. It’s not known if the capital was ever moved back to Ḫattuša during his reign, although what very few hints we have seem to indicate that he did not. Other circumstantial evidence, albeit very circumstantial, may also support the theory that these letters belong to an early phase of Tudḫaliya’s reign. The letters in general present a situation on the northern border which is deeply troubled by the Kaškan threat, but still basically under Hittite control. Some of the letters, however, reveal a certain urgency wherein the enemy was able to move about freely in the land. As mentioned, the archive survived because the border town at Maşat was itself burnt down. The subsequent archaeological levels belong to the reign of Šuppiluliuma I. The point of view maintained here is that the destruction of Maşat Hüyük was related to the collapse of the border defenses, resulting in the sacking of Ḫattuša some time soon after these letters cease.

The Hittite loss at Maşat is our own gain. The letters give us a rare intimate look at the lives of Hittites as they actually occurred, stripped of the grandiose language of historiographic summaries rendered by kings. The style of the letters indicate how much the Hittites owed to their Mesopotamian predecessors. The standard addresses were written in Akkadian rather than Hittite, and follow basically Mesopotamian formulas. It is not the addressee or the addressor who comes first, but rather the individual with the higher rank. Therefore, all letters that were sent by the Great King began “Thusly My Sun: Say to (so-and-so)”, while all letters written to the king began, “Say to My Sun, my lord: Thusly (so-and-so)” In situations where men of equal rank were corresponding, either individual could come first, although courtesy demanded that the recipient be listed first in such cases. This rule was not always strictly adhered to, particularly when the author was angry with the addressee. Men of roughly equal rank followed the very old tradition of referring to each other as “brothers”. Similarly, a man of superior rank could be referred to as “father”, while a man in an inferior position could be referred to as “son”.

There were frequently more than one letter on each tablet, as in the example given above. The letter from or to the Great King always came first. The second, or “piggyback” letter, was usually written by one ‘private’ individual to another. The subjects were of private matters, such as legal cases:

“Say to Mr. Ḫimuili, my dear brother: Thusly Mr. Ḫattušili, your brother: May all be well with you. May the gods keep you alive. May they keep you in goodness.

“(Concerning) the matter of your opponents which you wrote to me (about) - I now have (it). I will declare it in the palace. A man will go to them and he will lead him into the presence of My Sun.” (HBM #10 §§8f.)

On other occasions the letters mention property transactions,

“Thusly Mr. Maār-ešre: Say to Mr. Uzzu, my dear brother:

“Announce my greetings before Mr. Pulli. (Say to him for me) ‘Send to me the ox which you promised me!’” (HBM #22 §§4f.)

But in a more general sense the subjects of these private letters dealt almost exclusively with a sort of ‘advocate-client’ relationship between two men. The letter above from Ḫattušili to Ḫimuili, the Lord of the Watchtower at Maşat, is an excellent example of such a letter. But Ḫimuili is not the best documented ‘client’ at Maşat. The client most frequently mentioned in the Maşat letters was a man named Uzzu. Uzzu seems to have had his house in Ḫattuša, but had been posted to Maşat. The journey between Maşat and Ḫattuša seems to have been seen as a three day journey, so Uzzu could not readily have direct access to the palace or his household business affairs. Therefore he corresponded with an ‘advocate’ in Ḫattuša whose task it was to look after his household and defend Uzzu’s interests in the palace court if any sort of legal troubles arose for him. In two of these letters, the advocate is a man called Šuriḫili, but in a third letter a different man seems to be promising to fulfill this role,

“Thusly Mr. Šanda: Say to Mr. Uzzu, my dear brother: It is well with me. May everything be well with my brother. May the gods protect you!

“Announce my greetings before Mr. Pulli. Further, I say to you as follows: ‘I will keep announcing the tablets of yours which they bring. Further, I will afterwards keep assisting you.’” (HBM #21 §§5f.)

This letter sounds as if Šanda was formally declaring his intention to act as an advocate for Uzzu. But Mr. Šanda had another role as Ḫimuili’s messenger. It may actually have been his role as messenger which made him a proper candidate as an advocate. Interestingly, as seen above, Ḫimuili’s normal advocate seems not to have been Šanda, but rather a man named Ḫattušili. This probably was connected with the fact that an advocate was a “brother”, i.e. a man of equal rank, while a messenger was always of lower rank.

Often, these messages seem to be nothing more than mere ‘postcards’ sent from one man to another, in which the advocate simply assured his client that all was well with his household. Other individuals besides a patron to his client could be addressed in a similar fashion. But there was more than meets the eye to these greetings. Greetings were usually accompanied by some sort of gift, a fact which probably reveals their real importance. These private greetings frequently included a request for a return greeting. Failure to send these greetings was considered offensive,

“Say to Mr. Ḫwili, my dear brother: Thusly Mr. Ḫimmuili, your brother:

“May the gods keep you alive. May they protect you.

“Since my messengers came from there, why did you not write greetings to me, my dear brother?

“So now I have become angered by you!

“Now my messenger, Mr. Šanda, is about to come. Send quivers and a fine weapon to me, my dear brother!”

“Thusly Mr. Tarḫun-miya: Say to Mr. Walwanu, my dear son:

“May all be well with you. May they protect you in goodness.

“Why does my dear son not write greetings to me? Announce my greetings before Mr. Pippapa.” (HBM #57)

When Tarḫun-miya requested that Walwanu announce his greetings before Pippapa, he was probably requesting that he deliver his gifts to him as well.

The piggyback letters are somewhat surprising in that there is only one occasion on which they might reflect the turbulent events referred to in the Great King’s letters,

“Thusly Mr. Ḫašammili: Say to Mr. Uzzu, my dear brother:

“Gather together your people who are there and send them to me.” (HBM #19 §§6f.)

Even this letter can be interpreted in more than one way. The letter from the king on this same tablet was concerned with Kaškan attacks and the failure of chariotry to appear which Kaššu, the Overseer of the Heralds at Maşat, had requested be sent to him:

“Thusly My Sun: Say to Mr. Kaššu and to Mr. Pulli:

“That which you wrote to me in the following way: ‘The grain has already ripened. Locusts ate the grain in Kaška.

“‘They (the Kaškans) keep putting themselves onto the grain of the city of Kašipura. There are no troops or chariotry! My Sun ordered Mr. Kallu, the Lord of the Chariotry, “Send forth chariotry!” But as of now not any chariotry has come yet.’

“I, My Sun, just took hold of Mr. Kallu. He spoke in the following way: ‘I already sent forth 20 chariot teams!’

“I am now sending forth Mr. Paḫinakki, too, and he is coming.”

Was the situation dire enough to prompt Ḫašammili to advise Uzzu to evacuate his people?

The letters to and from the Great King seem to be almost exclusively concerned with military matters. In general, the picture painted is not good:

“Thusly My Sun: Say to Mr. Kaššu:

“What matters you wrote to me, how the enemy keeps damaging the grain, and how they attacked (the property) of the queen’s house in Kappuši [and took] one team of oxen of the queen’s house and led away 30 oxen and 10 men (belonging to) the MAŠDA-men - I heard it.

“Because the enemy is moving about in the land at this very moment in the aforementioned way, if you encounter him somewhere, then you ought to attack him.

“Be very much on guard before the enemy!” (HBM #8)

Eventually, the Kaškans seem to have overwhelmed the Hittite border defenses. It was perhaps at that point that Maşat Hüyük was burnt down. The Kaškans then seem to have continued on into Ḫatti and burnt down Ḫattuša itself. This event is still shrouded in mystery. There is no archaeological evidence for this destruction, and no contemporary documents mention it. Only later is this dire event directly mentioned. Indirectly, we can perhaps see the event by its impact. Our next important source on Tudḫaliya’s reign was written not for the sake of Tudḫaliya, but rather in comemmoration of his son, Šuppiluliuma I. This document begins by recording Šuppiluliuma’s early career as one of his father’s generals. In this document, Tudḫaliya seems to have established his capital at Šamuḫa rather than Ḫattuša. In this document, Šuppiluliuma is twice sent out on campaign into Ḫatti. This may indicate that the capital was lost in the darkness between the destruction of Maşat and the beginnings of Šuppiluliuma’s career in his father’s army.

The Military Campaigns of Tudḫaliya and His Officers

Kantuzzili against Arziya: Where the Deeds of Šuppiluliuma becomes legible, we find an enemy capturing the town of Arziya along with its goods, people, cattle, and sheep. Kantuzzili successfully killed this enemy.

Tudḫaliya against Šallapa: A man named Tuttu was in some way connected with the western town of Šallapa. Something that Tuttu did caused Tudḫaliya to set fire to Šallapa. But apparently the town was too valuable to permit its total destruction, and the fire was extinguished. Tuttu’s career did not end there, but the Deeds are simply too fragmentary to say anything certain about him.

Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma against Mt. Nanni: Šuppiluliuma is first introduced in the context of Tudḫaliya’s journey to Mt. Nanni, where they fought against war parties. Tudḫaliya set about fortifying a district in Mt. Nanni, and the son of a man named Zittara told him something about a man named Ḫalpa-muwa. At this point, the column ends, and the continuation of the story is lost.

Šuppiluliuma against the Ḫayašans and Kaškans: Where the Deeds pick up again, we find Šuppiluliuma campaigning against Ḫayaša, located not far to the east of Šamuḫa. But the Ḫayašans refused to meet him for battle. Instead, Šuppiluliuma was confronted by Kaškan tribes. Šuppiluliuma was successful and brought many prisoners back to Šamuḫa.

Šuppiluliuma against Kaškans and their helpers: Next, Šuppiluliuma went forth from Šamuḫa against the Kaškans, who had assembled with their auxiliary troops, which included even the shepherds. Šuppiluliuma was victorious again and took many more captives.

Tudḫaliya? in the Upper Land: Nothing else is preserved besides the location.

The Sack of Ḫattuša

In the next events related by the Deeds, we potentially see, in a frustratingly fragmented version, the consequences of an extremely important event. Here we find Tudḫaliya situated with Šuppiluliuma in Šamuḫa. Šuppiluliuma begged his father to send him out against the enemy, and Tudḫaliya complied. What is so interesting is that Šuppiluliuma then marched into Ḫatti, where he discovered that the kunzi-crops had been burned down by the enemy.

"Thus (spoke) my father to my grandfather, 'My lord, send me on [campaign] across the border! Then, the gods will fulfill what is in my [heart]!' So my grandfather sent forth my father from the city Šamuḫa. [When he] arrived in the land Ḫatti, my father began to pour out kunzi-crop (like) what had been burnt up by the enemy. They began pouring it out." - Deeds of Šuppiluliuma, as told by his son, Muršili II, KBo 14.1 ii 5'-14'

Then someone led the Kaškans to the town of Wašḫaniya, where they plundered the civilians, cattle and sheep of the palace. Mt. Pirwašši is mentioned, and something happens “from Ḫattuša”.

Here the Deeds seems to be relating campaigning within the region of Ḫattuša after Ḫattuša had been burned down. Šamuḫa seems to have served as a temporary seat of government until the capital could be recovered. If so, when exactly was the capital sacked? The next time that Tudḫaliya is mentioned (see below), he is said to have recovered from an illness and then come down from the Upper Land. The Hittite language makes no distinction between a wound and what we call an illness. Had Tudḫaliya been wounded while defending the capital and been forced to flee to the Upper Land? The loss of territory in Ḫatti and things being taken from Ḫattuša (which could simply mean “Ḫatti”) does not neccessarily mean that the capital itself was attacked, but Šuppiluliuma’s son Muršili would later credit his father with the recapture of Ḫattuša. The capital seems to have remained at Šamuḫa for the rest of Tudḫaliya’s reign and into Šuppiluliuma’s.

Šuppiluliuma against Kaškans: Šuppiluliuma went forth against Kaškans. In a march against nine Kaškan tribes, the tribes became fearful and laid down their weapons. Šuppiluliuma fortified abandoned towns and repopulated them.

Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma on campaign: At this point Tudḫaliya recovered and came down from the Upper Land. He then marched against the lands of Maša and Kammala, who had attacked the River Ḫulanna Land (located to the northwest of Ḫattuša). He brought Šuppiluliuma with him. They won. But while they were in Kammala, Kaškans attacked behind their back and destroyed the towns that Šuppiluliuma had fortified and repopulated. The Kaškans were aided by the towns of Katḫariya and Gazzapa. Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma returned and destroyed the towns of Katḫariya and Gazzapa and then the Kaškans. They then marched far to the east against Ḫayaša and fought Karanni (Or: Lanni?), King of Ḫayaša. The outcome is not known. They surely won, though.

Šuppiluliuma marches against Piyapili the Kaškan: Mr. Piyapili the Kaškan was causing trouble, but Tudḫaliya had fallen ill again and was unable to go on campaign. It was another opportunity for Šuppiluliuma to stand forth from the crowd.

"Since he was still ill, my grandfather (spoke) thus: ['Who] will go?' Thus (spoke) my father, 'I will go!' [So] my grandfather sent forth my father." - Deeds of Šuppiluliuma, as told by his son, Muršili II, KBo 14.3 iii 8'-11'

Piyapili was ravaging Ḫatti itself, and Šuppiluliuma marched once again to the defense of the homeland.

"When my father arrived in the land, (he found that) the Kaškan enemy who had come into the land Ḫatti had done much evil in the land. The Kaškan enemy who my father defeated in the land Ḫatti consisted of twelve tribes. The gods ran before my father. What(ever) (of) that Kaškan enemy - the tribal troops - he caught anywhere, he killed him. What (the enemy) held, my father took it away from him and gave it back to the Hittites." - Deeds of Šuppiluliuma, as told by his son, Muršili II, KBo 14.3 iii 12'-21'

When Tudḫaliya became well again, he came down from the Upper Country and gave battle to an enemy, probably Kaškan, in the town of Zitḫara.

Šuppiluliuma marches against Arzawa: The Deeds preserve one final act of bravery by Šuppiluliuma during the reign of his father.

"[Thus (spoke) my father] to my grandfather, '[. . . Send] me against [the Arz]awan [enemy!']" - Deeds of Šuppiluliuma, as told by his son, Muršili II, KBo iii 38'-39'

Tudḫaliya sent Šuppiluliuma against the Arzawans. The text refers to them as tribes, and Šuppiluliuma had to fight them after only one day of marching, which shows just how far the Arzawans had managed to encroach upon Hittite territory. Šuppiluliuma won.

Trouble in Mittanni: (Not sure how this stuff fits into Tudḫaliya’s reign chronologically, so I have presented it all here. The information comes from EA #17.)

The mighty Mitannian empire, which had been the bane of Hittite expansion for so many generations, now took a decided turn for the worst. It had reached the height of its expansion with the aquisition of Kizzuwatna, and subsequently began to experience setbacks with the loss of that kingdom in the reign of Tudḫaliya II. It’s slow and unsteady decline entered a new and decisive stage at this point. Even so, the dissolution of Mittanni would not be quick. It was destined to take several more generations.

As is the case with so many empires, the Mitannian collapse was not caused by foreign invasions, but rather by internal disputes. It began with the assassination of Great King Artašumara by a man named UD-ḫi (the correct reading of 'UD' remains uncertain). Now assassinations are not in themselves neccesarily destructive events in an empire’s history, but the Mitannians were not to ultimately benefit from Artašumara’s death. His murder created a succession struggle which split the Mitannian empire in two. In the east one of Artašumara’s sons, named Artatama (II), set himself up as Great King. In the west UD-ḫi, who had no legitimate claim to the throne, set himself up as regent for a member of the royal family who was still a minor, a young brother of Artašumara named Tušratta. To his discredit, during his regency UD-ḫi never established friendly relations with Mittanni’s valuable ally, Egypt.

This situation remained until Tušratta was mature enough to rid himself of his unsavory regent, along with all his supporters, and proclaim himself Great King of Mittanni in deed as well as in name. He immediately set about trying to secure his international position by reestablishing relations with his brother-in-law, the king of Egypt. But he could not solve the problem of his nephew’s rival claim to the throne, and the empire remained divided.

Trouble with Išuwa and Mittanni: (Chronology also uncertain)

In spite of the uncertainty of his position, Tušratta apparently felt no need to woo his Hittite neighbors. It was probably under his aegis that Išuwa became hostile to the Hittites. Along with the Išuwans, a great many troops owing allegiance to the Hittite Great King also rose up against their lord; namely those of the city Kurtališša, the city Arawanna, the land of Zaziša, the land of Kalašma, the land of Timana, Mount Ḫaliwa, Mount Karna, the city of Turmitta, the land of Alḫa, the land of Ḫurma, Mount Ḫarana, half of the land of Tegarama, the city of Tepurziya, the city of Ḫazka, and the city of Armatana. Šuppiluliuma was sent out against these enemies, and successfully defeated them. Those who escaped fled into the land of Išuwa. The Hittites tried to take advantage of the apparent weakness of Mittanni created by its dynastic dispute and invaded Tušratta’s territories on “the west bank of the Euphrates”, which is probably a reference to the western half of Išuwa. But the Hittites were not able to retain their conquests. The newly liberated Tušratta came to his vassal’s aid and scored a victory against the Hittites. The troops who had fled to Išuwa were to dwell there safely under Mitannian protection for the remainder of Tudḫaliya’s reign. Tušratta used this victory to bolster his uncertain position with his brother-in-law, the Pharaoh;

“When the enemy advanced against [my] country, Teššup, my lord, gave him into my hand, and I defeated him. There was [n]ot one of them who return[ed] to his own country.

“I herewith send you 1 chariot, 2 horses, 1 male attendant, (and) 1 female attendant, from the booty from the land of Ḫatti.” (EA #17)

The letter closed with the plea, “May my brother seek friendship with me, and may my brother send his messengers to me that they may bring my brother’s greetings to me and I hear them” (EA #17). His efforts for recognition seem to have paid off, for soon Tušratta would enter into negotiations to send one of his daughters to the Egyptian court in order to marry the Pharaoh.

Trouble seemed to dog the Hittites in every quarter. The empire had virtually disappeared and the capital itself had been lost. Arzawa was slowly consuming all of western and southern Anatolia, and was even able to capture Kaškans. It all made the Hittite empire seem like a thing of the past to their distant Egyptian allies. Things seemed so hopeless for the Hittites that the pharaoh entered into negotiations with Tarḫunta-radu, king of Arzawa, in order to marry one of his daughters. After requesting that the Arzawan king send Kaškans to him, the pharaoh wrote,

“I have heard that everything is finished, and that the land of Ḫattuša is shattered.” (EA #31)

An interesting comment on the sudden rise of Arzawa’s fortunes is that their correspondence with Egypt had to be conducted in Hittite rather than Akkadian, the usual language of diplomacy. The Arzawan scribe, attempting to establish relations with his counterpart in Egypt, had to write, in Hittite,

“May Nabu, the king of wisdom, (and) Ištanu of the Gateway graciously protect the scribe who reads this tablet, and around you may they graciously hold the hands.

“You, scribe, write well to me; put down, moreover, your name.

“Always write the tablets that are brought here in Hittite!” (EA #32)

The Arzawans were not the only ones desirous of marriage relations with the pharaoh. After several years of negotiations, Tušratta finally completed the marriage arrangements for his daughter Tadu-Ḫepa and sent her off to Egypt. In the final letter, wherein her dispatch is recorded, Tušratta even requested from the pharaoh a statue of gold made in the likeness of his daughter! This letter, by the way, is the most important document yet discovered for the study of the Hurrian language, since it is one of the only long documents ever discovered which is written in Hurrian.

The empire under Tudhaliya III.

Tudḫaliya’s reign can be summed up as an almost complete failure. The Hittites lost their international standing, they lost their territories near and far, and even the capital itself was burnt down. The only bright spot to emerge is the rise of prince Šuppiluliuma to become the foremost general in the Hittite army. The real question is why Tudḫaliya’s reign should have been such a dismal failure. Was it a result of the character of the king, or something else? In fact, it should probably be viewed as a sign of just how desperate the times were. The letters from Maşat Hüyük do not leave the reader with an impression of Tudḫaliya as a weak or uninterested leader. He was vigorously active in the deployment and commanding of his troops, and he received a great deal of intelligence on the enemy. He reveals a real familiarity with the situation. But he could not be everywhere at once, and clearly his generals could not adequately protect even the small parts of the Hittite borders entrusted to them.

The situation went from bad to worse as the Great King began to repeatedly suffer from illnesses which took him off of the field and left his armies in the command of underlings. Many empires have utterly dissolved under difficult circumstances. The Hittites owed much of their survival to their own long traditions of unity, and to the brilliant exploits of the greatest leader the Hittites would ever see; Šuppiluliuma I.

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Arzawa: The Arzawa letters from Amarna testify to the independence of Arzawa. Amenhotep III (1390-1350) was asking for Kaškan slaves from the king of Arzawa. The Arzawa letters further indicate discussion of marriage arrangements with Tarḫuntaradu of Arzawa. Arzawa occupied the Lower Lands (south central Anatolia). Šuppiluliuma I campaigned successfully against Arzawa (while campaigning for his father). Šuppiluliuma’s principle Arzawan enemy was Anzapaḫḫadu. (See under Šuppiluliuma I)

Wiluša: (= Ilios) When Tudḫaliya III invaded Arzawa, he did not invade Wiluša, because it remained friendly to the Hittites, as it traditionally had, and later continued to be. See The Treaty with Alakšandu of Wiluša.

Kizzuwatna: Part of the Hittite realm. Tried to secede to Mittanni, but Šuppiluliuma I prevented this (while campaigning for his father). See Beal (1986) 436f.

Išuwa: He lost it. CAH 2.2 pg. 6. See also The Šattiwaza of Mittanni treaty, Beckman’s translation.

Kaška: The Maşat Hüyük letters reveal that the Hittites had close relations with the Kaškans, both friendly and unfriendly. The commanders of this Hittite frontier province were constantly engaged in hostilities against the Kaškans, but they were also making friendly alliances with some groups, and even, apparently, using their Kaškan allies in warfare against their Kaškan enemies.

Egypt: The Kuruštama treaty with Egypt probably dates to this reign (Sürenhagen, Staatsverträge, pp. 11-13 (CTH #379 refers to treaty’s contents). In this treaty the Storm God takes citizens of Kuruštama (located in the Kaškan zone. Were these captured citizens?) and carries them to Egypt to become Egyptian citizens. Peace between Ḫatti and Egypt (Amenhotep II or Thutmose IV) is established for the first time. Peace between Ḫatti and Egypt in a later generation resulted in an affluence of letters between the two royal families, and a letter from “Zita, the king’s son, your son” may reflect the same situation at this earlier time. In this letter Zita first sends gifts to the Pharaoh, and then sends his messenger with a gift of sixteen men. In return for his generosity to the Egyptian king, Zita wrote,

“I want gold. My father, send me gold! And all that you, my father, wish, write to me so that I may send it to you.” (EA #44, Murnane (1990) 1)

Queen: Tadu-Ḫepa (Dowager queen. Known to be queen in Tudḫaliya III's reign, and into Šuppiluliuma's reign)

Son of Arnuwanda and brother of Tudḫaliya III? See Güterbock, H.G., “The Predecessors of Šuppiluliuma Again,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 29 (1970), files of SRT.

Rich Beal’s Theory: Ḫattušili was a brother of Tudḫaliya III. Šuppiluliuma was a son of Tudḫaliya III, but not eligible for the throne (was he a bastard?). Tudḫaliya III died while his chosen successor, Tudḫaliya the Young, was still a child. An arrangement was made so that Ḫattušili II became king until his death, at which time

Tudḫaliya the Young would ascend to the throne.

I DOUBT THIS KING EXISTED AT ALL.

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Aleppo: Ḫalap “sinned” against Ḫattušili, and Ḫattušili rewarded Aštata and Nuḫašše by giving them some of Ḫalap’s land.

However, I doubt that a Ḫattušili between Tudḫaliya III and Šuppiluliuma is intended. I believe the paragraph is talking about Ḫattušili I.