Late Empire

Late Empire
Part 1
Commonly known as the Empire or the New Kingdom
Historically, the period refered to in this work as the “Late

Empire” is instead called by scholars either the New Kingdom
or, more frequently, the Empire. The sudden change of
terminology from “kingdom” to “empire” for the Hittite
political system is, at the very best, somewhat misleading. It
leads the reader into believing in a dramatic change in Hittite
society. But, while there is a significant reversal of fortunes,
the late empire does not differ significantly from what had been
before, in either scope or nature.
This is not to say that the reign of Šuppiluliuma I does not

represent a new period in Hittite history. This Great King’s
reign represents a brilliant Hittite resurgence after the almost
total collapse of the Middle Empire during Tudḫaliya III’s
reign. Further, our available sources blossom for the Late
Empire as compared with any earlier period of Hittite history,
beginning with the marvelous histories written by Muršili II
about himself and his father Šuppiluliuma I. Even the language
appears new, for beginning with Šuppiluliuma we note changes
in the language which cause us to distinguish between a Middle
Hittite dialect and a New Hittite dialect.
Another distinction of crucial importance can be made for the

Late Empire. Šuppiluliuma I made the first widescale use of the
treaty system which we first saw in the reign of Telipinu, and
which Šuppiluliuma’s great-grandfather Tudḫaliya II modified
for purposes of domination instead of equality. This treaty
system, while never fully displacing the earlier provincial
system, came to overshadow it and play a vital role in the
progress of late Hittite history.
Nevertheless, it must be remembered that the Hittites

themselves saw no break in history between a “kingdom”
period and an “empire” period. This is not to say that
Šuppiluliuma’s reign didn’t represent a new beginning even to
them. Henceforth, all Hittite Great Kings traced their lineage
back to Šuppiluliuma in their official documents. In most cases
they didn’t bother to go back any further, whether this was
Muršili II, son of Šuppiluliuma I, or Šuppiluliuma II, great-
great grandson of Šuppiluliuma I.
Continuity can be seen in that Šuppiluliuma was a member of

the old dynasty, and the “empire” that he created did not vastly
outsize that of his ancestors. Nor did his reign represent the
birth of a new culture. So, with these things in mind, the reader
has from now until the conclusion of this work to decide if the
standard change in scholastic terminology is justified or not.
Šuppiluliuma I (~1344?-1320) Son of Tudḫaliya III.
Titles My Sun, Great King, Hero, King of Ḫatti, Tabarna (Whether or not he
used the title Tabarna depends upon whether or not the anonymous
Tabarna seal Mşt 74/62 actually belongs to him. See Easton (1981) 41)
Annals The Deeds of Šuppiluliuma, written by his son, Muršili II.
Queens 1st) Tadu-Ḫepa (dowager queen, either Šuppiluliuma I’s mother or step-
mother)
2nd) Ḫenti (See Beal (1986) 435.)
3rd) Tawannanna (Mal-Nikal), a Babylonian princess, daughter of the
Kassite king Burnaburiaš II (1359-1333). She is testified to on a
Šuppiluliuma seal as “princess”, which presumably refers to her status
as a Babylonian princess, or that whatever word underlies this sign can
also be used for a wife. She is also testified to on a seal as Great Queen.
Family Arnuwanda (II), son, successor.
Telipinu, son. “The Priest”. Priest in Kizzuwatna, then installed as the
King of Aleppo. Possibly the second eldest son. See Bryce (1992).
Piyaššili (Šarri-Kušuḫ), son. King of Kargamiš, vice-regent of Syria.
Zannanza, son. Sent to Egypt by Šuppiluliuma in order to marry Tut-
anḫ-amon’s widow and become the king of Egypt. Killed en route by
the Egyptians. His name might actually be an Egyptian title.
Muršili (II), son. Probably his youngest son. Succeeded his brother,
Arnuwanda II.
Wife of Ḫuqqana of Ḫayaša, sister. Ḫuqqana was required by his treaty
stipulations to put aside his current Azzian wife in favor of
Šuppiluliuma’s sister. He was further forbidden to take an Azzian wife.
Misc. daughters who got married off to vassal kings.
Muwatti, daughter, married to the vassal king Mašḫwiluwa of Mira and
Kuwaliya.
(Unnamed daughter), married to the vassal king Šattiwaza of Mittani.
Zida, brother, Chief of the Royal Bodyguard
Officers/Officials Chief of the Royal Bodyguard Zida, brother
Texts Deeds of Šuppiluliuma (by Muršili II) (CTH #40), Treaty with Ḫuqqana
of Ḫayaša (CTH #42-43), Decree concerning the priesthood of Telipinu
(CTH #44), Letter to Niqmad of Ugarit (CTH #45), Treaty with Niqmad
of Ugarit (CTH #46), Edict fixing the tribute of Ugarit (CTH #47), Tablet
of the tribute of Ugarit to the Hittite court (CTH #48), Treaty with Aziru
of Amurru (CTH #49: Akkadian and Hittite versions), Treaty with Šarri-
Kušuḫ (Telipinu) of Kargamiš (CTH #50), Treaty with Šattiwaza of
Mitanni (CTH #51: Akkadian and Hittite versions), Treaty of Šattiwaza of
Mitanni with Šuppiluliuma I (CTH #52: Akkadian and Hittite versions),
Treaty with Tette of Nuḫašše (CTH #53: Akkadian version), Letter of
Šuppiluliuma I to a pharaoh (Amenhotep IV?) (CTH #153), Letter of
Šuppiluliuma I to a pharaoh (CTH #154), Instructions of Šuppiluliuma I
(CTH #253)
Seals Aside from his regular seal (for example; SBo I.1), there is also the seal
which was found in a level of Maşat HŸyŸk which belonged to
Šuppiluliuma I, Mşt 74/62. See Easton (1981) 41).
Key Recovery of Hittite power. The most militarily glorious reign in all
Themes of of Hittite history. Establishment of Ḫatti as one of the three
Reign significant powers in LBA Near East. Conquest of Mitanni.
Establishment of Hittite control in Syria. Creation of the kingdom of
Amurru. Beginning of hostility between Ḫatti and Egypt. Period of
the Amarna letters in Egypt. Death of King Tut and the near
aquisition of Egypt for Ḫatti.
Seal of Šuppiluliuma I
(Contemporary of Aḫen-Aton and Tut-anḫ-Amon of Egypt. Contemporary with

Aššur-uballiṭ I of Assyria (See Peter Machinist (1987).)
The following account of Šuppiluliuma’s military exploits is based largely on
The Deeds of Šuppiluliuma. The broken nature of this text makes the proper
placement of the fragments, and thus the events, difficult to determine. The
sequence here follows that presented by Güterbock (1956). Once the Great
Syrian campaign begins, the number of sources for Šuppiluliuma’s reign
increases and can be used to supplement the fragmentary Deeds.
After Šuppiluliuma’s victory against the Arzawans, Šuppiluliuma’s father,

Tudḫaliya III, no longer appears in the Deeds. The fragmentary nature of the
text makes it unclear whether or not Šuppiluliuma immediately became king at
this point. It is important to note that the next fragment begins with word of the
enemy being brought directly to Šuppiluliuma, who then decided to march
against the enemy (rather than ask permission to do so from Tudḫaliya, which he
had been doing up until then). There doesn’t seem to be any space in the Deeds
for the reign of a Ḫattušili II, which contributes to the difficulties surrounding
the question of that king’s existence.
The Succession
Šuppiluliuma had not been the designated successor to the throne. That
distinction was held by Tudḫaliya "the Younger", as reported by Šuppiluliuma's
own son, Muršili II,
"Because Tudḫaliya, their lord, was the (designated) son for the land of Ḫatti,
[the city] of Ḫattuša, the princes, the lords, the overseer of clansmen, the lower
ranking officers, [the team leaders, and the troops and chario]try all swore an
oath to him, and my father also swore an oath to him." (CTH 378.1 - Plague
Prayer of Muršili II, 1st Version, §2)
These oaths sworn in favor of Tudḫaliya the Younger were not enough to ensure
the smooth transfer of the kingship. With Kaškans still ravaging the land,
Arzawa menacing Ḫatti from the west, and the capital at Ḫattuša still in ruins, a
strong and experienced leader was needed on the throne. A group of officers,
including the hitherto immensely successful prince Šuppiluliuma, transgressed
their oaths and killed Tudḫaliya the Younger. It was a sign of things to come
from this royal son, who never seemed to have felt particularly constrained by
his word if it interfered with his ambition.
During the struggle for the throne, Tudḫaliya appears to have been supported by
some of his brothers, and these men met the same fate as their sibling. One
group of men - who exactly is not known, but they were probably also family
members - were banished to the island of Alašiya instead of being killed. This
bloodshed in the royal family cleared the way for the accession of Šuppiluliuma
as the Great King of Ḫatti.
New Officials
Hittite Great Kings frequently exercised their right to make new appointments
when they ascended to the throne. Certain positions were tradtionally held by
men who enjoyed a specific relationship to the reigning Great King. Considering
the bloody nature of Šuppiluliuma's accession, there were probably plenty of
additional offices available to be filled as well, and we may therefore suspect
that the following appointments took place almost immediately: Šuppiluliuma’s
brother Zida became Chief of the Royal Bodyguard. Within a couple years
Šuppiluliuma’s son Telipinu was appointed Priest of Kizzuwatna. (See below)
Šuppiluliuma’s Early Campaigns as Great King
"Because the city Ḫattuša [had been burned down] by the [enemy, and] the
enemy had taken [the borders] of the land of Ḫatti for themselves, [my father set
about attack]ing? the lands [of the enemy.]" (CTH 378.1 - Plague Prayer of
Muršili II, 1st Version, §4)
Šuppiluliuma’s reign was in many ways predicted by his princely career. The
man was first and foremost a general. Under his father, he had spent many years
marching out to various corners of the empire leading armies in the field of
battle. His own reign can be described in precisely the same way. There was a
restlessness about the man which time and again drove him to march out from
his capital in all directions, even on those few occassions when strictly speaking
there was no need for him to do so.
But there can be no question that he was the right man for the times. During his
father’s reign, the constant danger along the borders made his skills essential to
the survival of the empire. These dangers were still very much alive when he
himself came to the throne.
His first concern as Great King was with the continuation of his campaigns
against Arzawa. Word was brought to him that an Arzawan enemy had attacked
the town of Aniša and then moved on to a town whose name is only partially
preserved as [...]išša. So he marched forth and destroyed them. Continuing on
his way, he then destroyed six enemy war bands at the town of Ḫuwana[...], and
seven more war bands at the towns of Ni[...] and Šapparanda.
Another Arzawan enemy had moved into the land Tupaziya and onto Mt.
Ammuna, where a man named Anna was helping them. Anna attacked Tupaziya
and a lake whose name has been lost, and then managed to penetrate as far as
Tuwanuwa, which he attacked. Clearly the Hittite situation was dire, since
Tuwanuwa was located in southeastern Anatolia just north of the Taurus. That
the Arzawans should be able to successfully campaign so far into the southeast
indicates just how weak the empire had become. While Anna was attacking
Tuwanuwa, Šuppiluliuma was occupied destroying the towns of Naḫḫuriya,
Šapparanda, and another town whose name is lost. He then went to Tiwanzana
“for sleeping.”
In the morning he claims to have gone down from Tiwanzana with a small patrol
consisting of only six other chariots. While riding he was confronted by “the
whole enemy all at once.” This was probably a chance encounter rather than an
intentional engagement (Beal (1992) 288f.). Nevertheless, he emerged
victorious, and the enemy fled, abandoning their booty and taking up a defensive
position on a mountain. From their height advantage they attempted to destroy
Šuppiluliuma by raining arrows down on him. Šuppiluliuma chose to move up
to Tuwanuwa at that time, where he was joined by his troops and chariots. At
this point the text again becomes fragmentary, and we can only assume that
Šuppiluliuma proved victorious over Anna and his Arzawan allies.
The next fragment relates how Šuppiluliuma defeated an unknown Kaškan

enemy. Two men, Takkuri and Ḫimuili, are mentioned here. Šuppiluliuma had
an officer named Ḫimuili, so these two men were perhaps Hittite officers. In
fact, this may be the very Ḫimuili who played such a prominent role in the
Maşat Hüyük letters, although this can certainly not be proven, and Ḫimuili was
by no means an uncommon Hittite name. After defeating this enemy, he went to
the town of Anziliya (In the Kaškan region, not too far from Mašat). Then the
Hittite towns of Pargalla, [...], Ḫattina, and Ḫa[...] were attacked by an enemy,
so Šuppiluliuma went out and defeated them, restoring the Hittite people, cattle,
sheep, and goods to their rightful places.
After this, Šuppiluliuma had to turn his attentions to the west again due to yet
another menace from that direction. A man named Anzapaḫḫaddu, who may
have been the king of Arzawa, captured Hittite territory. Šppiluliuma wrote the
standard letter demanding the return of his territory and people, which was duly
ignored by the Arzawan. So Šuppiluliuma marched against him. Something
about the land of Mira is then written. This may perhaps be the expulsion of a
ruler named Mašḫwiluwa from Mira by his brothers. Mašḫwiluwa fled to
Šuppiluliuma as a fugitive, and Šuppiluliuma accepted him and gave him his
daughter Muwatti as a wife. But after this, Šuppiluliuma was not able to assist
Mašḫwiluwa in restoring his lands to him because his attentions became
absorbed with the Hurrian lands on the eastern side of his empire (Extended
Annals Year 12). Šuppiluliuma’s change of venue may not have been
completely voluntary. The broken text fragments make it clear that
Šuppiluliuma was having difficulties recapturing land from Anzapaḫḫaddu, and
the ultimate outcome is not preserved. In spite of this, we can conclude that he
must ultimately have been successful in capturing Arzawa itself, since he is
known to have given the rule over Arzawa to a man named Uḫḫa-ziti (Extended
Annals Year 3). Further, Arzawa supposedly freed itself again while he was
campaigning in Syria, which it could hardly have done if it had not been
previously captured.
One western land that Šuppiluliuma apparently did not have to campaign against
was the land Wiluša. Although it stayed outside the Hittite vassal system, it
remained at peace with the Hittites and maintained regular communications
through messengers. This was apparently enough to prevent Šuppiluliuma from
bringing his troops into that distant land. At this time Wiluša was ruled by a man
that the Hittites called Kukkunni. Although this man seems to bear an Anatolian
name, it may be better known from Greek sources. Various Greek sources
present a Trojan hero by the name of Kyknos (with a false Greek etymology
meaning "swan"), king of Colonae in the Troad, who was a son of Poseidon.
This Greek Kyknos of the Trojan war was killed by Achilles and then
transformed into a swan.
Šuppiluliuma against Armatana: The next fragments mention a successful

campaign against Armatana.
Rebuilding & Remodeling
Sometime around ~1400 B.C., the archaeological evidence at Boğazkale

indicates that the citadel was rebuilt. We might suppose that this reconstruction
followed the sacking of the city in the reign of Tudḫaliya III. We do not,
unfortunately, know exactly when the reconstruction began. Šuppiluliuma must
have been involved, though, since he helped to recover the capital from the
Kaškans.
The citadel was not simply rebuilt, it was remodeled. The revived Hittite empire
required a more impressive palace (Which at least suggests that the citadel was
not rebuilt until the revival of Hittite fortunes under Šuppiluliuma). To this end
the Hittites constructed huge terraces on the western and eastern side of
Büyükkale in order to expand the area of the citadel plateau. The southern area
of the citadel remained domestic in nature, but now most of the northern half
seems to have been dedicated to palatial buildings.
The palace itself stood at the upper, northern end: closest to the rocky cliffs and
furthest from the southern gate. A central courtyard surrounded by a colannade
formed its heart, and the royal apartments opened onto this courtyard. The new
terraces of the plateau were occupied by other buildings and the cyclopean
walls.
Tawannanna Seal
Sometime shortly after his accession, Tadu-Ḫepa, the dowager queen, must have
died, since Šuppiluliuma’s wife Ḫenti became the Great Queen within three or
four years of his accession. At this time we learn of two of Šuppiluliuma’s sons.
His eldest(?) son Arnuwanda had already been designated as the heir to the
throne. At this time (ca. 1342?) the next eldest son, Telipinu, was appointed as
the Priest of Kizzuwatna. This decree was issued in the name of Šuppiluliuma,
Great Queen Ḫenti, prince Arnuwanda, and Zida Chief of the Royal Bodyguard
(See Bryce (1992) 7). The role of Priest of Kizzuwatna has been mentioned
already in the reign of Tudḫaliya III, but the decree concerning Telipinu permits
us to make a clearer assessment of this Hittite magnate.
At this time the office of Priest of Kizzuwatna reveals itself to be a rather unique
position. The Priest was required to have the same friends and enemies as the
Great King. He had to reveal those who spoke or acted against the Great King. If
he was involved in a dispute, it had to be referred to the Great King. The
position appears to have been heritable, and Telipinu had to recognize
Arnuwanda as the legitimate successor to the Great Kingship, and further he
could not interfere with the succession. The last requirements could easily have
been inserted simply because of the claim Telipinu could otherwise make on the
throne, but the rest strongly resemble those required of vassal kings. But along
with those requirements, there were religious requirements as well which fit his
position as “priest”. How Telipinu’s responsibilities differed from those of his
predecessor is unknown, but considering that a previous Priest of Kizzuwatna
considered himself a Border Guard for the Great King, clearly Telipinu’s
authority must have strongly resembled those of his predecessor.
Perusal of the Priest’s duties reveal similarities with the duties held earlier by
Madduwatta of Mt. Zippašla. Both had duties reminiscent of vassal kings, but
considered themselves to be Border Guards. However, in the instance of
Kizzuwatna, the position takes on a new character due to the religious duties
placed upon its ruler.
The need to keep a closer connection with the ruler of Kizzuwatna than with a
typical vassal king, and the appearance of this tie through the priestly role, may
have been influenced by the profound effect that the culture, and particularly the
religion of Kizzuwatna was having on Ḫatti proper at this time. Telipinu’s role
in the subsequent Great Syrian campaign, if he had one, is entirely unknown.
Kingdom of the West
“You have not gone to the land of Ḫatti, you have not seen the land of Apa.
Ḫedem, you know [not] its nature, nor Yegdy either. What is it like, the Ṣumur
of Sessi (life, prosperity, health!)? On which side of it is the city of Ḫalap? What
is its stream like? You have not gone forth to Kadesh and Tubiḫi. You have not
gone to the region of the Bedouin with the bowmen of the army. You have [not]
trodden the road to the Magur, where the sky is darkened by day and it is
overgrown with cypress trees and oaks and cedars which reach the heavens.
Lions are more numerous than leopards or bears, (and it is) surrounded by
Bedouin on (every) side of it. You have not climbed the mountain of Shawe,
barefoot, your hands laid upon [your bow], your chariot laced with ropes, your
horse in tow. Pray let [me tell you of] ...-beret. You are dismayed (at) climbing it
and cross its stream above it. (Thus) you see the taste of being a mahir, with
your chariot laid upon your [shoulder] and your [assistant] tired out. You reach a
halt in the evening, with your whole body crushed and battered, your [members]
belabored, ... yourself in sleep.
“You awaken, for it is the hour of starting in the sickly night. You are alone for
the harnessing; no brother comes for brother. The sneak-theives have entered
into [the] camp, the horse is untied, the ... has been lost in the night, and your
clothes have been stolen. Your groom awoke in the night, saw what {they} had
done, and took what was left. He has entered among those who are wicked, he
has mingled with the Bedouin tribes, and he has made himself into the likeness
of an Asiatic. The foe had come to raid furtively and found you inert. When you
awake, you find no trace of them, and they have carried off your property.
(Thus) you have become a fully equipped mahir, as you fill your ear (with
experience).” (Papyrus Anastasi I, ANET 477 with some changes of language)
These words were written by an Egyptian scribe of the late 19th dynasty, but his
words would have echoed true long before then. The land that he described, full
of dark forests, ferocious beasts, and cowardly sneak thieves, was the raw
material from which a small kingdom had sprung several centuries before this
passage was written, namely the kingdom of Amurru.
Amurru began its existence in the wild highlands of the Lebanese mountains.
The semi-nomadic tribes that called the cedars of Lebanon home were an ever
present menace to their more civilized neighbors on the coastal lowlands. There
lay the great commercial cities such as Beruta (Beirut), Gubla (Byblos), Ardata,
Ullaza, Irqata, Ṣumur, and their like. Since the conquests of Thutmose III,
Ṣumur had replaced Ullaza as the most important imperial city in Egypt’s
northern-most zone of control, and it had become the residence of the Egyptian
comissioner who exercised his authority in the region now generally refered to
by the local rulers as Amurru.
Amurru’s political destiny was forever altered by an ambitious highland dynast

who turned his eyes to the rich coastal cities that lay below him. He was
destined to weld the highlands and lowlands into what would become the
kingdom of Amurru, and establish a dynasty which would only disappear with
the kingdom of Amurru itself and indeed with the Late Bronze Age era of which
it had become such an important part. The man was named ʾAbdi-Aširta.
Calling upon the strength of dissidents in the Amurrite highlands, usually

referred to generically as ʾApiru, ʾAbdi-Aširta began his campaign to sweep
down out of his mountains and capture the coastal cities of Amurru. Under his
leadership, the ʾApiru killed Aduna, the king of Irqata. This victory did not
evoke a response from Aduna’s Egyptian masters, and so subsequently Miya,
the ruler of Arašni, seized the city Ardata for ʾAbdi-Aširta. These two cities,
Irqata and Ardata, gave ʾAbdi-Aširta important southern strongholds from which
to expand his conquests both northward and southward. The coastal city Šigata
fell to him next.
While several Levantine rulers were alarmed by his activities, the most prolific
witness to ʾAbdi-Aširta’s predations was Rib-Ḫadda, the ruler of Gubla. He saw
himself as always on the verge of being overwhelmed by the Amurrites, and
vociferously complained to his Egyptian overlords with every advance forward
in the Amurrite dynast’s plans. As ʾAbdi-Aširta emerged from his highland base
as a local strongman, Rib-Ḫadda was there to complain about it. In letter after
letter, he requested Egyptian military aid to protect him against the Amurrites.
One such letter, written after ʾAbdi-Aširta’s capture of Šigata, is addressed to
the Egyptian official Aman-Appa, who had previously been posted in Ṣumur
and may have been the man in charge of a garrison from Ṣumur which had
previously been posted in Gubla, but which appears to have been withdrawn
when Aman-Appa returned to Egypt. In this letter, Rib-Ḫadda tried to convince
Aman-Appa how easily the Amurrites could be repelled, and how much that
would restore Egyptian prestige in the area,
“Why have you been negligent, not speaking to the king, your lord, so that you
may come out together with archers and fall upon the land of Amurru? If they
hear of archers coming out, they will abandon their cities and desert. Do not you
yourself know that the land of Amurru follows the stronger party? Look, they
are not now being friendly to ʾAbdi-Aširta. What will he do to them? [And so]
they are longing day and night for the coming out of the archers, and (they say),
ʻLet us join them!’ All the mayors long for this to be done to ʾAbdi-Aširta, since
he sent a message to the men of Ammiya, ʻKill your lord and join the ʾApiru.’
Accordingly, the mayors say, ʻHe will do the same thing to us, and all the lands
will be joined to the ʾApiru.’” (EA #73)
In fact, ʾAbdi-Aširta’s message worked, and the men of Ammiya did indeed kill
their lord and join with him (EA ##74, 75). This further expansion of Amurrite
dominion occurred at just the same time that a new force entered the Syrian
plain - the resurgence of Ḫatti under the leadership of Šuppiluliuma.
Šuppiluliuma’s First Syrian Campaign
A good map for Šuppiluliuma I’s Syrian campaigns can be found in Murnane,
William J., The Road to Kadesh, SAOC 42, 1990, xvi. HDT = Beckman, Gary,
Hittite Diplomatic Texts.
Turning back to the Anatolian highlands, we find Šuppiluliuma shifting his

vigorous attention in a new direction. With his Anatolian possessions
momentarily secure, Šuppiluliuma now took account of the lost territories in the
east. He secured a treaty with Artatama II, whom he called the “King of Ḫurri”,
as opposed to Tušratta, whom he called the “King of Mitanni.” Artatama’s
domain seems to have lain to the east of Tušratta’s, since the Assyrians were his
subjects and paid tribute to him during the first part of his reign (HDT #6B §1).
Tušratta now found himself uncomfortably pinched between two united foes.
Seal of Great Queen Mal-Nikal. The seal

forms a pun. The character on the center
right serves both phonetically as 'kal' and
also as the Sumerogram GAL 'great'.
With the top row it spells 'Mal-Nikal',
the queen's name. With the bottom row
it spells MUNUS.LUGAL GAL 'Great
Queen'.
The Hittites would prove to be the ones who would initiate hostilities. Gathering
together his army, Šuppiluliuma marched forth against his Hurrian neighbor. His
first target was Išuwa. Išuwa had remained a Mitannian possession since
Tušratta had repulsed the Hittites there in the reign of Tudḫaliya III. Moreover it
had remained a haven for the troops of all those many cities who had fled there.
Šuppiluliuma now felt ready to avenge that Hittite humiliation.
As it turned out, his confidence was somewhat premature. Instead of a grand

tour of reconquest, he was only able to raid into Išuwa as far as the west bank of
the Euphrates. Making no further progess in this direction, he turned south and
marched against the Mitannian possessions in Syria. In this direction,
Šuppiluliuma was able to march deep into Syria where he claimed to have taken
Mitannian territory as far as Mt. Lebanon. This is somewhat disturbing in terms
of Egyptian-Hittite relations, since this would seem to imply that he marched
deep into Egyptian Amurru, past the latitudes of the Egyptian cities Ṣumur and
Kadesh.
Šuppiluliuma’s conquests must have come as quite an unexpected surprise to his

contemporaries. After all, not long before the Hittites had seemed all but
finished. In Gubla Rib-Ḫadda sent a dramatic summary of this alarming turn of
events to the pharaoh, which, since it happened to coincide with his own
problems with his northern neighbor Amurru, offered him yet another
opportunity to express his own distress as well,
“Just now the men of Ammiya have killed their lord. I am afraid. May the king
be informed that the king of Ḫatti has seized all the countries that were vassals
of the king of Mittani. Behold, [he] is king of Naḫrima (i.e. Ḫurri) and the land
of the Great Kings, and ʾAbdi-Aširta, [the servant] and dog, is taking [the land
of the king (of Egypt)].” (EA #75)
This response to Šuppiluliuma’s conquests, while clearly an overreaction, is

certainly understandable.
Tušratta could not let such a humiliating loss go unchallenged. He sent off an
antagonistic letter to Šuppiluliuma, making the consequences of the Hittite
king’s aggressions clear,
“Why are you plundering on the west bank of the Euphrates? . . . . If you
plunder the lands of the west bank of the Euphrates, then I too will plunder the
lands on the west bank of the Euphrates.” HDT #6a
Presumably, this is precisely what he did. But before relating Šuppiluliuma’s
response to these further Mitannian agressions, we must continue for a while the
saga of the emergence of Amurru.
After taking control of Ammiya, ʾAbdi-Aširta turned his eyes southward against
Gubla. Rib-Ḫadda reacted in his typically hysterical fashion, and in a letter to
the pharaoh was not afraid to put damning words in his enemy’s mouth,
“So now ʾAbdi-Aširta has written to the troops: ʻAssemble in the temple of
NINURTA, and then let us fall upon Gubla. Look, there is no one that will save
it from us. Then let us drive out the mayors from the country that the entire
country be joined to the ʾApiru, ... to the entire country. Then will (our) sons and
daughters be at peace forever. Should even so the king (of Egypt) come out, the
entire country will be against him and what will he do to us?’” (EA #74)
So, according to Rib-Ḫadda, ʾAbdi-Aširta was willing to menace even the

Egyptian pharaoh himself! We might be suspicious of poor Rib-Ḫadda and
suspect him of a little alarmist propaganda inspired by his duress. And he does
seem to have been hard pressed by the Amurrite, and for some time he had been
making the same complaint to the pharaoh,
“Behold, the war of the ʾApiru against <me> is severe and, as the gods of your
land are alive, our sons and daughters (as well as we ourselves) are gone since
they have been sold in the land of Yarimuta for provisions to keep us alive. ʻFor
lack of a cultivator, my field is like a woman without a husband.’” (EA #74)
Little of Rib-Ḫadda’s kingdom remained to him. ʾAbdi-Aširta had already taken

all of his villages in the mountains and along the sea, so that besides Gubla he
controlled only two other towns.
Rib-Ḫadda’s distress was somewhat ameliorated by the fact that, while ʾAbdi-
Aširta was orchestrating hostilities against him, a much greater opportunity
presented itself on his northern frontier. The troops of the city Šeḫlal, led by a
man named Yamaya, launched an assault on Ṣumur and captured it while
Paḫanate, the Egyptian commissioner in Ṣumur, was away in Egypt. It is not
known whether or not the unrest around Ṣumur was in any way connected with
the recent Hittite annexation of territory in its vicinity. In any event, ʾAbdi-
Aširta was quick to seize the opportunity and, on behalf of the Egyptians, moved
in and himself attacked Ṣumur, capturing the city in turn from Yamaya.
At least, that was how he chose to present the situation to the Egyptians. But the
Egyptian court was apparently barraged by a series of reports not only from
other Syrian mayors, but also perhaps from some Egyptians (or some other class
of people) who had fled Ṣumur when ʾAbdi-Aširta took control of the city, and
even from Yamaya himself. According to their version of events, it was ʾAbdi-
Aširta who was the aggressor, and he who had wrongly taken the city.
Paḫanate was initially swayed by ʾAbdi-Aširta’s enemies, and sent a letter to the
Ammurite accusing him of being an enemy of Egypt. ʾAbdi-Aširta protested
vigorously that his actions had been misinterpreted, and that in fact he was a
loyal Egyptian subject, being vilely maligned by his enemies,
“[May my lord listen. There were] no men in Ṣumur to guard it [as he had]
ordered, and Ṣumur [was afraid of] the troops of Šeḫlal; there were no men in it
to guard it. [So] I myself hastened to the rescue from Irqata, and I myself came
[before] Ṣumur and . . . your [. . .] from the hand of the troops of Šeḫlal. If I had
not been staying in [Irqata], if I had been staying where life was peaceful, then
the troops of Šeḫlal [would certainly have] sent Ṣumur and the palace up in
flames. When I myself hastened to the rescue from Irqata and arrived in Ṣumur,
there were no men that had stayed on in the palace. Here are the (only) ones that
had stayed on in the palace: Šab-ilu, Bišitanu, Maya, Arsawa. There were (only)
4 men that had stayed on in the palace, and they said to me, ʻSave us from the
hand of the troops of Šeḫlal.’ And so I saved them from the hand of the troops of
Šeḫlal. [Of 4] persons I saved the lives. 25 (was the number of those) whom [the
troops of] Šeḫlal killed.” (EA #62)
Rib-Ḫadda of Gubla, apparently somewhat stronger than he wished the Egyptian

court to otherwise believe, took advantage of ʾAbdi-Aširta’s abscence in the
north to go forth and take away Šigata from him. But capturing Šigata and
holding it were two different things. Rib-Ḫadda was promptly endangered by
Egyptian pathos. The Egyptians in general do not seem to have been particularly
interested in who ruled in the Syrian cities, so long as they professed loyalty to
the pharaoh, and so they appear to have chosen to accept ʾAbdi-Aširta’s
authority in Ṣumur as a fait accompli. This freed him to turn his attentions
southward once more. Now Rib-Ḫadda’s recent achivement came under threat.
The Egyptians were clearly not reacting as he expected them to, and now he
found his newly gotten gains in jeopardy. He needed Egyptian aid to hold back
ʾAbdi-Aširta, and anxiously wrote to Ḫaya, the Egyptian commissioner over
him, to find out about its arrival,
“Why have you been negligent, not speaking to the king so he will send archers
to take Ṣumur? What is ʾAbdi-Aširta, servant and dog, that he takes the land of
the king for himself? What is his auxiliary force that it is strong? Through the
ʾApiru his auxiliary force is strong! So send me 50 pairs of horses and 200
infantry that I may resist him in Šigata until the coming forth of the archers. Let
him not gather together all the ʾApiru so he can take Šigata and Ampi, and [seize
. . .] . . . What shall I be able to do? There will be no place where [men] can
enter against [him].” (EA #71)
Yet the Egyptians did nothing, and ʾAbdi-Aširta successfully recaptured Šigata
and Ampi from the Gublite. Rib-Ḫadda once again found himself hard pressed
by his Amurrite enemy, and once again sought assistance from the Egyptians,
“May the king, my lord, know that the war of ʾAbdi-Aširta against me is severe.
He wants to take [for himself] the two cities that have remained to me.
Moreover, what is ʾAbdi-Aširta, the dog, that he strives to take all the cities of
the king, the Sun, for himself? Is he the king of Mitanni, or the king of Kaššu
(i.e. Babylon), that he strives to take the land of the king for himself? He has just
gathered together all the ʾApiru against Šigata [and] Ampi, and he himself has
taken these two cities. [I] said, ʻThere is no place where men can enter against
him. He has seized [. . .] . . ., [so] send me a garrison of 400 men and [30(?)
pairs of] horses [with all speed.’ It] is [thus that I keep writing to] the palace, but
you [do not] reply to me. [. . .] . . . For years archers would come out to inspect
the country, and yet now that the land of the king and Ṣumur, your garrison-city,
have been joined to the ʾApiru, you have done nothing. Send a large force of
archers that it may drive out the king’s enemies and all lands be joined to the
king. Moreover, you are a great lord. You must not neglect this message.” (EA
#76)
Rib-Ḫadda’s words seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Or, at best, misled ears.
Now that ʾAbdi-Aširta had gained Egyptian recognition, he could more easily
present his own version of events to the pharaoh, which of course contradicted
Rib-Ḫadda’s. His attacks on Gublite territory continued, and Rib-Ḫadda became
increasingly upset and confused by the Egyptians’ lack of response to his needs.
“Though I keep writing like this to the king, my lord, he does not heed my
words. Since he (i.e. ʾAbdi-Aširta) has attacked me three times this year, and for
two years I have been repeatedly robbed of my grain, we have no grain to eat.
What can I say to my peasantry? Their sons, their daughters, the furnishings of
their houses are gone, since they have been sold in the land of Yarimuta for
provisions to keep us alive. May the king, my lord, heed the words of his loyal
servant, and may he send grain in ships in order to keep his servant and his city
alive. May he grant 400 men and 30 pairs of horses, as were given to Surata, that
they may guard the city for you.” (EA #85)
In addition to direct attacks against Gublite territory, ʾAbdi-Aširta began

forming alliances against Gubla. Rib-Ḫadda’s grain supply from the land of
Yarimuta, upon which he depended so heavily, was cut off. After depositing a
payment for grain with Yapaḫ-Ḫadda of Beruta, the Egyptian commissioner
Yanḫamu claimed to have sent Rib-Ḫadda grain, but the grain failed to arrive.
Rib-Ḫadda blaimed this on an alliance forged between Yapaḫ-Ḫadda and ʾAbdi-
Aširta (EA #85).
While all this was going on, new and disturbing events had taken place in
Amurru. ʾAbdi-Aširta had (perhaps) initially benefitted from the Hittite attack
on Syria, taking advantage of the disorder created by it in order to expand his
territory there. But now Tušratta was on the move, seeking to reassert his
authority in Syria. ʾAbdi-Aširta, who had probably seized some previously
Mitannian territory from the Hittites, now found himself pinched between
Mitanni and Egypt. He began playing a dangerous game of divided loyalties. He
may initially have believed that he could, in fact, have maintained a duel
allegiance; owing allegiance to Egypt for his Egyptian territories, and owing
allegiance to Mitanni for his Mitannian possessions. Whatever he was
attempting, he definitely opened relations with the king of Mitanni, and the king
of that land entered Amurru. He may have simply done so to confirm his
relation with ʾAbdi-Aširta, but Rib-Ḫadda was convinced that the Mittanian
king had further ambitions,
“Moreover, the king of <Mi>tanni came out as far as Ṣumur, and though
wanting to march as far as Gubla, he returned to his own land, as there was no
water for him to drink.” (EA #85)
Rib-Ḫadda’s charge is usually dismissed, but in fact the Mittanian king may
very well have planned on attacking Gubla in support of his new vassal.
However, this must remain very uncertain.
In any event, Rib-Ḫadda’s greatest concern remained the Egyptian recognition

of ʾAbdi-Aširta,
“Why do you not reply, ʻWhat my servant requests is available’, or ʻis not
available’, so I may know what I should do until the king arrives and visits his
loyal servant? Who is ʾAbdi-Aširta, the servant and dog, that they mention his
name in the presence of the king, my lord? Just let there be one man whose heart
is one with my heart, and I would drive ʾAbdi-Aširta from the land of Amurru.
Moreover, since your father’s return from Sidon, from that time the lands have
been joined to the ʾApiru. Accordingly, I have nothing.” (EA #85)
Rib-Ḫadda’s fortunes, however, were soon to change for the better, though he
did not yet realize it. ʾAbdi-Aširta’s relations with Mitanni would prove to be
too much for the Egyptians to bear, as it hit them where it mattered most - their
pocketbooks. Rib-Ḫadda would finally hit upon an accusation which would
awaken Egyptian wrath against the Amurrite. Writing once again to the
Egyptian official Aman-Appa, who apparently remained ignorant of the fact that
the grain Yanḫamu was supposed to send to him had never arrived (ll. 13-16), he
claimed,
“[The war] is severe, and so come with archers that you may take the land of
Amurru. Day and night [it has] cried to you [and they] say (that) what is taken
from them to Mittana is very much.” (EA #86)
This was soon followed up later by the alarming claim that,
“Moreover, that dog is in Mittana,” (EA #90)
This was the crucial one-two punch that would finally turn the Egyptians against
ʾAbdi-Aširta. The Egyptians could not abide by a vassal who swore loyalty to
another sovreign, and backed it up by paying tribute to him. The Egyptians
would soon, finally, take action.
But Rib-Ḫadda still had some unpleasantness in his immediate future. Indeed,
for him, it was truly darkest before the dawn. Aman-Appa had Rib-Ḫadda send a
messenger to him so that the pharaoh could provide him with troops and
chariots. But his messenger returned empty-handed. ʾAbdi-Aširta heard this, and
was duly encouraged. He was soon in possession of Baṭruna, and threatening
Gubla itself,
“He has stationed the ʾApiru and chariots there (in Baṭruna), and they have not
moved from the entrance of the gate of Gubla.” (EA #87)
Rib-Ḫadda was now left with only Gubla itself. With his situation about as dire
as it could possibly be, Rib-Ḫadda even requested that the pharaoh send him
1,000 shekels of silver and 100 shekels of gold, “so he will go away from me”
(EA #91).
But no such payoff was to come, and Rib-Ḫadda was almost out of time,
“I have just heard (that) he has gathered together all the ʾApiru to attack me.
What can I do by myself? I go on writing like this for archers and an auxiliary
force, but my words go unheeded.” (EA #91)
Indeed, ʾAbdi-Aširta soon took control of the Gublite countryside,
“Behold the city! He has . . . the entrance of the gate of Gubla. How long has he
not moved from the gate, and so we are unable to go out into the countryside.
Moreover, look, he strives to seize Gubla! And [. . . and] may the king, my lord,
give heed to [the words of] his servant, and [may] he hasten [with] all speed
chariots and [troops] that they may guard [the city of the king], my lord, and [. . .
until] the arrival of the king, [my] lord. For my part, I will not neglect the word
of [my] lord. But if the king, my lord, does [not give heed] to the words of his
servant, then Gubla will be joined to him, and all the lands of the king, as far as
Egypt, will be joined to the ʾApiru.” (EA #88)
Even more, Rib-Ḫadda was himself on the verge of giving up and surrendering
to ʾAbdi-Aširta,
“Moreover, should my lord not have word brought to his servant by tablet, with
all speed, then . . . the city to him and I will request a town from him to stay in,
and so I will stay alive.” (EA #88)
But Rib-Ḫadda had now seen the worst. Egypt finally began to show signs that it
was awakening to the threat posed by ʾAbdi-Aširta. Even the commissioners
seem to have become alarmed by ʾAbdi-Aširta’s activities. Letters went out to
the kings of Beruta, Sidon, and Tyre, saying,
“Rib-Ḫadda will be writing to you for an auxiliary force, and all of you are to
go.” (EA #92)
While Rib-Ḫadda was immensely pleased by this, the expected troops were
unfortunately late in showing up, naturally resulting in another letter to the
pharaoh. But it seems probable that the reinforcements did finally show up.
Things were changing in the Levant, and everyone seemed aware of Egypt’s
new attitude towards ʾAbdi-Aširta. Not only were local rulers expected to turn
against ʾAbdi-Aširta, including even the Amurrite cities, but even Aman-Appa
himself finally sent word to Rib-Ḫadda to announce his immenent arrival. But
Rib-Ḫadda had been given empty promises too many times in the past, and on
the verge of his salvation he had some difficulty believing in this change in
Egypt’s attitude,
“[Look, I] was distressed at your words, ʻI am [on my] way to you.’ You are
always writing like this to me! Listen to me. Tell the king to give you 300 men
so we can visit the city and regain (it) [for the king]. Do not the commissioners
long [for] the coming out of the archers? He is stronger than the king! Moreover,
if we are able to seize Baṭruna for you, then the men will abandon ʾAbdi-Aširta.
Things are not as they were previously. If this year there are no archers, [then]
he will be strong forever.” (EA #93)
But there would be archers. However, before the arrival of Egyptian troops,
ʾAbdi-Aširta first had to defend himself against local rulers such as Rib-Ḫadda
and his comrades. With sentiment turned against him, it was now ʾAbdi-Aširta
who was on the defensive. He turned to his ally, the king of Mittani, for help,
“The king of Mittani visited the land of Amurru itself, and he said, ʻHow great is
this land! Your land is extensive.’” (EA #95)
It would do him no good. ʾAbdi-Aširta would not survive his fall from grace. In
fact, he now seemed incapable of spreading around generous gifts to his
supporters, and unable to satisfy his Mitannian master, they turned against him.
Betrayed by Mitanni, unable to support his followers, and with Egypt against
him and sending forth troops to deal with him, his own people seem to have
reassessed their situation, and then decided to dispose of their troublesome
leader themselves, even before the Egyptian troops arrived.
“Now, the ships of the army are not to enter the land of Amurru, for they (the
people) have killed ʾAbdi-Aširta, since they had no wool and he had no
garments of lapis lazuli or MAR-stone color to give as tribute to Mittana.” (EA
#101)
Ironically, this preemptive strike against ʾAbdi-Aširta made Amurru a pariah

land, since they had acted without Egyptian authority,
“Put a man in each city (Tyre, Sidon, and Beruta) and let him not allow a ship
from the land of Amurru (to enter), for they have killed ʾAbdi-Aširta. It was the
king that placed him over them, not they! Let the king tell the 3 cities and the
ships of the army not to go to the land of Amurru.” (EA #101)
Rib-Ḫadda had won. Against all odds, the great conquerer of Amurru had failed
to capture him, and instead had been murdered by his own people. Rib-Ḫadda’s
long struggle against ʾAbdi-Aširta was over. Little could he know that he was
about to wake from a bad dream into a nightmare.
The Fight for Amurru
Yet to be formulated into a narrative. Some relevant quotes, not in any

particular order, are included here.
Men of Arwada attacking Rib-Ḫadda(?):
“Moreover, whose ships have attacked me? Is it not the men of Arwada? Indeed,
they are now with you in Egypt.” (EA # 101)
“This tablet is from Irqata. To the king, our lord: Message from Irqata and its
elders. We fall at the feet of the king, our lord, 7 times and 7 times. To our lord,
the Sun: Message from Irqata. May the heart of the king, (our) lord, know that
we guard Irqata for him. When the king, our lord, sent D[UMU]-Biḫa, he said to
us, ʻMessage of the king: Guard Irqata!’ The sons of the traitor to the king seek
our harm; Irqata seeks loyalty to the king. As to [silver] having been given to
S[u]baru al[ong with] 30 horses and chariots, may you know the mind of Irqata.
When a tablet from the king arrived (saying) to raid the land that the ʻApiru had
taken [from] the king, they waged war with us against the enemy of our lord, the
man whom you placed over us. Truly we are guarding the land. May the king,
our lord, heed the words of his loyal servants. May he grant a gift to his
servant(s) so our enemies will see this and eat dirt. May the breath of the king
not depart from us. We shall keep the city gate barred until the breath of the king
reaches us. Severe is the war against us - terribly, terribly!” (EA #100)
“My situation is very difficult. The war of the sons of ʾAbdi-Aširta against me is
severe. They have occupied the land of Amurru, and the entire country is theirs.
Ṣumur and Irqata remain to the magnate. I have now been in Ṣumur because the
magnate is in difficulty due to the war. I left Gubla, but Zimredda and Yapaḫ-
Ḫadda were not with me. So the magnate keeps writing to them, but they pay no
attention to him. May the king, my lord, heed the words of his loyal servant.
Send an auxiliary force with all speed to Ṣumur in order to guard it until the
arrival of the archers of the king, the Sun. May the king, the Sun, expel the
traitors from his land. Moreover, may the king, my lord, heed the words of his
loyal servant. Send a garrison to Ṣumur and to Irqata. As the entire garrison has
fled from Ṣumur, may it seem right in the sight of the lord, the Sun of all
countries, and give me 20 pairs of horses, and send an auxiliary force with all
speed to Ṣumur in order to guard it. Whatever is left of the garrison is in
difficulty, and few people are still in the city. If you do not send archers, then
there will not be a city remaining to you. But if archers are on hand, we will take
all the lands for the king.” (EA #103)
“May the Lady of Gubla, the goddess of the king, my lord, establish your honor
in the presence of the king, your lord, the Sun of all countries. Moreover, you
know that, though informed, you have delayed in coming out. Why did you
write? Now you are going to come into an empty house. Everything is gone. I
am utterly ruined. Moreover, as to your writing me, ʻGo, stay in Ṣumur until I
arrive,’ know that the war against me is very severe and I have been unable to
go. Now Ampi is at war with me. Know that the magnate and the lords of the
city are at peace with the sons of ʾAbdi-Aširta, and accordingly I am unable to
go. Know that all are traitors, and you must not inquire about me from my
enemies. Now, because of the situation, I am afraid.” (EA #102)
“May the king, my lord, know that Pu-Baḫla, the son of ʾAbdi-Aširta, has
occupied Ullassa. Theirs are Ardata, Waḫliya, Ampi, Šigata. All the cities are
theirs. So may the king send an auxiliary force to Ṣumur until the king gives
thought to his land. Who are the sons of ʾAbdi-Aširta, the servant and dog? Are
they the king of Kaššu or the king of Mittani that they take the land of the king
for themselves? Previously, they would take cities of your mayors, and you did
nothing. Now they have driven out your commissioner and have taken his cities
for themselves. They have taken Ullassa. If in these circumstances you do
nothing, then they are certainly going to take Ṣumur and kill the commissioner
and the auxiliary force in Ṣumur. What am I to do? I cannot go personally to
Ṣumur; the cities of Ampi, Šigata, Ullassa, Arwada, are at war with me. Should
they hear that I was entering Ṣumur, there would be these cities with ships, and
the sons of ʾAbdi-Aširta in the countryside. They would attack <me>, and I
would be unable to get out, and Gubla would be joined to the ʾApiru. They have
gone to Ibirta, and an agreement has been made with the ʾApiru.” (EA #104)
“Moreover, may the king give thought to Ṣumur. Look at Ṣumur! Like a bird in
a trap, so is Ṣumur; the sons of ʾAbdi-Aširta by land, the people of Arwada by
sea, are against it day and night. I sent 3 ships to Yanḫamu, [but ships] of the
people of Arwada were (there) to intercept them, and out they came! Consider
the case of the people of Arwada. When the archers came out, all the property of
ʾAbdi-Aširta in their possession was not taken away, and their ships, by an
agreement, left Egypt. Accordingly, they are not afraid. Now they have taken
Ullassa, and they strive to take Ṣumur. Everything belonging to ʾAbdi-Aširta
they gave to the sons, and so now they are strong. They have taken the army
ships together with everything belonging to them, and I am unable to go to the
aid of Ṣumur. Yapaḫ -Ḫadda is at war with me because of [my] property in his
possession. Let us put the case before Aman-. . . and DUMU-Biḫa and before
Yanḫamu, for they are the ones that know what is my due concerning [. . .].
Because my property in his possession is considerable, he has accordingly
waged war against me. When I heard of the capture of Ullassa, I wrote
[repeatedly . . .] to him, but he raided [ . . .] and took [. . .] He has waged [war]
against me. [. . large gap . .] [May he] send [. . . that] we may put the case
before [them]. May any property of mine in his possession be taken for the king,
and let the faithful servant live for the king. The Egyptians that got out of
Ullassa are now with me, but there is no grain for them to eat. Yapaḫ-Ḫadda
does not let my ships into Yarimuta, and I cannot send them to Ṣumur because
of the ships of Arwada. Look, he says, ʻRib-[Ḫadda] took it, and so he is against
me. . .’” (EA #105)
“Now, as for Ṣumur, the war against it is severe, and it is severe against me.
Ṣumur is now raided up to its city gate. They have been able to raid it, but they
have not been able to capture it. Moreover, ʻWhy does Rib-Ḫadda keep sending
a tablet this way to the palace?’ He is more distraught than his brothers about
Ṣumur. Look, in my case, there has been war against me for 5 years.
Accordingly, I keep writing to my lord. Look, I am not like Yapaḫ-Ḫadda, and I
am not like Zimredda. All brothers have deserted me. There is war against
Ṣumur, and now its commissioner is dead. Indeed, I myself am now in distress. I
was in [Ṣumur], and all its people fled. May my lord send [a commissioner and
troops] with him with all [speed that he may] guard it. I myself cannot [get out.
Let him] move in between the two of them that [are against it]. How can the
king say, ʻWhy does Rib-Ḫadda keep sending a tablet to his lord?’ Because of
the evil that was done before, and especially so nothing like this will be done to
me now! Moreover, may it seem right in the sight of my lord, and may he send
Yanḫamu as its commissioner, Yanḫamu the parasol-bearer of the king, my lord.
I have heard it reported that he is a wise man and (that) everyone loves him.
Moreover, may it seem right to my lord, and may he send 20 pairs of first class
horses to his servant - there are many men on my side - so that I can march
against the enemies of the king, my lord. Moreover, as for all my cities that I
have reported on to the king, my lord, as my lord is witness, they have not
returned. The day the troops of my lord’s expeditionary force left, all became
enemies.” (EA #106)
Great Syrian Campaign
Believed to have taken place ca. 1340, four years after his accession (Bryce
(1992)).
Šuppiluliuma began his epic campaign by crossing over to the east bank of the
Euphrates and taking possession of the remainder of Išuwa. After annexing
Išuwa he returned to their homelands the troops who had previously fled there.
With Išuwa secured, he then turned south and seized the land of Alše and the
district of Kutmar, and gave them to Mr. Antaratli of Alše. This left the district
of Šuta exposed, in which was located the Mitannian capital Waššukkani.
Šuppiluliuma promptly marched into the Mitannian heartland and wrote to
Tušratta, “Come! Let us fight!” (DS #26) - but Tušratta chose to stay in his city
rather than engage the Hittite. When Šuppiluliuma approached the Hurrian
capital, Tušratta fled without giving battle, apparently retreating into Syria.
However, Šuppiluliuma proved unable to capture the capital itself, and had to
content himself with the plundering of Šuta.
Tušratta’s flight into Syria seems to have involved more than simply a life
saving retreat into his vassal properties. While there, he seems to have
conducted military campaigns, presumably against unruly vassals who chose to
use his discomfiture as an excuse to rebel against his authority.
After devastating Šuta, Šuppiluliuma turned around and crossed back over the
Euphrates, either in pursuit of Tušratta or in an attempt to take away his Syrian
vassals. By entering Syria the Hittite Great King exposed himself to the
Byzantine complexities of Syrian vassal politics. This region was terribly
fragmented and its political structures seem to have been extremely unstable.
This makes the reconstruction of events difficult. The reader must be warned
that the following reconstruction of events is uncertain and other possibilities
have been offered.
Syria was the region where the Mitannian and Egyptian empires met. We can
only wonder if the situation seemed as confusing to Šuppiluliuma as it does to
us. In the event, Šuppiluliuma does not seem to have concerned himself
overmuch with the subtlties confronting him. He was on a march of conquest,
and made little effort to distinguish Mitannian vassals from Egyptian ones. This
policy would ultimately lead him and his empire into generations of intermittent
conflict with Egypt.
It’s possible that after entering the Syrian vassal territories Šuppiluliuma’s first
stop was the land of Nuḫašši, which was ruled by several “kings of Nuḫašši”.
We know of two such kings, but do not know if there were any more. One of
these kings was named Šarrupši, and the other was named Addu-nirari. Addu-
nirari clearly considered himself an Egyptian vassal, but Šarrupši’s situation is
more uncertain.
Šarrupši came to fear for his life when Tušratta entered his territory. Since
Šuppiluliuma was near to hand, Šarrupši wrote to the Hittite king, declaring, “I
am the subject of the King of Ḫatti. Save me!” (HDT #7). The question that
needs to be answered is, why was Tušratta trying to kill Šarrupši? A possible
answer is that Šarrupši had been a Mitannian vassal up until the time of
Tušratta’s discomfiture at Waššukkanni. At this time, Šarrupši might have tried
to throw off the Mitannian yoke, perhaps in favor of an Egyptian one, or perhaps
he turned to Artatama II. But the sudden appearance of Tušratta meant that
Šarrupši needed help from someone immediately at hand, and so he turned to the
Hittite king. In any event, Šuppiluliuma duly marched into Nuḫašši, perhaps
more out of a desire to face Tušratta in battle than to save a petty Syrian king. It
is somewhat amusing to note that the Hittite entry into Nuḫašši, which greatly
alarmed the other Syrian principalities, was used by Aziru of Amurru as a
convenient excuse to delay a potentially fatal journey to Egypt that the pharaoh
had been demanding of him (EA #164). In any event, after entering Nuḫašši, the
Hittite army successfully drove out the beleaguered Mitannian emperor.
Anonymous Šuppiluliuma I
Tabarna seal (See Easton
(1981) 41)
But Šarrupši, for some reason, had turned on his savior. It’s possible that
Tušratta had forced him to rejoin the Mitannian fold before the Hittites reached
Nuḫašši, and therefore the Hittites would have had to face him in battle.
Although Šarrupši escaped (fleeing with Tušratta?), he did so at the price of
leaving behind his mother, his brothers, and his children, whom Šuppiluliuma
duly carted off to Ḫatti. In Šarrupši’s place Šuppiluliuma installed Takip-Šarri,
one of Šarrupši’s subjects, as the king of the city Ukulzat in Nuḫḫašši.
At some point Šuppiluliuma wrote a letter to Addu-nirari, the other known king
in Nuḫašši, asking for his submission. It is difficult to imagine that this was
based on ignorance of Addu-nirari’s vassalage to Egypt. The unpleasant
conclusion is that he was deliberately flouting Egypt’s authority. Addu-nirari
knew the precariousness of his situation, but felt that he and his anscestors owed
their position to the Egyptians. So he sent off an urgent message to the
Egyptians explaining his situation and begging for aid,
“And the king of Ḫatti [wrote to me about an alliance]. My lord, [I rejected] (the
offer of) tablets of treaty obligations, and [I am (still) a servant of] the king of
Egypt, [my lord].
“And now, [may] our lord [come forth] to [us], and into his power [we will]
indeed [restore the lands], and indeed [. . .] . . . to our lord. [And] may our lord
come forth (this) year. Do not be negligent. You will see that they are loyal to
the service of the king, my lord. And if my lord is not willing to come forth
himself, may my lord send one of his advisors together with his troops and
chariots.” (EA #51).
He further started plotting against the Hittites. He joined with Itur-Addu, king of
Mukiš, and Aki-Teššup, a king in Niya, and began attacking the territory of
Ugarit, which had refused to commit itself to their anti-Hittite cause. Such
behavior played nicely into Hittite hands. Šuppiluliuma sent a letter (HDT #19)
to Niqm-Addu II, the king of Ugarit, demanding that, although the lands of
Mukiš and Nuḫašši were both hostile to the Great King, Niqm-Addu should be
at peace with Ḫatti, as were his anscestors. The letter includes a not-so-subtle
claim of lordship over Ugarit, when in fact Ugarit remained an Egyptian vassal.
Nevertheless, Niqm-Addu resisted submitting himself to the Hittite Great King.
Ugarit remained too far south to hinder Šuppiluliuma, so instead he moved

further west and captured the city of Ḫalap. It was probably at this time that he
removed his son Telipinu from his position as Priest of Kizzuwatna and installed
him instead as the King of Ḫalap (Bryce (1992) 12). It was as the King of Ḫalap
that Telipinu would finish out his career. Interestingly, in spite of his move, his
Kizzuwatnan title clung to him, and he remained known as “the Priest” for the
rest of his life.
While Šuppiluliuma was busying himself with Ḫalap, the depradations of the
kings of Mukiš, Niya, and Nuḫašši finally became too much for Niqm-Addu II
of Ugarit to bear. So he turned to the Hittite king for aid in return for his
submission. Šuppiluliuma responded by sending troops and driving out the
enemy. He himself marched against and captured Mukiš, seat of the long dead
Idri-mi. In Ugarit Niqm-Addu gave precious gifts to the Hittite commanders
who saved him and then went before Šuppiluliuma in Alalaḫ, which remained
the capital of Mukiš, and submitted to him there. For the first time a Hittite ruler
had stolen away an Egyptian vassal. The incident would contribute to a souring
of Hittite-Egyptian relations, but would not actually cause a rupture. In fact,
nothing Šuppiluliuma did during this campaign would directly cause a breach
between these two lands. It is possible that the Egyptians thought that diplomacy
could be used to correct the situation rather than swords, and initial indications
after the campaign would at first seem to have supported that view.
During his stay in Mukiš, Takuwa, a brother of Aki-Teššup and described by

Šuppiluliuma as “king of Niya”, came before the Hittite king for peace. But
back in Niya his brother Aki-Teššup used the opportunity to seize his brother’s
territory. Aki-Teššup and several powerful men named Ḫešmiya, Ḫabaḫi,
Birriya, and Nirwabi, along with their troops, joined forces with Akiya, the
“king” of Araḫati. Or at least he made himself such, since he and his cohorts’
first step was to seize the city of Araḫati. Once in posession of this stronghold,
they then initiated hostilities against the Hittite ruler. It was a poorly made
decision. Šuppiluliuma marched against them, captured them all, and
subsequently took them back to Ḫatti with him.
After this victory, Šuppiluliuma turned south. His first stop on this leg of the
campaign was the capture of the city of Qaṭna. After that he continued south into
Apa (Apina, Upe), at least part of which was controlled by Egypt. From this
point on, the land of Apa would prove to be the outermost limit of the Hittite
empire, the armies of which would spill a great deal of blood here along with the
Egyptians as they both struggled to stretch forth their empires to the furthest
reaches possible. On the occasion of this conquest of Apa, Šuttarna, the
Egyptian vassal king of Kadesh, apparently fearing for his life, came out along
with his son Aitaqqama and attacked the Hittite king. Šuppiluliuma, swearing
that he had not ever intended to attack Kadesh, nonetheless took advantage of
the opportunity and overcame them in battle so that his enemies fled into the city
of Abzuya. The city was duly beseiged and then captured, along with Šuttarna
and his sons, brothers, chariot warriors, and possessions, which, of course,
Šuppiluliuma would take back with him to Ḫatti. Ugarit had gone over to the
Hittite side more or less willingly, but here the Hittites had outright attacked an
Egyptian vassal. Šuppiluliuma’s only saving grace was that he had, after all,
been attacked by Šuttarna, and this fact surely helped to ensure that relations
between the two lands were not strained beyond repair.
With Kadesh out of the way, Šuppiluliuma continued his march against Apa.
The king of Apa at that time was named Ariwanna, and along with his noblemen
Wambadura, Akparu, and Artaya, he gave battle to the Hittite conqueror.
Šuppiluliuma was once again victorious and the defeated were destined to be
deported to Ḫatti.
This was the last march of the Great Syrian Campaign, about which in one text
Šuppiluliuma proudly boasts,
“Because of the presumptuousness of King Tušratta, I plundered all of these

lands in one year and brought them to Ḫatti. From Mount Lebanon and from the
far bank of the Euphrates I made them my territory.” (HDT #6a)
After the Great Syrian Campaign
(Chronology of Amarna letters needs to be revisited for this section. Take it with
a grain of salt.)
One of the territories that remains remarkably absent from Šuppiluliuma’s

records of his Great Syrian Campaign is that of Amurru. Possibly this is simply
because Šuppiluliuma avoided this Egyptian territory, but then he did not seem
particularly squeemish about upsetting the Egyptians in other lands. Another
possible reason that it was left out was because Amurru simply did not wait to
be attacked before it gave up. Something rather odd about the Great Syrian
campaign is that we have no evidence for the return trip to Ḫatti. Hittite military
strategy did not seem to call for a return home through friendly territory, and so
the abscence of return campaigning is odd. This oddity can perhaps be made
comprehensible if we place the submission of Amurru to the Hittites as the last
leg of the Great Syrian campaign. Its absence from the historical record may
arise from the fact that this remarkable submission was rather - unremarkable.
Šuppiluliuma had had to violently crush resistence in the Syrian territories

through which he marched - except in Amurru. In Amurru Aziru sought and
succeeded in avoiding a Hittite thrashing. At the same time, he significantly
changed the nature of his power and indeed the very political foundations of
Amurru. Early in his career, and all through his Egyptian experiences, Aziru had
remained simply the most prominent of the sons of Abdi-Aširta. But this was not
a political situation which was consistant with Hittite concepts of rule, and
Šuppiluliuma did not permit its continuance,
“Aziru, king of the land [of Amurru], came up from the gate of Egyptian
territory and became a vassal [of] My Sun, [King] of Ḫatti. And I, My Sun,
Great King, [accordingly rejoiced] very much. Did not I, My Sun, Great King,
accordingly rejoice very much? As I to Aziru [. . . . .] Because Aziru [knelt
down] at the feet [of My Sun, and] came from the gate of Egyptian territory, and
knelt [down at the feet of My Sun], I, My Sun, Great King, [took up] Aziru and
ranked him (as king) among his brothers.” (HDT #5, §2)
The kingdom of Amurru was born. In this way some century and a half of
Egyptian effort in Amurru ended in failure. Lost were the great port cities of
Ṣumur and Ullaza, lost were Irqata, Ardata, and Tunip, and lost were the dark,
rich forests of highland Lebanon. They had all simply been handed over to an
upstart Hittite king. It had taken generations of bloodshed for the Egyptians to
create some semblence of order in Amurru, but it didn’t take the single swing of
a blade for the Hittites to gain a kingdom. And sitting on top of all of it, Aziru
emerges as the uncontested victor.
Aziru’s voluntary submission to Šuppiluliuma actually created some problems

for the Hittite scribes responsible for drawing up the vassal treaty. They had
little practice in dealing with such a situation. As such, Aziru’s treaty, found in
three Akkadian versions and one Hittite version, is a curious combination of
generic features in an unusual structure. There was little need for a historical
background justifying the Hittites annexation of the kingdom, and so this section
did not play the preeminent role that it does in other treaties. In fact, it was not
even the first section of the treaty. Since Aziru had submitted himself to the
Hittite king, the treaty begins with his oath of personal loyalty to the Hittite
dynasty. Included in this is, significantly, the statement of his annual tribute
obligation of 300 shekels of the highest quality gold, weighed out in accord with
the standards of Hittite merchants. Amurru, after all, was first and foremost a
land rich in trade.
Only after these obligations was the historical “preamble” written down. As
preserved it does little more than record that Aziru’s submission was voluntary
and that Šuppiluliuma therefore made him king of Amurru. It also seems to have
recorded the speech which Aziru made when he submitted to Šuppiluliuma, but
this section of the treaty is unfortunately poorly preserved.
After this the treaty becomes rather standard. Aziru had to keep the same friends
and enemies as the Hittite king, and he had to wholeheartedly support the Hittite
king’s efforts against his enemies by mobilizing his own troops. Neutrality was
definitely not an option,
“[If] you commit some [misdeed, thinking as follows]: ʻAlthough I am under

oath, [either let him defeat the enemy], or let the enemy defeat him. [I don’t
want] to know anything about it’ - you will have transgressed the oath.” (HDT
#5, §4)
Aziru was likewise forbidden to write to an enemy to warn him of an impending

Hittite attack.
Other obligations followed. He had to ransom any captured Hittites he knew

about and promptly send them back to Ḫatti. It was not merely foreign
aggression Aziru had to resist. If any internal rebellions occurred, Aziru (or at
least one of his sons or brothers) likewise had to wholeheartedly come to his
king’s aid. Šuppiluliuma likewise promised to send troops to Aziru’s aid should
he experience any such difficulties.
In spite of Aziru’s voluntary submission (in fact, Šuppiluliuma disingeuously

says because of it), Amurru became an occupied land. Šuppiluliuma sent forth
imperial trooops to ʻprotect’ his new vassal,
“I, My Sun, [will send] noblemen of Ḫatti, and infantry [and chariotry, to him
from] Ḫatti to the land of Amurru. [Because] they will go up to your cities,
protect [them]. Treat them in a gracious(?) manner. They shall walk like
brothers before [you], Aziru. If he seeks to carry off the spoils of a city or
your(!) land, [then] he will have transgressed the oath.” (HDT #5 §7)
Then followed rather standard clauses about Aziru’s obligation to return

fugitives to Ḫatti, even though the Hittite king had no such reciprocal obligation.
But should Aziru ever desire anything, he should simply ask, as long as he was
willing to accept whatever the Hittite king actually chose to give him. Aziru had
to seek only the prosperity of Ḫatti, not that of any other land.
The Hittite version ended with the declaration that the Thousand Gods were
called to assembly to witness the oath, but the Akkadian versions went on to
enumerate these gods by either name or catagory and topped it all off with
perfunctory curses and and blessings.
After Šuppiluliuma’s Great Syrian Campaign, the Hittite presence in Syria was
largely withdrawn. The Hittite empire had made its might felt in Syria, but had
left the region to gather itself together and take stock of its situation. A severly
weakened Mitanni was about to undergo a trial of survival which it would
ultimately lose. Since the Hittites didn’t leave a strong presence, and the
Mitannians didn’t present a promising source of protection, the Syrian kings
turned their attentions, and their loyalties, towards Egypt.
Akizzi, king of Qaṭna, returned his loyalties to Egypt almost as soon as the
Hittites had left. His letter to Aḫen-aton trying to make good his losses is an
intimate portrayal of what happens after the great battles of history.
“My lord, Aziru took men of Qaṭna, my servants, and has le[d] them away out of
the country of my lord. They now d[wel]l outside of the country of my lord. If it
ple[ases] him, may my lord send [(the ransom) money] for the men of Qaṭna,
and may my lord ransom them. ... [...], my lord, the money for their ransom, as
much as it may be, so I can hand over the money.
“My lord, your ancestors made (a statue of) Šuttarna, the god of my father, and
because of him became famous. Now the king of Ḫatti has taken (the statue of)
Šuttarna, the god of my father. My lord knows what the fashioning of divine
statues is like. Now that Šuttarna, the god of my father, has been reconciled to
me, if, my lord, it pleases him, may he give (me) a sack of gold, just as much as
is needed, for (the statue) of Šuttarna, the god of my father, so they can fashion
it for me. Then my lord will become, because of Šuttarna, more famous than
before.” (EA #55)
Peace in Amurru - for the moment
(Chronologies for Amurru events need to be corrected.)
Akizzi’s problem with Aziru of Amurru and the king of Ḫatti highlight how
important it was becoming for the Egyptians to deal with the Syrian problem.
They had to take action. Since Šuppiluliuma’s defeat of Šuttarna of Kadesh,
Šuttarna’s son had taken control of Kadesh. Aitaqqama insisted on his loyalty to
the pharaoh, but he must have owed his return to power to the Hittites, and this
would have made him look very suspicious to the Egyptians. So he was
summoned to the Egyptian court where they could try to feel out his loyalties.
The Egyptians were also willing to entertain the idea of the submission of Aziru,
but they had had enough of his delays. They strongly insisted that Aziru travel to
Egypt in order to petition for official appointment as the ḪAZZANU-official of
Amurru. The future of Amurru was at stake. The trip was not a formality. While
in Egypt Aziru would have to defend himself before the pharaoh against the
accusations of his enemies.
Rib-Ḫaddu of Byblos was, of course, one of his principal opponents, and Rib-
Ḫaddu’s follower Ili-Rapiḫ of Byblos sent a letter outlining Aziru’s crimes of
assassination, conquest (specifically Ṣumur and Ullaza), and further that, even
now, Aziru was in Egypt plotting with Aitaqqama of Kadesh. In spite of these
accusations, Aziru met with approval, and the Egyptians granted him his
appointment. The house of Abdi-Aširta had successfully gained recognition in
the province of Amurru once again.
“There was Confusion Among the Hurrians”
Tušratta’s disastrous defeats at Hittite hands unleashed the forces of

opportunism in the Mitannian empire. Sometime after the Great Syrian
Campaign, perhaps as soon as the following year, Tušratta fell victim to a
conspiracy by one of his sons in league with some of his subjects. Šuppiluliuma
interpretted the assassination of Tušratta as the resolution of the dispute between
Artatama and Tušratta, and he therefore recognized Artatama as the legitimate
king of Mitanni. But Artatama, perhaps due to age, was no longer in control of
his throne. Now his son, Šuttarna (III), seems to have either ruled in his father’s
name or as a co-regent.
But all was not well in the land of Mitanni. As the Hittites put it, “there was
confusion among the Hurrians”. Previously Artatama had been forced to make
payments to Assyria and Alše in order to secure his position as “King of Ḫurri”.
Now Šuttarna, in possession of Tušratta’s palace as the king of all Mitanni,
continued this tradition, emptying out the treasures that Tušratta had managed to
horde in his brighter days;
“[From the wealth] of his father and his brother he did not give anyone (in
Mitanni) anything, but he threw himself down before the Assyrian, the subject
of his ancestor, who no longer pays tribute, and gave him riches as a gift... The
door of silver and gold which king Šauštatar... took by force from the land
Assyria as a token of his glory and set up in his palace in the city Waššukkanni -
to his shame Šuttarna has now returned it to the land Assyria. All the utensils of
the storehouse of gifts of silver and gold he gave to the land Alše. He exhausted
the house of the king of the land Mitanni, together with its treasures and its
riches. He filled it with dirt. He destroyed the palace and exhausted the houses
of the Hurrians. He had noblemen brought and extradited to the land Assyria and
the land Alše. They were handed over and impaled in the city Taite. Thus he
brought an end to the Hurrians.” (HDT #6B §2)
With this humiliating banality towards the Assyrians, the proud traditions of the
Hurrian court at Waššukkanni waned. Even Waššukkanni itself was beginning
to fade in favor of alternately two other rising cities, that of Taite, mentioned
just above, and soon, Irrite. At some point Šuttarna seems to have chosen the
city Taite as his capital city.
Such behavior naturally led to insurrection, and so Šuttarna set about cleaning
his house of dangerous elements. Some of his oppenents fled to foreign lands.
Two hundred chariots led by a man named Aki-Teššup fled to Babylonia.
Among his retinue was a man named Kili-Teššup, one of Tušratta’s sons. Kili-
Teššup would eventually return to his homeland and try to restore his family’s
position. But Fortune still had more troubles in store for him, and at this time the
Hittites were concerned with the current situation, not with the aspirations of a
princely exile.
Initially Šuppiluliuma maintained good relations with the new Mitannian

regime. After all, the Mitannian throne was now in the hands of his treaty
partner, Artatama, and his son. Some of this early good will bubbled up later
when Šuppiluliuma actually made the remarkable claim, “I, Great King, Hero,
King of Ḫatti, had not crossed to the east bank, and had not taken even a blade
or a straw or a splinter of wood of the land of Mitanni.” What technicality
allowed Šuppiluliuma to make this astonishing statement is difficult to
comprehend. Apparently, he viewed post-Tušratta Mitanni as a seperate entity
from what had been before. In any event, his friendliness consisted of more than
mere words. When it became clear to him that the land of Mitanni was falling
into poverty, he sent cattle, sheep, and horses to its relief. For the moment, the
Hittites enjoyed peace with their eastern neighbors.
Trouble in the south seems to have been avoided as well. In spite of

Šuppiluliuma’s annexation of Ugarit, Kadesh, and Amurru, relations with Egypt
continued, albeit under strained conditions. The death of Aḫen-aton set in
motion a political crisis in Egypt which strained these relations even further.
Smenḫkare, Aḫen-aton’s successor, failed to continue the practice of gift
exchanges between the two lands. Šuppiluliuma wrote a contentious letter to
Smenḫkare reminding the new pharaoh of the previous friendly relations
between the two lands and how nothing that was asked for by one was held back
by the other;
“Why, my brother, have you held back the presents that your father made to me
when he was al[iv]e?
“Now, my brother, [yo]u have ascended the throne of your father, and just as
your father and I were desirous of peace between us, so now too should you and
I be friendly with one another. The request <that> I expressed to your father [I
shall express] to my brother, too. Let us be helpful to each other.
“My brother, do not hold back anything that [I asked] of your father.” (EA #41)
Except for this letter, and some vague references to Hittite activity in Syria
under the leadership of a Hittite commander named Lupakki who campaigned in
Amqa, we now run into a lull in our available information. Unfortunately, this
“lull” could cover more than 10 years - approximately the gap between his Great
Syrian Campaign and his Second Syrian Campaign. At some point in this gap,
Šuppiluliuma’s relations with Šuttarna of Mitanni appear to have fallen apart,
but we do not know exactly when or why. But the stage for such a conflict had
already been set. Having a treaty partner who paid tribute to other foreign
powers was surely a source of concern and a blow to the Hittites’ own prestige.
Further, the subordinate position of the Hurrians could have meant that the
Assyrians could have pressured them towards an anti-Hittite policy. But the next
information available to us does not concern the far east, but rather the north.
Troubled Northern Lands
Where the Deeds resumes, approximately two to four years before the Second
Syrian War, we find Šuppiluliuma “returning” to Mt. Zukkuki, back in the
Kaškan lands in the north. While at Mt. Zukkuki Šuppiluliuma fortified the
towns of Atḫulišša and Tuḫupurpuna. While he was doing this, the Kaškans
continually boasted that, “By no means will we let him down into the land of
Almina!” But Šuppiluliuma had plans to the contrary. Upon completion of the
fortifications, he did indeed go down into the land of Almina, wherein he
soundly defeated his cocksure enemies. After this victory, he began the
fortification of the city of Almina. He also organized the Hittite command of the
territory, situating himself on Mt. Kuntiya and placing Ḫimuili, the Chief of the
Wine, at the Šariya River and Ḫannutti, the Chief of the Chariot Fighters, in the
town of Parparra. For an unspecifed amount of time all of Kaška was at peace,
Hittite subjects established hostels in unwalled Kaškan towns or returned to their
own towns, and the fortifying of Almina continued.
Not one to sit at home, Šuppiluliuma used this repast to extend his conquests
even further. He sent out Urawanni and Kuwatna-ziti, the Chief Shepherd,
against the land of Kašula. With the help of Šuppiluliuma’s gods, the
commanders were victorious and returned with 1,000 civilian captives, cattle,
and sheep.
Unfortunately, a plague broke out in the army, and the Kaškans seized not only
the opportunity, but also the Hittites who were in their towns. Whoever they
didn’t capture they killed. They then turned against the Hittite fortified camps
that were in their land. But they were not strong enough to withstand the roused
Hittite might, and were pacified once more by healthy Hittite armies.
With little fanfare the Deeds then go on to relate that Šuppiluliuma “conquered
all of the land of Tumanna, fortified it, organized it, and made it part of Ḫatti
again.” Small praise for the reconquest of such an important territory. This terse
statement is somewhat supplemented by the Annals of Muršili II (Year 16),
where he states that Šuppiluliuma had sent his nephew, Ḫutu-piyanza, son of
Zita, into the land of Pala. At this time Pala had not been fortified in any way by
the Hittites. So Ḫutu-piyanza, in spite of the fact that he didn’t have a large force
at his disposal, set about defending and fortifying the land of Pala. They were
forced to use guerrilla tactics, constructing hideouts in the mountains, but in
spite of these difficulties they didn’t yield any of the land to any enemies.
After this, Šuppiluliuma returned to Ḫattuša to pass the winter there. After the
celebration of the new year, he marched north once again. This time he marched
against Ištaḫara, an important northern city that Kaškans had captured. He
appears to have reconquered not only of Ištaḫara, but also Manaziyana,
Kalimuna, and another town whose name is lost. All of these towns seem to
have been (or become) subordinate to Ištaḫara. This seemingly insignificant
campaign and reorganization must have been much more difficult than it
appears to us, because it appears to have taken up the entire campaign season for
the year, since Šuppiluliuma returned to Ḫattuša afterwards.
While Šuppiluliuma’s attention was focussed in the north, far to the south his
Syrian possessions were being attacked by war parties (In the year after the
Ištaḫara campaign?). His son Telipinu, the King of Ḫalap, successfully defended
Hittite interests against them. As a result the territories controlled by the cities of
Arziya and Kargamiš made peace with him, and so did the city of Murmuriga.
The city of Kargamiš itself, however, refused to make peace with Telipinu. So
Telipinu left 600 troops and chariots in Murmuriga under the command of
Lupakki, the Commander of Ten of the army with whom we have met earlier,
and then left for Ḫattuša in order to consult with his father. But because
Šuppiluliuma was performing religious ceremonies in the city of Uda at the
time, Telipinu altered his course and met with him there instead.
The Third Syrian Campaign
Once Telipinu left Murmuriga, the troops and chariots of Ḫurri came and
beseiged the city and overwhelmed its garrision. At the same time, the Egyptians
chose to reassert their authority in Syria by force and attacked Kadesh. It is
likely that Nuḫašši also went over to the Egyptians at this time. The situation
called for a response by the Great King himself. In 1327 he gathered his troops
and marched to the city of Talpa in the land of Tegarama, where he conducted a
troop review. But instead of marching against the Hurrians himself, he sent out
his brother Zita, Chief of the Royal Bodyguards, and the crown prince
Arnuwanda against them. These two men defeated the Hurrians in battle, and the
enemy fled. This victory enabled Šuppiluliuma to undertake a much more
important march; that against the city of Kargamiš.
Šuppiluliuma marched down to and laid seige to Kargamiš. While there he sent
Lupakki and a man named Tarḫunta-zalma south against the land of Amqa in
response to the Egyptian capture of Kadesh. They successfully brought back
civilian captives, cattle, and sheep. The news of the attack on Amqa reached the
Egyptians at a time which, from the Hittite point of view, can only be considered
extremely fortuitous. Tut-Anḫ-Amon, the young Pharaoh of Egypt, had just
died.
A Queen Without a King
The now famous

reconstruction of
Pharaoh Tut-Anḫ-
Amon at the time of his
death
The death of a king is usually a time of crisis in any empire, and the Egyptians
were no exception. The death of Tut-Anḫ-Amon, who had no son, brought out
the worst in Egypt’s upper class. The widowed queen felt that she could not trust
her own subjects, so she wrote to the only person who seemed powerful enough
to save her; the enormously successful Hittite general currently ransacking
Egypt’s territories at his will. So, while in the midst of his seige of Kargamiš,
Šuppiluliuma received an extrordinary letter from Daḫamunzu, Tut-Anḫ-
Amon’s widow:
“My husband is dead. I have no son. They say sons are plentiful for you. If you
would give one of your sons to me, then he would become my husband. I do not
want to take (one of) my subjects and make him my husband. I fear tekri!”
Šuppiluliuma was so surprised by this message that he called together his

commanders for council and declared, “Such a thing has never happened to me
before!” He decided to send forth Mr. Ḫattuša-ziti, the Chamberlain, to Egypt to
make sure that the message was not a deception, that there truly weren’t any
sons of Tut-Anḫ-Amon.
While awaiting a reply, and somewhat anti-climatically considering what else

was going on, Kargamiš finally fell to the Hittites after a seige which had only
lasted into its eigth day. Šuppiluliuma preserved the city’s citadel, even
worshipping there a Tutelary Deity and another deity whose name has been lost,
but was probably Kubaba, the city’s patron goddess. But the rest of the city was
not spared. The Great King personally claimed to return to Ḫattuša with silver,
gold, bronze implements, and 3,330 civilian captives. He simply states the booty
taken by his men was without number. Before returning to Ḫattuša he returned
the land of Kargamiš to that city’s jurisdiction and made yet another son of his,
Piyaššili (also known as Šarri-Kušuḫ), into a king; the King of Kargamiš. In this
way Kargamiš began a long career as one of the most important of Hittite cities.
The following spring Ḫattuša-ziti returned to Ḫatti along with a messenger from
Egypt called lord Ḫani. To the Great King’s inqueries the Queen of Egypt
replied,
“Why did you speak in such a way, ʻAre they deceiving me’? If a son of mine
was anywhere, would I write about the humiliation of myself and of my land to
another land? You did not trust me. On the contrary you spoke to me in that
way! He who is my husband is dead! I have no son! I do not want to take (one
of) my subjects and make him my husband. I did not write to any other land, I
wrote to you! They say sons are plentiful for you. Give me one of your sons. He
will be my husband, and he will be king in Egypt!”
This time Šuppiluliuma complied. He brought forth the old treaty between the
Hittites and Egyptians which related how the Storm God took the citizens of the
Hittite city Kuruštama and carried them into Egypt to become Egyptians, and
how the god established peace between Ḫatti and Egypt. On this basis,
Šuppiluliuma declared a new friendship between Ḫatti and Egypt, and sent off
one of his sons to marry the Egyptian queen and become the king of Egypt. The
Deeds call him Zannanza, which it has been speculated is actually a Hittite
transliteration of an Egyptian title.
It’s worth pausing now to contemplate Šuppiluliuma’s achievement. Simply put,

it’s astonishing. Never in the ancient world had a kingdom had the opportunity
to hold dominion over such a vast territory, stretching from the western shores
of Anatolia, deep into Syria, all of Palestine, and on south down the Nile. Of the
four great powers in the Near East at Šuppiluliuma’s accession - Ḫatti, Mitanni,
Babylon, and Egypt - the Hittite Great King was on the verge of becoming the
emperor of three of them. This was surely the most spectacular moment in
Hittite history.
But history had its own cruel tricks in store for the Hittites. The Deeds become
fragmentary, but it is clear that something went wrong. Šuppiluliuma accused
the Egyptians of killing Zannanza and attacking Hittite territory. A fragmentary
letter concerning this incident has actually survived in which is recorded an
Egyptian plea of their innocence in Zannanza’s death. It was to no avail. The
death of Zannanza meant war, and Šuppiluliuma submitted his case to the Sun
Goddess of Arinna and the Storm God for judgement. The sporadic hostilities
between these two lands would touch a further four generations of Hittite rulers.
The Final Campaigns of Šuppiluliuma
The immediate Hittite response to Egypt’s perfidy is unknown. The fragmentary

letter concerning the matter seems to indicate a period of belicose
correspondence before hostilities were actually initiated. Where the Deeds next
resume Šuppiluliuma is not in Syria at all, but back in northern Anatolia. For the
rest of his reign Šuppiluliuma would have to fight in order to retain his earlier
conquests. He is seen campaigning in all of the places that he previously
campaigned in except the Arzawan territories. Unfortunately, this does not seem
to be because he retained control of this territory. Arzawa seems to have slipped
out of Hittite control. Uḫḫa-ziti freed himself and became an ally of the King of
Aḫḫiyawa instead. Not too many years later Šuppiluliuma’s son Muršili II
would indicate that either Šuppiluliuma or Muršili’s brother Arnuwanda II (the
name is unfortunately lost) had to station troops in the Lower Land in order to
defend against Arzawa.
Where the Deeds pick up, Kaškans are mentioned and Šuppiluliuma burned
down several towns, the name of two of which, the towns of Palḫwišša and
Kammama, are preserved. After this, Šuppiluliuma is seen campaigning in a
great many obscure places in the north. He is found in Ištaḫara again, although it
is uncertain if he was attacking it or just passing through it on his way to enemy
territory. Teššita and other lands were burnt down. He refortified the city of
Tuḫpiliša. While he was there the people of Zidaparḫa unsuccessfully tried to
influence the course of his campaign so that he would not enter their land.
Šuppiluliuma marched on to Tikukuwa and stayed there for awhile before
moving on to Ḫurna. He stayed in the city of Ḫurna and burned down its
territory. He burned down a territory in Mt. Tiḫšina. This long list of obscure
places is then momentarily relieved by the mention of the River Maraššanta. But
we are immediately plunged into obscurity again when he moves on into the
peaceful land of Darittara. A man named Pitakkatalli mobilized troops in the
town of Šappiduwa, but Šuppiluliuma marched against him and defeated him.
He then moved on to the town of Wašḫaya in Mt. Illuriya and stayed there
awhile. He burned down Zina[...]. He moved on and burned down Ga[...]kilušša
and Darukka. He burned down the lands of Ḫinariwanda and Iwatallišša and
remained in Ḫinariwanda awhile. He then reached and burned down Šappiduwa
itself. This at least suggests that the list of places starting with Mr. Pitakkatalli at
Šappiduwa was part of a single campaign.
After destroying these lands, Šuppiluliuma decided to expand his northwestern

conquests. To this end he went to Tumanna, ascended Mt. Kaššu, and then
marched out against [...]naggara. River Daḫara Land revolted, so Šuppiluliuma
burned it down and Tapapinuwa as well. He then turned back to Timuḫala.
Timuḫala, “a place of pride of the Kaškans,” didn’t wait to be attacked before it
surrendered. The badly divided lands of the north simply could not resist a
Hittite imperial army.
Hittites, Hurrians, and Assyrians
Meanwhile, on a completely different front, the tribulations of the house of

Tušratta continued. The reception of Aki-Teššup and his contingency in
Babylonia was less than what they could have hoped for. The Babylonian king
took away Aki-Teššup’s chariots and possessions and forced him to assume the
rank of one of his charioteers. Finally it seems that he simply wanted to kill Aki-
Teššup (Perhaps as a means of cementing relations with Šuttarna III’s dynasty?).
The situation of the fugitive Hurrians in Babylonia was clearly deteriorating.
Tušratta’s son Kili-Teššup, fearing for his own life, fled from Babylonia and
sought refuge in, of all places, Ḫatti.
Of course, since relations between Ḫatti and Mitanni had changed in the
intervening years, when Kili-Teššup reached the Maraššantiya River with only
“three chariots, two Hurrians and two other attendants who set out with me, and
a single outfit of clothes, which I was wearing, and nothing else”, and threw
himself at Šuppiluliuma’s feet, the Great King’s reaction to his old nemesis’s
son was not what one might have expected. Šuppiluliuma took him by the hand,
rejoiced over him and questioned him at great length concerning the customs of
Mittanni. Šuppiluliuma chose to help himself by helping Tušratta’s son. He now
saw a way to secure his own blood line on the throne of Mittanni. He promised
Šattiwaza,
“If I conquer Šuttarna and [the troops of] the land of Mittanni, I will not reject
you but will adopt you as my son. I will stand by you and place you on the
throne of your father.” (HDT #6B, §3)
To this, he added a comment which seems somewhat farcical to us, who know
something of his earlier history,
“And the gods know My Sun, Šuppiluliuma, Great King, King of Ḫatti, Hero,
Beloved of the Storm God. He never goes back on the words which issue from
his mouth.” (HDT #6B, §3)
Tudḫaliya the Younger and the Egyptians may have been of a different opinion.
Unfortunately, in this particular case, his vow to Šattiwaza left Šuppiluliuma in a

bit of a pickle. For he had already recognized Artatama as the legitimate ruler of
Mittanni. But the example of Šuttarna’s rule guided him to a compromise which
would allow him to assist Kili-Teššup without being accused of bad faith
towards Artatama. Šuppiluliuma agreed that, if he should overcome Šuttarna in
battle, then Kili-Teššup would take Šuttarna’s place as the successor of
Artatama and ruler of Mitanni,
“If you, my lord, will give me life, and the gods will stand by me, then the Great
King, King of Ḫatti, Hero, Beloved of the Storm God, shall certainly not remove
king Artatama from his royal throne. Let me stand as his designated successor,
and let me rule the land of Mittanni. Šuttarna treated the lands badly, but I will
never do anything for ill.” (HDT#6B, §3)
The only detail remaining to be explained was how Šuppiluliuma would “adopt”
Kili-Teššup as his son. This seems to be an indirect reference to the Hittite
custom of antiyant-husbandship, and Šuppiluliuma’s treaties with Kili-Teššup
stronly emphasize the importance of the position of a daughter who
Šuppiluliuma gave to him in marriage (discussed in detail below).
After receiving rich gifts, including chariots mounted with gold and armored
chariot horses to pull them - and some new clothes - Kili-Teššup was entrusted
to Piyaššili, the King of Kargamiš, as one of his chariot warriors. The two men
made their way to Kargamiš and then set out on a campaign to place Kili-Teššup
on the Hurrian throne.
Piyaššili’s and Kili-Teššup’s campaign against Šuttarna began as every proper

campaign began, with a letter to their intended victims, the people of the city of
Irrite, located in the land of Ḫarran. But Šuttarna had already purchased their
loyalty, so they wrote back to the Hittites, “Why are you coming? If you are
coming for battle, come! But you shall not return to the land of the Great King!”
Having made their token effort at a peaceful resolution, the Hittite army crossed
the Euphrates, burned down the territory of Ḫarran, and approached the city of
Irrite. The imperial troops of Mitanni and the local chariotry of Irrite were
waiting for them. When the Hittite army arrived, the Hurrians came out of the
city and attacked them. The ensuing battle went to the Hittites, and thereafter the
people of Irrite and of Ḫarran, too, came to the Hittites to sue for peace.
Meanwhile Šuttarna’s hold over Mitanni seems to have been slipping. The
Assyrians sent forth an army under the command of a chariot fighter to pacify
the city of Waššukkanni itself. The citizens refused to make peace, so the
Assyrians laid siege to the city. Piyaššili and Kili-Teššup were in Irrite at the
time, so the people of Waššukkanni sent a message saying that the Assyrians
had come for battle against the Hittites. Piyaššili and Kili-Teššup promptly
marched to Waššukkanni. The Assyrians, however, were not ready to tangle
with the mightiest empire of the day, and they prudently withdrew. So the
Hittites victoriously entered and took possession of Tušratta’s old capital city.
Another nearby land, that of Pakarripa, became frightened and submitted to the
Hittites, so Piyaššili and Kili-Teššup left Waššukkanni and marched to
Pakarripa. While they were there another message was brought to them saying
that the Assyrians were coming against them for battle. In spite of the fact that
the desolate environs of Pakarripa were unable to provide sufficient sustenance,
the Hittites marched out in search of the Assyrians. They got as far as a city
called Nilapšini, but again the Assyrians did not come out against them for
battle. It is not known if the Assyrians ever faced the Hittites at this time. The
Hittites marched against Šuttarna at the city of Taite, and the Assyrians, hearing
of this, supposedly marched there. But this may simply have been one more
false rumor circulating about the Assyrians, and the only two texts that discuss
this campaign both break off at this point. If nothing else happened at this time,
then it is clear that the Assyrians did not feel up to the challenge of taking on a
Hittite army yet. It would be one of the last times that the Assyrians would react
so docilely to the Hittite threat.
For the time being the final result was that Šuttarna disappears from the
historical record, and Kili-Teššup took his proper place in Mittanni as
Artatama’s successor and the ruler of Mittanni. Šuppiluliuma secured two
treaties with Kili-Teššup, one from Šuppiluliuma’s point of view, and another
from Kili-Teššup’s point of view. It’s interesting to note that, at the time these
treaties were drawn up, Artatama was certainly still the nominative king of
Mittanni, since Kili-Teššup is only referred to as a “prince”.
Also of importance is that Kili-Teššup took for himself the throne name of
Šattiwaza. Like that of several of his predeccessors, this name is of Indo-Aryan
etymology. But not just his name is Indo-Aryan. In his treaties, he invokes,
among the many Hurrian and Mesopotamian deities, the Indo-Aryan deities
Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and the Nasatyas.
As mentioned above, the principal means of securing the relation between these
two men seems to have been through the action of having Šuppiluliuma take
him as a son by means of making him into an antiyant-husband for a daughter of
his. By doing this, Šuppiluliuma was able to install a “son” of his on the
Mittannian throne, and secure the succession in Mittanni for descendents of his
own line,
“As I have taken up Šattiwaza, son of king Tušratta, in my hand, I will seat him
upon the throne of his father, so that the land of Mittanni, the great land, does
not go to ruin. I, Great King, King of Ḫatti, have given life to the land of
Mittanni for the sake of my(!) daughter. I took up Šattiwaza, son of Tušratta, in
my hand, and I gave him a daughter in marriage.
“Prince Šattiwaza shall be king in the land of Mittanni, and the daughter of the
King of Ḫatti shall be queen in the land of Mittanni. Concubines will be allowed
to you, Šattiwaza, but no other woman shall be greater than my daughter. You
shall allow no other woman to be her equal, and no one shall sit as an equal
beside her. You shall not degrade my daughter to second rank. In the land of
Mittanni she shall exercise queenship. The sons of Šattiwaza and the sons of my
daughter - their sons and grandsons - [shall] in the future be equals in the land of
Mittanni. In the future the Mittannians shall indeed not plan rebellion against
Prince Šattiwaza, against my daughter, the queen, [against his sons], or against
his grandsons. In the future Prince Šattiwaza shall be a brother and equal [to my
sons], and the sons of Prince Šattiwaza - his(!) sons and grandsons [. . .] - shall
be brothers and equals to my grandsons.” (HDT #6A, §§6-7)
The last bit about Šattiwaza’s descendents by Šuppiluliuma’s daughter being the
equals of Šuppiluliuma’s own descendents supports the conclusion that this was
an antiyant-husband marriage, in which Šattiwaza became a member of
Šuppiluliuma’s family, rather than his daughter a member of Tušratta’s. In this
light, it is useful to note that Šattiwaza emphasized his poverty when he first
approached Šuppiluliuma, coming to him with “only three chariots, two
Hurrians, two other attendants, who set out with me(!), and a single outfit of
clothes - which I was wearing - and nothing else.” (HDT #6B, §4). In the normal
course of events, it was poor men who were taken as antiyant-husbands.
Maximum extant of empire under Šuppiluliuma I. Arzawa

would certainly be lost by the end of his reign. The inclusion
of the Lukka Lands as part of Arzawa is speculative. Alašiya
is included because Šuppiluliuma is known to have banished
political dissidents there at the beginning of his reign.
The next fragment of the Deeds mentions crown prince Arnuwanda, being sent
to “Egypt” (i.e. that part of Syria controlled by Egypt). The following fragments
mention Irrite, Waššukkanni, and a Hurrian victory over Hittite troops. Ḫayaša
seems to have offered its submission again. If it did, it must have almost
immediately cast off the Hittite yolk. Irrite, Kargamiš, and Waššukkanni are
mentioned yet again, and it is probably at this time that certain Hittite subjects
fled into the land of Azzi. They would remain there until well into the reign of
Muršili II. This may also be the time when a great deal of Kaška began to raid
Ḫatti, while Šuppiluliuma was campaigning in “the Hurrian lands” (alternatively
called Mittanni in Muršili’s Annals). Then, in the last fragments preserved of the
Deeds, Išḫupitta and Kašipaḫa are mentioned, which seems to indicate that he
began the reconquest of the north. He would not live to finish the task.
A Hittite City in Syria

Šuppiluliuma I was possibly responsible for the refounding of Emar when the
river course changed. Or it could have been his son, Muršili II.
Death of Šuppiluliuma
What man could not bring down, Nature did. Or, as the Great King’s son Muršili
came to believe, the gods did, in order to avenge the death of Tudḫaliya the
Younger, that long deceased brother betrayed and murdered by Šuppiluliuma
and his fellow conspirators,
"But now, later, you gods, my lords, came to seek in my father that matter of
Mr. Tudḫaliya the Younger. My father [died] on account of the blood of Mr.
Tudḫaliya, and the princes, the lords, the overseer of clansmen, and lower
officers who went over [to my father, they too] died on account of [that] matter."
(CTH 378.1 - Plague Prayer of Muršili II, 1st Version, §4)
The instrument of the gods’ wrath would be another victim of Šuppiluliuma’s

betrayal. The Hittite army which had been campaigning in Amqa brought back
to Ḫatti Egyptian troops as prisoners. But they brought a plague with them.
Šuppiluliuma's pleas to the gods to abate the plague were ineffective, and finally
he himself fell victim to it.
There can hardly be a fitting enough tribute to this man's achievements. He

seized a crumbling empire and raised it to the pinnacle of power. His energy was
boundless, as his campaigns crossed and recrossed all of Anatolia and deep into
Syria. He conquered Mitanni thereby overthrowing the existing balance of
power, and subdued even Egypt. If his means were unscrupulous, he is hardly
unique in the annals of powerful men.
His legend would loom large for the rest of Hittite history. His younger son
Muršili would idolize him and write of his manly deeds, although the continuing
affliction of the plague might ultimately temper his adulation. Up until its final
demise, the Hittite empire would not again fall into the extreme duress
experienced during the reign of Tudḫaliya III. Šuppiluliuma's legacy was the
most powerful empire in the ancient Near East.
His chosen heir, crown prince Arnuwanda, succeeded to the throne without
difficulty. The reputation of his father, and the fact that he himself was a mature
and experienced military commander, was enough to guarantee the good
behavior of the vassals.
Foreign Relations
Aḫḫiyawa: Friendly at beginning of Šuppiluliuma’s reign. But eventually
Millawanda rebelled with Aḫḫiyawan assistance. Mira and Šeḫa River Land
involved.
Arzawa: Arzawa peaked with its attack on Tuwanuwa in southeastern Anatolia.

Šuppiluliuma appears to have driven the Arzawans under Anzupaḫḫaddu back
into the west and even to have subjugated them. It freed itself during the Hurrian
War (Campaigns related to the siege of Kargamiš), but no longer posed a threat
to Hittite security. It allied itself with Aḫḫiyawa.
Kizzuwatna: Part of the Hittite realm. Šuppiluliuma installed his son Telipinu
the Priest of Kizzuwatna in Kizzuwatna, and Telipinu later led troops to
Šuppiluliuma’s support in his Syrian campaigns. (CTH incorrectly places the
Šunaššura treaty in Šuppiluliuma I’s reign (#41). It belongs with the earlier king
Tudḫaliya II)
Išuwa: Recovered by Šuppiluliuma (CAH 2.2 pg. 6.). It took two battles, one
against the Išuwans, and then against the Išuwans and Tušratta of Mitanni.
Wiluša: Šuppiluliuma I, under his father, Tudḫaliya III, campaigned in Arzawa.

He did not, however, have to campaign against Wiluša, since its king,
Kukkunni, remained friendly with the Hittites, per tradition. See The Treaty with
Alakšandu of Wiluša.
Ḫayaša: (Along with Azzi) A territory situated somewhere in north-eastern

Anatolia. Before becoming king, Šuppiluliuma marched against this territory.
He later marched against it as part of his Great Syrian campaign. Šuppiluliuma
made a treaty with Ḫuqqana, whom Šuppiluliuma raised from an obscure stature
to that of the foremost man among the Ḫayašans (not a king) (Beckman (1996)
22f.). Šuppiluliuma married his sister to him, and then, in the treaty itself,
instructed Ḫuqqana that when her relatives visited her in Ḫayaša, he was not
permitted to sleep with them, as he believed Ḫayašan custom permitted.
Arnuwanda II (1320~1318), Son of Šuppiluliuma I
(Contemporary with Aššur-uballiṭ I of Assyria (See Peter Machinist (1987)))
Campaigned with his father, including a campaign against Egypt. Died from the
same plague that killed his father after only about a year on the throne.
Šuppiluliuma’s reign ended with the Assyrians hostile to the Hittites, but
unwilling to engage them. Muršili II’s reign began the same way. We do not
know about Arnuwanda’s relations with them, though. Unless we actually gain
real evidence, we would be best to assume that relations with Assyria did not
change.
In the west, the ruler of the River Šeḫa Land died, resulting in dynastic unrest in
his kingdom. A young son of this ruler named Manapa-Tarḫunta was driven out
of his land by his brothers. Another man, Ura-Tarḫunta, had even desired to kill
Manapa-Tarḫunta. So Manapa-Tarḫunta fled to the city of Karkišša. In Karkišša,
his possessions were taken from him by the men of the city. But both
Arnuwanda and his younger brother Muršili commended Manapa-Tarḫunta to
the men of Karkišša, and sent them gifts. In this way Manapa-Tarḫunta came to
be protected by the Karkiššans.
But Ura-Tarḫunta’s reign proved short. Soon, he too was driven out of the Šeḫa
River Land. Now at the instigation of the Hittite ruler, Manapa-Tarḫunta was
installed as the ruler of the Šeḫa River Land. And this was how it remained for
the short reign of Arnuwanda II.
Like his father before him, Arnuwanda fell victim to the plague which was
ravaging Ḫatti. His illness posed a serious danger to the empire. When the
surrounding lands heard about his illness, they revolted against Hittite rule.
Arnuwanda, however, could not do anything about this, since he soon died from
his illness. The empire now faced an uncertain future, with no readily apparent
successor and revolts on its borders.
Muršili II, (1317~1293), Son of Šuppiluliuma I
(Contemporary with Aššur-uballiṭ I of Assyria (See Peter Machinist (1987))
Joint Seal of Muršili

II and Mal-Nikal
“He who now sits upon the throne of his father is small and unable to protect the
land of Ḫatti and its borders.” (Ten Year Annals §4)
So spoke the enemies of the new Great King. Muršili succeeded to the throne at a
young age due to his brother Arnuwanda’s unexpected and undesired death.
Always ready to take advantage of such a predicament, the Hittites’ conquered
territories dutifully revolted. But Muršili was a much more pious man than his
father, a trait which would become characteristic of all succeeding Hittite Great
Kings, and he chose to begin his reign tending to his religious duties. His father
had spent so much of his time setting up garrisons in Mitanni that he had
neglected the festivals of the Sun Goddess of Arinna. The punishment for this
was the plague that took his life, that of his son, and even yet continued to haunt
Ḫatti. Muršili felt that he would need the help of the Sun Goddess in order to be
successful.
“Oh Sun Goddess of Arinna, my lady! As to the surrounding enemy lands that
keep calling me a child and keep belittling me, and who keep trying to take from
me your territories, oh Sun Goddess of Arinna, my lady, come here to me, Sun
Goddess of Arinna, my lady, and smite before me those surrounding enemy
lands!” (Ten Year Annals §6)
But he could not smite all the enemy lands at once, and so he made arrangements
for his military officers to protect the status-quo. The Assyrians under Aššur-
uballiṭ were still a hostile factor on the Hittite’s eastern flank, and so Muršili sent
Nuwanza, the Great Wine Man, along with troops and chariots, to the aid of his
brother Šarri-Kušuḫ (a.k.a. Piyaššili), King of Kargamiš. Both men were
explicitly instructed to retaliate against any Assyrian attack. And yet the Assyrian
threat appears to have been as empty at the beginning of Muršili’s reign as it had
been at the end of Šuppiluliuma’s. Having heard that Hittite imperial troops had
come to Kargamiš, the Assyrian ruler chose not to attack. Further, while these
troops protected the eastern frontier, other troops guarded against the Arzawan
enemy towards the western frontier (Extended Annals of Muršili II, Year 2). Also
in the west, Muršili tried to maintain the status quo by recognizing Manapa-
Tarḫunta, whom he and his brother had helped earlier, in his position as ruler of
the Šeḫa River Land.
“The Sun Goddess of Arinna heard my words”
Having duly attended to the proper religious festivals and the immediate security
of his further borders, the following year Muršili began a long and distinguished
series of campaigns which would affirm the Hittites’ newly regained position as a
great power in the Near East. His attentions were first drawn to the Kaškans in
the north, a region which would continue to trouble him for most of his reign.
(YEAR 1) In this first campaign, the Kaškans located near the city of Turmitta
rose up and began to attack that city. Muršili responded by attacking, looting, and
burning down the two major Kaškan cities in the area, Ḫalila and Dudduška.
When the other Kaškans heard this, “all of Kaška” came to their comrades’ aid. It
was of no avail. With the Sun Goddess of Arinna, the Storm God, and Mezzulla
“running before him”, Muršili defeated his enemies and resubjugated the
Kaškans near Turmitta. Having achieved this, he returned to Ḫattuša. But there
was more trouble in Kaška. The Kaškans near the city of Išḫupitta stopped
sending Muršili the troop contingents that they were obligated to, and so Muršili
marched forth and re-subjugated them as well, burning down one of their cities in
the process. This reconquest didn’t last very long beyond Muršili’s stay in
Išḫupitta.
(YEAR 2) With his brother Šarri-Kušuḫ protecting Kargamiš against the

Assyrians, and having further sent troops into the Lower Land to protect against
the Arzawans, Muršili was free to turn his small army to another northern
campaign. This time he marched to the Upper Land and attacked the land of
Tipiya, because it had stopped providing the troop contingents that it owed to the
Hittite Great King. Its most important city seems to have been Katḫaidwa, which
Muršili attacked and burned down. He returned to Ḫattuša with his civilian
captives and booty only to learn that there was trouble in Išḫupitta again. So he
turned around and subdued Išḫupitta once more. But the leaders of the rebellion,
Mr. Pazzanna and Mr. Nunnuta, former subjects of Muršili, escaped. Muršili
marched after them. His first stop was at the city of Palḫwišša. At this city,
Muršili was helped by the fact that his foes had to depend upon levied troops,
which were no match for Muršili’s regular army. The Kaškan army broke and
fled before the Great King. So Muršili was able to burn down and plunder the
city. He then moved on to the city of Ištaḫara, where he encamped. From here he
was able to send back some plundered grain to Ḫattuša. Meanwhile the rebel
leaders seem to have holed up in the city of Kammamma, so Muršili wrote to that
city demanding their extradition. He then seems to have threatened the men of
Kammamma with total destruction - a threat that proved effective. The men of
Kammamma seized the two rebels, killed them, and subjugated themselves to
Muršili. This seems to have quited Kaška for the time being, and Muršili returned
to the city of Ankuwa where he passed the winter months.
(YEAR 3) At the beginning of the third year Šarri-Kušuḫ seems to have been
involved in some sort of altercation with troops from the city Ḫuwaršanašša and
one other city whose name is lost. The fact that these men fled into Arzawa
indicates that Šarri-Kušuḫ’s troops who had been stationed in the Lower Land
had been attacked. Muršili’s response led to what should probably be considered
the most momentous achievement of his reign - the conquest and dismemberment
of the kingdom of Arzawa.
When Muršili’s enemies fled into Arzawa, Muršili sent messengers to its king,
Uḫḫa-ziti, demanding their extradition. Uḫḫa-ziti refused. After all, he had no
real reason to comply. The situation in the west seemed to have turned to the
Arzawan’s advantage. He had allied himself with the King of Aḫḫiyawa, and as a
result the King of Millawanda went over to the King of Aḫḫiyawa. Other leaders
in the west were not slow to reassess their own positions. Manapa-Tarḫunta, the
King of the Šeḫa River Land, went over to Uḫḫa-ziti. The land Ḫapalla and half
of Mira-and-Kuwaliya (Mašḫwiluwa retained control of the other half) were also
allied with the Arzawan ruler. Wiluša, whose relations with Ḫatti always seem to
have remained friendly even when forced out of treaty relations by the presence
of Arzawa, was also allied with Arzawa at this time. With the entire western
region of Anatolia under his control, it's no wonder that Uḫḫa-ziti did not overly
concern himself with the threatening demands of a distant and childlike enemy. It
was a serious miscalculation.
But Muršili’s immediate attentions were still pulled to the north, so that instead
of personally dealing with the situation in the west he sent out two men, Gulla
and Malla-ziti, to attack the rebel king of Millawanda. They succeeded and
returned to Ḫattuša with their plunder and civilian captives. Uḫḫa-ziti’s
immediate response was directed towards that portion of the land of Mira which
remained under the control of Mašḫwiluwa, Muršili’s brother-in-law. Uḫḫa-ziti
attacked the city of Impaya. Mašḫwiluwa was able to repulse the attack, but not
utterly defeat the Arzawan king, who moved on and attacked the city of
Ḫapanuwa. So the situation stood in the west as Muršili occupied himself in the
north once again with the Kaškans in the vicinity of the city Išḫupitta. The
Kaškan city Pišḫuru was beginning its rise to prominence, and it revived the city
Palḫwišša, which Muršili had burned down only the year before. Muršili was
forced to march against this threat and burn down the city again. But this was not
enough to pacify the territory. Kaškan troops occupied the city Kuzaštarina, and
Muršili was forced to attack the city and conquer it. After this victory, Muršili
pushed on as far as the city of Anziliya, reconquering the surrounding territories.
The Conquest of Arzawa
Having achieved a victory in the north, Muršili now turned his attentions to his
problems in the west. It was time to deal with Uḫḫa-ziti;
“(Concerning) what servants of mine came to you - because I repeatedly

requested them from you, and you did not send them back to me, and you kept
calling me a child and belittling me; now, come! We will do battle! May the
Storm God, My Lord, judge our case!” (10 Year Annals §16)
Muršili gathered his troops and began his march toward Arzawa. When he
reached Mt. Lawaša near the Šeḫiriya River, he received what must be viewed as
one of the most fortunate omens in history,
“The mighty Storm God, My Lord, showed his divinely righteous power and
hurled a thunderbolt. All of my troops saw the thunderbolt. All the land of
Arzawa saw the thunderbolt. The thunderbolt passed (us) and struck the land of
Arzawa. It struck Uḫḫa-ziti’s (capital) city Apaša. It settled in Uḫḫa-ziti’s knees,
and he became ill.” (10 Year Annals §17)
Having received such a favorable omen, Muršili continued his westward march.
When he reached the city of Šallapa his brother Šarri-Kušuḫ joined forces with
him, and then together they continued on. When Muršili reached the city of Aura,
Mašḫwiluwa drove into his presence and informed his lord about the effects of
the thunderbolt on Uḫḫa-ziti. The news could only have been seen as
encouraging. Now was the perfect time to confront the Arzawan forces.
Having been made lame by this object - possibly a meteorite which might still
have been worshipped in Ephesus in the 1st century A.D. during the life of the
Apostle Paul - Uḫḫa-ziti could not come out against Muršili for battle himself. So
instead he sent forth his son Piyama-Kurunta in his place. The forces met at the
Aštarpa River near the city of Walma. The battle, once engaged, turned into a
rout. Muršili pursued his fleeing enemies as far as Apaša itself. Uḫḫa-ziti did not
remain to defend his capital. He boarded a ship and sailed across the sea, never to
return to the site of his ultimate humiliation. Piyama-Kurunta, his son, seems to
have also fled across the sea to the King of Aḫḫiyawa (It is not known if Uḫḫa-
ziti and his son fled to the same place, or even at the same time). Now in control
of the city, Muršili, a Hittite king with a central Anatolian capital, victoriously
entered Apaša, a city with a port on the Aegean sea.
The capture of the capital city did not immediately result in the subjugation of the
entire land. Arzawans fled in two large bodies to Mt. Arinnanda and to the city of
Puranda. Others had joined Uḫḫa-ziti in his flight across the sea. Depending upon
the assistance of his brother Šarri-Kušuḫ once again, Muršili chose to attack
these places even though the year was growing short. He chose Mt. Arinnanda as
his first target. It was a difficult goal. It lay on an island which was very high,
overgrown, and rocky. It was impossible to attack it using chariots, and so
Muršili used his infantry to climb up the mountain and lay seige to the fugitives.
When the Arzawans began to suffer from hunger and thirst, they gave up and
prostrated themselves at Muršili’s feet. As a result of this victory, Muršili claims
to have personally gained 15,500 civilian captives, while his troops’ gains were
beyond measure.
After returning from Mt. Arinnanda, Muršili lay seige to the city of Puranda, the
other hold out of the fugitive Arzawans. After having laid seige to the city, he
gave them a chance to turn themselves in,
“You were the subjects of my father. My father took you and gave you in
subjugation to Mr. Uḫḫa-ziti. But he supported the king of Aḫḫiyawa, and he
became hostile. (Now) you become mine again! Do not support Mr. Uḫḫa-ziti
any longer! What subjects of mine came in to you, the fugitives of Ḫuršanašša,
the fugitives of Šuruda, and the fugitives of Attarimma - hand them over to me!”
(Extended Annals Year 3)
They refused to yield to him. Unfortunately for the Hittites, the season was
definitely over. It had already begun to snow, and so Muršili drew back to the
Aštarpa River and passed the winter at a fortress there. While there he celebrated
the Month Festival.
(YEAR 4) Over the course of the winter Uḫḫa-ziti succumbed to his illness and
died while still in exile from his land. When Spring came, one of his sons
remained “in the sea” while the other one, Mr. Tapalazunawali, crossed over to
the mainland and entered Puranda. Muršili broke winter quarters and marched
back against Puranda. Tapalazunawali chose to come out for battle against his
Hittite foe. His attack was repulsed, and Muršili laid seige to Puranda once again,
this time cutting off its water supply. Tapalazunawali then snuck out of the city
and fled, taking his children and some of his people with him. Muršili was
informed of this and he sent troops in pursuit of him. Tapalazunawali himself
managed to escape, but the Hittites captured his children and his people. With
their leader gone and their water cut off, the city was doomed. Muršili captured
the city and claimed to deport a further 15,500 civilian captives, while his troops
took an even greater share.
After this, Tapalazunawali seems to have fled to the King of Aḫḫiyawa “across
the sea”, which is perhaps where he had come from before. But the situation,
which seemed so favorable to the Arzawans the year before, had been
dramatically reversed. So when Muršili sent a messenger by boat to the King of
Aḫḫiyawa demanding Tapalazunawali’s extradition, he complied.
Tapalazunawali and the civilians who were with him were all sent to the Hittite
ruler, and were subsequently deported to Ḫatti. It was not only the end of the war,
but also the end of Arzawa itself. In two campaign seasons, the youthful king had
destroyed the only rival to Hittite power in Anatolia.
The Organization of the West
Having conquered Arzawa, it was now time for Muršili to organize it to suit
Hittite policy. To this end, Muršili chose to break up the kingdom into several
independent lands and send out Hittite troops to occupy and defend the new
vassal kingdoms. But first Muršili had to be certain of his victory. Manapa-
Tarḫunta, the ruler of Šeḫa River Land, had betrayed him, and it was time for
revenge. Muršili and his army set out for the Šeḫa River Land. When Manapa-
Tarḫunta heard that Muršili was coming, he grew fearful and wrote to the Great
King,
“My lord, do not kill me! My lord, take me in subjugation! I will give back to my
lord the men who came in to me (as fugitives)!” (Extended Annals Year 4)
But Muršili was not interested, replying,
“Formerly, when your brothers expelled you from your land, I commended you
to the men of Karkiša. I paid off the men of Karkiša for you. But you did not
support me there (in Šeḫa River Land)! You supported Uḫḫa-ziti, my enemy!
Now will I take you in subjugation?” (Extended Annals Year 4)
Desperate times called for desperate measures, and Manapa-Tarḫunta still had a
trick up his sleeve. He sent out his mother, old men, and old women to Muršili to
beg him to accept him as his vassal. When Manapa-Tarḫunta’s mother prostrated
herself at Muršili’s feet, Muršili relented and agreed, for the old mother’s sake, to
accept Manapa-Tarḫunta as his vassal once again.
Never again would the western lands rise to become a single, independent
kingdom. Muršili broke up that kingdom into three independent lands. In Šeḫa
River Land and Appawiya he installed Manapa-Tarḫunta. He then moved on to
Mira, where he installed Mašḫwiluwa as the ruler of all of Mira and Kuwaliya
and fortified the cities of Aršani, Šarawa, and Impanna. He made a special point
to remind Mašḫwiluwa how he had supported him where his father Šuppiluliuma
had not been able to, and how he had furthermore fortified towns for him. Then,
declaring the men of Mira untrustworthy, he granted to, or perhaps more
accurately, imposed on Mašḫwiluwa a 600 man bodyguard. In the land of
Ḫapalla, Muršili installed a man name Targašnalli. In this land Muršili installed
Hittite garrison troops that Targašnalli was responsible for supporting and
treating well.
We further know that in the far northwestern corner of Anatolia Muršili made a
treaty with a man named Alakšandu in the kingdom Wiluša (HDT #13). This
name invokes obvious comparison to “Alexander”, and this image is of course
further enhanced by the probable identification of Wiluša with “Ilios”, from
which Homer’s Illiad takes its name. This “Alexander of Ilios” should not be
equated with the Homeric Alexander (Paris) of Ilios responsible for the Trojan
War, but here the Hittite evidence clearly provides a real cultural background for
the fantastical epic. That the name Alexander was not uncommon in the west is
suggested by the finding of the feminine form of this name in a Mycenaean tablet
where it is written A-re-ka-sa-da-ra, and possibly its masculine form in A-re-ka-
[sa-do-ro].
(YEAR 5) In his 5th year Muršili moved back into the Kaškan territories. He
first marched against Mt. Ašḫarpaya. The Kaškans in this region had cut off the
roads which led to the province of Pala. Cutting off Pala would have also cut off
the province of Tummanna. So he marched and successfully conquered them. He
then moved eastward to the land of Šamuḫa, where he stayed in the city of
Ziulila. From there he moved on against the Arawannans, who had been
attacking the land of Kaššiya since the days of his father. Muršili again proved
successful. After this victory, he returned to Ḫattuša.
(YEAR 6) The next year was a year of light activity in terms of Muršili’s
campaigning. Since the days of his father, the Kaškans of Mt. Tarikarimu in the
land of Ziḫḫariya had been raiding Ḫatti. So Muršili now returned the favor and
raided them and burned down their land. After this, he returned to Ḫattuša and
campaigned no more that year.
(YEAR 7) The beginning of this year is very poorly understood. This is very
unfortunate, because it was a very important year.
A Hostile Egypt
Now here at the beginning of Muršili’s 7th year we find fragmentary references
to Egypt. The men of Egypt and Ḫatti both seemed concerned with the men of
Nuḫašši. King Tette of Nuḫašši rebelled against Muršili with the aid of EN-urta
of Barga. But Muršili had another partisan of Barga on his side, Abi-radda. It is
possible that Egypt had a hand in Nuḫašši’s rebellion. Since Kadesh, too, seems
to have revolted, it is possible that it went over to Egypt.
Muršili sent Mr. Kantuzzili to Šarri-Kušuḫ in Kargamiš to attack Nuḫašši, and,

should the King of Egypt have come, he promised that he himself would also
come. But someone defeated the Egyptian troops, so that they did not come. The
situation, although unclear, seemed to be growing more and more unstable for the
Hittites.
A King of Kaška
Muršili did not go against Nuḫašši himself because a new and completely novel
threat appeared in the Kaškan lands. A Kaškan named Piḫḫuniya of the land of
Tipiya - active in the time of Šuppiluliuma - united the Kaškan lands under him
and ruled them as a king - a situation which Muršili greatly marvelled at,
“Piḫḫuniya did not rule in the Kaškan manner. Suddenly, even though the rule of
one man did not exist in Kaška, that Piḫḫuniya ruled in the manner of kingship.”
(10 Year Annals §32)
Piḫḫuniya continually led his forces against and finally captured the Upper Land
and the city of Ištitina, turning it into his “pasturage.” Which such a serious
Kaškan menace, Muršili had to turn his attention to the north.
He sent a message demanding that Piḫḫuniya return what he had taken. But
Piḫḫuniya was not interested in listening to Muršili’s threats,
“I will give back nothing to you! If you should come for battle, I will certainly
not wait here for you in order to fight in my own field and fallow! I will approach
you for battle in the midst of your land!” (10 Year Annals §32)
This was not a promise that he managed to keep. Muršili marched into the Upper
Land and attacked Piḫḫuniya, retaking all of his lost territory. As he retreated
Piḫḫuniya resorted to a scorched earth policy against the Great King by burning
down the towns which he had captured. But Muršili simply rebuilt them and
continued on into the land of Tipiya, which he burned down in turn. Eventually,
Piḫḫuniya’s will buckled, and he came to Muršili and prostrated himself at
Muršili’s feet. Muršili carried him off to Ḫattuša, and so ended the career of the
only known Kaškan king.
The news in Syria seemed good, too. Šarri-Kušuḫ had managed to defeat an
enemy (undoubtedly connected with Nuḫašši in some way) while Muršili was off
in the north. But the good news would not last.
Muršili came out of Tipiya and settled in the city Ištitina in order to guide the
reconstruction of it and the other fortresses that Piḫḫuniya had burnt down. While
there, he made a poorly timed decision to pick a fight with Anniya, the King of
Azzi and Ḫayaša.
More Problems
During the final campaigns of Šuppiluliuma I in the Hurrian lands, some Hittite
civilians had fled into the land of Azzi. After his victory over Piḫḫuniya, Muršili
decided that it was time to get them back. So he sent a letter to Anniya
demanding the return of his subjects. Anniya could hardly have viewed this letter
as anything less than a declaration of war, and he duly refused Muršili’s
“request”, and launched an attack on the land of Dankuwa. It was all the excuse
that Muršili needed.
(YEAR 8) Muršili launched an attack on the city of Ura, a strongly fortified

border town belonging to Anniya. This seems to have been sufficient to cow the
men of Azzi, who sent a letter to Muršili promising to return the civilians Muršili
had demanded. Unfortunately, they failed to do so. When Muršili wrote to
Anniya complaining about this, Anniya replied that he had not been compensated
for the Hittite civilians that he was being asked to return and for his own civilians
who had been taken away to Ḫatti. For these reasons he once again refused to
return the Hittite civilians who were in his land.
Meanwhile, there were problems in the land Pala. Ḫutu-piyanza, who had
conquered Pala in the reign of Šuppiluliuma I, was now governor of Pala and was
at war with the city of Wašumana. Muršili responded to this by sending Mr.
Nuwanza, the Great Wine Man, to his assistance. Together Ḫutu-piyanza and
Nuwanza attacked, conquered, and burned down the city of Wašumana.
The tensions in the north would have to wait, because “at that time the Ḫepat of
Kummanni troubled me regarding the Festival of Calling Out,” and so Muršili’s
presence was required in Kizzuwatna. So Muršili placed Nuwanza in charge of
his northern operations, and he himself set off for Kummanni. Unfortunately, the
Azzians saw this as an opportunity, and they used it to attack the cities of Ištitina
and Kannuwara. Already weakened by the devastation caused by Piḫḫuniya, the
city of Ištitina fell and was destroyed. Kannuwara managed to hold out and the
Azzians were forced to lay seige to it.
Death of a Valued Ally
(YEAR 9) The problems in Nuḫašši seem to have been related to a revitalization

of Assyria. Whereas previously the Assyrians avoided contact with Hittite
armies, now they seem to have begun attacking Kargamiš itself. So even though
there were still problems with Nuḫašši, when Muršili went to Kummanni to
celebrate the Festival of Calling Out, his brother Šarri-Kušuḫ joined him there. It
would be the last time the brothers were together. While in Kummanni, Šarri-
Kušuḫ fell ill and died. The rites of death were performed in Muršili’s presence.
It was a significant loss. Šarri-Kušuḫ had been Muršili’s most valuable support in
the nine years of his reign, and he was also a great force for stability in Syria.
With the war against Nuḫašši dragging on, it was a bad time to lose such a strong
personality.
While he was busy in Kummanni, he sent out a man named Kurunta to deal with
Nuḫašši. He gave him instructions to destroy Nuḫašši’s grain. Kurunta went forth
to obey his king. While he was in Syria he lay seige to the city Kadesh, which
had also rebelled (Amurru, still under Aziru’s rule, remained loyal). Aitakkama
still ruled in Kadesh, but his time had come. When his son, Ari-Teššup, saw that
the city’s grain supply was dwindling, he turned on his father and killed him. He
then returned Kadesh to the Hittite fold, and he let Kurunta up into the city.
Muršili was also informed about the seige of Kannuwara while he was in
Kummanni. His solution to this problem was to instruct Nuwanza to relieve the
beseiged city. Unfortunately, when Nuwanza took the omens before the
campaign, they were unfavorable. So Nuwanza sent a message to his king
informing him of the problem.
The Cruciform Seal of Muršili II: The impressions of a
two sided cruciform seal have been found on several
bullae on Nişantepe (See Tudḫaliya IV). They are all
poorly impressed, but the above represents the proposed
reconstruction of the original seal faces. The names are:
Obv. (Center, then counter-clockwise from the right -
geneology of Muršili II) Muršili II and Gaššulawiya, (X)
and Tanu-Ḫepa, Tudḫaliya III, Arnuwanda I and Ašmu-
Nikal, Tudḫaliya II and Nikal-mati. Rev. (Center, then
clockwise from the left - Importan past Hittite kings)
Šuppiluliuma I and Ḫenti, Ḫuzziya, Labarna and
[Tawanna]nna?, Ḫattušili I and Kadduši?, Muršili I with
Kali?. See Dinçol et al. 1993. While there are no other
known examples of cruciform seals, the cross motif was
itself known from great antiquity. It appears in the Old
Geometrical style of pottery (ca. 18th century Kültepe, cf.
Akurgal (1962) pl. IX (pg. 45)), and perhaps even as
early as the Ḫattian Alaca Hüyük standards (cf. Akurgal
(1962) pl. 7).
With Anniya beseiging Kunnawara in the north, the Assyrians attacking

Kargamiš in the south, Nuḫašši in a state of unrest, and now the death of his
brother, Muršili was nearly at his wits end. He was reluctant to leave Kargamiš in
a dangerous state of transition for fear that the Assyrians would take advantage of
the opportunity. So in a flurry of activity, he delegated authority. He took omens
of his own concerning the relief of Kannuwara, and these turned out favorable.
So when he left Kummanni and set out for the city of Aštata, he sent prince
Nana-ziti to Nuwanza with news of the favorable omens. At Aštata he built up
the fortifications. While in Aštata Ari-Teššup of Kadesh was brought before him
and officially accepted as a Hittite vassal. Muršili then moved on towards
Kargamiš. While en route, Nana-ziti returned to him and reported that Nuwanza
had successfully relieved the seige of Kannuwara and that a large number of
Azzians had been killed and captured.
With this good news, Muršili entered Kargamiš in order to handle the succession
to its throne. He duly installed Šaḫurunuwa, Šarri-Kušuḫ’s son, as the new king
of Kargamiš. Shortly after this he swore in Talmi-Šarruma as king of Ḫalap.
With Syria properly organized, Muršili left Kargamiš and moved north to the city
of Tegarama. But the year had grown short, so he chose not to march against
Azzi. Instead, he marched to Ḫarran, where he made provisions for his troops,
and then moved on and attacked the city of Yaḫrešša. He made a surprise attack
on this city at night and burned it down. He then moved on against the land of
Piggainarešša. He attacked the Kaškans there, and he burned down the land.
After this, he returned to Ḫattuša, and, finally, he wintered in the city Ḫakpiš.
(YEAR 10) The next year, he finished his campaign against Azzi. The Azzians
did not want to face Muršili in open battle, so they took to their citadels situated
in places difficult to access. Muršili only dealt with two of those places, Aripša
and Duškamma. Aripša lay on a rocky promontory jutting out into the Black Sea.
In spite of this, he successfully captured it. The people of Duškamma heard this
and gave themselves up to Muršili. This campaign took most of the year, so
Muršili returned to Ḫattuša for the Year Festival without first organizing Azzi.
(YEAR 11) In the next year, he returned to Azzi and organized it.
(YEAR 12) Revolt of Mašḫwiluwa. See below.
His other campaigns seem to deal mostly with Kaška and Pala/Tummanna.
Muršili writes Annals: Muršili wrote extensive annals both for his father (The
Deeds of Šuppiluliuma, edition by Güterbock) and for himself.
Possibly made a treaty with Horemheb of Egypt.
Muršili’s Speech Loss
The aging monarch was not immune to the ravishes of time. It appears that,
presumably towards the end of his reign, Muršili suffered from a stroke. He
survived, but his affliction had been presaged by recurring dreams of a
frightening experience from earlier in his life.
"[Formerly?] I drove to the ruined town of Kunnu. The Storm God brought a
storm, and then kept thundering frightfully. I was afraid, and speech became
scarce in my mouth. Speech rose up for me as something small." (Muršili's
Speech Loss §1)
The incident had little lasting impact on him at the time, until the later, more
dreadful event.
"I put aside that matter entirely. As the years came and went, it came about that
that matter began appearing to me in dreams. The hand of a god reached out to
me in a dream and my mouth went to the side." (Muršili's Speech Loss §1)
This passage seems to be an attempt by a man belonging to a superstitious and

medically primitive society to describe the effects of a stroke. The Great King,
helpless in the face of his affliction, reacted in the typically Hittite fashion,
seeking to understand which deity had touched him with this misfortune, and
how the divine wrath could be appeased.
"So I inquired by oracle, and the Storm God of the town of Manuzziya was
identified (as the god responsible). I made an inquiry by oracle to the Storm God
of Manuzziya, and it was determined to send him a substitute ox for 'turning' by
fire and birds for 'turning'. I made an inquiry by oracle (to the god) about the
substitute ox, and he established to send (it) to the temple, in his place in the land
of Kummanni." (Muršili's Speech Loss §1)
The "substitute ox" was a substitute for the Great King himself, who could take
on the king's impurities, and then be destroyed, thereby removing the god's wrath
and the Great King's affliction.
"So they decorated a substitute ox, and My Sun placed his hand upon (it). They
sent it forth into the land of Kummanni. Afterwards, My Sun gave reverence. The
day on which they decorated the substitute ox, on that day My Sun bathed, and
throughout that previous night he slept apart from (any) woman. In the morning,
as he had bathed and placed his hand on the substitute ox in the aforementioned
way, when they sent forth the substitute ox, for seven days after the substitute ox
he bathes in the sacred fashion." (Muršili's Speech Loss §1)
Here we see Muršili proceeding through typical Hittite ritual procedures to create
and maintain a state of purity. By placing his hand upon the substitute ox, his
impurity passed from himself into the ox. The ox was then sent away from the
king, carrying the impurity within it, to Kummanni in Kizzuwatna, the location
designated by the god. It was important for Muršili to remain pure, so he
refrained from sexual contact with a woman on the previous night, and then
bathed daily during the course of the ox's journey in order to maintain his state of
purity.
Upon reaching its destination, the substitute ox was destroyed, safely disposing
of the impurity. Whether or not Muršili recovered from the effects of his illness
is not recorded.
Muršili's assorted illnesses are well established, and varous techniques were
employed to try and restore his health. One oracle text describes how deities from
Aḫḫiyawa and Lazpa (= Lesbos) were sent to assist him. (KUB 5.6, AU 282f.)
Maximum extant of empire under Muršili II.
10 Year Annals:
 Year 1; the Kaškans.
 Year 2: The Upper Land and the Kaškans.
 Year 3: The Arzawan king refused to extradite Ḫittite rebels. Kaškans
attacked. Muršili marches against Arzawa, meteor? strikes Apaša (
Ephesus?), city of Uḫḫa-ziti, king of Arzawa, making Uḫḫa-ziti ill.
Muršili defeated his general in battle, and entered Apaša, but Uḫḫa-ziti
fled by sea.
 Year 4: Uḫḫa-ziti dies of illness. Arzawa defeated. Manapa-Tarḫunta, king
of the Šeḫa River Land, sends his mother, old men, and old women to
beg for his life. Muršili relented. River Šeḫa Land became a vassal. Took
Mira, too. Wintered in Arzawa and finished the conquest of Arzawa in
the spring.
 Year 5: Kaškans and Arawanna.
 Year 6: Kaškans.
 Year 7: Kaškans, led by Piḫḫuniya, first and only Kaškan king. Muršili
captured Piḫḫuniya. Then Azzi-Ḫayaša.
 (End of Year 7, Year 8, and beginning of Year 9 lost)
 Year 9: Kaškans. (Šarri-Kušuḫ joined Muršili in Kummani for religious
festivals, and Šarri-Kušuḫ died unexpectedly from illness. Šaḫurunuwa
succeeds him. The Assyrians attacked Kargamiš. Muršili went against
Kinza, still run by Aitakama. Aitakama had revolted, and his son Ari-
Tešub killed him. Muršili rewarded him by installing him in Kadesh.).
 Year 10: Eclipse. Azzi-Ḫayaša.
Year 12: Arzawa revolts. Kupanta-Kurunta installed as king in Mira.
(See Annals of Muršili II)
A Plague in the Land
The plague which took the life of Muršili’s father and brother continued to haunt
the land of Ḫatti twenty years after Šuppiluliuma brought the infected Egyptian
prisoner’s back to Ḫatti. It weighed heavily on Muršili’s conscience, so that he
ultimately seems to have becomed obsessed with determining its cause and
eliminating it. Several of his works deal with the topic.
It ultimately found its way into the king and queen’s daily prayer to the gods. The
Storm God Telipinu and the Sun Goddess of Arinna in particular received daily
prayers which were essentially identical to each other (that to Telipinu is given
below). Since Muršili himself could not continually devote himself to the task, he
assigned priests to do it for him,
(The following comes from ANET pp. 396f with changes of language. This must
be replaced by a direct translation!)
“The scribe reads this tablet addressing the deity daily. He praises the deity,
(saying):
“Telipinu, you are a mighty (and) noble deity. Muršili, the king, your servant,
and the queen, your handmaid, have sent me (with the request): ʻGo! Entreat
Telipinu, our lord, the guardian of our persons!’”
The first task was to lure the wandering god to the temple so that he might
receive the prayers,
“Whether you are in heaven above among the gods, noble Telipinu; whether
gone to the sea or to the mountains to roam; whether gone to war to the land of
the enemy -
“Now let the sweet and soothing cedar essence lure you! Come home into your
temple! Here I am entreating you with sacrificial loaves and libations, allow
yourself to be lured forth! Let me speak to you alone and whatever I say to you -
lend me your ear, O god, and hearken to it!”
Muršili then resorted to language which sounds strikingly similar to the long past
plea by Arnuwanda I and Ašmu-Nikal about cult cities lost to the Kaškans,
“You, Telipinu, are a noble god. Your godhead and the gods’ temples are firmly
established in the land of Ḫatti. But in no other land anywhere are they so. In the
land of Ḫatti they present festivals (and) sacrifices pure (and) holy to you. But in
no other land anywhere do they present them so.
“You have lofty temples adorned with silver and gold in Ḫatti. But in no other
land anywhere do you have their like. You have cups (and) rhyta, silver, gold and
gems in Ḫatti. But in no other land do you have their like.
“Festivals, too - the Festival of the Month, the Festival of the New Year, the
ceremonies of Winter and Spring, and of Summer, the festivals of entreaty - men
celebrate for you in Ḫatti. But in no other land anywhere do they celebrate their
like. Your divinity, oh Telipinu, is honored in Ḫatti, and Muršili, the king, your
servant, and the queen, your handmaid, and also the princes, your servants, are
reverent toward you in Ḫatti. They undertake the celebration of communion
feasts, sacrifices and festivals for you, Telipinu. Everything they present to you is
holy (and) pure. Moreover, reverence is paid to your temple, your rhyta, [your
cups] (and) your utensils and they are cared for scrupulously. To the utensils [of
your worship] no one draws near.”
After this very traditional argument for receiving divine favor from the god, there
follows a rather unorthodox hymn for the god Telipinu. Hymns are known from
Mesopotamian religious practice, but are somewhat out of place in Hittite
religion, and so the inspiration for this hymn was presumably Mesopotamian,
“You, Telipinu, are a noble god. Your name is noble among names. Your
godhead is noble among the gods. Among the gods you are noble, Oh Telipinu.
You are great, Oh Telipinu. There is no other deity more noble and mighty than
you. Of sure judgement you are lord, you watch over kingship in heaven and on
earth. You set the boundaries of the lands, you hearken to entreaties. You,
Telipinu, are a merciful god, you are forever showing your mercy. The godly
man is dear to you, Oh Telipinu, and you exalt him. In the orbit of heaven and
earth you, Telipinu, are the (source of) light. Throughout the lands you are a god
who is celebrated. You are the father (and) mother of every land. You are the
inspired lord of judgment. You are untiring in the place of judgment. Among the
Primeaval Gods you are the one who is celebrated. You, Telipinu, assign the rites
for the gods, you assign the portions for the Primeaval Gods. They open the door
of heaven for you. You, the celebrated Telipinu, are allowed to pass through the
gate of heaven. The gods of heaven are obedient to you, Oh Telipinu, the gods of
earth are obedient to you, Oh Telipinu. Whatever you say, Oh Telipinu, the gods
bow down to you. Of the oppressed, the orphan, and the widow you are father
(and) mother. You, Telipinu, take the cause of the orphan (and) the oppressed to
heart.”
After shamelessly flattering the deity so, the royal couple turned to the question
of favors. The requests are mostly generic, but pressing problems, such as the
long standing plague, found their way into the prayer,
“Turn with favor [toward the king and the queen], and toward the princes [and
the land of Ḫatti.] Take your stand, Oh Telipinu, strong god, [beside the king
(and) queen and] the princes. Grant them enduring life, health, long years [(and)
strength.] Into their souls place light and joy!
“Grant them sons (and) daughters, grandsons (and) great-grandsons. Grant them
[. . . . .] Grant them fertility of grain (and) vine, of sheep, cattle (and) people.
Grant them a man’s valiant (and) victorious weapon. Set the lands of the enemy
beneath their feet and let [them die by the sword].
“From Ḫatti drive forth the evil fever, plague, famine and misery!
“And (as for) the enemy lands that are in revolt and turmoil - some refuse the due
respect to you, Telipinu, and to the gods of Ḫatti, others are out to burn down
your temples, others seek to obtain the rhyta, cups (and) utensils of silver (and)
gold, others seek to lay waste your plowland and pasture, vineyards, gardens
(and) groves, others seek to capture your plowmen, vinedressers, gardeners (and)
mill women - give the evil fever, plague, famine (and) misery to these enemy
lands!
“But to the king (and) the queen, to the princes and to Ḫatti grant life, health,
strength, long and enduring years and joy! Grant everlasting fertility to their
crops, vines, fruit bearing trees, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, mules (and) asses
together with the beasts of the fields, and to the people! Let them flourish! Let
the rains [come]! Let the winds of prosperity pass over! Let all thrive (and)
prosper in Ḫatti!”
To all of this the assembled witnesses of this daily prayer shouted, “Let is be
so!”, the Hittite equivalent of “Amen!”
Muršili later installed Aziru’s son DU-Tešup in Amurru, and later his grandson
Tuppi-Tešup. The Hittites apparently took Mitanni from the Assyrians during
Muršili’s reign as well.
Muršili and Tawannanna: The Tawannanna Mal-Nikal was accussed of cursing

Muršili’s wife which resulted in her death, so she was deposed and exiled to
estates. So she began to curse Muršili himself. She seemed to try to get herself
reinstalled in her priestess office, which is probably the purpose of Muršili’s text
which relates the above information. Muršili was telling the gods why they
should not reinstall her as Tawannanna. Was the will of the gods to be
determined by taking an oracle?
The reign of Muršili also saw the beginnings of a problem which would color the
rest of Hittite history. Or more precisely, a problem who would color the rest of
Hittite history. This was namely his youngest son, Ḫattušili. As a young man
being raised in the imperial household, his earliest known position is that of a
chariot driver. At this time in his life a serious illness struck the young prince,
and the goddess Šaušga is said to have sent a message to Muršili by means of a
dream in which Muwattalli, another of Muršili’s sons, appeared to him. In the
dream Muwattalli conveyed to his father that Ḫattušili was not destined to live
unless Ḫattušili was given over in servitude to Šaušga as her priest. Muršili
accordingly did so, and Ḫattušili is said to have recovered from his illness.
While the goddess may have been ultimately responsible for his recovery, she
apparently worked through a human agent, as Ḫattušili would reveal much later
in his life,
“In the time of my father, as a small child, an evil sickness struck me. So my
father put me in the hand of Mr. Mittanna(-muwa), the Great Scribe. He
performed invocations for me, and he saved me from the illness. On account of
my father, Mittanna-muwa was an honored person. When he saved me from the
illness, and he (Muršili) honored him for my sake, for that reason he showed
special honor to you (Mittanna-muwa).
Ḫattušili appears to have remained quietly in his role as Priest of Šaušga of

Šamuḫa for the rest of his father’s reign.
Foreign Relations
Amurru: Muršili installed Duppi-Tešup as king of Amurru.
Arzawa: He conquered it and gave it to Piyama-Kurunta. Mira-and-Kuwaliya

were given to Mašḫwiluwa, the Šeḫa River Land and Appawiya were given to
Manapa-Tarḫunta, and Ḫapalla was given to Targašnalli. See The Treaty with
Alakšandu of Wiluša.
Wiluša: Kukkunni took Alakšandu for adoption and as his successor. See The
Treaty with Alakšandu of Wiluša.
Ugarit: First brought into the fold by Šuppiluliuma I. Šuppiluliuma I had a treaty
with Niqmaddu. Muršili II made one with Niqmepa, son of Niqmaddu.
Mira-and-Kuwaliya:
Mašḫwiluwa - In the fourth year of his reign, Muršili defeated Arzawa and
divided up the land into new vassal states. For the kingship of Mira-and-
Kuwaliya he installed Mašḫwiluwa, an brother-in-law of his by marriage who
had previously ruled there in the time of Šuppiluliuma before being driven out by
his brothers (See under Šuppiluliuma I). Mašḫwiluwa had no son, so with
Muršili’s approval he adopted his nephew Kupanta-Kurunta as his heir. In spite
of his long and close relations with the Hittites, Mašḫwiluwa proved to be an
undependable ally, rebelling against Muršili and convincing the Hittite city of
Pitašša to join him. Muršili marched to Šallapa and sent for Mašḫwiluwa in an
attempt to find a peaceful settlement. Mašḫwiluwa refused to come into the Great
King’s presence, because he “saw his offense”, and fled to the land of Maša
instead. Muršili marched against Maša and destroyed part of it. He then sent to
Mašḫwiluwa’s hosts, insisting that they return the errant vassal to him, and
threatened to destroy them and their land if they did not. The threat worked, and
the Mašaeans seized Mašḫwiluwa and sent him to the Great King. Muršili treated
his troublesome uncle with leniency and installed him as the ruler of a “sacred
city” on the Šiyanta River. This seems to suggest that he became the priest of a
town which was ruled by the local cult. Making errant relatives into priests is a
practice that we have witnessed many times in Hittite history.
Kupanta-Kurunta -
“Do you, Kupanta-Kurunta, not know that if in Ḫatti somone commits the
offense of revolt, the son of whatever father commits the offense is an offender
too? And that they take the house of his father away from him, and either give it
to someone else or take it for the palace? Now, because your father,
Mašḫwiluwa, committed an offense, and because you, Kupanta-Kurunta, were
Mašḫwiluwa’s son, even if you were in no way an offender, could they not have
taken the house of your father and your land away from you and given it to
someone else? I could have made someone else lord in the land!” (Translation by
Beckman)
With this dire threat permanently established in his treaty, to be read out loud
thrice yearly, Kupanta-Kurunta was duly installed by Muršili as the king of Mira-
and-Kuwaliya in Year 12. This ruler seems to have remained loyal.
Egypt: (See Murnane (1990)31-38)
“As for the treaty that was present in the time of Šuppiluliu(ma), the Great Prince
of Ḫatti, as well as the treaty that existed in the time of Muwattalli, the Great
Prince of Ḫatti, my [anscestor], I seize hold of it.” (Murnane (1990) 34 with n.
168)
These words come from the Egyptian heiroglyphic version of the treaty between
Rameses II of Egypt and Ḫattušili III of Ḫatti. This is virtually the only evidence
that there were two treaties made between the Hittites and Egyptians before this
final, lasting treaty. The treaty present at the time of Šuppiluliuma I is believed to
be a reference to the Kuruštama treaty mentioned in the Deeds and in Muršili’s
plague prayer. The treaty present at the time of Muwattalli is more difficult. It
was probably enacted during the Muršili’s reign. It certainly was not enacted
during Šuppiluliuma’s reign, Arnuwanda’s reign was probably far too short, and
according to Murnane the language used indicates that the treaty was probably
already in force during Muwattalli’s reign. Other evidence for this second treaty
comes from earlier in the same treaty quoted just above, where Ḫattušili claims
that “the god did not permit hostility to occur between them by means of an
arrangement. But in the time of Muwattalli, the Great Prince of Ḫatti, my brother,
he fought with [...], the great ruler of Egypt.” (Murnane (1990) 37). This passage
also suggests a treaty made during Muršili’s reign. Murnane presents Horemheb
as the strongest candidate, although he also admits the weaker possibilities of
Rameses I and Sety I.
Muršili II or his father, Šuppiluliuma I, refounded Emar.
Cause of Plague:Oracle: Šuppiluliuma I killing Tudḫaliya the Younger.
Tablets: Important sacrifices to the Euphrates River neglected. Šuppiluliuma I

violated a treaty with Egypt.
First Published: June 24, 2000

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Late Empire

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Late Empire

Commonly known as the Empire or the New Kingdom

Historically, the period refered to in this work as the “Late

This is not to say that the reign of Šuppiluliuma I does not

Another distinction of crucial importance can be made for the

Nevertheless, it must be remembered that the Hittites

Continuity can be seen in that Šuppiluliuma was a member of

Šuppiluliuma I (~1344?-1320) Son of Tudḫaliya III.

(Contemporary of Aḫen-Aton and Tut-anḫ-Amon of Egypt. Contemporary with

After Šuppiluliuma’s victory against the Arzawans, Šuppiluliuma’s father,

Šuppiluliuma’s Early Campaigns as Great King

The next fragment relates how Šuppiluliuma defeated an unknown Kaškan

Šuppiluliuma against Armatana: The next fragments mention a successful

Rebuilding & Remodeling

Sometime around ~1400 B.C., the archaeological evidence at Boğazkale

Kingdom of the West

Amurru’s political destiny was forever altered by an ambitious highland dynast

Calling upon the strength of dissidents in the Amurrite highlands, usually

Šuppiluliuma’s First Syrian Campaign

Turning back to the Anatolian highlands, we find Šuppiluliuma shifting his

Seal of Great Queen Mal-Nikal. The seal

As it turned out, his confidence was somewhat premature. Instead of a grand

Šuppiluliuma’s conquests must have come as quite an unexpected surprise to his

This response to Šuppiluliuma’s conquests, while clearly an overreaction, is

So, according to Rib-Ḫadda, ʾAbdi-Aširta was willing to menace even the

Little of Rib-Ḫadda’s kingdom remained to him. ʾAbdi-Aširta had already taken

Rib-Ḫadda of Gubla, apparently somewhat stronger than he wished the Egyptian

In addition to direct attacks against Gublite territory, ʾAbdi-Aširta began

In any event, Rib-Ḫadda’s greatest concern remained the Egyptian recognition

This was soon followed up later by the alarming claim that,

“Moreover, that dog is in Mittana,” (EA #90)

Indeed, ʾAbdi-Aširta soon took control of the Gublite countryside,

Ironically, this preemptive strike against ʾAbdi-Aširta made Amurru a pariah

The Fight for Amurru

Yet to be formulated into a narrative. Some relevant quotes, not in any

Men of Arwada attacking Rib-Ḫadda(?):

Great Syrian Campaign

Ugarit remained too far south to hinder Šuppiluliuma, so instead he moved

During his stay in Mukiš, Takuwa, a brother of Aki-Teššup and described by

“Because of the presumptuousness of King Tušratta, I plundered all of these

After the Great Syrian Campaign

One of the territories that remains remarkably absent from Šuppiluliuma’s

Šuppiluliuma had had to violently crush resistence in the Syrian territories

Aziru’s voluntary submission to Šuppiluliuma actually created some problems

“[If] you commit some [misdeed, thinking as follows]: ʻAlthough I am under

Aziru was likewise forbidden to write to an enemy to warn him of an impending

Other obligations followed. He had to ransom any captured Hittites he knew

In spite of Aziru’s voluntary submission (in fact, Šuppiluliuma disingeuously

Then followed rather standard clauses about Aziru’s obligation to return

Peace in Amurru - for the moment

(Chronologies for Amurru events need to be corrected.)

“There was Confusion Among the Hurrians”

Tušratta’s disastrous defeats at Hittite hands unleashed the forces of

Initially Šuppiluliuma maintained good relations with the new Mitannian

Trouble in the south seems to have been avoided as well. In spite of

Troubled Northern Lands

The Third Syrian Campaign

A Queen Without a King

The now famous

Šuppiluliuma was so surprised by this message that he called together his

While awaiting a reply, and somewhat anti-climatically considering what else

It’s worth pausing now to contemplate Šuppiluliuma’s achievement. Simply put,

The Final Campaigns of Šuppiluliuma