Tudḫaliya I (sometimes considered identical withTudḫaliya II and called Tudḫaliya I/II[1][2]) was aHittite great king in the 15th century BC, ruling perhaps c. 1465–c. 1440 BC[3]
The numbering of Hittite kings named Tudḫaliya (Hittite: 𒌅𒌓𒄩𒇷𒅀Tūdḫaliya) varies between scholars because of debate over the identity (or not) between the first two bearers of the name. This Tudḫaliya, now attested as the son of a certain Kantuzzili, succeededMuwatalli I, after the latter was murdered by the officials Ḫimuili and Kantuzzili (not necessarily identical to Tudḫaliya's father).[4] The same or a distinctTudḫaliya was the father-in-law and predecessor ofArnuwanda I.[5] Because of uncertainty, scholars are divided in the interpretation of the evidence. Many scholars envision a single Tudḫaliya (I[6] or I/II[7]), while others consider two separate kings, Tudḫaliya I and Tudḫaliya II.[8]
The rationale for maintaining a distinction between the two is presented by Jacques Freu, who notes, inter alia, that Tudḫaliya I was the son of the non-reigning Kantuzzili, while Tudḫaliya II writes that he ascended the throne as a youth after his father's death;[9] similarly, his sister Ziplantawiya was the daughter of a king.[10] Additionally, Freu posits that the Šunaššura Treaty between the Hittite Kingdom andKizzuwatna reflects successive equal and unequal treaty arrangements under two different sets of kings on both sides,[11] discerns three Tudḫaliyas as predecessors ofMuršili II on his "cruciform seal,"[12] and argues that the Tudḫaliyas who engaged in repeated military action in Syria and in western Anatolia should be distinguished from each other to avoid an overly long reign.[13]
The treatment below tentatively follows Freu's distinction of two 15th-century BC Hittite great kings named Tudḫaliya.
Tudḫaliya I was the son of a certain Kantuzzili, who is not known to have reigned or to have descended from an earlier Hittite monarch.[14] Most scholars readily assume that this Kantuzzili was identical to the Commander of the Golden Squires Kantuzzili, who (together with his apparent brother, the Chief Cupbearer Ḫimuili) murdered the preceding king,Muwatalli I, and also with the general Kantuzzili, who assisted Tudḫaliya I in repelling a Hurrian invasion in support of Muwatalli's Commander of the Guard Muwa.[15] On the other hand, Jacques Freu opposes the identification of Tudḫaliya's father Kantuzilli with the regicide Kantuzilli on the grounds of consistent contextual incompatibility between their attestations in the sources, but allows for the possibility that he is identical to the general who fought the Hurrians.[16] Prior to the publication of the seal impression naming Kantuzilli as Tudḫaliya's father, Stefano De Martino suggested that the regicides Ḫimuili and Kantuzzili were Tudḫaliya's sons, who had placed their father on the throne.[17] Onofrio Carruba and Freu propose that Tudḫaliya's mother was Walanni, attested in the royal offerings lists, and who might have been a daughter of the earlier kingZidanta II.[18] It is also sometimes conjectured that Tudḫaliya was a grandson of the earlier kingḪuzziya.[19] Freu suggested that Tudḫaliya I was married to the obscure great queen Kattešḫapi attested at about this time,[20] and was the father of a short-livedḪattušili II and the grandfather ofTudḫaliya II.[21]
If Tudḫaliya I and Tudḫaliya II were one and the same individual, his queen would have beenNikkal-mati, his daughterAšmu-Nikkal, and his son-in-law and successor,Arnuwanda I.
Tudḫaliya I ascended the throne on the murder of his predecessor Muwatalli I, possibly in c. 1465 BC. Tudḫaliya appears to have pardoned and purified the regicides, the brothers Ḫimuili and Kantuzzili, although their relation to him remains obscure.[22] Muwattali's Commander of the Guard, Muwa, may have murdered a queen in retribution, and then attempted to stage a revolution with the help of Hurrians led by Kartašura. King Tudḫaliya and his general Kantuzzili (the regicide? the king's father?) defeated the enemy.[23]
Having secured his eastern flank, Tudḫaliya I apparently decided to assert himself in the south. According to Freu's reconstruction of the evidence, he was responsible for the earlier, equal treaty between a Hittite king and Šunaššura I of Kizzuwatna, which allowed the king of Kizzuwatna full freedom to support the Hittite king against his enemies or remain neutral; the Hittites's primary objective at this point might have been securing unimpeded passage into Syria.[24] Partly on the basis of the Middle Hittite language of the text, Freu argues that during the subsequent southern assertion of Hittite power, the Hittite king concluded the so-called Kuruštama Treaty withEgypt, whose king at that time,Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC) had been active in northern Syria and at one time reached theEuphrates.[25] Additionally, Freu believes that Tudḫaliya concluded unequal treaties with the petty rulers ofAlalaḫ/Mukiš,Emar/Aštata, andNuhašše, all now lost or very fragmentary, as in the case of his treaty withTunip on theOrontes.[26] A much later source, the treaty between the Hittite great kingMuršili II and his nephew, Talmi-Šarruma ofAleppo, related Tudḫaliya's conclusion of a treaty with Aleppo. When Aleppo abandoned its alliance with Tudḫaliya in favor ofMittani, Tudḫaliya defeated Aleppo and its Mittanian allies and destroyed the city.[27]
If Tudḫaliya I and Tudḫaliya II were one and the same individual, the wars of Tudḫaliya II in western and northern Anatolia would also pertain to this reign. SeeTudḫaliya II.
Small caps indicates a Great King (LUGAL.GAL) of the Land of Hatti; italic small caps indicates a Great Queen or Tawananna.
Dashed lines indicate adoption.
Solid lines indicate marriage (if horizontal) or parentage (if vertical).
References:
Trevor Bryce (1997).The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Trevor Bryce (2005).The Kingdom of the Hittites (new edition). Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Trevor Bryce (2012).The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Jacques Freu (2007).Les débuts du nouvel empire hittite. Paris, France: L'Harmattan.
Volkert Haas (2006).Die hethitische Literatur. Berlin, Germany: de Gruyter.
Notes:
^Scholars have suggested that Tudhaliya I/II was possibly a grandson of the Hittite kingHuzziya II; the first Tudhaliya is now known to be the son of Kantuzzili (Bryce 1997, p. 131 suggested Himuili, but the new edition, Bryce 2005, p. 122, indicated Kantuzzili).
^Bryce (1997) does not consider it clear whether Tudhaliya I/II was one king or two (p. 133); the link points to Tudhaliya II. Among those who identify distinct kings Tudhaliya I and Tudhaliya II, Freu (2007) has Kantuzzili—his son Tudhaliya I—his son Hattusili II—his son Tudhaliya II (p. 311).
^The existence of Hattusili II is doubted by many scholars (Bryce 1997, pp. 153–154; Bryce 2005, p. 141). Among those who accept the existence of Hattusili II, Freu (2007), p. 311, has Tudhaliya I—his son Hattusili II—his son Tudhaliya II.
^King (lugal) of Tarhuntassa (Bryce 1997, p. 296); apparently later Great King of Hatti (Bryce 1997, p. 354).
^Nerikkaili married a daughter of Bentesina, king ofAmurru (Bryce 1997, p. 294).
^Two daughters of Hattusili III were married to the pharaohRamesses II; one was given the Egyptian nameMa(hor)nefrure. Another, Gassuwaliya, married into the royal house of Amurru. Kilushepa was married to a king of Isuwa. A daughter married into the royal family of Babylon. A sister of Tudhaliya IV married Sausgamuwa, king of Amurru after his father Bentesina. From Bryce (1997), pp. 294 and 312.
^Bryce (1997), p. 363. Tudhaliya IV probably married a Babylonian princess, known by her title of Great Princess (dumu.sal gal) (Bryce 1997, pp. 294, 331).
A detailed and annotated genealogy of Hittite New Kingdom monarchs and their families, as reconstructed by Jacques Freu in his multi-volume workLes Hittites et leur histoire, presented as an alternative to the less detailed and sometimes differing reconstruction based on Trevor Bryce,The Kingdom of the Hittites.
References:
Freu, Jacques, and Michel Mazoyer (2007b),Les débuts du nouvel empire hittite, Paris.
Freu, Jacques, and Michel Mazoyer (2008),L'apogée du nouvel empire hittite, Paris.
Freu, Jacques, and Michel Mazoyer (2010),Le déclin et la chute du nouvel empire hittite, Paris.
Freu, Jacques (2010–2011), "Le vase d'argent du musée des civilisations anatoliennes d'Ankara et la fin de l'empire hittite,"Talanta 42–43 (2010–2011) 185-192.
^Freu 2007b: 22; Wilhelm 2004: 75 n. 19 suggested that this problem can be avoided by positing that Kantuzzili did reign, for which there is no evidence.
^Bryce 2005: 121-122; Weeden 2022: 560, 562; Beckman 2000: 26-27 suggested that Tudḫaliya was Ḫuzziya's son, but this is now disproved by the new evidence; Bryce 1997: 131 had suggested that Tudḫaliya was Ḫimuili's son, but the new edition, Bryce 2005: 122 updated this to reflect the evidence that the king's father was Kantuzzili.
^Freu 2007b: 63-68; Carruba 2005: 261 prefers to pair Kattešḫapi with Ḫattušili II.
De Martino, Stefano (1991) "Himuili, Kantuzzili e la presa del potere da parte di Tuthaliya,"Eothen 4 (1991) 5-21.
Freu, Jacques, and Michel Mazoyer (2007a),Des origins à la fin de l’ancien royaume hittite, Paris.
Freu, Jacques, and Michel Mazoyer (2007b),Les débuts du nouvel empire hittite, Paris.
Klengel, Horst (1999),Geschichte des Hethitischen Reiches, Leiden.
Kuhrt, Amélie (1995),The Ancient Near East c. 3000–330 BC, vol. 1., London.
Otten, Heinrich (2000), "Ein Siegelabdruck Dutḫalijaš I.(?),"Archäologischer Anzeiger 2000: 375-376.
Weeden, Mark (2022), "The Hittite Empire," in Karen Radner et al. (eds.),The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, vol. 3 (From the * Hyksos to the Late Second Millennium BC), Oxford: 529-622.
Wilhelm, Gernot (2004), "Generation Count in Hittite Chronology," in Herman Hunger and Regine Pruzsinszky, eds.,Mesopotamian Dark Age Revisited, Vienna, 71-79.
