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Šuppiluliuma I
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Šuppiluliuma I
Šuppiluliuma I, also Suppiluliuma (/ˌsʌpɪlʌliˈuːmə/) or Suppiluliumas (died c. 1322 BC) (/-məs/) was an ancient Hittite king (r. c. 1350–1322 BC).
Even before assuming the throne, Šuppiluliuma distinguished himself as a military commander protecting and reclaiming Hittite territories after a period of foreign attacks. Once king, he continued this program of consolidation and expansion, both in Anatolia and in Syria, with a great deal of success. Victories over a major rival, the Upper-Mesopotamian kingdom of Mittani, led to the extension of Hittite authority over a bevy of petty kingdoms in northern Syria, the installation of the Hittite king's younger sons as local viceroys at Aleppo and Carchemish, and the rump of the Mittanian state itself became effectively a dependency of the Hittite Kingdom.
Relations with Egypt vacillated between friendship and hostility, culminating in the so-called Zannanza Affair, in which Šuppiluliuma was persuaded to send one of his sons to marry the widowed queen of Egypt and assume its throne. The murder of the Hittite prince resulted in a long period of Hittite-Egyptian hostility, and Šuppiluliuma's captives causing an outbreak of plague that ravaged Hittite society for at least two decades. For all his successes, Šuppiluliuma's ruthlessness was blamed for this evil by his own son, Muršili II.
Šuppiluliuma's origins are unclear. A statement in the genealogy of his grandson Ḫattušili III was long taken to indicate that Šuppiluliuma’s father and Ḫattušili III's great-grandfather was Ḫattušili II. However, the terminology involved (which, taken literally, would indicate that Ḫattušili III was the great-grandson of Ḫattušili II) might have indicated more distant descent, and the Ḫattušili in question might have been the famous Ḫattušili I at the dawn of Hittite power in the late 17th century BC. The discovery of seal impressions naming Šuppiluliuma as the son of Tudḫaliya III (sometimes called II) led to the discarding of the previous hypothesis by most scholars. Most scholars now concluded that Šuppiluliuma was the son of his predecessor, Tudḫaliya III, whom he had long served as a military commander. However, the description of Šuppiluliuma's first wife Ḫenti as the "great queen, daughter of the great king, the hero," has resulted in her identification as the daughter of Tudḫaliya III, making Šuppiluliuma the son-in-law and possibly adopted son of that king.
According to the Deeds of Šuppiluliuma composed by his son and second successor Muršili II, Šuppiluliuma served as the adviser and chief military commander to his predecessor Tudḫaliya III, helping effect the king's recovery of his lands from Šamuḫa, where the court had established itself for greater security from enemy attack.
Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma waged a successful campaign against the Kaška in the north, then intervened to recover control over and protect the regions of Kaššiya and the Ḫulana River Land to the west and southwest, striking back at their invaders. After dealing with a new threat from the Kaška under Piyapili, Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma, had to fight King Karanni (or Lanni) of Azzi-Ḫayaša in the northeast. Karanni had invaded Hittite territory and even threatened Šamuḫa, but was defeated, Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma invading Azzi-Ḫayaša in turn. A battle at Kummaḫa (probably Kemah) seems to have resulted in a Hittite victory, as Azzi-Ḫayaša is later found as a Hittite vassal.
After these successes in the north, Tudḫaliya seems to have been able to return to the Hittite capital, Ḫattuša. He sent Šuppiluliuma southwest against the Arzawa confederacy, and Šuppiluliuma was victorious in several battles, recovering the city of Tuwanuwa (probably Tyana), which had been occupied by the enemy.
The Hittite Kingdom had recovered much lost ground, but Arzawa remained a dangerous enemy, and Muršili II would relate that it took Šuppiluliuma some 20 years (presumably extending into his own reign) to settle affairs in the west. The recovery had clearly begun before the end of Tudḫaliya III’s reign, but credit for much of it was given to Šuppiluliuma.
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Šuppiluliuma I
Šuppiluliuma I, also Suppiluliuma (/ˌsʌpɪlʌliˈuːmə/) or Suppiluliumas (died c. 1322 BC) (/-məs/) was an ancient Hittite king (r. c. 1350–1322 BC).
Even before assuming the throne, Šuppiluliuma distinguished himself as a military commander protecting and reclaiming Hittite territories after a period of foreign attacks. Once king, he continued this program of consolidation and expansion, both in Anatolia and in Syria, with a great deal of success. Victories over a major rival, the Upper-Mesopotamian kingdom of Mittani, led to the extension of Hittite authority over a bevy of petty kingdoms in northern Syria, the installation of the Hittite king's younger sons as local viceroys at Aleppo and Carchemish, and the rump of the Mittanian state itself became effectively a dependency of the Hittite Kingdom.
Relations with Egypt vacillated between friendship and hostility, culminating in the so-called Zannanza Affair, in which Šuppiluliuma was persuaded to send one of his sons to marry the widowed queen of Egypt and assume its throne. The murder of the Hittite prince resulted in a long period of Hittite-Egyptian hostility, and Šuppiluliuma's captives causing an outbreak of plague that ravaged Hittite society for at least two decades. For all his successes, Šuppiluliuma's ruthlessness was blamed for this evil by his own son, Muršili II.
Šuppiluliuma's origins are unclear. A statement in the genealogy of his grandson Ḫattušili III was long taken to indicate that Šuppiluliuma’s father and Ḫattušili III's great-grandfather was Ḫattušili II. However, the terminology involved (which, taken literally, would indicate that Ḫattušili III was the great-grandson of Ḫattušili II) might have indicated more distant descent, and the Ḫattušili in question might have been the famous Ḫattušili I at the dawn of Hittite power in the late 17th century BC. The discovery of seal impressions naming Šuppiluliuma as the son of Tudḫaliya III (sometimes called II) led to the discarding of the previous hypothesis by most scholars. Most scholars now concluded that Šuppiluliuma was the son of his predecessor, Tudḫaliya III, whom he had long served as a military commander. However, the description of Šuppiluliuma's first wife Ḫenti as the "great queen, daughter of the great king, the hero," has resulted in her identification as the daughter of Tudḫaliya III, making Šuppiluliuma the son-in-law and possibly adopted son of that king.
According to the Deeds of Šuppiluliuma composed by his son and second successor Muršili II, Šuppiluliuma served as the adviser and chief military commander to his predecessor Tudḫaliya III, helping effect the king's recovery of his lands from Šamuḫa, where the court had established itself for greater security from enemy attack.
Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma waged a successful campaign against the Kaška in the north, then intervened to recover control over and protect the regions of Kaššiya and the Ḫulana River Land to the west and southwest, striking back at their invaders. After dealing with a new threat from the Kaška under Piyapili, Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma, had to fight King Karanni (or Lanni) of Azzi-Ḫayaša in the northeast. Karanni had invaded Hittite territory and even threatened Šamuḫa, but was defeated, Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma invading Azzi-Ḫayaša in turn. A battle at Kummaḫa (probably Kemah) seems to have resulted in a Hittite victory, as Azzi-Ḫayaša is later found as a Hittite vassal.
After these successes in the north, Tudḫaliya seems to have been able to return to the Hittite capital, Ḫattuša. He sent Šuppiluliuma southwest against the Arzawa confederacy, and Šuppiluliuma was victorious in several battles, recovering the city of Tuwanuwa (probably Tyana), which had been occupied by the enemy.
The Hittite Kingdom had recovered much lost ground, but Arzawa remained a dangerous enemy, and Muršili II would relate that it took Šuppiluliuma some 20 years (presumably extending into his own reign) to settle affairs in the west. The recovery had clearly begun before the end of Tudḫaliya III’s reign, but credit for much of it was given to Šuppiluliuma.
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