Telipinu (King)

Telipinu was after the deposition of his predecessor and brother-in-law uzziya I. for about 25 years Hittite great king . With him, in our count, the Old Kingdom came to an end.

Dating

Ultra-short chronology	Brief chronology	Middle chronology
1478-1458 BC Chr.	1510-1490 BC Chr.	1574–1554 BC Chr.

Life

Telipinu was a son of the great king Ammuna . His sons Titti and Ḫantili, along with their families, were murdered by a noble clique around King Ḫuzziya, the chief of the bodyguard, Zuru, who followed him, and his son Taḫurwaili, whereupon Ḫuzziya became Labarna . His claim to the rule was based on the marriage of Telipinus with his sister Ištapariya , which is why he should first be left alive. But since he represented a danger, his murder was also planned. Telipinu found out about it, deposed Ḫuzziya and declared himself great king.

Telipinus family tree

Sister Ḫuzziyas I.

He was lenient in judging his family's murderers. Ḫuzziya and his five brothers were exiled. A decree was issued that they should not be harmed. Even so, a man named Tanuwa killed her. Like the followers of Ḫuzziyas, the gold lancers Taḫurwaili and Tarušuḫ, he was sentenced to death and later, like them, pardoned. Subsequently, his wife and son Ammuna died (some sources suggest that they were also murdered). To protect the royal clan from such acts, the king issued the so-called Telipinu Decree (see below).

Telipinu conquered some areas north of Karkemiš and southwest of Maraššanta .

He also went on a campaign to the north of Kizzuwatna , which controlled the route to Syria. Finally, he negotiated an alliance treaty with its king Išputaḫšu , which is the oldest known Hittite. However, only parts of the text are available. The cities of Ḫaššuwa , Lawazantiya and Zizzilippa belonged to the Hittite sphere of influence.

There is a lack of clarity about Telipinus in recent years because there are no written documents. Either his son-in-law Alluwamna followed him or a certain Taḫurwaili , who is possibly identical with the aforementioned gold lance bearer. This is considered the more likely option.

The Telipinu Succession Decree

Of particular importance is the Telipinu decree, the regulations of which were intended to stabilize conditions after numerous murders and battles for the succession to the throne. The decree remained in force until the end of the great empire, if usurpations and murders continued.

“Only a first-rate prince can become a king. If there is no first-rate prince, the next one follows. If there is no king's son, a first-rate king's daughter should marry a man who is then appointed the new king. Whoever succeeds me as king should serve the country purely and not kill any of the royal family, because that is not good. But if someone plans evil against his brothers or sisters in order to become king himself, may the responsible council (panku) decide on it. It should be looked in the table of the law that it is a bloody deed, because earlier bloody deeds were great in the kingdom. The guilty should not be secretly inflicted evil, but publicly beheaded. But no harm should happen to his house. For what reason the king's sons die has no meaning for the associated houses. Anyone who transgresses against the king in my time will also be beheaded, but not his house. Now, from this day forward, make a note of this in your own interest. Anyone who turns against the regulations enacted here will be brought to court before the council meeting and will be seized by its teeth. "

- Excerpts from the Telipinu succession decree

So there was no primogeniture . Furthermore, clan liability and blood revenge were abolished. The decree also deals with economy and administration. In addition, it is preceded by a list of the Hittite rulers, which also contains the circumstances of the individual government takeovers.

supporting documents

Evidence for the life of Telipinus is the Telipinu decree and the contract with Išputašu of Kizzuwatna. Likewise, an annal text, as it is known from other Hittite rulers, dates to his reign.

literature

Otto Kaiser : Texts from the environment of the Old Testament , Vol. 1 - Old Series - , Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 1985
Birgit Brandau, Hartmut Schickert: Hittite The Unknown World Power
Jörg Klinger: Die Hittiter , Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-406-53625-5 , pp. 42-44, 77

Notes and individual references

↑ Jörg Klinger: Die Hittiter, Verlag CH Beck oHG, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-53625-0
↑ Johannes Lehmann: The Hittites, People of a Thousand Gods , C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1975, ISBN 3-570-02610-8
^ Waltraud Sperlich: The Hittites, The forgotten people , Jan Thorbecke Verlag GmbH, Ostfildern 2003, ISBN 3-7995-7982-6
↑ Naming of Zuru, Danuwa, Taḫurwaili and Taruḫsu.
↑ Wife, children, relatives, slaves, female slaves, cattle, sheep, other livestock, real estate, property and leased land.
↑ Hans Martin Kümmel : The succession to the throne of Telipinu In: Otto Kaiser (Hrsgb.): Texts from the environment of the Old Testament, Vol. 1 - Old sequence - , Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 1985, pp. 468-470.

predecessor	Office	successor
Ḫuzziya I.	Hittite great king 16th century BC Chr.	Taḫurwaili

personal data
SURNAME	Telipinu
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Hittite great king
DATE OF BIRTH	16th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	16th century BC Chr.

[1] Jörg Klinger: Die Hittiter, Verlag CH Beck oHG, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-53625-0

[2] Johannes Lehmann: The Hittites, People of a Thousand Gods , C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1975, ISBN 3-570-02610-8

[3] Waltraud Sperlich: The Hittites, The forgotten people , Jan Thorbecke Verlag GmbH, Ostfildern 2003, ISBN 3-7995-7982-6

[4] Naming of Zuru, Danuwa, Taḫurwaili and Taruḫsu.

[5] Wife, children, relatives, slaves, female slaves, cattle, sheep, other livestock, real estate, property and leased land.

[6] Hans Martin Kümmel : The succession to the throne of Telipinu In: Otto Kaiser (Hrsgb.): Texts from the environment of the Old Testament, Vol. 1 - Old sequence - , Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 1985, pp. 468-470.