Arnuwanda I.

Arnuwanda († around 1375 BC) was a great Hittite king. Under his rule, the empire, which was consolidated by Tudḫaliya I , experienced a series of setbacks.

Life

Arnuwanda was through his marriage to Ašmunikal son-in-law of the great king Tudḫaliya and his wife Nikkalmati . At the beginning of his rule (around 1400 BC) he had to fight a large number of revolts.

In the west, Madduwatta , once a vassal of Tudḫaliyas, appropriated a number of areas that belonged to the Hittite empire. He made treaties with Ḫattuša's enemies and incited other vassals to revolt. If necessary, he let Hittite troops help him. Arnuwanda, however, only sent messengers to him and had indictments drawn up against him. It is not clear whether he could not attack Madduwatta or did not want to attack him.

At the same time the Kaškäer advanced into the Hittite heartland (excerpt from a lamentation of the king to the sun goddess of Arinna ):

" In the land of Nerik , in Ḫuršama, in the land of Kaštama, in the land of Šeriša, in the land of Ḫimuwa, in the land of Taggašta, in the land of Kammama ... the Kaškaers plundered the temples ... "

In order to solve the problem, Arnuwanda gave instructions to his border troops, but they did not help, and concluded contracts with leaders of the Kaškäer. However, since these had no central management, contracts with individual tribal leaders had little effect because the other Kaškäer leaders did not have to feel bound by them. Under Arnuwanda, Nerik was lost to the Kaškäer, and Arnuwanda and his Queen Ašmunikal moved the service to Ḫakmiš ( prayer of Arnuwanda I ).

In Išuwa , located in eastern Anatolia, also a Hittite vassal, Mita, ruler of Paḫḫuwa , violated agreements.

" And he went back to Paḫḫuwa and broke the oath ... and even against My Sun ... he sinned ... and took the daughter of the enemy Ušapa as his wife. "

Arnuwanda gave orders to some of the Mita neighboring vassals to attack before Hittite troops intervened. He later stated that he had nothing against Paḫḫuwa and only something against Mita.

Arnuwanda was a very cautious ruler, which is evident from his war weariness. Furthermore, he feared conspiracies and therefore demanded oaths of loyalty from numerous people. Any evidence of a conspiracy had to be reported to him and was carefully recorded. So he regulated the exit order of the bodyguards and the opening of the city gates in the morning by the mayor of Ḫattuša.

Towards the end of his reign, the Hittite Empire was decisively weakened. Later generations blamed Queen Ašmunikal for this, who is said to have drawn the wrath of the weather gods on the country for religious misconduct. Around 1375 BC Arnuwanda died in BC. He was succeeded by Tudḫaliya II.

family tree

The following family tree was created after publications by Volkert Haas and Jörg Klinger .

1. Ḫinti

2. Tawananna

Zida

Zannanza

1./2. Gaššulawiya

2nd / 3rd Danuḫepa

Mrs. Šattiwazzas

Mrs. Ammistamrus II.

Individual evidence

↑ Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-11-018877-6 , page 91.
↑ Jörg Klinger: The Hittites. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-53625-0

literature

Horst Klengel: History of the Hittite Empire. Brill, Leiden / Boston / Cologne 1998, p. 116ff. (with indication of the relevant sources)
Jörg Klinger: The Hittites. Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-406-53625-5 , pp. 47, 51, 53, 78, 98

Texts

CTH 375 (Prayer of Arnuwanda)
CTH 157, instructions to its mayor
CTH 261 Instructions to the BEL MADGALTI (Lords of the Watchtower), governor of a border mark

predecessor	Office	successor
Tudḫaliya I.	King of Ḫatti approx. 1400–1375 BC Chr.	Tudḫaliya II

personal data
SURNAME	Arnuwanda I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Hittite great king
DATE OF BIRTH	15th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	around 1375 BC Chr.

[1] Volkert Haas: The Hittite literature. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-11-018877-6 , page 91.

[2] Jörg Klinger: The Hittites. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-53625-0