Ḫattušili III.
Ḫattušili III. was a Hittite great king of the 13th century BC Chr.
designation
Many researchers today assume that the king appointed as Ḫattušili II did not exist, so that Ḫattušili would actually be Ḫattušili II. The name Ḫattušili III. however, has become naturalized.
Life
He was born as the youngest child of Muršilis II and thus had little prospect of the throne. Apparently he was often sick as a child, and probably also as an adult. After a temporary relief from the illness, Muršili II. Following a dream, gave his son to the service of the IŠTAR / Šaušga of Šamuḫa , who remained closely connected to Hattušili all his life. Again and again he presents himself in his texts as a favorite of this deity.
With the death of his father, Hattušili's political career began. Under his brother Muwatalli II , he became a troop commander (EN KARAŠ) and chief of the guard (GAL MEŠEDIUTIM ). Eventually he was with the administration of the "Upper Country", i.e. H. entrusted to the northern areas, in which there were numerous opportunities for political profiling against the repeatedly invading Kaškäer . After various battles, Muwatalli gave him the sub-kingdom Ḫakmiš , the area that instead performed the rites of the weather god of Nerik because of the loss of Nerik . After the battle of Qadeš against the Egyptians, in which Ḫattušili fought at the side of his brother Muwatalli, he married Puduḫepa , the daughter of a priest of the IŠTAR / Šaušga of Lawazantiya , made her his chief wife and queen of Ḫakmiš.
family tree
The following family tree was created after publications by Volkert Haas and Jörg Klinger .
Seizure of power
After Muwatalli's death, Ḫattušili seems to have allowed the regular succession to the throne. He even claims that Mursili III. (better known by his Hurrian name Urḫi-Teššub ) to have helped to the throne.
After a few years, however, the relationship between the two seems to have worsened; the reasons are controversial. Ḫattušili prevailed in the following war and took Muršili III./Urḫi-Teššup prisoner. Afterwards, his political position seems to have been fairly stable in foreign and domestic politics. The lack of legitimation of his throne forced him to justify himself to the gods for years. Even his son Tudḫaliya IV named the king of Šeḫa named Mašturi in the Šaušgamuwa Treaty ( CTH 105) as a bad example, because he had taken the side of Hattušili during the power cape and thus opposed the legitimate king.
There is also a section in a prayer by Ḫattušili that deals with the justification of actions against Mursili III./Urḫi-Teššub. However, it is too badly damaged to be able to read more precisely what Ḫattušili accused his opponent.
Foreign policy
As king of Ḫakmiš, Ḫattušili conquered Nerik and, according to his own account, rebuilt it, which he was very proud of. The most important act of his rule as great king is the peace treaty concluded with Egypt . It is the first ever traditional peace treaty.
A fragment from Boğazköy reports on his battles against the Kaškäer: surrounded by hostile mountains, the Šakkadunwa Mountains, the Šišpinuwa Mountains and the Šarpunwa Mountains, he faces the enemy. The Kaškaers apparently destroyed the bridge over the raging Zuliya ( Yeşilırmak ?), But the king crosses the river under the shield of the Ištar of Šamuḫa while the Kaškaers are shooting at him with arrows or stones, and can strike the enemy.
There were also problems with Tūrira . A letter from the archives in Bogazköy (KBo I 14), which presumably comes from Ḫattušili, reports on the constant raids of the Turireans on the territory of the Hittites and on Karkamiš .
He tried unsuccessfully to win Kadašman-Enlil II to take action against Egypt.
literature
- Ahmet Ünal : Hattušili III . Universitätsverlag Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1974, ISBN 3-533-02397-4 ( Texts of the Hittites . Vol. 3-4).
- Horst Klengel : History of the Hittite Empire. Leiden / Boston / Cologne 1998, ISBN 90-04-10201-9 ( Handbook of Oriental Studies : Dept. 1, The Near and Middle East; Vol. 34)
- Heinrich Otten : The Apology Hattušilis III. The picture of tradition . Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1981, ISBN 3-447-02149-7 ( Studies on the Bogazköy texts . Vol. 24).
- Kaspar K. Riemschneider : Hittite fragments of historical content from the time of Hattušilis III . In: Journal of Cuneiform Studies . Vol. 16/4, 1962, pp. 110-121.
- Jörg Klinger : The Hittites . Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-406-53625-5 , pp. 106-108, 111, 116.
- Birgit Brandau, Hartmut Schickert: Hittite The Unknown World Power . Munich 2001, ISBN 3-492-04338-0 .
- Meik Gerhards : I want to tell about the justice of the Ishtar. - Autobiography as a confession in the large text of Hattusilis III , in: Michael Meyer-Blanck (Ed.), Geschichte und Gott. XV. European Congress for Theology (September 14-18, 2014 in Berlin), Leipzig 2016, pp. 354-380.
Web links
- Letter from Ḫattušili ( memento of March 19, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) to Kadashman-Enlil II of Babylon
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
- ↑ A. Hagenbuchner: The correspondence of the Hittites . Heidelberg 1989, 158; Betina Faist : The long-distance trade of the Assyrian Empire between the 14th and 11th centuries BC . AOAT 265 (Münster, Ugarit Verlag 2001), 25; MB Rowton, The Background of the Treaty between Ramesses II. And Hattušiliš III. , in: Journal of Cuneiform Studies 13/1 , 1959, 4ff.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Muršili III. |
Hittite great king 1266–1236 BC Chr. |
Tudḫaliya IV. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ḫattušili III. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hittite great king |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 13th century BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | 13th century BC Chr. |