Muršili III.
Muršili III. ( Hurrian birth name: Urḫi-Teššup) was a Hittite great king. He climbed in the ninth or tenth year of Ramses II's reign in 1270/1269 BC. The throne.
swell
Sources for the reign of Muršili are mostly documents from the reign of his successor Ḫattušili III. which do not necessarily have to be reliable, since it was favorable for the usurper to place Muršili in a bad light. In addition, the first years of Muršilis rule, due to the relocation of the capital (and thus the storage location of the archives) from Ḫattuša to Tarḫuntašša under his predecessor Muwatalli II. , Only through documents from the time of Ḫattušilis III. known. In Ḫattuša there were large numbers of Muršilis sealed bulls.
Life
Muršili was the son of Muwattallis II and, according to a statement from the time of Ḫattušilis III, which was by no means found to be certain, a concubine. When his father died, Mursili, who had probably been prepared for his office (a document sealed jointly by Muwattalli and Mursili was found), under the throne name Mursili, became the great king. A source from the time of Ḫattušili also mentions that Mursili was only able to become great king thanks to this.
Muršili moved the capital from Tarḫuntašša back to Ḫattuša, which Ḫattušili, who had previously been administrator of the city, suffered a loss of power.
Muršili also pardoned the rightful Tawananna Danuḫepa , who had been expelled by his father, and reinstated Bentešina , who had also been deposed by Muwattalli, as king of Amurru . However, one of his prayers makes it clear that Muršili also acted out of his own motives in the case of Danuḫepat. Other instructions of the new ruler probably met with opposition on the part of his uncle. So he appointed Šipaziti as a consultant. He and his father were exiled to Alašija (Cyprus) because of an uprising that had started over a land dispute with Ḫattušili . Furthermore, Muršili sent the king of Šeḫa , Manapa-Tarḫunta , replaced by his son Mašturi , back to his country. Mašturi seems to have stood on Ḫattušili's side in the future. The son of Mittannamuwa , the governor of Ḫattuša, also lost his position as chief clerk. Mittannamuwa later advised Ḫattušili to fight Muršili when the latter began to take his land away from Ḫattušili.
Ramses II moved to Syria in his eighth year of reign (1271 BC) and tenth year of reign (1269 BC) and conquered several Hittite cities, which, however , were regained by Šaunurunuwa , the governor of Karkemiš .
Wašašatta , King of Mittani , bribed Muršili to support him in the war against the Assyrian Empire . The latter agreed, but did not send any troops at the moment of the attack. The same was already Wasašattas father Šattuara I. happen. So Mittani was lost to Assyria. He insulted the king of the Assyrian Empire, Adad-nirari I , by not recognizing him as a great king, and refusing to address him brother , which was usually the norm for rulers of equal rank (KUB XXIII 102).
Disempowerment by Ḫattušili
When Muršili Ḫattušili took his lands Ḫakpiš and Nerik away, he locked him in 1264 BC. In Šamuḫa and banished him to Nuḫašše , but refused to let Muršili kill. Sipaziti failed in the attempt to raise troops in support of the old great king and the civil war failed to materialize. Due to Muršili's unsuccessful policy, the other vassals did not intervene and Ḫattušili became king.
Muršili tried from Nuḫašše a plot with Babylonia, at whose court his sister lived, but it failed and he was exiled to Alašija (Cyprus). From there Muršili fled to the Egyptian part of Syria. Ḫattušili asked for his extradition, but this was refused. Ḫattušili has now been recognized by the rest of the rich and Muršili's brother Kurunta became viceroy in Tarḫuntašša. In a contract with Ramses II it was stipulated that Mursili had to stay in Egypt from now on, where he stayed for 20 years after his deposition. The crossing of his kinship line later caused repeated disputes.
family tree
The following family tree was created after publications by Volkert Haas and Jörg Klinger .
literature
- Jörg Klinger: The Hittites . Munich, Beck 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 .
- Horst Klengel: History of the Hittite Empire (BTE I / XXXIV) . Brill, Leiden, Boston, Cologne 1999, ISBN 90-04-10201-9 , pp. 218-235.
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
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Muwattalli II. |
King of Ḫatti approx. 1272–1266 BC Chr. |
Ḫattušili III. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Muršili III. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Urḫi-Teššup |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hittite great king |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 14th century BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | 13th century BC Chr. |