Puduḫepa

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Puduḫepa libiert standing in front of the seated sun goddess, rock relief from Fıraktın

Puduḫepa was a Hittite Great Queen ( Tawananna ) of the 13th century BC. And wife of the great king Ḫattušili III. Her first mention comes from Ḫattušili, who reports on the marriage with her in his apology. Her father, Bentipšarri from Lawazantiya ( Elbistan or Sirkeli Höyük ) in Kizzuwatna , was a priest of the Ištar / Šaušga of Lawazantiya.

The names of Puduḫepa and her father are Hurrian . Puduḫepa describes herself as the servant of the Hurrian goddess Ḫepat , but at the same time she calls herself “loved by the sun goddess of Arinna ”. Therefore, it was often assumed that Puduḫepa was in the service of the Ḫepat in her youth. When she became queen, she wanted to win the favor of the sun goddess of Arinna, who was now the most important goddess for her, by equating the two deities, as if she had always been in the service of the sun goddess of Arinna . To what extent this identification can only be counted towards Puduḫepa or whether it existed in any other way cannot be decided. Puduḫepa also sponsored the nine-day ḫišuwa festival .

The queen appears to have had real affection with her spouse, and the two appear to have acted very amicably. Even if Puduḫepa did a lot for the staff and the upbringing of the children, she was one of the queens who was most involved in political life. Many of her letters have been handed down to heads of state and officials, and of course from them to her too. Ramses II of Egypt calls Puduḫepa "his sister", as he calls Ḫattušili his brother. There are also many land donation deeds and seals that bear both the name of the king and that of the queen. Puduḫepa survived her husband and remained during the reign of her son, Tudḫaliya IV , Great Queen, as was customary in the Hittite Empire. Furthermore, she sealed contracts or decrees together with the ruling ruler.

literature

  • Horst Klengel : History of the Hittite Empire (= Handbook of Oriental Studies . Dept. 1: The Near and Middle East. 34). Brill, Leiden / Boston / Cologne 1999, ISBN 90-04-10201-9 .
  • Heinrich Otten : Puduḫepa. A Hittite queen in her testimonials (= Academy of Sciences and Literature. Treatises of the humanities and social sciences class. 1975, 1). Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz 1975, ISBN 3-515-01902-2 .
  • Heinrich Otten: The Apology Hattusilis III. The image of the tradition (= studies on the Bogazköy texts. 24). Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1981, ISBN 3-447-02149-7 .
  • Dietrich Sürenhagen : Two prayers Hattusilis and the Puduhepa. In: Ancient Near Eastern Research. Volume 8, 1981, pp. 83-168.
  • Ahmet Ünal : Hattusili III. Part 1: Hattusili up to his accession to the throne. 2 volumes. Carl Winter University Press, Heidelberg 1974;
personal data
SURNAME Puduḫepa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hittite queen
DATE OF BIRTH 14th century BC BC or 13th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 13th century BC BC or 12th century BC Chr.