Suppiluliuma II

Relief of Suppiluliuma II in Hattusa

Chamber 2 built and inscribed by Suppiliuma II at Hattusa

Suppiluliuma II, the son of Tudhaliya IV, was the last known king of the New Kingdom of the Hittite Empire, ruling c. 1207–1178 BC (short chronology), contemporary with Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria.

His life and reign

In 1210 BC, a fleet under his command defeated one manned by the Cypriots, the first recorded naval battle in history.^[1] According to some historians (Claude Schaeffer, Horst Nowacki, Wolfgang Lefèvre), this and following two victories against Cypriots were probably won by using Ugartic ships.^[2]

He is known from two inscriptions in Hieroglyphic Luwian. They record wars against former vassal Tarhuntassa, and against Alasiya in Cyprus. One inscription is found at the base of Nisantepe in the Upper City of Hattusa; the other is on the northern corner of the East Pond (Pond 1), in what is known as Chamber 2. This served as a water reservoir for Hattusa.

The chamber 2 reliefs are historically important since it records major political instability which plagued Hatti during Suppiluliuma's reign. It states that this ruler sacked the city of Tarhutassa which was a Hittite city and had briefly served as the Empire's political capital under the reign of Muwatalli II.

The Hittite kingdom was ultimately destroyed by the invading Sea Peoples and Kaskians in the late 1170s BCE. Based on records in Ugarit, the threat originated in the west, and the Hittite king asked for assistance from Ugarit.

"The enemy [advances(?)] against us and there is no number [...]. Our number is pure(?) [. . .] Whatever is available, look for it and send it to me."^[3]

Ammurapi, an ally of Suppululiuma II and the last king of Ugarit, wrote a letter outlining the threat posed by the invading Sea Peoples and pleaded for help from Eshuwara, the ruler of Alasiya (Cyprus):

“

My father, behold, the enemy's ships came (here); my cities(?) were burned, and they did evil things in my country. Does not my father know that all my troops and chariots(?) are in the Hittite country, and all my ships are in the land of Lukka? . . . Thus, the country is abandoned to itself. May my father know it: the seven ships of the enemy that came here inflicted much damage upon us.^[4]

”

After Suppiluliuma's kingdom collapsed, the Kaskian tribes were probably in control of Hatti. Hattusa itself was destroyed by fire, its site only re-occupied by a Phrygian fortress some 500 years later. Kuzi-Teshub, a ruler of Carchemish, would later assume the title of "Great King" since he was a direct descendent of Suppiluliuma I.^[5]

Some sources indicate Suppiluliuma II's end is unknown or he was simply "vanished",^[2] while some claim he was killed during the sack of Hattusa in 1190 BCE.^[6]

Hittite New Kingdom royal family tree

Himuili?^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Tudhaliya I/II^{[lower-alpha 2]}

Nikkalmati^{[lower-alpha 3]}

Arnuwanda I^{[lower-alpha 3]}

Asmunikal^{[lower-alpha 3]}

Hattusili II?^{[lower-alpha 4]}

Tudhaliya III^{[lower-alpha 5]}

Daduhepa^{[lower-alpha 6]}

Zida^{[lower-alpha 7]}

Tudhaliya the Young^{[lower-alpha 8]}

Henti^{[lower-alpha 7]} (1)

Suppiluliuma I^{[lower-alpha 8]}

(2) Tawananna^{[lower-alpha 9]}

Arnuwanda II^{[lower-alpha 7]}

Telipinu^{[lower-alpha 10]}

Sarri-Kusuh^{[lower-alpha 11]}^{[lower-alpha 12]}

Zannanza^{[lower-alpha 13]}

Gassulawiya^{[lower-alpha 14]} (1)

Mursili II^{[lower-alpha 7]}

(2) Tanuhepa^{[lower-alpha 15]}

Talmi-Sarruma^{[lower-alpha 16]}

Sahurunuwa^{[lower-alpha 11]}^{[lower-alpha 17]}

Muwatalli II^{[lower-alpha 15]}

Halpasulupi^{[lower-alpha 18]}

Massanauzzi^{[lower-alpha 19]}

Hattusili III^{[lower-alpha 20]}

Puduhepa^{[lower-alpha 21]}

Ini-Tesub^{[lower-alpha 11]}^{[lower-alpha 22]}

Urhi-Tesub^{[lower-alpha 15]}

Kurunta^{[lower-alpha 23]}

Nerikkaili^{[lower-alpha 24]}

numerous daughters^{[lower-alpha 25]} and sons^{[lower-alpha 26]}

Tudhaliya IV^{[lower-alpha 27]}

Talmi-Tesub^{[lower-alpha 11]}^{[lower-alpha 28]}

Hartapu^{[lower-alpha 29]}

Arnuwanda III^{[lower-alpha 30]}

Suppiluliuma II^{[lower-alpha 30]}^{[lower-alpha 31]}

Kuzi-Tesub^{[lower-alpha 32]}

(1) = 1st spouse
(2) = 2nd spouse
Small caps indicates a Great King (LUGAL.GAL) of the Land of Hatti; italic small caps indicates a Great Queen or Tawananna.
Dashed lines indicate adoption.
Solid lines indicate marriage (if horizontal) or parentage (if vertical).

References:

Trevor Bryce (1997). The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Trevor Bryce (2012). The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Volkert Haas (2006). Die hethitische Literatur. Berlin, Germany: de Gruyter.

Notes:

↑ Scholars have suggested that Tudhaliya I/II was the son of Himuili and thus a grandson of the Hittite king Huzziya II (Bryce 1997, p. 131).
↑ Bryce (1997) does not consider it clear whether Tudhaliya I/II was one king or two (p. 133).
1 2 3 Bryce (1997), p. 139.
↑ The existence of Hattusili II is doubtful (Bryce 1997, pp. 153–154).
↑ Bryce (1997), p. 158.
↑ Bryce (1997), p. 172.
1 2 3 4 Bryce (1997), p. 174.
1 2 Bryce (1997), p. 168.
↑ Also known as Malnigal; daughter of Burnaburias II of Babylonia (Bryce 1997, p. 173).
↑ ‘Great priest’ in Kizzuwadna and king (lugal) of Aleppo (Bryce 1997, p. 174).
1 2 3 4 King (lugal) of Carchemish.
↑ Bryce (1997), pp. 174, 203–204.
↑ Zannanza died on his way to Egypt to marry a pharaoh's widow, probably Ankhesenpaaten, the widow of Tutankhamun (Bryce 1997, pp. 196–198).
↑ Bryce (1997), p. 227.
1 2 3 Bryce (1997), p. 230.
↑ Bryce (1997), p. 220.
↑ Bryce (1997), p. 222.
↑ Haas (2006), p. 91.
↑ Massanauzzi married Masturi, king of the Seha River Land (Bryce 1997, p. 313).
↑ Bryce (1997), p. 296.
↑ Puduhepa was the daughter of the Kizzuwadnan priest Pentipsarri (Bryce 1997, p. 273).
↑ Bryce (1997), pp. 346, 363.
↑ King (lugal) of Tarhuntassa (Bryce 1997, p. 296); apparently later Great King of Hatti (Bryce 1997, p. 354).
↑ Nerikkaili married a daughter of Bentesina, king of Amurru (Bryce 1997, p. 294).
↑ Two daughters of Hattusili III were married to the pharaoh Ramesses II; one was given the Egyptian name Ma(hor)nefrure. Another, Gassuwaliya, married into the royal house of Amurru. Kilushepa was married to a king of Isuwa. A daughter married into the royal family of Babylon. A sister of Tudhaliya IV married Sausgamuwa, king of Amurru after his father Bentesina. From Bryce (1997), pp. 294 and 312.
↑ Bryce (1997), p. 332.
↑ Bryce (1997), p. 363. Tudhaliya IV probably married a Babylonian princess, known by her title of Great Princess (dumu.sal gal) (Bryce 1997, pp. 294, 331).
↑ Bryce (1997), p. 363.
↑ Great King of Tarhuntassa; son of Mursili, the Great King, who is likely identical with Mursili III/Urhi-Tesub (Bryce 2012, p. 21 f.).
1 2 Bryce (1997), p. 361.
↑ Last documented Great King of the Land of Hatti.
↑ King and then Great King of Carchemish (Bryce 1997, pp. 384–385).

Notes

↑ Battle at Sea: 3,000 Years of Naval Warfare. R. G. Grant. 2008. Accessed 10 August 2010
1 2 Horst Nowacki, Wolfgang Lefèvre Creating Shapes in Civil and Naval Architecture: A Cross-Disciplinary Comparison BRILL, 2009 ISBN 9004173455
↑ trans Astour, AJA 69 (1965), p.256
↑ Jean Nougaryol et al. (1968) Ugaritica V: 87-90 no.24
↑ Trevor Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Oxford University Press, 1998. p.384
↑ Robert Drews The Coming of the Greeks: Indo-European Conquests in the Aegean and the Near East Princeton University Press, 1994 ISBN 0691029512

References

Astour, AJA 69 (1965).
Güterbock, JNES 26 (1967), 73-81.

External links

Reign of Suppiluliuma II

Regnal titles
Preceded by Arnuwanda III	Hittite king ca. 1207–1178 BC	Kingdom collapsed

Hittite kings

Hattic kings

c. 23rd–18th centuries BC	Pamba Pithana Piyusti Anitta Tudhaliya PU-Sarruma

Old Kingdom

c. 16th–15th centuries BC	Labarna I Hattusili I Mursili I Hantili I Zidanta I Ammuna Huzziya I Telipinu

Middle Kingdom

c. mid-to-late 15th century BC	Alluwamna Tahurwaili Hantili II Zidanta II Huzziya II Muwatalli I

New Kingdom

c. 14th–12th centuries BC	Tudhaliya I Arnuwanda I Hattusili II Tudhaliya II Tudhaliya III Suppiluliuma I Arnuwanda II Mursili II Muwatalli II Mursili III Hattusili III Tudhaliya IV Arnuwanda III Suppiluliuma II

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 808604 GND: 118799444

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Suppiluliuma II

His life and reign

See also

Notes

References

External links