# Tudḫaliya I

Tudḫaliya I (sometimes considered identical with Tudḫaliya II and called Tudḫaliya I/II) was a Hittite great king in the 15th century BC, ruling perhaps c. 1465–c. 1440 BC

## Identity

The numbering of Hittite kings named Tudḫaliya (Hittite: 𒌅𒌓𒄩𒇷𒅀 Tūdḫaliya) varies between scholars because of debate over the identity (or not) between the first two bearers of the name. This Tudḫaliya, now attested as the son of a certain Kantuzzili, succeeded Muwatalli I, after the latter was murdered by the officials Ḫimuili and Kantuzzili (not necessarily identical to Tudḫaliya's father). The same or a distinct Tudḫaliya was the father-in-law and predecessor of Arnuwanda I. Because of uncertainty, scholars are divided in the interpretation of the evidence. Many scholars envision a single Tudḫaliya (I or I/II), while others consider two separate kings, Tudḫaliya I and Tudḫaliya II.
The rationale for maintaining a distinction between the two is presented by Jacques Freu, who notes, inter alia, that Tudḫaliya I was the son of the non-reigning Kantuzzili, while Tudḫaliya II writes that he ascended the throne as a youth after his father's death; similarly, his sister Ziplantawiya was the daughter of a king. Additionally, Freu posits that the Šunaššura Treaty between the Hittite Kingdom and Kizzuwatna reflects successive equal and unequal treaty arrangements under two different sets of kings on both sides, discerns three Tudḫaliyas as predecessors of Muršili II on his "cruciform seal," and argues that the Tudḫaliyas who engaged in repeated military action in Syria and in western Anatolia should be distinguished from each other to avoid an overly long reign.
The treatment below tentatively follows Freu's distinction of two 15th-century BC Hittite great kings named Tudḫaliya.

## Family

Tudḫaliya I was the son of a certain Kantuzzili, who is not known to have reigned or to have descended from an earlier Hittite monarch. Most scholars readily assume that this Kantuzzili was identical to the Commander of the Golden Squires Kantuzzili, who (together with his apparent brother, the Chief Cupbearer Ḫimuili) murdered the preceding king, Muwatalli I, and also with the general Kantuzzili, who assisted Tudḫaliya I in repelling a Hurrian invasion in support of Muwatalli's Commander of the Guard Muwa. On the other hand, Jacques Freu opposes the identification of Tudḫaliya's father Kantuzilli with the regicide Kantuzilli on the grounds of consistent contextual incompatibility between their attestations in the sources, but allows for the possibility that he is identical to the general who fought the Hurrians. Prior to the publication of the seal impression naming Kantuzilli as Tudḫaliya's father, Stefano De Martino suggested that the regicides Ḫimuili and Kantuzzili were Tudḫaliya's sons, who had placed their father on the throne. Onofrio Carruba and Freu propose that Tudḫaliya's mother was Walanni, attested in the royal offerings lists, and who might have been a daughter of the earlier king Zidanta II. It is also sometimes conjectured that Tudḫaliya was a grandson of the earlier king Ḫuzziya. Freu suggested that Tudḫaliya I was married to the obscure great queen Kattešḫapi attested at about this time, and was the father of a short-lived Ḫattušili II and the grandfather of Tudḫaliya II.
If Tudḫaliya I and Tudḫaliya II were one and the same individual, his queen would have been Nikkal-mati, his daughter Ašmu-Nikkal, and his son-in-law and successor, Arnuwanda I.

## Reign

Tudḫaliya I ascended the throne on the murder of his predecessor Muwatalli I, possibly in c. 1465 BC. Tudḫaliya appears to have pardoned and purified the regicides, the brothers Ḫimuili and Kantuzzili, although their relation to him remains obscure. Muwattali's Commander of the Guard, Muwa, may have murdered a queen in retribution, and then attempted to stage a revolution with the help of Hurrians led by Kartašura. King Tudḫaliya and his general Kantuzzili (the regicide? the king's father?) defeated the enemy.
Having secured his eastern flank, Tudḫaliya I apparently decided to assert himself in the south. According to Freu's reconstruction of the evidence, he was responsible for the earlier, equal treaty between a Hittite king and Šunaššura I of Kizzuwatna, which allowed the king of Kizzuwatna full freedom to support the Hittite king against his enemies or remain neutral; the Hittites's primary objective at this point might have been securing unimpeded passage into Syria. Partly on the basis of the Middle Hittite language of the text, Freu argues that during the subsequent southern assertion of Hittite power, the Hittite king concluded the so-called Kuruštama Treaty with Egypt, whose king at that time, Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC) had been active in northern Syria and at one time reached the Euphrates. Additionally, Freu believes that Tudḫaliya concluded unequal treaties with the petty rulers of Alalaḫ/Mukiš, Emar/Aštata, and Nuhašše, all now lost or very fragmentary, as in the case of his treaty with Tunip on the Orontes. A much later source, the treaty between the Hittite great king Muršili II and his nephew, Talmi-Šarruma of Aleppo, related Tudḫaliya's conclusion of a treaty with Aleppo. When Aleppo abandoned its alliance with Tudḫaliya in favor of Mittani, Tudḫaliya defeated Aleppo and its Mittanian allies and destroyed the city.
If Tudḫaliya I and Tudḫaliya II were one and the same individual, the wars of Tudḫaliya II in western and northern Anatolia would also pertain to this reign. See Tudḫaliya II.
vteHittite New Kingdom royal family tree according to Trevor Bryce :
Kantuzilli
Tudhaliya I/IINikkalmati
Arnuwanda IAsmunikal
Hattusili II?Tudhaliya IIIDaduhepaZida
Tudhaliya the YoungerHenti (1)Šuppiluliuma I(2) Tawananna
Arnuwanda IITelipinuSarri-KusuhZannanzaGassulawiya (1)Mursili II(2) Tanuhepa
Talmi-SarrumaSahurunuwaMuwatalli IIHalpasulupiMassanauzziHattusili IIIPuduhepa
Ini-TesubUrhi-TesubKuruntaNerikkailinumerous daughters and sonsTudhaliya IV
Talmi-TesubArnuwanda IIISuppiluliuma II
Kuzi-Tesub :
* (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 (2005). The Kingdom of the Hittites (new edition). Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Trevor Bryce (2012). The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Jacques Freu (2007). Les débuts du nouvel empire hittite. Paris, France: L'Harmattan.
Volkert Haas (2006). Die hethitische Literatur. Berlin, Germany: de Gruyter. :
Notes:
↑ Scholars have suggested that Tudhaliya I/II was possibly a grandson of the Hittite king Huzziya II; the first Tudhaliya is now known to be the son of Kantuzzili (Bryce 1997, p. 131 suggested Himuili, but the new edition, Bryce 2005, p. 122, indicated Kantuzzili).
↑ Bryce (1997) does not consider it clear whether Tudhaliya I/II was one king or two (p. 133); the link points to Tudhaliya II. Among those who identify distinct kings Tudhaliya I and Tudhaliya II, Freu (2007) has Kantuzzili—his son Tudhaliya I—his son Hattusili II—his son Tudhaliya II (p. 311).
1 2 3 Bryce (1997), p. 139.
↑ The existence of Hattusili II is doubted by many scholars (Bryce 1997, pp. 153–154; Bryce 2005, p. 141). Among those who accept the existence of Hattusili II, Freu (2007), p. 311, has Tudhaliya I—his son Hattusili II—his son Tudhaliya II.
↑ 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.
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). :

## In the Bible

A number of modern biblical scholars believe that either Tudhaliya I, or the proto-Hittite Tudhaliya, was the same individual as Tidal, king of Nations, who is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as having joined Chedorlaomer in attacking rebels in Canaan.