The Halaf culture is a prehistoric period which lasted between about 6100 BC and 5100 BC. The period is a continuous development out of the earlier Pottery Neolithic and is located primarily in the fertile valley of the Khabur River (Nahr al-Khabur), of south-eastern Turkey , Syria , and northern Iraq , although Halaf-influenced material is found throughout Greater Mesopotamia .
82-455: While the period is named after the site of Tell Halaf in north Syria , excavated by Max von Oppenheim between 1911 and 1927, the earliest Halaf period material was excavated by John Garstang in 1908 at the site of Sakce Gözü . Small amounts of Halaf material were also excavated in 1913 by Leonard Woolley at Carchemish, on the Turkish/Syrian border. However, the most important site for
164-531: A Babylonian princess, his last queen. Apparently after lengthy preparations, Šuppiluliuma attacked Mittani again in the so-called One-Year War. Responding to an appeal for help against Mittani from a petty king of Nuḫašši , Šarrupši, Šuppiluliuma launched a direct assault on Mittani, overrunning its vassal Išuwa , before capturing and plundering the Mittanian capital Waššukanni . Tušratta, unable to resist, fled to rally elsewhere. At this point, Šuppiluliuma created
246-402: A Hittite vassal. For the time being, Egypt apparently did not respond to the provocation (Šuppiluliuma would later claim that he took Kadesh from Mittani), and Šuppiluliuma could take great satisfaction in all he had achieved in single year of war. Late in his reign, Šuppiluliuma sought to consolidate his gains and expand farther at the expense of Mittani or eliminate it altogether, as Tušratta
328-568: A Hittite victory, as Azzi-Ḫayaša is later found as a Hittite vassal. After these successes in the north, Tudḫaliya seems to have been able to return to the Hittite capital, Ḫattuša . He sent Šuppiluliuma southwest against the Arzawa confederacy, and Šuppiluliuma was victorious in several battles, recovering the city of Tuwanuwa (probably Tyana ), which had been occupied by the enemy. The Hittite Kingdom had recovered much lost ground, but Arzawa remained
410-855: A certain Antaratli the vassal king of Alši in the northernmost part of Mesopotamia. Šuppiluliuma then crossed the Euphrates into Syria, conquering the smaller kingdoms that had recognized Mittanian suzerainty there, including Aleppo, Mukiš (centered on Alalaḫ ), Niya , Araḫtu, Qatna , and Nuḫašši. Carchemish, however, remained firmly under Mittanian control. Šuppiluliuma enticed the small but wealthy kingdom of Ugarit , which had loose ties to Egypt, into becoming an ally through common hostility to Mukiš and Nuḫašši, King Niqmaddu II of Ugarit eventually recognizing Šuppiluliuma's suzerainty; having conquered these, Šuppiluliuma rewarded Ugarit with some of their lands. Šarrupši of Nuḫašši, who had betrayed his Hittite alliance,
492-478: A dangerous enemy, and Muršili II would relate that it took Šuppiluliuma some 20 years (presumably extending into his own reign) to settle affairs in the west. The recovery had clearly begun before the end of Tudḫaliya III’s reign, but credit for much of it was given to Šuppiluliuma. When Tudḫaliya III died, the throne should have been inherited by his son Tudḫaliya the Younger , to whom Šuppiluliuma and other members of
574-581: A husband... I am afraid. Upon hearing Ankhesenamun's request, Šuppiluliuma exclaimed: Nothing like this has happened to me in my entire life!... Go and bring thou the true word back to me! Maybe they deceive me! Maybe in fact they do have a son of their lord! Šuppiluliuma consulted with his council and dispatched his chamberlain Ḫattuša-ziti to Egypt to ascertain the facts. Upon realizing Šuppiluliuma's wariness of her intentions, Ankhesenamun replied, by way of Ḫattuša-ziti and an Egyptian envoy named Ḫani: Why didst thou say "they deceive me" in that way? Had I
656-447: A letter sent to Amenhotep III of Egypt, along with a representative share of the booty. Learning from his failure, Šuppiluliuma apparently made an alliance with a rival Mittanian royal, Artatama II and may have sought to keep Egypt, at this point a Mittanian ally, out of any following conflict by maintaining friendly diplomatic relations with it. Šuppiluliuma also established an alliance with Kassite Babylonia, and at some point married
738-453: A military commander. However, the description of Šuppiluliuma's first wife Ḫenti as the "great queen, daughter of the great king, the hero," has resulted in her identification as the daughter of Tudḫaliya III, making Šuppiluliuma the son-in-law and possibly adopted son of that king. According to the Deeds of Šuppiluliuma composed by his son and second successor Muršili II, Šuppiluliuma served as
820-598: A period of time that is referred to as the Halaf period . The Halaf culture was succeeded in northern Mesopotamia by the Ubaid culture (c. 5300-4300 BC). The site was then abandoned for a long period. The Mitanni Empire controlled this region in the 15th century BC until around 1345 BC. In the Late Bronze, Suppiluliuma I of Hatti conquered the Mitanni stronghold of Carchemish, leading to
902-456: A route for the Bagdad Railway . On 19 November, he discovered Tell Halaf, following up on tales told to him by local villagers of stone idols buried beneath the sand. Within three days, several significant pieces of statuary were uncovered, including the so-called "Sitting Goddess". A test pit uncovered the entrance to the "Western Palace". Since he had no legal permit to excavate, Oppenheim had
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#1732840890934984-542: A son, would I have written about my own and my country's shame to a foreign land? Thou didst not believe me and hast even spoke thus to me! He who was my husband has died. A son I have not! Never shall I take a servant of mine and make him my husband! I have written to no other country, only to thee have I written! They say thy sons are many: so give me one son of thine! To me he will be husband, but to Egypt he will be king. After Šuppiluliuma heard Ankhesenamun's angry response, he remained skeptical and wary. He expressed this to
1066-539: Is in Deir ez-Zor, 6 are missing, 12 have been destroyed, and 55 have disappeared. In 2006, new Syro-German excavations were started under the direction of Lutz Martin (Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin), Abd al-Masih Bagdo (Directorate of Antiquities Hassake), Jörg Becker (University of Halle) and Mirko Novák ( University of Bern ). Suppiluliuma I Šuppiluliuma I , also Suppiluliuma ( / ˌ s ʌ p ɪ l ʌ l i ˈ uː m ə / ) or Suppiluliumas ( /- m ə s / )
1148-432: Is likely to be at least in part inspired by Hitler , rather than by historical facts. Unlike quite a few other historical figures of many times and places who got cast in the role of Hitler, Šuppiluliuma has not yet attracted the attention of any historical novelist to write a bit more nuanced popular account—though his life certainly offers rich untapped material". Janet Morris wrote a detailed biographical novel , I,
1230-549: Is no hiatus between the Halaf and northern Ubaid which exclude the invasion theory. The most plausible theory is a Halafian adoption of the Ubaid culture, which is supported by most scholars, including Oates , Breniquet , and Akkermans. Tell Halaf Tell Halaf ( Arabic : تل حلف ) is an archaeological site in the Al Hasakah governorate of northeastern Syria , a few kilometers from
1312-579: The League of Nations and it thus became possible for German nationals to conduct excavations in what was now the French-ruled Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon . Preparing for new excavations, in 1927 Oppenheim again travelled to Tell Halaf. Artillery fire exchanged between Osman and French troops in the final days of the war had severely damaged the building and the archaeological findings had to be dug out of
1394-762: The Masterplan Museumsinsel of 1999 brought up the idea of having the Western Palace front from Tell Halaf restored. With financial support from Sal. Oppenheim and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft the Vorderasiatisches Museum engaged in its largest-scale restoration project since the reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate . From 2001 to 2010, more than 30 sculptures were reconstructed out of around 27,000 fragments. They were exhibited at
1476-619: The Tell Halaf Museum in Berlin. Only upon the reunification of Germany in 1990 could those family members who were vested in the art, living in West Berlin, revisit the destroyed pieces in East Berlin. The pieces, after being reconstructed, boasted the cracks and imperfections of their war ridden existence (see photo right). Some even were left with the glass from the roof of the Berlin museum on
1558-474: The Egyptian envoy Ḫani, accusing Ankhesenamun of having ulterior motives: ...You keep asking me for a son of mine as if it were my duty. He will in some way become a hostage, but king you will not make him! After further assurances from the Egyptian envoy Ḫani, Šuppiluliuma eventually agreed to Ankhesenamun's proposal. He selected his son Zannanza as Ankhesenamun's husband and Egypt's would-be king, and Zannanza
1640-566: The Egyptians responsible, addressing the gods: Oh gods! I did no evil, yet the people of Egypt did this to me, and they also attacked the frontier of my country. Assuming that Šuppiluliuma's prospective daughter-in-law was indeed Tutankhamun's widow Ankhesenamun, suspicion might naturally attach to Tutankhamun's successor, Ay , who seems to have ascended the Egyptian throne before the completion of negotiations between Šuppiluliuma and Ḫani, unbeknownst to them, and likely would have been threatened by
1722-582: The Halaf tradition was the site of Tell Arpachiyah , now located in the suburbs of Mosul , Iraq . The Halaf period was succeeded by the Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period , which comprised the late Halaf (c. 5400–5000 BC), and then by the Ubaid period . Previously, the Syrian plains were not considered as the homeland of Halaf culture, and the Halafians were seen either as hill people who descended from
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#17328408909341804-408: The Hittite elite had sworn oaths of loyalty. It is not clear whether or not Tudḫaliya the Younger actually ascended the throne, before he was murdered, together with some of his brothers, by the supporters of Šuppiluliuma. Long associated with Tudḫaliya as his chief military commander, Šuppiluliuma I now became king. The murder of Tudḫaliya the Younger was later identified by an oracle as a cause for
1886-624: The Hittites and the Assyrians, until its final annexation by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser I (1265–1235 BC). Much of Mittani's earlier territory, and that of its dependencies, was now reorganized under Hittite control, such as the vassal kingdom of Aštata, centered on Emar . The Hittite vassals in Syria were left under the management of the Hittite princes ruling at Carchemish and Aleppo, who served effectively as
1968-606: The Hittites to consolidate their gains in Syria and on the Euphrates. The weakening of Mittani was quickly exploited by its former vassals, Assyria and Alši, while Tušratta’s son Šattiwaza aimed to recover his father's throne from Artatama II and the latter's son Šuttarna III . Šattiwaza was forced to seek refuge first in Kassite Babylonia, then with his father's former enemy Šuppiluliuma in Ḫatti. Šuppiluliuma married one of his daughters to Šattiwaza , bound him with an oath, and dispatched him to recover his father's kingdom with
2050-508: The Kaška again. He met with ostensible success, but it was impossible to consolidate these gains. Apparently seeking to secure his northeastern frontier before pursuing his ambitions to the southeast, Šuppiluliuma arranged a marriage between his sister and Huqqana, supposedly making the latter king of his homeland, Azzi-Ḫayaša. In addition to the usual content of such treaties with vassal kings, this one featured extensive morality clauses. This treaty
2132-645: The Mittanians renewed their attack, while an Egyptian force attacked the Hittite dependency of Kadesh. Sending his eldest son Arnuwanda and his Commander of the Guard Zida ahead, Šuppiluliuma gathered additional forces and headed to Syria. Meeting with success, he besieged of Carchemish and finally captured it, installing his son Piyaššili, also known as Šarri-Kušuḫ as its vassal king. The murder of Tušratta by one of his younger sons led to further conflict within Mittani, allowing
2214-676: The Pergamon Museum in Berlin in 2011 and at the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn in 2014. When the reconstruction of the Museumsinsel is completed around 2025, the Western Palace façade will be the entrance to the new Vorderasiatisches Museum. Artistically, the many fragmented sculptures tell a new story, not only of their ancient heritage, but of their journey in possession and the politics of the 20th century. Some sculptures were destroyed in WW2 in
2296-638: The Stormgod, my Lord, is the king of all lands, and the Sungoddess of Arinna, my Mistress, the queen of all lands. They will come and the Storm God, my Lord, and the Sungoddess of Arinna, my Mistress, will pass judgement! Adding to Šuppiluliuma's fury, the Egyptian messenger, Ḫani, had apparently attempted to deflect some of the responsibility for Zannanza's death, perhaps pointing to the previous Hittite attacks on Egyptian territory. Šuppiluliuma's draft letter addresses
2378-551: The Tawananna. She is believed to have been the mother of all of Šuppiluliuma's "legitimate" sons: Šuppiluliuma also had daughters, of whom Muwatti was married to Mašḫuiluwa, the king of Mira-Kuwaliya in Arzawa, while another daughter, name unknown, was married to Šattiwaza , the king of Mittani . Additionally, Šuppiluliuma's sister, name unknown, was married to Huqqana, the king of Azzi-Ḫayaša. Šuppiluliuma's brother Zida (or Zidana)
2460-707: The Tell Halaf artefacts. In 1943, eight German-owned orthostat reliefs stored in New York were seized by the US Office of Alien Property Custodian. Amid these negotiations and activities, the Tell Halaf Museum in Berlin was hit by a British phosphorus bomb in November 1943. It burnt down completely, all wooden and limestone exhibits were destroyed. Those made from basalt were exposed to a thermal shock during attempts to fight
2542-541: The Upper- Mesopotamian kingdom of Mittani , led to the extension of Hittite authority over a bevy of petty kingdoms in northern Syria, the installation of the Hittite king's younger sons as local viceroys at Aleppo and Carchemish , and the rump of the Mittanian state itself became effectively a dependency of the Hittite Kingdom. Relations with Egypt vacillated between friendship and hostility, culminating in
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2624-576: The White Boy). Currently, eleven occupational layers have been unearthed in Sabi Abyad. Levels from 11 to 7 are considered pre-Halaf ; from 6 to 4, transitional; and from 3 to 1, early Halaf . No hiatus in occupation is observed except between levels 11 and 10. The new archaeology demonstrated that Halaf culture was not sudden and was not the result of foreign people, but rather a continuous process of indigenous cultural changes in northern Syria that spread to
2706-459: The adviser and chief military commander to his predecessor Tudḫaliya III, helping effect the king's recovery of his lands from Šamuḫa , where the court had established itself for greater security from enemy attack. Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma waged a successful campaign against the Kaška in the north, then intervened to recover control over and protect the regions of Kaššiya and the Ḫulana River Land to
2788-427: The appearance of the would-be king Zannanza on the scene. Anticipating retaliation from the Hittites, the new pharaoh apparently denied all responsibility for the murder in a conciliatory missive to Šuppiluliuma, but the Hittite king rejected his excuses and threatened war in a draft reply found at Ḫattuša. The very fragmentary and heavily restored text reads, in part: But now you always write as king of Egypt... When I
2870-425: The archaeologists discovered that since 1899 locals had uncovered some of the findings and heavily damaged them – in part out of superstition, in part to gain valuable building material. Oppenheim had recruited five hundred locals from Tell Halaf to help towards the excavation. During the excavations Oppenheim found the ruins of the town of Guzana (or Gozan). Significant finds included the large statues and reliefs of
2952-507: The assassination of Tushratta of Mitanni around 1345 BC. With the fall of the Mitanni Empire, Carchemish became the seat of a hittite viceroy who ruled the region with the remnants of Mitanni as a bufferstate to the independent Assyrians in the east. Tell Halaf became a Hittite city led by the viceroy of Carchemish. Ramesses III of Egypt states in an inscription dating to his 8th Year from his Medinet Habu mortuary temple that Carchemish
3034-520: The building he and his team had inhabited during the dig. Most of them were securely packaged and stored. The outbreak of World War I prevented Oppenheim from returning. However, Oppenheim was able to sell some of the stone reliefs, pottery and other artefacts he had excavated to various museums after the war including the British Museum and Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. In 1926, Germany joined
3116-669: The city and its surrounding area was reduced to a province of the Assyrian Empire . The governor's seat was a palace in the eastern part of the citadel mound. Guzana survived the collapse of the Assyrian Empire and remained inhabited until the Roman-Parthian Period. In historical times, the mound itself became the citadel of the Aramaean and Assyrian city. The lower town extended 600 m N–S and 1000 m E–W. The citadel mound housed
3198-660: The city of Ras al-Ayn near the Syria–Turkey border . The site, which dates to the sixth millennium BCE, was the first to be excavated from a Neolithic culture, later called the Halaf culture , characterized by glazed pottery painted with geometric and animal designs. It is thought to have been historically named Guzana , i.e. the Biblical Gozan . Tell Halaf is the type site of the Halaf culture, which developed from Neolithic III at this site without any strong break. The Tell Halaf site flourished from about 6,100 to 5,400 BCE,
3280-468: The demands. Šuppiluliuma established his lieutenant Ḫanutti as governor of the region, and the latter secured the submission of Lalanda and the pillage of Ḫapalla. At some point late in his reign, perhaps not long before the Zannanza Affair, Šuppiluliuma waged a war against the Kaška in the north, temporarily subjugating and pacifying a portion of their land and establishing Hittite outposts there. This
3362-503: The exhibits is considered quite modern even by today's standards. In 1939, Oppenheim once more travelled to Syria for excavations, coming within sight of Tell Halaf. However, the French authorities refused to award him a permit to dig and he had to depart. Oppenheim also unsuccessfully tried to sell some of his finds in New York and again negotiated with the German government about the purchase of
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3444-546: The fire and severely damaged. Many statues and reliefs burst into dozens of pieces. Although the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin took care of the remains, months passed before all of the pieces had been recovered and they were further damaged by frost and summer heat. Stored in the cellars of the Pergamon Museum during the period of communist rule under the GDR , the remains were left untouched. After reunification,
3526-464: The help of a Hittite army led by Piyaššili (Šarri-Kušuḫ). The treaty concluded between Šuppiluliuma and Šattiwaza reads, in part: Šattiwaza and Piyaššili were successful, and Šattiwaza was established as king of what was left of Mittani (which was called Ḫanigalbat by the Assyrians). Although it was meant to be a great kingdom, the country was effectively reduced to becoming alternately the dependency of
3608-495: The king of Egypt, whom he solicited for chariots and troops against possible Hittite aggression. Aziru was summoned to and detained in Egypt, until released to deal with Hittite incursions in the area. After briefly staying loyal to Egypt, Aziru built up alliances with the Hittite vassals Niqmaddu II of Ugarit and Aitakkama of Kadesh, and finally openly defied Egypt and became a vassal of Šuppiluliuma. The new Hittite vassals preyed upon
3690-545: The less detailed and sometimes differing reconstruction based on Trevor Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites . Šuppiluliuma I appears in Mika Waltari 's historical novel The Egyptian , in which he is presented as the ultimate villain, a ruthless conqueror and utterly tyrannical ruler. Popular culture researcher Abe Brown notes that "As Waltari's book was written during the Second World War , Šuppiluliuma's depiction
3772-489: The modern border with Turkey . The name Tell Halaf is a local Aramaic placename , tell meaning "hill", and Tell Halaf meaning "made of former city"; what its original inhabitants called their settlement is not known. In 1899, when the area was part of the Ottoman Empire , Max von Oppenheim , a German diplomat travelled from Cairo through northern Mesopotamia on behalf of Deutsche Bank , working on establishing
3854-682: The museum after they had been seized by the Office of Alien Property Custodian. It conveys the fragmentation and division as Tell Halaf sat at the center of political governance and conflict. It also addresses the role of an encyclopedic museum in conversation and collaboration with the past, and its voices. Today, of the 194 excavated orthostat reliefs from Tell Halaf, 59 are in Berlin, 4 are in Paris, 15 are in London, 4 are in New York, 4 are in Baltimore, 34 are in Aleppo, 1
3936-526: The nearby mountains of southeastern Anatolia, or herdsmen from northern Iraq. However, those views changed with the recent archaeology conducted since 1986 by Peter Akkermans , which have produced new insights and perspectives about the rise of Halaf culture. A formerly unknown transitional culture between the pre-Halaf Neolithic 's era and Halaf's era was uncovered in the Balikh valley, at Tell Sabi Abyad (the Mound of
4018-418: The neighboring dependencies of Egypt even more eagerly than before. The Egyptian attack on Kadesh during the absence of Šuppiluliuma and Telipinu from Syria appears to have been an attempt to redress or avenge the Hittite advance into the Egyptian sphere of influence. When Šuppiliuliuma returned to Syria to besiege Carchemish, he dispatched two of his generals to raid and pillage the Egyptian dependency Amka in
4100-568: The new pharaoh's attempts to intimidate the Hittites away from a military response: Regarding your writing to me: "If you lust for vengeance, I shall take away that lust for vengeance from you!" But it is not me from whom you must take away that lust for revenge, you must take it from the Stormgod, my Lord! ... Those who denied him (Zannanza) the rule, they should ... Regarding your writing to me: "If you write to me in brotherhood, then I will make friendship with you," ... why should I write about brotherhood? The Plague Prayers of Muršili II complete
4182-534: The other regions. Halaf pottery has been found in other parts of northern Mesopotamia, such as at Nineveh and Tepe Gawra , Chagar Bazar , Tell Amarna and at many sites in Anatolia (Turkey) suggesting that it was widely used in the region. The Halaf culture saw the earliest known appearance of stamp seals in the Near East. They featured essentially geometric patterns. Halaf culture ended by 5000 BC after entering
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#17328408909344264-444: The outbreak of plague that ravaged the Hittite kingdom for two decades, into the reign of Šuppiluliuma's son and second successor Muršili II. In accordance with tradition, the widow of the preceding king, Dadu-Ḫeba, continued to enjoy the title of chief queen, Tawananna , until her death. Šuppiluliuma's first wife was Ḫenti , apparently the daughter of Tudḫaliya III. After the death of her mother or stepmother Dadu-Ḫeba, Ḫenti became
4346-485: The palaces and other official buildings. Most prominent are the so-called Hilani or "Western Palace" with its rich decor, dating back to the time of King Kapara, and the "North-Eastern Palace", the seat of the Assyrian governors. In the lower town a temple (or cult room) in Assyrian style was discovered. The site is located near the city of Ra's al-'Ayn in the fertile valley of the Khabur River (Nahr al-Khabur), close to
4428-418: The region of Damascus in retribution. Still at the siege of Carchemish and expecting another Egyptian attack in response, Šuppiluliuma was surprised to receive an unusual marriage proposal instead. It came from an envoy of a sonless Egyptian queen designated in the Hittite sources Daḫamunzu (a rendition of Egyptian tȝ-ḥmt-nsw , "the king’s wife"), who was the widow of a king called Nipḫururia (a rendition of
4510-405: The rubble. Once again, it was found that the locals had damaged some of the stone workings. Since he had made plaster casts during the original excavation, Oppenheim was able to repair most of the damage done to the statues and orthostat reliefs. He managed to achieve a generous division of his previous finds with the French authorities. His share (approximately 80, or about two-thirds of the total)
4592-537: The sculpture itself. The exhibition Rayyane Tabet / Alien Propert y by Rayyane Tabet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art displays the museum's orthostat reliefs and Tabet's graphite transfers, Orthostates , in tandem with his family heirlooms. The exhibition explores the task of locating and tracing provenance, particularly through reference to the Alien Property Act and the objects purchased at auction by
4674-459: The so-called Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period . Many Halafian settlements were abandoned, and the remaining ones showed Ubaidian characters. The new period is named Northern Ubaid to distinguish it from the proper Ubaid in southern Mesopotamia, and two explanations were presented for the transformation. The first maintains an invasion and a replacement of the Halafians by the Ubaidians; however, there
4756-550: The so-called hilani , a palace in Neo-Hittite style with a rich decoration of statues and relief orthostats. These sculptures, even though it is not known how, were fundamental to the portrayal of Kapara along with their political power. By the end of the 9th century it was a famous Syro-Hittite state . In 894 BCE, the Assyrian king Adad-nirari II recorded the site in his archives as a tributary Aramaean city-state. In 808 BCE,
4838-584: The so-called "Western Palace" built by King Kapara , as well as a cult room and tombs. Some of the statuary was found reused in buildings from the Hellenistic period . In addition, they discovered Neolithic pottery of a type which became known as Halaf culture after the site where it was first found. At the time, this was the oldest painted pottery ever found (together with those discovered at Samarra by Herzfeld). In 1913, Oppenheim decided to return temporarily to Germany. The finds of Tell Halaf were left at
4920-405: The so-called Zannanza affair, in which Šuppiluliuma was persuaded to send one of his sons to marry the widowed queen of Egypt and assume its throne. The murder of the Hittite prince resulted in a long period of Hittite-Egyptian hostility, and Šuppiluliuma's captives causing an outbreak of plague that ravaged Hittite society for at least two decades. For all his successes, Šuppiluliuma's ruthlessness
5002-450: The statues he found reburied and moved on. According to noted archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld , he had urged Oppenheim in 1907 to excavate Tell Halaf and they made some initial plans towards this goal at that time. In August 1910, Herzfeld wrote a letter calling on Oppenheim to explore the site and had it circulated to several leading archaeologists like Theodor Nöldeke or Ignác Goldziher to sign. Armed with this letter, Max von Oppenheim
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#17328408909345084-640: The story: Thus, along with Šuppiluliuma's murder of Tudḫaliya the Younger and other sins, Muršili II determined that Šuppiluliuma's attacks on Egypt, despite the belief that the Egyptians had murdered Zannanza, were a cause for the outbreak of the plague ( rabbit fever ?) in the Hittite Kingdom. The plague is often considered the cause of death of Šuppiluliuma and of his eldest son and initial successor, Arnuwanda I. A detailed and annotated genealogy of Hittite New Kingdom monarchs and their families, as reconstructed by Jacques Freu in his multi-volume work Les Hittites et leur histoire , presented as an alternative to
5166-660: The throne name of either Akhenaten , Neferkheprure, or Tutankhamun , Nebkheprure). Although there is plenty of debate over which pharaoh's widow was involved, most scholars tend to identify her as Ankhesenamun , the widow and possibly sister of Tutankhamun. This identification is assumed to be correct in the treatment below; the leading alternative for the widowed queen is Akhenaten's widow Nefernefruaten - Nefertiti , who reigned as queen regnant after her husband's death. Having no sons and unwilling to take one of her subjects as husband (the most prominent options might have been Ay and Horemheb , both of whom became kings subsequently),
5248-456: The viceroys of the Hittite great king in the area. After the earlier amicable relations with Egypt, conflict eventually ensued over the petty kingdom of Amurru . Supported by troops from nomadic bands ( Ḫabiru ), its king ʿAbdi-Aširta had preyed upon his neighbors until finally being captured by a belated Egyptian military action. His son Aziru renewed the depredations on his neighbors, while protesting his innocence to their common overlord,
5330-426: The west and southwest, striking back at their invaders. After dealing with a new threat from the Kaška under Piyapili, Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma, had to fight King Karanni (or Lanni) of Azzi-Ḫayaša in the northeast. Karanni had invaded Hittite territory and even threatened Šamuḫa, but was defeated, Tudḫaliya and Šuppiluliuma invading Azzi-Ḫayaša in turn. A battle at Kummaḫa (probably Kemah ) seems to have resulted in
5412-586: The widowed queen, here assumed to be Ankhesenamun, asked the Hittite great king Šuppiluliuma to send one of his sons to Egypt to become her husband and king. The relevant exchanges are recorded in the Deeds of Šuppiluliuma , composed by Šuppiluliuma's son and second successor, Muršili II . Ankhesenamun initiated the exchange by sending a letter expressing her distress and making her request: My husband has died and I have no son. They say about you that you have many sons. You might give me one of your sons to become my husband. I would not wish to take one of my subjects as
5494-475: The Šeḫa River Land was expelled by his brothers and fled to Karkiša, Šuppiluliuma ensured his safety by sending presents to the ruler of Karkiša and the exile was eventually restored to his throne by Šuppiluliuma’s son Muršili II. The defeat of the Hittite commander Ḫimuili by the Arzawan leader Anzapaḫḫaddu, who had refused the demands to release Hittite captives, forced Šuppiluliuma to intervene personally and enforce
5576-417: The Ḫattušili in question might have been the famous Ḫattušili I at the dawn of Hittite power in the late 17th century BC. The discovery of seal impressions naming Šuppiluliuma as the son of Tudḫaliya III (sometimes called II) led to the discarding of the previous hypothesis by most scholars. Most scholars now concluded that Šuppiluliuma was the son of his predecessor, Tudḫaliya III, whom he had long served as
5658-451: Was an ancient Hittite king (r. c. 1350 –1322 BC). Even before assuming the throne, Šuppiluliuma distinguished himself as a military commander protecting and reclaiming Hittite territories after a period of foreign attacks. Once king, he continued this program of consolidation and expansion, both in Anatolia and in Syria , with a great deal of success. Victories over a major rival,
5740-535: Was appointed Commander of the Guard. A badly damaged text from the reign of her son Muršili II implies that Ḫenti may have been banished by her husband to the land of Aḫḫiyawa . The motivation for this decision remains unclear. Suggested possibilities include the desirability of a marriage alliance with the Kassite king of Babylon , or conflict between Ḫenti and Šuppiluliuma's new Babylonian wife after that marriage alliance
5822-661: Was asked to provide a son for a husband... I did not know. I was prepared to send my son for the kingship, but I did not know that you were already on the throne... Regarding your writing to me, saying: "Your son died, but I did him no harm," that... you say every time... When the Queen of Egypt kept writing to me, you were not... But if you had taken the throne in the meantime, you could have sent my son home! ... your servant Ḫani held us responsible... What have you done with my son? ... Then perhaps you have killed my son! You continually praise your troops and charioteers, but I will mobilize my troops and charioteers, whatever army I have. For me
5904-446: Was blamed for this evil by his own son, Muršili II . Šuppiluliuma's origins are unclear. A statement in the genealogy of his grandson Ḫattušili III was long taken to indicate that Šuppiluliuma’s father and Ḫattušili III's great-grandfather was Ḫattušili II . However, the terminology involved (which, taken literally, would indicate that Ḫattušili III was the great-grandson of Ḫattušili II) might have indicated more distant descent, and
5986-428: Was concluded. Šuppiluliuma's last queen was a Babylonian princess possibly named Malnigal, who apparently assumed the title of Tawananna in place of her original name. She was the daughter of a Babylonian king, probably Burna-Buriaš II . The Babylonian Tawananna would survive a decade into the reign of Šuppiluliuma's son and second successor Muršili II, who would demote and banish her after an oracle confirmed that she
6068-414: Was defeated but unconquered. This led to the so-called Six-Year War. It was conducted mostly by Šuppiluluma's deputies, especially his son Telipinu, the priest of Kizzuwatna, who had been made vassal king of Aleppo by his father. Telipinu succeeded in defeating an attack launched across the Euphrates by the Mittanians. However, while Telipinu was recalled for a meeting with his father at Uda (probably Hydē ),
6150-484: Was destroyed by the "Sea Peoples". This was a period of climate change and social unrest caused by drought, weakening the central powers, and marking the transition from the Late Bronze to the Iron Age. Furthermore, it saw the emergences of Neo-Hittite city-states. In the 10th century BCE, the rulers of the small Aramaean kingdom Bit Bahiani took their seat in Tell Halaf, re-founded as Guzana or Gozan. King Kapara built
6232-416: Was driven from his throne, but later his grandson Tette was installed as a vassal king by Šuppiluliuma. Although he had intended to bypass Kadesh , an Egyptian dependency, Šuppiluliuma was provoked into battle by its king Šutatarra. The Hittites were victorious, and the king and his family were carried off into captivity. Later, Šuppiluliuma allowed the return of Šutatarra’s son Aitakkama to rule Kadesh as
6314-438: Was duly sent off to Egypt. According to Muršili II, Šuppiluliuma eventually learned that his son had been killed en route to Egypt: They brought this tablet, they spoke thus: "... killed Zannanza," and brought word: "Zannanza died." And when my father heard of the slaying of Zannanza, he began to lament for Zannanza. While the text is broken where it would have indicated the murderers of Zannanza, Šuppiluliuma clearly considered
6396-407: Was followed by a Kaška revolt, in which many Hittites were slain and the Hittite fortresses came under attack. Šuppiluliuma and two of his generals struck back, invading and pillaging enemy territory, and restoring Hittite control over the northwestern land of Tummana (classical Domanitis?). The northern front remained unstable, and at the very end of his reign Šuppiluliuma is found campaigning against
6478-408: Was guilty of causing the death of the king's wife Gaššulawiya . Šuppiluliuma continued his efforts to establish a Hittite supremacy in western Anatolia, providing asylum to the expelled heir to the throne of Mira-Kuwaliya, Mašḫuiluwa. Having married his daughter Muwatti to Mašḫuiluwa, Šuppiluliuma proceeded to make his new son-in-law the vassal king of Mira-Kuwaliya. When the young Manapa-Tarḫunta of
6560-484: Was now able to ask for his dismissal from the diplomatic service (which he did on 24 October 1910) while being able to call on financing from his father for the excavation. With a team of five archaeologists, Oppenheim planned a digging campaign that began on 5 August 1911. Substantial amounts of equipment were imported from Germany, including a small steam train. The costs totaled around 750,000 Mark and were covered by von Oppenheim's father's banking fortune. On arrival,
6642-463: Was probably concluded early in Šuppiluliuma’s reign. Apart from consolidating his position in the northeast and west, Šuppiluliuma sought to recover control over Kizzuwatna and Tegarama, areas to the south and east, which had come under the indirect control of the Kingdom of Mittani centered on Upper Mesopotamia . An initial Hittite strike against Mittani failed, its king Tušratta claiming victory in
6724-638: Was transported to Berlin, while the other 35 were brought to Aleppo to form a core collection of today's National Museum . In 1929, he resumed excavations and the new findings were divided. Attempts by Oppenheim to have his findings exhibited at the newly constructed Pergamon Museum in Berlin failed, as the museum refused to agree to Oppenheim's financial demands. He thus opened his own private "Tell Halaf Museum" in an industrial complex in Berlin-Charlottenburg in July 1930. The museum's concept of presenting
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