Šuppiluliuma I
[1][2] Even before assuming the throne, Šuppiluliuma distinguished himself as a military commander protecting and reclaiming Hittite territories after a period of foreign attacks.
[4] 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.
[9] 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 the west and southwest, striking back at their invaders.
[13] The Hittite Kingdom had recovered much lost ground, but Arzawa remained 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.
[17] The murder of Tudḫaliya the Younger was later identified by an oracle as a cause for the outbreak of plague that ravaged the Hittite kingdom for two decades, into the reign of Šuppiluliuma's son and second successor Muršili II.
[18] In accordance with tradition, the widow of the preceding king, Dadu-Ḫeba, continued to enjoy the title of chief queen, Tawananna, until her death.
[29] 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.
[33] 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 was guilty of causing the death of the king's wife Gaššulawiya.
[34] 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.
[36] 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.
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?).
[38] 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.
An initial Hittite strike against Mittani failed, its king Tušratta claiming victory in a letter sent to Amenhotep III of Egypt, along with a representative share of the booty.
[44] 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.
[46] Šarrupši of Nuḫašši, who had betrayed his Hittite alliance, was driven from his throne, but later his grandson Tette was installed as a vassal king by Šuppiluliuma.
[49] Late in his reign, Šuppiluliuma sought to consolidate his gains and expand farther at the expense of Mittani or eliminate it altogether, as Tušratta was defeated but unconquered.
[50] 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 the Hittites to consolidate their gains in Syria and on the Euphrates.
Šuppiluliuma married one of his daughters to Šattiwaza, bound him with an oath, and dispatched him to recover his father's kingdom with the help of a Hittite army led by Piyaššili (Šarri-Kušuḫ).
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.
[57] His son Aziru renewed the depredations on his neighbors, while protesting his innocence to their common overlord, the king of Egypt, whom he solicited for chariots and troops against possible Hittite aggression.
When Šuppiliuliuma returned to Syria to besiege Carchemish, he dispatched two of his generals to raid and pillage the Egyptian dependency Amka in the region of Damascus in retribution.
[66] 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?
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 is likely to be at least in part inspired by Hitler, rather than by historical facts.
[79][full citation needed] Janet Morris wrote a detailed biographical novel, I, the Sun, whose subject was Šuppiluliuma I, in which all characters are from the historical record, about which O.M.
[81][82] Šuppiluliuma appears in a minor role in the novel The Shadow Prince by Philip Armstrong, as the grandfather of the hero, Tupiluliuma, in which he is Tudḫaliya's nephew and adopted son.
It is explained that he was reluctantly forced to take the throne and exclude his adoptive brother, Tudḫaliya the Younger, as a result of his predecessor's descent into madness.
Šuppiluliuma is a character in Turkish author Hüseyin Nihal Atsız's satirical novel Dalkavuklar Gecesi (The Night of the Sycophants), set in the Hittite kingdom.
