AN EVALUATION ON THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE HITTITE KING ŠUPPILULIUMA I (SYRIA AND EGYPT)

Year 2019, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 1 - 15, 31.12.2019

Alpaslan Ceylan

Abstract

Following a turbulent process upon the death of his
father Tudhaliya II, Šuppiluliuma acceded to the Hittite throne by dethroning
his brother Young Tudhaliya. Šuppiluliuma was a prince who was also known for
his heroism when his father was alive. In a problematic period of the Hittites,
Šuppiluliuma ascended the throne. The commanders and administrators, who
realized that the Hittite State was undergoing a problematic process, played an
important role in the accession of Šuppiluliuma to the throne since they saw
his heroism in the period of his father. 
Šuppiluliuma's first action on the Hittite throne was to take measures
regarding his enemies in Anatolia. It is possible to gather the foreign policy
of Šuppiluliuma under two titles. The first one is the Anatolia policy and the
second one is the Syria and Egypt policy. It is possible to examine the Anatolia
policy under several sub-titles. The Syria and Egypt policy of Šuppiluliuma is
actually a single title, because there is no direct expedition to Egypt. It is
the struggle of the two countries for domination on Syria.

In this study, which is the first one of the article
in which we discussed Šuppiluliuma's foreign policy, the Syria and Egypt policy
was examined. We understand from the Hittite king's actions that he was an
excellent diplomat as well as a good warrior. As well as ensuring the peace of his
country, he turned his state into an empire. The Hittite king, who passed
through the Euphrates, annexed the territories up to Halpa (Aleppo), Mukiš
(Central Alalakh), Ugarit, Nuhašše (the field between Euphrates and Aleppo),
Kinza (Qadas), Qatna (Tell al-Mishrifeh), Carchemish, Amurru, Washukanni (Urfa
Ceylanpınar), Amka/Amga, Lebanese Mountains and Abina (Damascus) during his
expeditions to Syria.

The great Hittite king tried to implement the
traditions. Acting according to the Hittite traditions, the king formed small
kingdoms by giving important regions to his sons.  For example, he gave Aleppo and its
surrounding to his son Telipinu, Carchemish and its surrounding to his son
Piyaššili. Šuppiluliuma also gave importance to his diplomatic marriages.

When we leave what happened in Anatolia aside, for
example, he gave away one of his daughters to the Mitanni king Tušratta when he
charged him as the vassal king. One of the main duties of the princess who
married Tušratta was to provide information to Šuppiluliuma about the important
events happening in Mitanni. The Hittite king gave away his daughters to the
kings of different states and he also enlarged his dominance area by marrying
important ladies from other countries. He married a Babylonian princess whom we
know from the Hittite sources. This queen was also influential in foreign
policy. The name of the queen, who was mentioned with the title Tawananna next
to the name of the king on a seal on one of the correspondences made with the
Ras Shamra king Nigmadu II , was read as Malginal.

In Syria, this period was named as the Amarna Age.
Amarna, which gave its name to this age, was situated on the territories of
Central Egypt and was the new capital of the country. The most important
archives of the period were in Amarna. An archive written in the Akkadian
language was revealed in the 19th century. This archive shedding light on the
history of the region contained all international correspondences regarding the
Near East, Anatolia and Cyprus. The archives of Amarna have significant
importance for the history of Hittites. For example, we see from the documents
in these archives that Šuppiluliuma did not lose Syria with the strategy he
applied to the expansionist policy of Egypt.

Šuppiluliuma removed many large and small vassal
states, especially Mitanni - Hurri State, from the stage of history with his
well-advised foreign policy. The negative aspect of Syria policy is that the
destruction of Mitanni State and making it a vassal state paved the way for the
Assyrian state. For example, the Assyrian king Ashur-Uballit started to see
himself as the Great King. In his correspondence with the Pharaoh of Egypt, he
used the phrase "my brother". This statement could only be used in
the correspondences made by the equivalent kings. In his way, the Assyrian king
placed himself in the same status as the Egyptian king.

We have not obtained all of the information regarding
some of the activities performed by Šuppiluliuma. For example, the agreement
made with the Hurrian king Artatama regarding the Hurrian Empire and telling
that he knew him has not been obtained yet. However, we know that Šuppiluliuma
enabled the dismemberment of the Mitanni State with the Hittite-Hurri
agreement. In other words, we see that he successfully implemented the policy
of divide and destroy. Turning into the Great Kingdom, i.e. the Hittite Empire,
from the Hittite State was undoubtedly enabled by Šuppiluliuma.

In order to ensure the economic wealth of the country,
he developed Syria and Egypt policy and crowned it with the spoils he gained.
The Hittite king tried to improve the trade of the country, increased the trade
by road and gave importance to maritime trade. For example, he considered
Syria's precious commodities such as timber, copper, tin (through Syria),
silver precious stones, wine and oil as valuable for the Hittites and attempted
to bring them to his country. Furthermore, he annexed Ugarit and Amurru to the
Hittite territories for maritime trade.

Šuppiluliuma became a heroic king and was a Hittite
king for whom heroic texts were written. In addition to being a hero, he was a
statesman who developed excellent policies. His name was written with golden
letters in the list of the greatest kings that Anatolia had seen and would see.

Keywords

Hittite, Šuppiluliuma I, Egypt, Syria, Foreign Policy

HİTİT KRALI I. ŠUPPİLULİUMA’NIN DIŞ POLİTİKASI ÜZERİNE BİR DEĞERLENDİRME I (SURİYE VE MISIR)

Abstract

Tuthaliya’dan
sonra Hitit tahtına çıkan I. Šuppiluliuma, babası döneminde yapmış olduğu
kahramanlıklarla ön plana çıkmıştır. Çalkantılı bir süreçte Hitit tahtına çıkan
kral, ülkesinde huzuru sağlamış ve devletini imparatorluğa çevirmiştir. İyi bir
savaşçı kimliğine sahip olan kralın mükemmel bir diplomat olduğunu yapmış
olduğu icraatlarından anlamaktayız. Šuppiluliuma’nın krallığı döneminde izlemiş
olduğu dış politikanın ana merkezini Suriye ve Mısır bölgeleri oluşturmuştur.
Bu dönemde önceleri Mısır ile dostane ilişkiler kurulmuşsa da, Šuppiluliuma’nın
gerçekleştirmiş olduğu Kuzey Suriye seferleri, bu ilişkinin bozulmasına sebep
olmuştur. Mısır ekonomisi için büyük önem arz etmekte olan Kuzey Suriye
bölgesine, Šuppiluliuma döneminde üç kez sefer düzenlenmiştir. Başarılı bir
şekilde gerçekleştirilen bu seferlerin neticesinde birçok krallık vergiye
bağlanmış, birçok kent yağmalanmıştır. Devletin sınırları, büyük ölçüde
genişletilmiştir.  Kralın izlemiş olduğu
Suriye ve Mısır politikasının temelini, ülkenin ekonomik refahının yükseltmesi
çabası oluşturmaktadır. Seferler neticesinde önemli ganimetler elde edilmiştir.
Bu dönemde ülkede, ticareti canlandırmak için girişimlerde bulunulmuştur. Kara
ve deniz ticareti geliştirilmiş, Suriye’den önemli ürünlerin ülkeye girmesi
sağlanmıştır. Ayrıca deniz ticaretini geliştirmek için de Ugarit ve Amurru,
ülke topraklarına katılmıştır. Bu çalışmada, Hitit ana kaynakları ve birinci
elden kaynaklardan yararlanılmıştır. Bu kaynakların dışında, konuyla alakalı
yazılmış yeni yayınlardan da faydalanılmıştır. Šuppiluliuma’nın dış
politikasını incelediğimiz makalelerin ilki olan bu çalışmamızda, takip edilen
dış politika çerçevesinde dönemin olayları ele alınmıştır.

Keywords

Hitit, Šuppiluliuma, Mısır, Suriye, Dış Politika

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