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

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Hittite,Šuppiluliuma I,Egypt,Syria,Foreign Policy

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

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Hitit,Šuppiluliuma,Mısır,Suriye,Dış Politika

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