Kupanta-Kurunta was the first recorded king of
ArzawaArzawa in the second half of the second millennium BC was the name of a region and a political entity in Western Anatolia, the core area of which was centered on the Hermos and Maeander river valleys, corresponding with the Late Bronze Age kingdoms of the...
, in the late 15th century BC. He was defeated by an earlier Tudhaliya and his son, the future
Arnuwanda IArnuwanda I was a king of the Hittite empire. He became a ruler by marriage and was very religious.- Biography :Arnuwanda became a king by marriage. His wife was Ašmu-nikal, daughter of king Tudhaliya I. He became a successor of Tudhaliya as his son-in-law. He began his reign under a co-regency...
. He then attacked Arnuwanda's restive vassal Madduwatta at Zippasla. He had a daughter, who married Madduwatta.
Another
Kupanta-Kurunta was born in the 1330s or 1320s BC at Mira in western Anatolia, in one of the princely families. His father joined a coup against king Mašḫuiluwa. The
HittiteThe Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
king
Suppiluliuma ISuppiluliuma I was king of the Hittites . He achieved fame as a great warrior and statesman, successfully challenging the then-dominant Egyptian empire for control of the lands between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates....
married Mašḫuiluwa to his daughter Muwatti and reinstalled him. Kupanta-Kurunta's father apparently died or was exiled soon after. Mašḫuiluwa then asked Suppiluliuma's successor
Mursili IIMursili II was a king of the Hittite Empire ca. 1321–1295 BC .-Family:Mursili II was the younger son of Suppiluliuma I, one of the most powerful rulers of the Hittite Empire...
if he could adopt Kupanta-Kurunta as a son.
Mira remained a Hittite ally against
Uhha-ZitiUhha-Ziti was the last independent king of Arzawa, a Bronze Age kingdom of western Anatolia.Uhha-Ziti had two recorded children, Piyama-Kurunta and Tapalazunauli, who were of fighting age as of 1322 BC....
of Arzawa; but two years after
Mursili's eclipseThe solar eclipse mentioned in a text dating to the reign of Mursili II could be of great importance for the absolute chronology of the Hittite Empire within the chronology of the Ancient Near East....
(which would mean 1310 BC) Mira rebelled under influence from "Great-House-Father" (probably an adventurer from Masa). Mursili quashed this rebellion, transferred Mašḫuiluwa to a priesthood in Hittite territory, and installed Kupanta-Kurunta as king.
In the early 13th century BC,
Muwatalli IIMuwatalli II was a king of the New kingdom of the Hittite empire .- Biography :He was the eldest son of Mursili II and Queen Gassulawiya, and he had several siblings....
signed a treaty with Alaksandu of
WilusaWilusa was a city of the late Bronze Age Assuwa confederation of western Anatolia.It is known from six references in 13th century BC Hittite sources, including...
. In it, he informed Alaksandu that he viewed Kupanta-Kurunta as the son of Muwatti and so a member of the Hittite royal family.
Kupanta-Kurunta is possibly the recipient of the
Milawata letterThe Milawata letter is a diplomatic correspondence from a Hittite king at Hattusa to a client king in western Anatolia around 1240 BCE...
.
Kupanta-Kurunta apparently supported
Hattusili IIIHattusili III was a king of the Hittite empire ca. 1267–1237 BC . He was the fourth and last son of Mursili II...
over that one's nephew Urhi-Tessup, "
Mursili IIIMursili III, also known as Urhi-Teshub, was a king of the Hittites who assumed the throne of the Hittite empire at Tarhuntassa upon his father's death around 1272 BCE. He was a cousin of Tudhaliya IV and Queen Maathorneferure.- Biography :...
". After Hattusili attained the kingdom, Kupanta-Kurunta received a letter from Pharaoh Rameses II which was copied to Hattusili. In it, the Pharaoh reassured Kupanta-Kurunta that Egypt remained a full ally of Hatti and entertained no plans to aid Urhi-Tessup in any further adventures.