Tudhaliya I (sometimes referred to as
Tudhaliya II, or even Tudhaliya I/II) was a king of the Hittite empire (New kingdom) ca. the early 14th century BC (short chronology).
Proper numbering of the Hittite rulers who bore the name
TudhaliyaTudhaliya is the name of several Hittite kings*Tudhaliya is a hypothetic pre-Empire king of the Hittites. He would have reigned in the late 17th century BC . Forlanini conjectures that this king corresponds to the great-grandfather of Hattusili I.*Tudhaliya I , ruled ca...
is problematical. There was a Hattian era figure who bore the name Tudhaliya who may or may not have ruled as king. Other reconstructions insert a Tudhaliya directly after Muwattalli I, but before the Tudhaliya discussed here.
Some scholars call Tudhaliya I the first king of the New Kingdom, or Empire.
Tudhaliya I (sometimes referred to as
Tudhaliya II, or even Tudhaliya I/II) was a king of the Hittite empire (New kingdom) ca. the early 14th century BC (short chronology).
Proper numbering of the Hittite rulers who bore the name
TudhaliyaTudhaliya is the name of several Hittite kings*Tudhaliya is a hypothetic pre-Empire king of the Hittites. He would have reigned in the late 17th century BC . Forlanini conjectures that this king corresponds to the great-grandfather of Hattusili I.*Tudhaliya I , ruled ca...
is problematical. There was a Hattian era figure who bore the name Tudhaliya who may or may not have ruled as king. Other reconstructions insert a Tudhaliya directly after Muwattalli I, but before the Tudhaliya discussed here.
Some scholars call Tudhaliya I the first king of the New Kingdom, or Empire. Others give this honor to
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....
. Tudhaliya may have been the grandson of the Middle Kingdom ruler
Huzziya IIHuzziya II was a king of the Hittites , ca. late 15th century BC .-External links:*...
. He may have been the direct successor of
Muwatalli IMuwatalli I was a king of the Hittites , ca. 1400 BC .-External links:*...
, having overthrown him. The exact sequence of succession at the beginning of the New Kingdom is uncertain, however, because of the difficulty of placing
Hattusili IIHattusili II may have been a king of the Hittite Empire ca. the early 14th century BC .His existence is disputed...
. Tudhaliya I's reign includes a period of co-regency with
Arnuwanda IArnuwanda I was a king of the Hittite empire , ca. the early 14th century BC .-External links:*...
, his son-in-law and adopted son.
The most famous event of Tudhaliya's reign was his conquest of the land
AssuwaThe Assuwa league was a confederation of states in western Anatolia, defeated by the Hittites under an earlier Tudhaliya I around 1400 BC. The league formed to oppose the Hittite empire. The list of its members contains 22 names, including [...]uqqa, Warsiya, Taruisa, Wilusiya and Karkija .Some of...
. Assuwa is believed to be the origin of
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
. Further, there were many component territories within Assuwa, including the lands
Taruisa and
Wilusiya, which are now generally accepted to be references to
Troy/IliosTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
, although there is not enough evidence at this time to explain how these two lands came to apply to a single location.
A number of modern
biblical scholarsBiblical criticism is "the study and investigation of biblical writings that seeks to make discerning and discriminating judgments about these writings." It asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were...
believe that either Tudhaliya I, or the proto-Hittite
TudhaliyaTudhaliya is the name of several Hittite kings*Tudhaliya is a hypothetic pre-Empire king of the Hittites. He would have reigned in the late 17th century BC . Forlanini conjectures that this king corresponds to the great-grandfather of Hattusili I.*Tudhaliya I , ruled ca...
, was the same individual as
Tidal, king of Nations, who is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as having joined Chedorlaomer in attacking rebels in
CanaanCanaan is an ancient term for a region encompassing modern-day Israel and Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Jordan, Syria and northeastern Egypt...
.
External links