Telipinu (or Telepinu) Proclamation is a
Hittite edict
An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement".
''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum.
Notable edicts
* Telepinu Proc ...
, written during the reign of King
Telipinu
Telipinu was the last king of the Hittites Old Kingdom, living in 16th century BC, reigned c. 1525-1500 BC in middle chronology. At the beginning of his reign, the Hittite Empire had contracted to its core territories, having long since lost all ...
, c. 1525-1500 BCE. The text is classified as CTH 19 in the
Catalogue of Hittite Texts.
The edict is significant because it made possible to reconstruct a succession of Hittite Kings. It also recounts some important events like
Mursili I
Mursili I (also known as Mursilis; sometimes transcribed as Murshili) was a king of the Hittites 1620-1590 BC, as per the middle chronology, the most accepted chronology in our times, (or alternatively c. 1556–1526 BC, short chronology), and wa ...
's conquest of
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
of which no other Hittite document exists. Little more than the names of the successors of Telipinu is known for a period of about 80 years.
Van Seter argues that the edict is a legal, rather than a historical text, laying out rules for royal succession in the Hittite Kingdom. Lawson criticizes this approach by saying that a quasi-legal text may also be a historical one. Mario Liverani observes that the edict should be interpreted carefully, for it is a lot more useful in understanding the situation at the time it was written than in reconstructing the past history.
[Liverani, Mario ''Myth And Politics In Ancient Near Eastern Historiography'', Cornell University Press, 2007 {{ISBN, 0801473586]
References
External linksTelipinu Proclamation
16th-century BC literature
Edicts
Hittite texts
First Babylonian Empire