Telipinu was the last king of the
Hittites
The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...
Old Kingdom, living in 16th century BC, reigned c. 1525-1500 BC in
middle chronology
The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...
. At the beginning of his reign, the
Hittite Empire
The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centr ...
had contracted to its core territories, having long since lost all of its conquests, made in the former era under
Hattusili I Ḫattušili (''Ḫattušiliš'' in the inflected nominative case) was the regnal name of three Hittite kings:
* Ḫattušili I (Labarna II)
* Ḫattušili II
* Ḫattušili III
It was also the name of two Neo-Hittite kings:
* Ḫattušili I (Laba ...
and
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 w ...
– to
Arzawa
Arzawa was a region and a political entity (a " kingdom" or a federation of local powers) in Western Anatolia in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC (roughly from the late 15th century BC until the beginning of the 12th century BC). The core ...
in the West,
Mitanni
Mitanni (; Hittite cuneiform ; ''Mittani'' '), c. 1550–1260 BC, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat (''Hanikalbat'', ''Khanigalbat'', cuneiform ') in Assyrian records, or ''Naharin'' in ...
in the East, the
Kaskians
The Kaska (also Kaška, later Tabalian Kasku and Gasga,) were a loosely affiliated Bronze Age non-Indo-European tribal people, who spoke the unclassified Kaskian language and lived in mountainous East Pontic Anatolia, known from Hittite sour ...
in the North, and
Kizzuwatna in the South.
Biography
Telipinu was a son-in-law of
Ammuna and brother-in-law of
Huzziya I
Huzziya I was a king of the Hittites (Old Kingdom), ruling for 5 years, ca. 1530–1525 BC (middle chronology) or 1466–1461 BC ( short chronology).''The Kingdom of the Hittites'' by Trevor R. Bryce
Biography
According to the Telepinu Procl ...
as a husband of Ammuna's daughter Ištapariya. His name was taken from the
agricultural god Telipinu. During Telipinu’s reign, Huzziya and his five brothers were killed. His son and wife were killed by Telepinu's rivals to the throne. The assassins were caught and sentenced to death, but Telepinu showed his desire to stop the bloodshed (many of his predecessors were assassinated or died mysteriously) and banished these assassins instead.
He was able to recover a little ground from the
Hurrians of Mitanni, by forming an alliance with the Hurrians of Kizzuwatna; however, with the end of his reign, the Hittite Empire enters a temporary "Dark Ages", the
Middle Kingdom, lasting around 70 years, when records become too scanty to draw many conclusions.
Telepinu is perhaps most famous for drawing up the ''
Edict of Telepinu'' which dictated the laws of succession for the Hittite
throne
A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the mona ...
. It was designed to stop all the royal murders which had taken place in the previous decades, which had destabilised the empire and reduced the empire to only its heartland.
Family
Alluwamna was a son-in-law of Telipinu, because he married Princess Harapšeki, and Telipinu was her father.
Biography and family of King Telepinu
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External links
Notes
{{Authority control
Hittite kings
16th-century BC rulers