Thu., 12/12

Do Now: Read p. 285 – p. 286, ¶ 3. Annotate: “Queen Puduhepa” (see below) Write the following DQ at the bottom of p. 2 of the reading: How does Puduhepa’s syncretism of Hurrian and Hittite deities reflect political events on the ground? Write a response to this DQ. Use complete sentences (with proper nouns / no unidentified pronouns). HW: Complete the above and study for the exam (20 min., total).

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QUEEN PUDUHEPA:

Queen Puduhepa and King Hatusilli III together with Pharaoh Ramses II, put their seal under the first international peace treaty in human history, between the great powers of Egypt and the Hittites.

Puduhepa was living with her father Bentepsharri, who was the city's head priest. It is told that Ishtar appeared to Hattusili in a dream and instructed him to marry this smart and powerful girl. Of course, this marriage would pave the way to dominate Kizzuwatna, an independent Anatolian kingdom surrounded with valuable resources.

On his return from the Battle of Kadesh, Hattusili found Puduhepa and asked her to marry him to pay tribute to Isthar. Puduhepa accompanied the king to the capital of Hapissa as the empire's new queen who stands out a successful woman in a male-dominated society and introduced her country's unique culture to the Hittites. Certain biographical records say Puduhepa enjoyed the same rights as her husband. Her seal is on the ‘Silver Treaty’ made between Hatti and Egypt after their stalemate at the Battle of Kadesh.

The Hittite empire was reigned by a Great King and a Great Queen or Tawannana. Both were titles for a lifetime, so when the king died the Tawannana continued her reign together with the next Great King. King and Tawannana were also high priest and high priestess.

Puduhepa had an important role to play in the Hittite court and international diplomacy of the period. She would appear constantly by the side of her husband as he made his rulings and decisions. It appears however that she was portrayed reigning hand in hand with her husband rather than subservient to the king.

After the signing of the peace treaty, Puduhepa played an important role in diplomacy with Ancient Egypt. Puduhepa communicated personally with Ramesses II, the king of Egypt, calling him “brother” and his first royal wife, Nefertari, “sister”. In a letter we read:

The great Queen Naptera (Nefertari) of the land of Egypt speaks thus: ʻSpeak to my sister Puduḫepa, the Great Queen of the Hatti land. I, your sister, (also) be well!! May your country be well. Now, I have learned that you, my sister, have written to me asking after my health. You have written to me because of the good friendship and brotherly relationship between your brother, the king of Egypt, The Great and the Storm God will bring about peace, and he will make the brotherly relationship between the Egyptian king, the Great King, and his brother, the Hatti King, the Great King, last forever... See, I have sent you a gift, in order to greet you, my sister... for your neck (a necklace) of pure gold, composed of 12 bands and weighing 88 shekels, colored linen of maklalu-material, for one royal dress for the king... A total of 12 linen garments.’

Puduhepa’s daughters were Maathorneferure, who married Rameses II, and Princess Kiluš-Ḫepa.

Trevor Bryce notes:

In her capacity as chief priestess, Puduhepa seems to have ordered a comprehensive collection and organization of religious texts, and to have made extensive revisions to religious ceremonies and rituals. She may also have organized a major rationalization of the vast array of deities who had accumulated in the Hittite pantheon, establishing a number of syncretisms between Hittite and Hurrian deities in particular. The most important of these syncretisms is reflected in the opening lines of her prayer to the Sun Goddess of Arinna:

To the Sun Goddess of Arinna, My Lady, the Mistress of the Hatti lands, the Queen of heaven and earth. Sun Goddess of Arinna, you are Queen of all countries! In the Land of Hatti you bear the name of the Sun Goddess of Arinna; but in the land which you made the cedar land you bear the name Hepat.

Our records give little indication that she used her substantial powers for purely personal ends, or that she ever provided her husband with less than total dedicated support. This must have been of inestimable value to the king in helping him to deal with the crises over the royal succession, and in establishing the credibility of his regime in the eyes of foreign rulers. …She continued to play an active role in Hittite affairs for many years after her husband’s death, and may have still been alive as late as the reign of the Ugaritic king Niqmaddu III at the end of the thirteenth century. If so, she must have lived at least to the age of ninety, even if she was only fifteen when she married Hattusili not long after the battle of Kadesh (The Kingdom of the Hittites).

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