allegiance to Tudhaliya and seizing his throne briefly before
Tudhaliya won it back. What were thought to be indications of a
destruction of parts of Hattusa in Tudhaliya’s reign were seen to
support this view; it was concluded that there had been a violent
takeover of the city by Kurunta. Evidence for a partial destruction
of Hattusa at this time is now discounted. But can we rule out the
possibility that Kurunta at least aspired to supreme sovereignty,
and that these seals were made in advance, in anticipation of a
successful coup? The mystery has deepened with the discovery of a
relief monument on a site called Hatip near modern Konya in
southern Anatolia. The relief, depicting a god kitted out for battle,
is accompanied by an inscription which reads‘Kurunta, Great
King, son of Muwattalli, Great King, Hero’.^3
How do wefit together this information with the Kurunta seals?
Several possibilities have been proposed. The first I’ve already
mentioned: that Kurunta rebelled against his cousin, and either
succeeded for a time in becoming Great King, or had seals struck
and inscriptions carved in anticipation of this but failed in his
attempt. A second possibility is that Kurunta did in fact become
Great King for a short time, but only after his cousin’s death.
There’s a further possibility we’ll discuss later. And you may have
thoughts of your own.
RISING UNREST THROUGHOUT THE KINGDOM
Beyond difficulties Tudhaliya may have faced in securing and
maintaining his position within his own extended family, the king
was confronted with ever-mounting problems in many parts of his
kingdom at large. Unrest was on the increase throughout the
subject-states, particularly in the west. Inscriptions from
Tudhaliya’s reign refer to one or more campaigns conducted by
the king in the west against the chronically troublesome Lukka
Lands, and against one of the Arzawa states, Seha River Land; its
throne had been seized by an upstart after the death of its previous
ruler Masturi, an uncle-in-law of Tudhaliya and loyal Hittite
subject. As we’ve noted, Masturi’s marriage with Tudhaliya’s aunt
(his father Hattusili’s sister) had failed to produce offspring, leaving
234 WARRIORS OF ANATOLIA