CHAPTER 4

The Legacy of an

Ailing King

W

e come now to whatmaybe the end of Hattusili’s
reign–or least to a period when the king lay seriously
ill. Information about this comes from one of the most
extraordinary documents to emerge from the Hittite archives.
Commonly known as the Testament of Hattusili and preserved in a
thirteenth-century Hittite–Akkadian bilingual copy,^1 it records a
scene set in Kussar, ancestral home of the Hittite royal family.
We learn from the text that King Hattusili was in the city at the
time and fell ill there.
Let’s recreate the scene, and the context in which it occurs,
from what the Testament tells us.

AN AILING KING’S BEQUEST

Hattusili’s illness is a serious and perhaps terminal one. If he dies,
his kingdom, already in crisis, will be plunged into chaos. Bitter
divisions within the royal household make it essential that the
succession to the throne befirmly secured before his death. His
high-ranking military officers and other dignitaries have been
summoned to his bedside – for he has something of vital
importance to say to them.
The VIPs, representatives of the most powerful elements in the
realm, gather in silence as the king prepares to address them.
A scribe has been summoned to record his every word–perhaps