CHAPTER5

‘NowBloodshed

HasBecome

Common’

D

espite ensuring his place in the Hittites’roll of honour
for the rest of the kingdom’s history, Mursili fell victim
to a conspiracy within his own family just a few years
after his eastern triumphs. He was assassinated by his brother-in-
law Hantili.‘Now bloodshed (in the royal family) has become
common,’laments Telipinu in his Proclamation. One might expect
that the assassin himself would soon be for the chop. But not so.
Hantili managed to live to a ripe old age. And to give credit where
credit is due, he followed his murdered predecessor and his
predecessor in fulfilling his warrior responsibilities by continuing
Hittite campaigns in Syria all the way to Carchemish on the
Euphrates. Yet the kingdom suffered grave setbacks during his
reign. There were further invasions by the dreaded Hurrians who
apparently roamed the Hittite homeland and plundered it at will,
failing only to capture Hattusa itself before they were driven out of
the land.

NEW RULES OF ROYAL SUCCESSION

Hantili’s death led to renewed struggles within the extended royal
family for the throne, and hisfirst three successors, Zidanta,
Ammuna, and Huzziya, secured the kingship by conspiracy and