diplomacy for both Hittites and Kassites alike at this stage of their development.
Most likely, Mursili’s expedition against Babylon was simply a military adventure,
very much in the tradition of the campaigns of destruction and plunder which typified
his grandfather’s reign.^3
Mursili was assassinated a few years after his return from Babylon, an event which
led to serious, ongoing political fragmentation within the kingdom of Hatti, making
it highly vulnerable to enemy invasion. The Hurrians, in particular, exploited this
period of weakness in Hatti’s history, which lasted 60 years or more, by sweeping
across the frontiers of the Hittite homeland and plundering its territories. The kingdom
was brought to the brink of annihilation. Yet under an enterprising new king, Telipinu
(c. 1525 – 1500 ), Hatti recovered many of its lost territories, and by the early fourteenth
century had re-emerged as a major international power. Its interest in re-establishing
its influence and authority in northern Syria brought it into direct conflict with the
Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni. The showdown between the two great powers finally
came during the reign of the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I (c. 1350 – 1322 ). In preparation
for this showdown, Suppiluliuma sought to bolster his influence and support in the
Syria–Euphrates region by a series of diplomatic initiatives. This provided the context
for the reappearance of Babylon in Hittite records. A Kassite ruling dynasty was now
firmly established in Babylonia. Suppiluliuma sought to establish close links with
this dynasty by negotiating a marriage between himself and the daughter of the king
of Babylon. At this time Babylon’s throne was occupied by Burnaburiash II, who
must therefore have been the bride’s father.
Apparently by the terms of the marriage agreement, Suppiluliuma had to recognise
the Babylonian as his chief wife – which meant disposing of the chief wife he already
had. Her name was Henti. She was the mother of all five of her husband’s sons. A
fragmentary Hittite text mayindicate that, to make way for his new wife, Suppiluliuma
banished her, perhaps to a place of exile in the Aegean world. The Babylonian bride,
whose original name has long been assumed to have been Malnigal (see refs in Bryce
2005 : 433 n. 24 ), took on the new name Tawananna as a personal name. It had
previously been used as the title of the reigning Hittite queen. Adopting this name,
she was associated with her husband on a number of seal impressions, including
several which belong within the context of Suppiluliuma’s alliance with the king of
Ugarit, Niqmaddu II, an alliance which can be dated to Suppiluliuma’s ‘First’ or
‘One-year’ Syrian war (c. 1340 ).^4 The legend in Akkadian cuneiform reads: ‘Seal of
Suppiluliuma, the Great King, King of the Land of Hatti, beloved of the Storm God;
seal of Tawananna, the Great Queen, Daughter of the King of Babylon’.
Strategic considerations almost certainly lay behind Suppiluliuma’s marriage alliance
with the Babylonian royal family. Very likely, the marriage took place only a year
or so before Suppiluliuma launched his comprehensive military operations against
the Mitannian king Tushratta and his subjects and allies in Syria. If this sequence of
events is correct, it is difficult not to see a connection between the wedding and the
war. But Suppiluliuma may have used his marriage link with Babylon’s royal family
merely as a means of gaining Burnaburiash’s benevolent neutrality, rather than his
active military support, during the Hittite showdown with Mitanni. Throughout its
history, the Kassite dynasty showed little interest in engaging in military campaigns
west of the Euphrates. Further, the marriage union would have strengthened any
assurances which Suppiluliuma gave to Burnaburiash that Hittite military operations
— A view from Hattusa —