Kuzi-Teshub (also read as Kunzi-Teshub) was a

Neo-Hittite The states called Neo-Hittite, Syro-Hittite (in older literature), or Luwian-Aramean (in modern scholarly works) were Luwian and Aramean regional polities of the Iron Age, situated in southeastern parts of modern Turkey and northwestern parts o ...

King of

Carchemish Carchemish ( or ), also spelled Karkemish (), was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during its history the city was independent, but it was also part of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo-Assyrian ...

, reigning in the early to mid-12th century BC, likely in 1180-1150 BC.Alessandra Gilibert: ''Syro-Hittite Monumental Art and the Archaeology of Performance''. Berlin 2011, p. 115.

Early Life

He was the son of Talmi-Teshub, who was both the last viceroy of the

Hittite Empire The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

at Carchemish under Suppiluliuma II and a direct descendant of Suppiluliuma I. Kuzi-Teshub reigned in Carchemish as well as in the later Neo-Hittite city of

Melid Arslantepe, also known as Melid, was an ancient city on the Tohma River, a tributary of the upper Euphrates rising in the Taurus Mountains. It has been identified with the modern archaeological site of Arslantepe near Malatya, Turkey. It was na ...

Reign

In Carchemish, Kuzi-Teshub succeeded his father in office, probably first as viceroy, according to royal seal impressions found at Lidar Höyük in 1985 on the east bank of the

Euphrates river The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...

. Kuzi-Teshub then styled himself as Great King of Carchemish, suggesting that the central Hittite dynasty at

Hattusa Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittites, Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey (originally Boğazköy) within the great ...

had collapsed by this time and that he viewed himself as the legitimate heir of the line of Suppiluliuma I. Kuzi-Teshub is also styled as Great King in later inscriptions from Melid. The next known Great King of Carchemish was Ir-Teshub. Kuzi-Teshub is not proved to have ruled directly as King of Melid. On one hand, it is possible that he ruled directly in Melid, but on the other hand he may have installed his son Pugnus-mili I as the local ruler in Melid. Both Kuzi-Teshub and Pugnus-mili I are only known from inscriptions left by the autonomous kings of Melid, Runtiya and Arnuwanti I, who were sons of Pugnus-mili I and grandsons of Kuzi-Teshub. The references to Kuzi-Teshub in his grandsons' inscriptions may indicate that Melid had peacefully separated from Carchemish.

References

Literature

* * * {{s-end Hittite viceroys of Carchemish Syro-Hittite kings of Carchemish 12th-century BC monarchs