The dating and sequence of the Hittite kings is compiled from fragmentary records, supplemented by the recent find in Hattusa of a cache of more than 3,500 seal impressions giving names and titles and genealogy of Hittite kings. All dates given here are approximate, relying on synchronisms with known chronologies for neighbouring countries and Egypt.
All reign lengths are approximate. The list uses the middle chronology, the most generally accepted chronology of the Ancient Near East and the chronology that accords best with Hittite evidence. [2]
Ruler | Reign (MC) [1] | Lineage and notes |
---|---|---|
Labarna | c. 1680 – c. 1650 BC [3] | Traditional founder of the royal line; existence disputed. [1] |
Ḫattušili I [lower-alpha 1] | c. 1650 – c. 1620 BC | Nephew of the wife of Labarna I [4] |
Mursili I | c. 1620 – c. 1590 BC | Grandson of Ḫattušili I. [4] Sacked Babylon c. 1595 BC. [1] [5] |
Hantili I | c. 1590 – c. 1560 BC | Brother-in-law of Mursili I [4] |
Zidanta I | c. 1560 – c. 1550 BC | Son-in-law of Hantili I [4] |
Ammuna | c. 1550 – c. 1530 BC | Son of Zidanta I [4] |
Huzziya I | c. 1530 – c. 1525 BC | Son of Ammuna (?) [4] |
Telipinu | c. 1525 – c. 1500 BC | Brother-in-law of Huzziya I [4] |
Ruler | Reign (MC) [1] | Lineage and notes |
---|---|---|
Alluwamna | c. 1500 BC | Son-in-law of Telipinu [4] |
Tahurwaili | c. 1500 – c. 1490 BC | Cousin of Telipinu [6] |
Hantili II | c. 1490 – c. 1480 BC | Son of Alluwamna [4] |
Zidanta II [lower-alpha 2] | c. 1480 – c. 1470 BC | Nephew of Hantili II (?) [4] |
Huzziya II | c. 1470 – c. 1460 BC | Unclear lineage [4] |
Muwatalli I | c. 1460 – c. 1420 BC | Unclear lineage [4] |
Ruler | Reign (MC) [1] | Lineage and notes |
---|---|---|
Ḫattušili II | c. 1420 – c. 1400 BC | Unclear lineage; existence disputed [7] |
Tudḫaliya I | c. 1400 – c. 1390 BC | Grandson of Huzziya II (?) [4] |
Arnuwanda I | c. 1390 – c. 1380 BC | Son-in-law of Tudḫaliya I [4] |
Tudḫaliya II [lower-alpha 3] | c. 1380 – c. 1370 BC | Son of Arnuwanda I [4] |
Tudḫaliya III (?) | c. 1370 BC | Son of Tudḫaliya II. Also known as "Tudḫaliya the Younger"; rule disputed. |
Šuppiluliuma I | c. 1370 – c. 1330 BC | Son or son-in-law of Tudḫaliya II [4] Expanded the empire. Mentioned in the Amarna letters. [8] |
Arnuwanda II | c. 1330 BC | Son of Šuppiluliuma I [4] |
Muršili II | c. 1330 – c. 1295 BC | Son of Šuppiluliuma I [4] |
Muwatalli II [lower-alpha 4] | c. 1295 – c. 1282 BC | Son of Muršili II [4] Fought at the Battle of Kadesh. |
Muršili III [lower-alpha 5] | c. 1282 – c. 1275 BC | Son of Muwatalli II [4] |
Ḫattušili III | c. 1275 – c. 1245 BC | Son of Muršili II [4] Signatory of the Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty. |
Tudḫaliya IV [lower-alpha 6] | c. 1245 – c. 1215 BC | Son of Ḫattušili III [4] Fought at the Battle of Nihriya. |
Arnuwanda III | c. 1215 – c. 1210 BC | Son of Tudḫaliya IV [4] |
Šuppiluliuma II [lower-alpha 7] | c. 1210 – c. 1190 BC [1] [9] | Son of Tudḫaliya IV [4] Last known king before the Late Bronze Age collapse and end of the kingdom. |
Kültepe, also known as Kanesh or Nesha, is an archaeological site in Kayseri Province, Turkey, inhabited from the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, in the Early Bronze Age. The nearest modern city to Kültepe is Kayseri, about 20km southwest. It consisted of an Upper city, and a lower city, where an Assyrian kārum, trading colony, was found. Its ancient names are recorded in Assyrian and Hittite sources. In cuneiform inscriptions from the 20th and the 19th century BC, the city was mentioned as Kaneš (Kanesh); in later Hittite inscriptions, the city was mentioned as Neša, or occasionally as Aniša (Anisha). In 2014, the archaeological site was inscribed in the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey. It is the place where the earliest record of a definitively Indo-European language has been found, Hittite, dated to the 20th century BC.
Tunna, also Dunna or Atuna, was an ancient Anatolian city. In classical antiquity Tunna was known as Tynna. Today it is known as Porsuk Hüyük or Zeyve Höyük.
Tyana, earlier known as Tuwana during the Syro-Hittite period, and Tuwanuwa under the Hittite Empire, was an ancient city in the Anatolian region of Cappadocia, in modern Kemerhisar, Niğde Province, Central Anatolia, Turkey. It was the capital of a Luwian-speaking Neo-Hittite kingdom in the 1st millennium BC.
Mursili III, also known as Urhi-Teshub, was a king of the Hittites who assumed the throne of the Hittite empire at Tarhuntassa upon his father's death. He was a cousin of Tudhaliya IV and Queen Maathorneferure. He ruled ca. 1282–1275 BC or 1272–1265 BC.
Mursili II was a king of the Hittite Empire c. 1330–1295 BC or 1321–1295 BC.
Arnuwanda I was a king of the Hittite Empire. He became a ruler by marriage and was very religious. He ruled c. 1390–1380 BC.
Tudhaliya II was a king of the Hittite empire c. 1380–1370 BC or 1360? – 1344 BC. He was the son of King Arnuwanda I and Ašmu-nikal.
Ammuna was a King of the Hittites ca. 1550–1530 BC or 1486–1466 BC. The land seems to have suffered badly during his reign, and he lost a considerable amount of territory.
Kussara (Kuššar) was a Middle Bronze Age kingdom in Anatolia. The kingdom, though apparently important at one time, is mostly remembered today as the origin of the dynasty that would form the Old Hittite Kingdom.
Tudhaliya III was a king of the Hittite Empire. In academic literature, this name can refer to two separate individuals. One is known under the Hurrian name Tasmi-Sarri. He could also be referred to as Tudhaliya II or Tudhaliya III.
Hantili I was a king of the Hittites during the Hittite Old Kingdom. His reign lasted for 30 years, from c. 1590 to c. 1560 BC.
Zidanta I was a king of the Hittites, ruling for 10 years, ca. 1560–1550 BC or 1496–1486 BC. According to the Telepinu Proclamation, this king became a ruler by murder.
Huzziya I was a king of the Hittites, ruling for 5 years, ca. 1530–1525 BC or 1466–1461 BC.
Tahurwaili was a king of the Hittites, c. early 15th century BC or mid 15th century BC. He was a cousin of the King Telipinu.
Purushanda was an Anatolian kingdom of the early second millennium prior to the common era. It was conquered by the Hittites sometime between 1650 and 1556 BCE.
Zakkur was the ancient king of Hamath and Luhuti in Syria. He ruled around 785 BC. Most of the information about him comes from his basalt stele, known as the Stele of Zakkur.
The House of Suhi was a dynasty of rulers of Carchemish. The members of this dynasty are best known to us through Hieroglyphic Luwian sources. Only one member of the house of Suhi is specifically mentioned in Assyrian sources. The House of Suhi was followed by a dynasty known as the House of Astiruwa.
Hartapu was an Anatolian king in the 8th century BCE. He is known from Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions from Kizildağ, Mount Karadağ, Burunkaya near Aksaray, and most recently Türkmen-Karahöyük, site of a monumental stele in which he claimed victory over the kingdom of Phrygia, ruled around that time by King Midas.
The Middle Babylonian period, also known as the Kassite period, in southern Mesopotamia is dated from c. 1595 – c. 1155 BC and began after the Hittites sacked the city of Babylon. The Kassites, whose dynasty is synonymous with the period, eventually assumed political control over the region and consolidated their power by subjugating the Sealand dynasty c. 1475 BC. After the subjugation of the Sealand dynasty, the Kassites unified the region of Babylonia into a single political entity. At the height of the Middle Babylonian period, the Kassite kings were engaging in commerce, trade, and organising diplomatic marriages with the kings of Egypt and other regional powers. However, after a period of gradual decline, the Middle Babylonian period collapsed with the fall of the Kassite dynasty c. 1155 BC. The collapse came as a result of an Assyrian invasion, that temporarily displaced the Kassites from their rule over southern Mesopotamia. Finally, the Elamites conducted various raids and eventually invaded Babylonian c. 1158 BC, which brought the Kassite dynasty and Middle Babylonian period to an end.