Upper edge and corners intact. Tablet restored
from many pieces, but still with fragments missing and deep cracks. In Hittite texts,
Queen Puduhepa is always portrayed as a dependable wife, in war and peace, in sickness and
health, to her husband. King Hattusili III. It is known from documentary sources that
the king had a weak constitution, and the queen lived in fear of losing him at any time,
so she frequently made prayers to the gods for her beloved husband to have a long and
healthy life, and made valuable offerings to them. Here, Queen Puduhepa beseeches the Sun
Goddess of Arinna:
...To the Sun Goddess of Arinna, my lady, the mistress of the Hatti lands, the
queen of earth and heaven. O Sun Goddess of Arinna: but in the land which you made the
Cedar land you bear the name Hepat. I, Puduhepa, am a servant of you from of old, a heifer
from your stable, a foundation stone (upon which) you (can rest). You, my lady, reared me
and Hattusili, your servant, to whom you espoused me, was closely associated with the
Storm God of Nerik, your beloved son... The festivals of you, the gods, which they had
stopped, the old festivals, the yearly ones and the monthly ones, they shall celebrate for
you, the gods. Your festivals, O gods, my lords, shall never be stopped again! For all our
days will we, your servant and your handmaid, worship you. This is what I, Puduhepa, your
handmaid, lay in prayer before the Sun Goddess of Arinna, my lady, the lady of Hatti
lands, the queen of heaven and earth. Sun Goddess of Arinna, my lady, yield to me, hearken
to me! Among men there is a saying: ‘To a woman in travail the god yields her wish.’
Since I, Puduhepa, am a woman in travail and since I have devoted myself to your son,
yield to me, Sun Goddess of Arinna, my lady! Grant to me what I ask! Grant life to
Hattusili, your servant! Through the good women and the mother goddesses long and enduring
years and days shall be given to him.
GOETZE 1950b, 393-394 (KUB XXI 27) |
