| Boðazköy (Hattuþa) Hittite Empire, 13th century BC.
Language: Akkadian
Baked clay. h: 8.5 cm.,w: 6.7cm. th: 2.6 cm.
Istanbul Archaeological Museums, BO. 1231 |
|
Piece from the upper left corner of the tablet.
On the back face there is no writing at the lower left, and the upper right face is
broken. Queen Puduhepa had equal rights and authority with her husband, the Great King
Hattusili III, and that, always by his side, she performed her duties independently. In
particular, letters sent to her personally from the Egyptian King Ramses II are word
for the same as those he sent to her husband Hattusili III. Extracts from a letter
sent from Ramses II to Queen Puduhepa, in which he addressed her as Great Queen and my
sister are as follows:
The Great King, the king of Egypt, son of the Sun, Ramses beloved of Amon, speaks
thus: Speak to the queen of the Hatti land, the great Queen Puduhepa: See then, I, your
brother, am well. My houses, my sons, my armies, my horses, my chariots and the things in
my lands, are very well (in comfort). May you, my sister,(also) be well! May your houses,
your sons, your armies, your horses, your chariots, your nobles, and the things in your
lands be very very well! Speak thus to my sister: Look now! My messengers have come to me
together with my sister’s messengers and have brought me news that my brother, the king
of the Hatti land, the Great King, is in good health... Speak thus to my sister: The great
King, the king of the Hatti land, has written to me thus: ‘Let the people come to pour
sweet-smelling oil on my daughter’s head and let them take her to the house of the Great
King, the king of Egypt, my brother. ‘Look now! My brother wrote thus to me. This
decision written to me by brother is wonderful. The Sun God has approved of him. The
Weather God has approved of him. And the Egyptian gods and the Hatti gods have approved of
him for making this fine decision in order to join two great lands into one forever...
EDEL 1953.262-273 (KUB lll 63). |
