Episode 82 – Hittite 14 Suppiluliuma Irritates Egypt

In the aftermath of one of the greatest campaigns of the bronze age, Suppiluliuma’s Hittites need to consolidate control over Syria. This is complicated by matters of Egyptian and Mitanni politics, as well as the endless politicking of the tiny Syrian states, but it turns out if you have a massive army and a military genius, than many political problems have a way of simply resolving themselves. We will also see one of the strangest events in bronze age political history, and we will see how it goes sour and launches a multi-generational feud between Egypt and the Hittites.

I mentioned that the History of Egypt podcast had an extensive series on the Ammurite menace, Abdi-Asherta and his son. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here.

Find a Suppiluliuma I map, esp with Aleppo and Carchemish

It is tough to find good Hittite empire maps that all agree, for example, this map shows pretty much all of the Kaskan lands as held, but nothing in western Anatolia. Still, this is a fair reference for the empire under Suppiluliuma I.