Telepinu Proclamation

Telipinu (or Telepinu) Proclamation is a Hittite edict, written during the reign of King Telipinu, circa 1550 BCE.[1]

The edict is significant because it made possible to reconstruct a succession of Hittite Kings. It also recounts some important events like Mursili I's conquest of Babylon of which no other Hittite document exists. Little more than the names of the successors of Telipinu is known for a period of about 80 years.[2]

Van Seter argues that the edict is a legal, rather than a historical text, laying out rules for royal succession in the Hittite Kingdom. Lawson criticizes this approach by saying that a quasi-legal text may also be a historical one.[3] Mario Liverani observes that the edict should be interpreted carefully, for it is a lot more useful in understanding the situation at the time it was written than in reconstructing the past history.[4]

References
  1. The Oxford encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, v. 3
  2. Archi, Alfonso Middle Hittite - "Middle Kingdom" in Hoffner, Harry A. Hittite Studies in Honor of Harry A. Hoffner, Jr Eisenbrauns, 2003 ISBN 1575060795
  3. Younger, K. Lawson The Underpinnings in Long, Philip Israel's Past in Present Research: Essays on Ancient Israelite Historiography Eisenbrauns, 1999 ISBN 1575060280
  4. Liverani, Mario Myth And Politics In Ancient Near Eastern Historiography, Cornell University Press, 2007 ISBN 0801473586

Telipinu Proclamation

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