Tudḫaliya was likely born in his father's court in Ḫattuša, after his brother and crown prince Nerikkaili, but still while their father was governing on his brother Muwatalli II's behalf. He was a good friend of Muwatalli's son, Kurunta, and Ḫattušili ordered that they stay on good terms.
After Ḫattušili III as King wrote up a treaty with "Ulmi-Tessup" which confirmed Kurunta's rule over Tarḫuntašša, Ḫattušili elevated Tudḫaliya over his older brother to be his crown prince. Tudḫaliya as king drew up a bronze tablet treaty confirming the links between him and Kurunta.
The Hittite Empire covered large parts of Anatolia and Syria. Climate change set with drier conditions that caused a severe drought. Tudḫaliya IV responded by building at least 13 dams to secure water supplies, one of which still survives to this day at Alacahöyük.[1]
In the East, Tudḫaliya IV faced the rival Assyrians. He suffered a severe defeat at the hands of Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria in the Battle of Nihriya, c. 1237 BC.
Seal of Tudḫaliya IV
Tudḫaliya, king of the Hittites, was reeling from defeat by the Assyrians at the Battle of Nihriya, refers to the Babylonian king as his equal, in his treaty with his vassal, Šaušgamuwa of Amurru, hinting at the possible existence of an alliance or at least a tacit understanding between them.[2] It reads:
The kings who are equal to me (are) the king of Egypt, the king of Karanduniyaš (Babylon), the king of Assyria <and the king of Aḫḫiyawa>. And if the king of Karanduniyaš is My Majesty's friend, he shall also be your friend; but if he is My Majesty's enemy, he shall also be your enemy. Since the king of Assyria is My Majesty's enemy he shall also be your enemy. Your merchant shall not enter into Assyria and you shall not allow his merchant into your land. He shall not pass through your land. But if he enters into your land, you should seize him and send him off to My Majesty.[3]
— Treaty between Tudḫaliya and Šaušgamuwa, Tablet A, column IV, lines 1-18 edited
In the Southwest, the empire had been divided with parts of the territory controlled by Kurunta of Tarḫuntašša.
A clay tablet (CTH 121), dating to the reign of Šuppiluliuma II, tells that a statue was set up by Tudḫaliya IV to commemorate his conquest of the Land of Alasiya (Cyprus?).
Tudḫaliya IV had two sons, Arnuwanda III and Šuppiluliuma II, who are considered the final two kings of the Hittite Empire.
^Trevor Bryce (2005). The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford University Press. pp. 494, 318.
^Itamar Singer (2003). "Treaties". In William W. Hallo (ed.). The Context of Scripture: Volume II: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World. Brill. p. 99.
Small caps indicates a Great King (LUGAL.GAL) of the Land of Hatti; italic small caps indicates a Great Queen or Tawananna.
Dashed lines indicate adoption.
Solid lines indicate marriage (if horizontal) or parentage (if vertical).
References:
Trevor Bryce (1997). The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Trevor Bryce (2005). The Kingdom of the Hittites (new edition). Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Trevor Bryce (2012). The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Jacques Freu (2007). Les débuts du nouvel empire hittite. Paris, France: L'Harmattan.
Volkert Haas (2006). Die hethitische Literatur. Berlin, Germany: de Gruyter.
Notes:
^Scholars have suggested that Tudhaliya I/II was possibly a grandson of the Hittite king Huzziya II; the first Tudhaliya is now known to be the son of Kantuzzili (Bryce 1997, p. 131 suggested Himuili, but the new edition, Bryce 2005, p. 122, indicated Kantuzzili).
^Bryce (1997) does not consider it clear whether Tudhaliya I/II was one king or two (p. 133); the link points to Tudhaliya II. Among those who identify distinct kings Tudhaliya I and Tudhaliya II, Freu (2007) has Kantuzzili—his son Tudhaliya I—his son Hattusili II—his son Tudhaliya II (p. 311).
^The existence of Hattusili II is doubted by many scholars (Bryce 1997, pp. 153–154; Bryce 2005, p. 141). Among those who accept the existence of Hattusili II, Freu (2007), p. 311, has Tudhaliya I—his son Hattusili II—his son Tudhaliya II.
^King (lugal) of Tarhuntassa (Bryce 1997, p. 296); apparently later Great King of Hatti (Bryce 1997, p. 354).
^Nerikkaili married a daughter of Bentesina, king of Amurru (Bryce 1997, p. 294).
^Two daughters of Hattusili III were married to the pharaoh Ramesses II; one was given the Egyptian name Ma(hor)nefrure. Another, Gassuwaliya, married into the royal house of Amurru. Kilushepa was married to a king of Isuwa. A daughter married into the royal family of Babylon. A sister of Tudhaliya IV married Sausgamuwa, king of Amurru after his father Bentesina. From Bryce (1997), pp. 294 and 312.
^Bryce (1997), p. 363. Tudhaliya IV probably married a Babylonian princess, known by her title of Great Princess (dumu.sal gal) (Bryce 1997, pp. 294, 331).
A detailed and annotated genealogy of Hittite New Kingdom monarchs and their families, as reconstructed by Jacques Freu in his multi-volume work Les Hittites et leur histoire, presented as an alternative to the less detailed and sometimes differing reconstruction based on Trevor Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites.
References:
Freu, Jacques, and Michel Mazoyer (2007b), Les débuts du nouvel empire hittite, Paris.
Freu, Jacques, and Michel Mazoyer (2008), L'apogée du nouvel empire hittite, Paris.
Freu, Jacques, and Michel Mazoyer (2010), Le déclin et la chute du nouvel empire hittite, Paris.
Freu, Jacques (2010–2011), "Le vase d'argent du musée des civilisations anatoliennes d'Ankara et la fin de l'empire hittite," Talanta 42–43 (2010–2011) 185-192.
