CHP WOMAN’S BRANCH'A Recorded Regional History of

Women in the Peace Making Process 3300 Years Ago’

Who is PUDUHEPA ?

13 Century BC. By :T. Nurlu Erkan

CHP Women's Branch Executive Board Member

Responsible for International Relations

• Puduhepa was born at the beginning of the 13th century BC in the city of Lawazantiya in Kizzuwatna ( a region in the South of the Hittite kingdom). Her father Bentepsharri was the head priest of of the city,

• Puduhepa was an influential character before marriage as well. She grew up to exercise the function of priestess of the goddess Ishtar ‘İştar’, that is ; Yıldız, Star, Stern, Artemis, Afrodit(Venüs) ,Kibele… All represent : fertility, love and war.

My hometown..

An important detail.

• On his return from the Battle of Kadesh, the Hittite general Hattuşili stopped at Kizzuwanta,city of Lawazantia to express his gratitudes to God İştar. There he met Puduhepa (it was said, Ishtar instructed him to take her as his wife.) She went with him then to the kingdom of Hapissa . When III Hattuşili defeated his nephew Mursili III, Puduhepa became a queen.

• A Turkish proverb says….

Why is PUDUHEPA well known in history ?

Firstly;in general, the role of the Hittite queen was a very powerful one .She seems to have essentially been the second in command to the king.

Puduhepa’s power, was totally dependent on, and fully subordinate to, that of her husband. Her husband had an illness called hypochondriac. Some say she took this as an advantage in making decissions.

On the otherhand ,some other researchers say ;The reign of the Great Queen Puduhepa is so well documented that it is clear that she played a very active and successful role in affairs of state, in political, legal and religious matters alike, performing her duties alongside and on an equal footing with her husband, as well as independently. (see the relief below)

Kayseri-Turkey Hittite relief from Firaktin (on rock) Puduhepe is on the right with Goddess Hepat, her husband Hittite king III

Hattuşili on the left with the God of Storm. They are both pouring libation to the God and Goddess.

Secondly, although Hattusili died around

1237 BC., Puduhepa remained a powerful figure during his son Tudhaliya’s reign as well.

like other Hittite queens Puduhepa continued to play the role of queen,with the title of goddess queen i.e Tawanna which means queen mother, during the reign of her son. She certainly remained an influential figure even after the death of her husband

• Thirdly, In 1936, a bulla, or seal-impressed clay, was found at Tarsus ,Gözlükule ,in southern Turkey….

• This seal belonged to Tudhaliya (her son) and dubbed the queen mother “Puduhepa, Great Queen, Queen of the Land of Hatti, beloved of Hepat.”

It is now in Adana museum in Turkey.• ‘So there’s a seal impression with

both of them on it,” notes Beckman.

• There is also another example of seal impressions on clay bullae or tablets of Puduhepa.

• Some say this is a joint seal of Puduhepa and III Hattuşili (her husband) but some say it is a personel seal impression of PUDUHEPA.

Joint seals

Prof.Dr.Muhibbe Darga in (‘Eski Anadolu’da Kadın’ page: 47) claims the Sun in the middle represents the

King.The two ‘great’ refer the head of queen Puduhepa i.e it is a personal seal of Puduhepa.

A summary of what is said so far

. A queen,with her personal seal and with an important role in the Hittite court as a judge and international diplomacy as well.

• A woman,a mother ,a loyal wife who is powerful, respectful ,impartial, courageous, making decisions and ruling in 13th Century B.C lived on my land.

.This is my pride and the pride of many women living on that land,Çukurova. (There is an NGO called Adana Kültür Sanat Derneği.

Every year they award 3,4 people a Puduhepa Prize )

• The most important historical evidence for her historic fame is Kadesh Peace Treaty in 1271 BC

• Before getting into the role of Puduhepa in making peace after the war of Kadesh , 'which is in the borders of Syria now' Let’s have a short look at Hittite Civilization.

HITTITE SUN (symbol of Hittite)

• Hittite civilization emerged in Anatolia. Although where they moved from is still debatable, generally believed that they had moved from Caucasus area. Moving into Hatti territory, they seem to have first appeared in Anatolia, around 2,000 BC.

The history of the Hittites falls within three

main periods of time. (dates are debatable)

• Old Hittite Kingdom (1720 to 1480 BCE)• Great Hittite Kingdom or Imperial Hittites

(1480 to 1190 BCE) .Late Hittite City States (1190 to 712 BCE) • The unexpected end of the Hittites was not

because of Assyrians, but it came from the West, the people known as ' Sea Peoples ' in the book of History of Herodotus, have destroyed much of Asia Minor including Hittite cities and Hattusas.

• This destruction happened in about 1200 BC.

Hittite Empire 1290 BC.

Map of Turkey

Hittite Empirewith its broader borders (in blue)

The Battle of Kadesh(near Humus in Syria) • In 1296 BC.(Larousse volume 6 p.748 ) the war took

place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, in the borders of present Syria. near Humus city.

• There is a civil war going on in the heart of the same place in Syria now as it was 3300 years ago…..

• We all hope,sooner ,a peace settlement will take place there as well.

• The battle of Kadesh is the earliest battle recorded in history for which details of tactics and formations are known. It was probably also the largest chariot battle ever fought, involving perhaps 4,000–6,000 chariots.

Ramses ıı at Kadesh on a Chariot

Hittite Soldiers

Hittite chariotry forces (Arkeology museum in İstanbul)

(:Kadesh Peace Treaty:)

• 15 years after the war ,Kadesh Treaty was signed in 1271 BC.

• Its purpose was to establish and maintain peaceful relations between Hittites and Egyptians .

• It was the oldest written treaty to survive today (though not the oldest known treaty).

The Role of Puduhepa in Kadesh Peace Treaty

• Remember that general Hattuşili married Puduhepa after the Kadesh war, before he became a King…..and Kadesh Treaty was signed 15 years after the war…(peace making process with queen Puduhepa)

• On the original silver tablet of Kadesh Peace Treaty has not survived but there exist the seal impressions of III Hattuşili ,II Ramses and Puduhepa . (ref. Karnak Temple in Egypt.)

• She also communicated (via letters) several (10-15)times with the king of Egypt, Ramses II and his wife Nefertiti. They both address her as ‘sister’ , as well as the same way that they address the King III Hattuşili. ('Great' ;emphasizing equality)

So, we now know that besides the given examples of seal impressions on clay or tablets , Puduhepa had a

personal silver seal plague which she used on the originalTreaty of

Kadesh. This is known from the Egyptian sources

This silver seal of Puduhepa is not found yet but there are two original

copies of Treaty of kadesh...

3 Languages

• The original silver tablet of Kadesh Peace Treaty was written in Akad language (diplomatic lang.)

• There is an original copy of Kadesh Treaty on Amun temple in Egypt.It is written in hieroglyphs language.

• Another original copy of clay tablet which is written in cuneiform script was found in Çorum, Turkey in 1906. i.e. in Hattuşa ,the capital of Hittites.

The contents of the Kadesh Treaty had been known through a text ‘carved on a stele in the Egyptian Amun

Temple of Karnak (below) in Egyptian hieroglyphs’ Egyptian copy of Kadesh Peace Treathy

The Hittite copy of Kadesh Peace Treaty (İstanbul Archaeology museum)

• During later excavations, four more pieces belonging to the main text were found and the missing parts were completed

(İstanbul Archaeology Museum)

What makes Kadesh PeaceTreatyso important?

• Firstly; It is the oldest written Treaty that exists.

• Secondly; It is the oldest written Treaty that is also signed by a woman :Queen PUDUHEPA

• Thirdly; It is the only 3300 years old written Treaty which had articles of agreement that are still valid and applicable in this present ,developed… world.

Here are some examples of Articles of agreement from Kadesh Treaty

• "If domestic or foreign enemies marches against one of these two countries and if they ask help from each other, both parties will send their troops and chariots in order to help.

• ‘’If a nobleman flees from Hatti and seeks refuge in Egypt, the king of Egypt will catch him and send him back to his country.’’

• ‘’If people flee from Egypt to Hatti or from Hatti to Egypt, those will be sent back. However, they will not be punished severely, and their wives and children will not be punished in revenge. “(human rights)

• Do they sound familiar to you? What do they remind you from our time?

• On 24 September 1970, Turkey Gave Kadesh Peace Treaty Copper Replica to United Nations to Display at UN.Headquarters in New York. (it is still there)

• In the photograph below, you will see İhsan Sabri Çaglayangil, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Turkey at that time and Secretary-General U Thant during the presentation ceremony.

Why study “women’s history”?‘’This is a frequently asked question, and is usually followed by “why do we need international women’s day (March 8th)” and “why don’t we have a “men’s day”? Well the answer is simple. After more than 2000 years of the systematic subordination and oppression of women in patriarchal societies across the globe,,, we need, yes- NEED, to address the imbalance that has seen the lives, experiences and stories of women excluded from the way we understand the world.

In a perfect world and in an ideal future, this may not be necessary, but right now there is a long way to go before the dream of true equality is fully recognised.’’ ref: tawananna

No Spring can bloom or flourish without women .

-Let's demand peace aloud to make our lands peaceful and better for us and our children.

-If we women have responsibility we demand authority as well.

‘‘Peace at Home Peace in the World’’

Kemal Atatürk

Thank you

Nurlu Erkan