Kuzi-Teshub

He was the son of Talmi-Teshub, who was both the last viceroy of the Hittite Empire at Carchemish under Suppiluliuma II and a direct descendant of Suppiluliuma I.{{sfnp|Bryce|1998|page=384}} Kuzi-Teshub reigned in Carchemish as well as in the later Neo-Hittite city of Melid.

File:Ancient Luwian Cultural Center, Seal of Kuzi-Tessub (cropped).jpg

In Carchemish, Kuzi-Teshub succeeded his father in office, probably first as viceroy,{{sfnp|Bryce|2012|pages=84-85}} according to royal seal impressions found at Lidar Höyük in 1985 on the east bank of the Euphrates river.{{sfnp|Bryce|1998|page=384}} Kuzi-Teshub then styled himself as Great King of Carchemish, suggesting that the central Hittite dynasty at Hattusa had collapsed by this time and that he viewed himself as the legitimate heir of the line of Suppiluliuma I.{{sfnp|Bryce|1998|page=384}} Kuzi-Teshub is also styled as Great King in later inscriptions from Melid.{{cn|date=April 2020}} The next known Great King of Carchemish was Ir-Teshub.{{sfnp|Bryce|2012|pages=84-85}}

Kuzi-Teshub is not proved to have ruled directly as King of Melid.{{sfnp|Bryce|2012|pages=101-102}} On one hand, it is possible that he ruled directly in Melid, but on the other hand he may have installed his son Pugnus-mili I as the local ruler in Melid. Both Kuzi-Teshub and Pugnus-mili I are only known from inscriptions left by the autonomous kings of Melid, Runtiya and Arnuwanti I, who were sons of Pugnus-mili I and grandsons of Kuzi-Teshub. The references to Kuzi-Teshub in his grandsons' inscriptions may indicate that Melid had peacefully separated from Carchemish.{{sfnp|Bryce|2012|pages=101-102}}

{{Hittite tree |state=collapsed}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|author-link=Trevor R. Bryce |first=Trevor R. |last=Bryce |title=The Kingdom of the Hittites |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1998 }}
• {{cite book|first=Trevor |last=Bryce |title=The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, New York |date=2012 |isbn=978-0-19-921872-1 }}
• {{cite book|first=Alessandra |last=Gilibert |title=Syro-Hittite Monumental Art and the Archaeology of Performance |publisher=De Gruyter |location=Berlin |date=2011 |isbn=978-3-11-022225-8 }}

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{{succession box|title=King of Carchemish|before=Talmi-Teshub I|after=Ir-Teshub|years=early to mid-12th century BC}}

{{succession box|title=King of Melid|before=Unknown|after=PUGNUS-mili I|years=early to mid-12th century BC}}

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Category:Hittite viceroys of Carchemish

Category:Syro-Hittite kings of Carchemish

Category:12th-century BC monarchs