Horemheb and Hatti.
In the days of King Ay (and Tutankhamun before him) conflicts in Canaan and Syria remained a constant issue. In recent years, scholars have uncovered more information about these events and people. Horemheb, the Overseer of the Overseers of the Troops (aka the General of Generals) seems to have dealt, and fought, with Hittite forces. The records are fragmentary, but the clues are intriguing…
- Date: c. 1334 BCE (debated).
- Kings: Tutankhamun and Ay (debated).
- Episode logo: Foreigners praising the cartouche of Ay, from a piece of gold foil discovered in the Valley of the Kings.
- Music: Ancient rendition of “The Eve of the War,” adapted by Luke Chaos.
- Music: “War Song of Horus and Sekhmet,” by Jeffrey Goodman.
- Additional music interludes by Luke Chaos.
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Bibliography
- T. Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites (New Edition edn, New York, 2005).
- T. Bryce, The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the Fall of the Persian Empire (London, 2009).
- T. R. Bryce, ‘The Death of Niphururiya and Its Aftermath’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 76 (1990), 97–105.
- K. M. Bryson, ‘The Reign of Horemheb: History, Historiography, and the Dawn of the Ramesside Era’, Unpublished PhD. Thesis, Johns Hopkins University (2018).
- H. Güterbock, ‘The Deeds of Suppiluliuma as Told by His Son, Mursili II’, Journal of Cuneiform Studies 10 (1956), 41–68, 75–98, 107–30.
- G. T. Martin, Tutankhamun’s Regent: Scenes and Texts from the Memphite Tomb of Horemheb (EES Excavation Memoir 111; London, 2016).
- G. T. Martin, The Memphite Tomb of Ḥoremḥeb, Commander-in-Chief of Tutʻankhamūn, 1 (London, 1989).
- G. T. Martin, The Hidden Tombs of Memphis: New Discoveries From the Time of Tutankhamun and Ramesses the Great (London, 1991).
- J. L. Miller, ‘Amarna Age Chronology and the Identity of Nibxururiya in the Light of a Newly Reconstructed Hittite Text’, Altorientalische Forschungen 34 (2007), 252–93.
- J. L. Miller, ‘The Rebellion of Ḫatti’s Syrian Vassals and Egypt’s Meddling In Amurru’, Studi micenei ed egeo-anatolici (2008), 533—554.
- W. L. Moran, The Amarna Letters (Baltimore, 1992).
- W. J. Murnane, The Road to Kadesh: A Historical Interpretation of the Battle Reliefs of King Sety I at Karnak (Chicago, 1985).
- W. J. Murnane, Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt (Atlanta, 1995).
- Z. Simon, ‘Kann Armā mit Haremhab gleichgesetzt werden?’, Altorientalische Forschungen 36 (2009), 340—348.
Hum… if Horemheb was in Canaan during that time, I wonder if he was involved with Zananza’s death. Isn’t too hard to imagine that he would not agree with that marriage at all and would never allow anyone to dare try take the crown of egypt.
Agreed, it is easy to imagine. Unfortunately, the chronology of these events is too vague to say anything certain. We can speculate, but until our evidence is stronger it’s all hypothetical 😭
A nice mini episode. I’d either not heard these tails or only heard of them through brief mentions in other sources so it was great to get some detail.
One thing I do note is that according to the versions of Manetho reproduced in MT Huber’s “Who was the Father of Tutankhamen?”, Josephus, Africanus and Eusebius respectively name a pharaoh as Harmais (4), Armesis (5) or Armais (5) with number of years reigning in brackets. Given the length of reign this seems most likely to be Ay and potentially would support the identification of the general as Ay rather than Horemheb. Just a thought as the episode reminded that I heard a similar sounding name to the Hittite source before.
Agreed 🙂