A Coregency for Mursili III?
Abstract This paper offers a historical reconstruction of the period between the end of Muwatalli II's reign and the beginning of his successor's. Such a reconstruction is based on the hypothesis of a coregency between Muwatalli II and Mursili III/Urhi Tessub. This version of events, the paper argues, follows from a non forced interpretation of the text KUB 21.33, a fragment mentioning a number of events of "political" nature independent of one another but are linked to a person called Mursili. This text has been widely discussed by previous scholarship and it is here re edited and thoroughly examined. The hypothesis of a coregency seems to fit in with the evidence provided by another enigmatic text, KUB 31.66( and could also shed some light on the bullae characterized by the so called Doppelabdrucken from the Nisantepe archive. The main topics discussed are the removal of Sapili, king of Amurru, the lawsuit concerning queen Tanuhepa, the political relations with Manapa Tarhunta, king of Seha River Land, and the marriage arrangement concerning Massanauzzi. Remarks on the hittite kings' "double name option" and on coregency in hittite history conclude the paper.