Tudḫaliya the Younger
Tudḫaliya the Younger, possibly also the bearer of the Hurrian name Tulpi-Teššub, was a son of the Hittite great king Tudḫaliya III, who was murdered by Šuppiluliuma I in c. 1350 BC. It is uncertain and perhaps doubtful that Tudḫaliya the Younger reigned as great king of Ḫatti.
Evidence
The main source of information on Tudḫaliya the Younger are the Plague Prayers of Šuppiluliuma I's son Muršili II:
Interpretation
With the Plague Prayers virtually our only source of information, Tudḫaliya the Younger remains obscure. He might have been underage or at least young and inexperienced at the time of his father's death. Šuppiluliuma's "crime," the murder of Tudḫaliya III's son and heir-apparent Tudḫaliya the Younger was later identified as the cause of divine wrath and the outbreak of plague by Muršili II. Based on the existence of seal impressions of Šuppiluliuma naming him the son of Tudḫaliya III, scholars have traditionally assumed that Šuppiluluiuma gained the throne by murdering his brother or half-brother Tudḫaliya the Younger. However, the context seems to exclude a sibling relationship between Tudḫaliya the Younger and Šuppiluliuma, and the discovery of the seal of Šuppiluliuma's first wife Ḫenti, naming her “great queen and daughter of the great king, the hero,” has led to the conclusion that Šuppiluliuma was a son-in-law of Tudḫaliya III and therefore brother-in-law of Tudḫaliya the Younger. While some scholars have supposed that Tudḫaliya the Younger had become king, most assume that Tudḫaliya the Younger was eliminated before he could ascend the throne. Some scholars who identify Tudḫaliya, the son of Kantuzzili, with Tudḫaliya, the father-in-law of Arnuwanda I, renumber the kings and designate Tudḫaliya the Younger, whether they believe he reigned or not, as Tudḫaliya III, which allows them to keep the designation of Tudḫaliya IV for the son of Ḫattušili III.