Editing Muwatalli II (section)

==Biography==
He was the eldest son of [[Mursili II]] and Queen [[Gassulawiya]], and he had several siblings.

He is best known for relocating the Hittite capital to [[Tarhuntassa]],<ref>cf. 'The Shift of the royal seat to Tarhuntassa' by Trevor Bryce, ''The Kingdom of the Hittites'' (new edition), Oxford University Press, 2005. p.230</ref> appointing his brother [[Hattusili III|Hattusili]] as governor in [[Hattusa]], and fighting [[Ramesses II]] in the [[Battle of Kadesh]].

A copy of a treaty has been recovered between him and [[Alaksandu]], ruler of [[Wilusa]] ([[Troy]]), one of the [[Arzawa]] lands.

Egyptologists{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}} suspect that some time prior to Ramesses II's accession to the Egyptian throne, Muwattalli had reached an informal peace treaty or understanding with [[Seti I]] over [[Kadesh (Syria)|Kadesh]] to avoid a clash between the two powers over control of Syria. In it, Seti effectively ceded Kadesh to the Hittite king in order to focus on domestic issues in Egypt.

Muwatalli had a wife named Tanu-Ḫepa and at least two children. One was Urhi-Teshup, who became king as [[Mursili III]] until his uncle Hattusili III deposed him. Another was [[Kurunta]] who became the vassal ruler of [[Tarhuntassa]] during the reign of Hattusili III. Another person named Ulmi-Teshup is suggested to be a third son<ref>Houwink ten Cate, Ph. H. J. (1994) "Urhi-Tessup revisited," ''Bibliotheca Orientalis'' 51, pp. 233–59</ref> of Muwatalli II, but it is quite likely that Ulmi-Teshup and Kurunta are the same person.<ref>Gurney, O. R. "Ulmi-Tešup Treaty," ''Anatolian Studies'' 43, p. 13–28; Bryce, T. (2005) ''Kingdom of the Hittites'' pp. 270–71</ref>

[[Tudhaliya IV]] and Egyptian Queen [[Maathorneferure]] were the nephew and niece of Muwatalli.

Muwatalli's namesake, [[Muwatalli I]], was a pre-Empire king of the early 14th century, the predecessor of [[Tudhaliya I]].