Ašmu-nikal

thumb| Ašmu-nikal or Ašmu-Nikkal was a Queen consort of the Hittite empire.

== Biography == Ašmu-Nikkal was born as a princess, the daughter of the Hittite great king Tudḫaliya II (also called Tudḫaliya I/II) and Queen Nikkal-mati. She married a man called Arnuwanda, who became Tudḫaliya II's heir, co-ruler, and eventual successor. The nature of the relationship between Ašmu-Nikkal and her husband Arnuwanda was long controversial, since both are described as children of Tudḫaliya II on their respective seals, ostensibly implying that they were siblings or at least half-siblings. This, however, was clearly forbidden by Hittite custom and law, and it is now generally agreed that while Ašmu-Nikkal was indeed the daughter of Tudḫaliya II, Arnuwanda was only his son-in-law and possibly adoptive son, as the daughter's antiyant husband, an acceptable heir in the absence of a son.