her life during the proceedings, or if he wanted to keep her, he would veil her to signify to the public that her status had been questioned due to the adultery. Rape is another example of explicit discrimination. Location was an important factor in determining who was punished. The man would only be penalized if the crime took place outside of the home. If instead, it occurred within the household, then the women was deemed the guilty party and reprimanded. This was because her consent in that setting was assumed to be automatically given. Here, the man would only be punished if caught by the husband in the act. Even though Hittite women did enjoy certain rights in society and the household, they were still highly patriarchal as well. The eldest man was still in charge of the household, even though his role was not absolute and more one of supervision. In addition, women were not consulted when decisions were being made about them, such as marriage arrangements. In addition, there are a couple of depictions of women who were able to obtain powerful positions in Hittite society. One woman is a queen named Puduhepa who was able to have significant influence in courtly affairs. She was the most well known Hittite queen and considered by many to be among the most powerful women in the Ancient Near East. She was the daughter of a priest and wife of Hattusili III. He married her while on his way back from fighting in the Battle of Kadesh when he was told to stop by Ishtar. She was able to become queen when her husband took the Hittite throne. Of Hurrian origin, she was able to spread her culture as queen where it had an important effect on the Hittites. She also was a powerful ruler on her own. She participated actively in royal affairs and her influence in the state continued for a short while after the death of Hattusili. This situation was not inconceivable for the Hittites who, unlike their Mesopotamian contemporaries, already conceived of the role of queen as relatively powerful and independent. This openness to queens who were political allowed Puduhepa to have so much influence. However, even by these standards she was uniquely involved. Scholars have attributed this ability to a combination of the prerequisite of treating queens with honor and Puduhepa's ability to exploit the closeness