Editing Mitanni (section)

===Early Kingdom===
[[File:Cylinder seal,ca. 16th–15th century BC Mitanni.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Cylinder seal, {{Circa|16th–15th century BC}}, Mitanni]]
As early as [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]] times, Hurrians are known to have lived east of the river Tigris on the northern rim of Mesopotamia, and in the Khabur Valley. The group which became Mitanni gradually moved south into Mesopotamia before the 17th century BC. It was already a powerful kingdom at the end of the 17th century or in the first half of the 16th century BC, and its beginnings date to well before the time of [[Thutmose I]], dating actually to the time of the Hittite sovereigns [[Hattusili I]] and [[Mursili I]].<ref name="De Martino">De Martino, Stefano, (2014). [https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/121842?rskey=8gWvjZ&result=17&q=topoi&tab_body=toc-62810 "The Mittani State: The Formation of the Kingdom of Mittani"], in Constituent, Confederate, and Conquered Space in Upper Mesopotamia: The Emergence of the Mittani State, De Gruyter, Berlin, Boston, p. 61.</ref>

Hurrians are mentioned in the private [[Nuzi]] texts, in [[Ugarit]], and the Hittite archives in [[Hattusa]] ([[Boğazkale|Boğazköy]]). [[Cuneiform (script)|Cuneiform]] texts from [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] mention rulers of city-states in upper Mesopotamia with both ''Amurru'' (Amorite) and Hurrian names. Rulers with Hurrian names are also attested for [[Urshu]]m and [[Hassum]], and tablets from [[Alalakh]] (layer VII, from the later part of the Old [[Babylonia]]n period) mention people with Hurrian names at the mouth of the [[Orontes river|Orontes]]. There is no evidence for any invasion from the North-east. Generally, these [[onomastic]] sources have been taken as evidence for a Hurrian expansion to the South and the West.

A Hittite fragment, probably from the time of [[Mursili I]], mentions a "King of the Hurrians" (''LUGAL ERÍN.MEŠ Hurri''). This terminology was last used for King Tushratta of Mitanni, in a letter in the Amarna archives. The normal title of the king was 'King of the Hurri-men' (without the determinative ''KUR'' indicating a country).

[[File:Cylinder seal and modern impression Nude male, griffins, monkey, lion, goat, ca 15th 14th century BC Mitanni.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Cylinder seal and modern impression: nude male, griffins, monkey, lion, goat, {{Circa|15th/14th century BC}}, Mitanni]]
The Egyptian official astronomer and clockmaker Amenemhet (Amen-hemet) apparently ordered to be written on his tomb that he returned from the "foreign country called ''Mtn'' (''Mi-ti-ni''),"<ref>Amenemhet's memoir was published in: Borchardt, L., (1930). "Altägyptische Zeitmessung", in E. von Basserman-Jordan, ''Die Geschichte der Zeitmessung und der Ühre'', vol. I., 1930, Berlin/Leipzig, pp 60ff. (Mentioned in Astour 1972:104, footnotes 25,26) transliterating ''Mtn'' as ''Me-ta-ni'', although Alexandra von Lieven (2016: 219) mentions it as ''Mi-ti-ni''.</ref><ref>De Martino, Stefano, (2018). [https://123dok.org/document/8yd06e1z-political-cultural-relations-kingdom-subordinated-polities-southeast-anatolia.html "Political and Cultural Relations between the Kingdom of Mittani and its Subordinated Polities in Syria and Southeast Anatolia"], in: ''Changing Faces of Kingship in Syria-Palestine 1500–500 BCE'', Alter Orient und Testament 459, Ugarit Verlag, '''p. 37:''' "The earliest attestation of the toponym Mittani comes from an Egyptian source, an inscription from Thebes on the grave of a state official called Amen-hemet. The inscription refers to the Syrian military expedition this official had taken part in, which advanced as far as the country of ''Mtn'' (Mittani)...we presume that this expedition was the one led by Tuthmosis I..."</ref> but Alexandra von Lieven (2016) and Eva von Dassow (2022) consider that the expedition to Mitanni could have taken place in pharaoh [[Ahmose I]]'s reign ({{Circa|1550}}–1525 BC), actually by Amenemhet's father.<ref>von Lieven, Alexandra, (2016). [https://www.academia.edu/28449812/von%20Lieven%20Clockmaker%20Amenemhet%20pdf "The Movement of Time. News from the 'Clockmaker' Amenemhet"], in: RICH and GREAT: Studies in Honour of Anthony J. Spalinger, Faculty of Art, Charles University in Prague, '''p. 220:''' "The most likely explanation for the preceding story about Mitanni is that it is part of the background of the speaker. This could imply that perhaps Amenemhet's father had risen in rank due to some major feat accomplished during Ahmose's military campaign there."</ref><ref>von Dassow, Eva, (2022). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hr9qEAAAQBAJ&dq=astronomer+and+clockmaker+Amenemhet&pg=PA466 "Mittani and Its Empire"], in: Karen Radner, Nadine Moeller, D. T. Potts (eds.), The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, Volume III: From the Hyksos to the Late Second Millennium BC, Oxford University Press, '''p. 466:''' "...We owe the earliest extant mention of Mittani to the tomb autobiography of Amenemhat, the astronomer and clockmaker who refers to a campaign that may have taken place as early as Ahmose's reign in the late sixteenth century BC..."</ref> During the reign of pharaoh [[Thutmose I]] (1506–1493 BC), the names Mitanni and Naharin are among the reminiscences of several of the pharaoh's officers. One of them, Ahmose si-Abina, wrote: "...His Majesty arrived at Naharin..." Another one, Ahmose pa-Nekhbit, recorded: "...when I captured for him in the land of Naharin..."<ref>Redford, Donald B., (1979). [https://ur.booksc.me/book/27850599/77cc7d "A Gate Inscription from Karnak and Egyptian Involvement in Western Asia during the Early 18th Dynasty"], in: Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 99, no. 2, p. 275.</ref>

After the [[Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC)|Battle of Megiddo]], an officer of pharaoh [[Thutmose III]] (1479–1425 BC), in the pharaoh's 22 regnal year, reported: "That [wretched] enemy of Kadesh has come and has entered into Megiddo. He is [there] at this moment. He has gathered to him the princes of [every] foreign country [which had been] loyal to Egypt, as well as (those) as far as Naharin and M[itanni], them of Hurru, them of Kode, their horses, their armies."<ref>Wilson, John A.. "VII. Egyptian Historical Texts". The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, edited by James B. Pritchard, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2021, pp. 226-245</ref> In several later military campaigns the [[Annals of Thutmose III]] mention Naharin, in particular those of his regnal years 33, 35, and 42.<ref>Spalinger, Anthony. "A Critical Analysis of the ‘Annals’ of Thutmose III (Stücke V-VI)." Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, vol. 14, 1977, pp. 41–54</ref> After that time, records become more available from local sources until the empire's end in the mid-13th century BC.<ref>Leonard, Albert. "Archaeological Sources for the History of Palestine: The Late Bronze Age." The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 52, no. 1, 1989, pp. 4–39</ref>

The first known use of Indo-Aryan names for Mitanni rulers begins with [[Shuttarna I]] who succeeded his father Kirta on the throne.<ref name="De Martino, Stefano, (2014)">De Martino, Stefano, (2014). [https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/121842?rskey=8gWvjZ&result=17&q=topoi&tab_body=toc-62810 "The Mittani State: The Formation of the Kingdom of Mittani"], in Constituent, Confederate, and Conquered Space in Upper Mesopotamia: The Emergence of the Mittani State, De Gruyter, Berlin, Boston, p. 69.</ref> King [[Barattarna]] of Mitanni expanded the kingdom west to [[List of rulers of Aleppo|Aleppo]] and made the [[Amorites|Amorite]]<ref>Lauinger, Jacob, (2020). [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/aemw/alalakh/idrimi/corpus/ "Statue of Idrimi"], in The Electronic Idrimi, Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC): "...(1) I am Idrimi, the son of Ilī-ilimma, a servant of IM, Hebat and IŠTAR, the lady of Alalah, the lady, my lady. (3) In Aleppo, the house of my father, a bad thing occurred, so we fled to the Emarites, sisters [o]f my mother, and settled at Emar. Though my older brothers lived with me, none deliberated matters as I did..." [So, Idrimi was an Amorite, son of Ilī-ilimma from Aleppo].</ref> king [[Idrimi]] of [[Alalakh]] his vassal,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Van De Mieroop|first1=Marc|title=A History of the Ancient Near East c. 3000–323BC|date=2007|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|location=Malden, MA|isbn=978-1-4051-4911-2|page=152|edition=2nd}}</ref> and five generations seems to separate this king (also known as Parattarna) from the rise of Mitanni kingdom.<ref>De Martino, Stefano, (2004). "A Tentative Chronology of the Kingdom of Mittani from its Rise to the Reign of Tusratta", in Mesopotamian Dark Age Revisited: Proceedings of an International Conference of SCIEM 2000, Vienna 8th–9th November 2002, Vienna, p. 37.</ref> The state of [[Kizzuwatna]] in the west also shifted its allegiance to Mitanni, and Assyria in the east had become largely a Mitannian vassal state by the mid-15th century BC. The nation grew stronger during the reign of [[Shaushtatar]], but the Hurrians were keen to keep the Hittites inside the Anatolian highland. Kizzuwatna in the west and [[Ishuwa]] in the north were important allies against the hostile Hittites.

Mitanni's major rival was Egypt under the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Thutmosids]]. However, with the ascent of the [[Hittite Empire]], Mitanni and Egypt struck an alliance to protect their mutual interests from the threat of Hittite domination. After a few successful clashes with the Egyptians over the control of Syria, Mitanni sought peace with them, and an alliance was formed. During the reign of [[Shuttarna II]], in the early 14th century BC, the relationship was very amicable, and he sent his daughter [[Gilukhipa|Gilu-Hepa]] to Egypt for marriage with Pharaoh [[Amenhotep III]]. Mitanni was now at its peak of power.
 
However, by the reign of [[Eriba-Adad I]] (1390–1366 BC) Mitanni influence over Assyria was on the wane. Eriba-Adad I became involved in a dynastic battle between [[Tushratta]] and his brother [[Artatama II]] and after this his son [[Shuttarna II]], who called himself king of the [[Hurri]] while seeking support from the Assyrians. A pro-Hurri/Assyria faction appeared at the royal Mitanni court. Eriba-Adad I had thus loosened Mitanni influence over Assyria, and in turn had now made Assyria an influence over Mitanni affairs.<ref>George Roux, '' Ancient Iraq'', Penguin Books; 3rd ed. edition (1 March 1993) ISBN 978-0140125238</ref> King [[Ashur-uballit I]] (1365–1330 BC) of [[Assyria]] attacked Shuttarna and annexed Mitanni territory in the middle of the 14th century BC, making Assyria once more a great power.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cline |first=Eric H. |date=2014 |title=[[1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed]] |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=61 |isbn=978-1400849987 }}</ref>

At the death of Shuttarna, Mitanni was ravaged by a war of succession. Eventually Tushratta, a son of Shuttarna, ascended the throne, but the kingdom had been weakened considerably and both the Hittite and Assyrian threats increased. At the same time, the diplomatic relationship with Egypt went cold, the Egyptians fearing the growing power of the Hittites and Assyrians. The Hittite king [[Suppiluliuma I]] invaded the Mitanni vassal states in northern Syria and replaced them with loyal subjects.

====Great Syrian War====
The War waged by Suppiluliuma on Tushrata's Mitanni was called 'the Great Syrian War'. The war goals were the Destruction of the Mitanni Heartlands and conquest of its Syrian vassal states. This included persuading Ugarit to join the side of Suppiluliuma. Mukish and Nuhašši retaliated against Ugarit, but once Suppiluliuma arrived, they were defeated by the Hittite-Ugaritic alliance, and Ugarit got a significant portion of their lands annexed to it. Suppiluliuma then crossed the Euphrates and sacking Washukanni, Tushrata escaping with some of his troops before the sack. After which Suppiluliuma turned back to Syria and subjugated Aleppo, Mukish, Niya, Arahtu, Qatna and Nuhašši. This campaign was fought in 1345 BC. A number of years later in 1327 BC Carchemish too was taken after an siege and Tushratta got murdered sometime after the war by Mitannians.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bryce|first=Trevor|year=2024|title= Ancient Syria: a three thousand year history|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-882890-7|pages=38–45}}</ref>

====After the war====
In the capital [[Washukanni]], a new power struggle broke out. The Hittites and the Assyrians supported different pretenders to the throne. Finally a Hittite army conquered the capital Washukanni and installed [[Shattiwaza]], the son of Tushratta, as their vassal king of Mitanni in the late 14th century BC.<ref name="Devecchi2018" >Devecchi, Elena. "Details That Make the Difference: The Akkadian Manuscripts of the ‘Šattiwaza Treaties.’" Die Welt Des Orients, vol. 48, no. 1, 2018, pp. 72–95</ref> The kingdom had by now been reduced to the [[Khabur (Euphrates)|Khabur Valley]]. The Assyrians had not given up their claim on Mitanni, and in the 13th century BC, [[Shalmaneser I]] annexed the kingdom.

The Mitanni dynasty had ruled over the northern [[Tigris–Euphrates river system|Euphrates-Tigris]] region between {{Circa|1600}} and 1350 BC,<ref name="academia.edu">Novák, Mirko, (2013). [https://www.academia.edu/7615265/Upper_Mesopotamia_in_the_Mittani_Period "Upper Mesopotamia in the Mittani Period"], in Archéologie et Histoire de la Syrie I, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, p. 349.</ref> but succumbed to Hittite and later Assyrian attacks, and Mitanni was reduced to the status of a province of the [[Middle Assyrian Empire]] between {{Circa|1350}} and 1260 BC.<ref name="academia.edu"/>