A Brief Historical Overview of the Kurds and the Assyrians and the Relationship Between Them (11) – Ancestors of the Kurds: The Hurrians – The Mitannians

There is little information about the kings of the Mitanni Kingdom, and the available information about them is mostly derived from the treaties and alliances they formed with the Egyptians, Hittites, and Assyrians, in addition to the wars they waged and the internal developments that took place within the Kingdom of Mitanni and the kingdoms of the region. Therefore, there is a need for further excavations of Mitannian antiquities and more research and study to obtain accurate and comprehensive information about the Mitannian kings. An audit, analysis, and evaluation were conducted on the scarce available information about the kings of the Mitannian Empire, and in light of this audit, analysis, and evaluation, the information closest to the truth was selected for this episode and the next episode, both of which deal with the kings of the Kingdom of Mitanni. I would also like to mention that the majority of the information mentioned in this episode and the next episode is based on the two books by (Trevor Bryce) mentioned at the end of this article.

Kirta

He is the founder of the Kingdom of Mitanni and may have lived around 1500 BC, but so far no inscriptions dating back to the reign of this king have been discovered.

Shuttarna I

His name was found in an inscription in (Alalakh) in which it is mentioned that he is the son of the Mitannian king (Kirta), and this is the only source discovered about this king at present. His reign began at the beginning of the fifteenth century BC.

Barattarna or (Parshatatar)

No inscription belonging to King (Barattarna) himself has been found, but this king is known through one of the cuneiform tablets found in the city of Nuzi, which dates back to the time of King (Barattarna)’s death and cremation. There is other information about this king in an inscription belonging to King (Idrimi), king of the kingdom of (Alalakh), which includes names of people. (Idrimi) was a vassal of King (Barattarna). During the reign of this king, the Kingdom of Mitanni probably extended to the city of (Arrapha) from the east, and he ruled around 1447 BC. The name of this king is not mentioned in Egyptian sources, and he fought the Egyptian Pharaoh (Thutmose III) in the 15th century BC. It is not known whether the name (Parsha(ta)tar), which was found in another inscription in the city of Nuzi, refers to the same King (Barattarna) or to another king.

During the reign of (Thutmose III), Egyptian forces crossed the Euphrates River and reached the center of the Kingdom of Mitanni. In the fifteenth century BC, in the city of (Megiddo), currently located in northern Israel, (Thutmose III) fought against a coalition of 330 Mitannian princes and tribal leaders under the leadership of the governor of the city of (Kadesh), where the Kingdom of Mitanni in turn sent forces to fight this Mitannian coalition. It is not known whether the Kingdom of Mitanni’s sending of forces to fight the Mitannian princes and tribal heads was due to treaties that existed between the Kingdom of Mitanni and Pharaonic Egypt, or resulted from the threat that the Mitannian princes and tribal leaders posed to the Kingdom of Mitanni as well as to Egypt. The Egyptian victory in this battle opened the way for them toward the north.

In the 33rd year of his reign, (Thutmose III) reignited war in the Kingdom of Mitanni. The Egyptian army crossed the Euphrates River at the city of (Carchemish) (located in western Kurdistan on the west bank of the Euphrates River, northeast of the city of Aleppo and 100 kilometers away from it) and reached the city of (Iryn), which may be the current city of (Erin) located 20 kilometers northeast of the city of Aleppo. The Egyptian army reached (Emar) (Meskene) (located in Aleppo Governorate) via the Euphrates River, then returned to Egypt through the Kingdom of Mitanni.

It seems that elephant hunting was so important at that time that elephant hunts were recorded at Lake (Nija) in the records of Pharaonic Egypt. Egyptian military movements did not lead to a permanent occupation of Mitannian areas, with the exception that the region of (Phoenicia) near the Orontes River was occupied by Egypt.

The Egyptian victories over the Kingdom of Mitanni are recorded in the records of Egyptian military campaigns in (Nuhashshe) (the central part of modern Syria), but these campaigns did not lead to permanent territorial gains. The Mitannian king (Barattarna) or his son (Shaushtatar) controlled the interior regions of northern Kingdom of Mitanni up to the city of (Nuhashshe) and the coastal areas extending from the small state of (Kizzuwatna) to the city of (Alalakh), the capital of the kingdom of (Mukish) located at the mouth of the Orontes River. (Idrimi), king of (Alalakh), returned from his exile in Egypt and was able to sit on the throne with the approval of the Mitannian king (Barattarna), ruling over both the kingdoms of (Mukish) and (Ama u), while the city of Aleppo remained subordinate to the Kingdom of Mitanni.

Shaushtatar

He is the son of King (Barattarna). When his father was in power, his father appointed individuals subordinate to the Kingdom of Mitanni as kings over a number of city-kingdoms, and this act facilitated the matter for King (Shaushtatar) to make the Kingdom of Mitanni a powerful kingdom in Mesopotamia. During his reign, this king overcame the threat that Egypt posed to it, and turned his attention to the Kingdom of Assyria, invading, plundering, and pillaging Assyria (Source No. 1).

After his invasion of Assyria, his army headed west, crossing the Euphrates River, and along the way placed all the kingdoms of western Kurdistan under his rule, with his army reaching the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. He was looking to expand the influence of the Kingdom of Mitanni in the south and reach Palestine, but nevertheless, much of southern modern Syria was still under Egyptian influence, which posed a threat to the Kingdom of Mitanni.

The war with Egypt was one of the results of the expansion carried out by King (Shaushtatar) to reach Palestine. Although the Hurrians formed a large percentage of the population of Palestine at that time, it was difficult for the Mitannians to emerge victorious in the war against Egypt. While planning to wage war against Egypt, King (Shaushtatar) died, and was succeeded in power by his son (Artatama I), who began negotiating with the Egyptian Pharaoh (Amenhotep II) to conclude an alliance between them (Source No. 1).

The Mitannian king (Shaushtatar) sacked the Assyrian capital, Assur, during the reign of the Assyrian king (Nur-ili) (1466 – 1454 BC) and took the silver and gold doors of the Assyrian royal palace to the Mitannian capital (Washshukanni). This information was obtained from a Hittite document containing a treaty concluded between the Hittite king (Suppiluliuma) and the Mitannian king (Shattiwaza). After the sacking of Assur, it is likely that the Kingdom of Assyria paid tribute to the Kingdom of Mitanni until the Assyrian king (Eriba-Adad I) (1390 – 1366 BC) came to power. There is no mention of paying tribute to the Mitannians in the records of the Assyrian kings, and therefore it is probable that Assyria was ruled by a native Assyrian dynasty loyal to King (Shaushtatar). During the period of Assyria’s subordination to the Mitannians, the temple of (Sin) and (Shamash) was built in Assur.

Both the state of Aleppo in the west and the state of Nuzi and (Arrapha) in the east were part of the Kingdom of Mitanni during the reign of King (Shaushtatar) (Gernot Wilhelm: The Hurrians: Their History and Culture, translated by Farooq Ismail, Jadal Publishing House, Aleppo, First Edition, 2000 AD, page 62). Excavations were conducted in the palace of the crown prince, governor of (Arrapha), and a letter from the Mitannian king (Shaushtatar) was discovered in the house of (Shilwe-Teshup). His seal contained images of heroes and winged creatures fighting lions and other animals, as well as a winged sun. This style, along with many drawings distributed throughout the entire region, is of the typical Hurrian style. A second seal belonging to King (Shuttarna I) was found in (Alalakh), but it was used by King (Shaushtatar). The seal clearly shows a traditional Assyrian-Akkadian style. Mitannian military superiority may have been due to their use of two-wheeled war chariots pulled by horses. During the reign of the Egyptian Pharaoh (Amenhotep II), it appears that the Mitannians regained influence in the central Orontes River valley region, which had been occupied by (Thutmose III). (Amenhotep) fought the Mitannians in modern Syria, but he did not reach the Euphrates River.

Artatama I

(Artatama I) was a king of the Kingdom of Mitanni in the late fifteenth century BC, and his reign coincided with the reign of both the Egyptian Pharaohs (Amenhotep II) and (Thutmose IV) (Source 2). There is little information about this king, as no inscriptions belonging to him have been found to this day. King (Artatama I) is mentioned in the Amarna letters as having concluded an alliance with the Egyptian Pharaoh (Thutmose IV). According to modern interpretations of the scarce available sources, this king came to power when the Kingdom of Mitanni became weak as a result of the Hittite invasion of it (Source 3, page 144). At that time, the Kingdom of Mitanni was facing the dangers of war on two fronts: the Hittites in the north and Egypt in the south. To face these dangers, King (Artatama) made an offer to the Pharaoh of Egypt (Amenhotep II) to peacefully divide the disputed territories in modern Syria (Source 3, page 144). A peaceful resolution to the long-standing conflict between the Kingdom of Mitanni and Pharaonic Egypt could have developed into a political and military alliance between the two kingdoms, but the Egyptians doubted the intentions of the Mitannians and did not respond for years to the peaceful calls made by the Mitannian king (Artatama) (Source 3, pages 144-145). During the reign of Pharaoh (Thutmose IV), this Pharaoh requested to marry the daughter of King (Artatama), but the Mitannian king rejected this request for unknown reasons (Source 3, page 145). The mentioned Egyptian Pharaoh requested to marry the daughter of the mentioned Mitannian king seven times until King (Artatama) eventually agreed to marry his daughter to Pharaoh (Thutmose IV) (Source 3, page 145). This means that King (Artatama) is the father of Queen (Mutemwiya), who was the chief wife of Pharaoh (Thutmose IV), and likewise, the Mitannian king (Artatama) is the maternal grandfather of Pharaoh (Amenhotep III).

After that, relations improved between the Mitannians and the Egyptians, and the Mitannian king (Shuttarna II) visited Egypt, where letters and gifts were exchanged between the leaders of the two kingdoms. The Kingdom of Mitanni was interested in obtaining gold from Egypt. This friendly relationship led to intermarriages between the two parties, which were discussed in the previous episode. When the Egyptian Pharaoh (Amenhotep III) fell ill, the Mitannian king sent to this Pharaoh the statue of the goddess of Nineveh (Shaushka), who was famous for healing the sick. There were fixed international borders between the Kingdom of Mitanni and Egypt, which were located near (Qatna) on the Orontes River, and (Ugarit) was part of the Egyptian territories.

The reason for the Kingdom of Mitanni’s pursuit of peace with Egypt may have been due to its problems with the Hittites, as the Hittite king (Tudhaliya) conducted military campaigns against (Kizzuwatna), (Arzawa), (Ishuwa), Aleppo, and perhaps against the Kingdom of Mitanni itself as well. (Kizzuwatna) may have fallen under Hittite occupation at that time.

Shuttarna II

(Shuttarna II) was a king of the Kingdom of Mitanni in the early fourteenth century BC. (Shuttarna II) is the son of the great Mitannian king (Artatama). He was an ally of the Egyptian Pharaoh (Amenhotep III), and the diplomatic activities of the kings are briefly recorded in the Amarna letters. In the tenth year of his reign, Pharaoh (Amenhotep III) married the daughter of the Mitannian king (Shuttarna II), whose name was (Gilu-Hepa), and this marriage strengthened the alliance and relations between the Mitannian and Pharaonic royal families. Pharaoh (Amenhotep III) paid a large dowry for this marriage.

The power and prosperity of the Kingdom of Mitanni reached its peak during the reign of this king. From the city of (Alalakh) in the west, the Kingdom of Mitanni shared borders with Egypt in present-day western Kurdistan, and the Orontes River separated the two countries from each other. The center of the kingdom was located in the Khabur River basin, where the capital (Washshukanni) was situated. During the reign of this king, Assyria and (Arrapha) in the east were vassal kingdoms subordinate to the Kingdom of Mitanni. The Hittites attempted to invade the northern parts of the Kingdom of Mitanni, but they were defeated by the Mitannian king (Shuttarna). After the death of this king, he was succeeded in power by his son (Artashumara) under ambiguous circumstances.

Artashumara

(Artashumara) came to power in the fourteenth century BC after the death of his father (Shuttarna II). His reign did not last long, as shortly after ascending the throne, he was killed by the trustee (Udhi or Uthi UD-hi). Nothing is known about the developments that followed this murder. After the death of (Artashumara), his brother Tushratta (Tushratta) assumed power.

To avoid lengthiness, we will suffice in this episode with this amount of information about a number of Mitannian kings, and we will talk in the next episode (Episode 12) about the remaining section of the kings of the Mitannian Empire.

22 / 1 / 2014