In the previous episode, a number of Mitannian kings were discussed. In this episode, the remaining part of the kings of the Mitanni Empire is covered.
Tushratta
After the vizier (Udi) assassinated (Artashumara), he installed (Tushratta) on the throne, who is the second son of King (Shuttarna). It is likely that (Tushratta) was young when he ascended the throne of the Mitanni kingdom and the purpose of his installation was to be only a formal facade for rule and for (Udi) to be the actual ruler of the kingdom, but King (Tushratta) managed to kill (Udi) and thereby succeeded in getting rid of him. (Tushratta) may have killed (Udi) with the help of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten, who was the husband of Nefertiti, the sister of the Mitanni king (Tushratta).
(Tushratta) became king of the Mitanni kingdom in the late fourteenth century BC, which coincided with the end of the reign of the Egyptian Pharaoh (Amenhotep III) and this Mitanni king ruled throughout the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten. The Egyptian Pharaoh (Amenhotep III) married the sister of (Tushratta) whose name was (Gilu-Hepa) and this Pharaoh also married the daughter of King (Tushratta) whose name was (Tadukhipa). After the death of the Egyptian Pharaoh (Amenhotep III), his wife (Tadukhipa) married Pharaoh Akhenaten and she later changed her name from (Tadukhipa) to (Nefertiti), as detailed in the tenth episode of this series of articles. There is a cuneiform tablet containing a letter from the Mitanni king (Tushratta) to the Egyptian Pharaoh (Amenhotep III) among 13 letters of King (Tushratta).
The Egyptians may have known that the power of the Mitanni kingdom was about to end, so to maintain the Egyptian borders with present-day Syria, the new Pharaoh (Akhenaten) began receiving Hittite and Assyrian envoys, who at that time became the rising powers in the region instead of receiving Mitanni envoys. The Amarna letters reveal that the urgent requests of the Mitanni king (Tushratta) for a golden statue from Akhenaten developed into a major diplomatic crisis between the two kingdoms.
The unrest that prevailed in the Mitanni kingdom weakened the Mitanni control over their vassal kingdoms. (Aziru), who was the king of the kingdom of (Amurru), took advantage of this unrest and made a secret treaty with the Hittite king (Suppiluliuma I). The kingdom of (Kizzuwatna), which was separated from the Hittite kingdom, was restored and annexed to his kingdom again by the Hittite king (Suppiluliuma I). After that, this Hittite king occupied the western valley of the Euphrates River and seized both the kingdom of (Amurru) and the kingdom of (Nuhashshe), which were part of the Mitanni kingdom.
Based on the texts of the treaty concluded later between the Mitanni king (Shattiwaza) and the Hittite king (Suppiluliuma I), King (Suppiluliuma I) concluded a treaty with the Mitanni king (Artatama II), who was competing with (Tushratta) for the rule of the Mitanni kingdom. The Hittite king (Suppiluliuma I) began looting the lands of the western bank of the Euphrates River and annexed Mount Lebanon to his kingdom. (Tushratta) threatened to raid beyond the Euphrates River if a single sheep or child was stolen by the Hittites.
Upon assuming power in the kingdom of Assyria by (Eriba-Adad I) (1390 – 1366 BC), Mitanni influence in Assyria was on its way to extinction. The Assyrian king (Eriba-Adad I) began to intervene in the battles that were raging between the two brothers (Tushratta) and (Artatama II) and then between (Artatama II) and the son of (Tushratta) whose name was (Shuttarna II), who called himself “King of the Kingdom of Khur” and who at the same time requested help from the Assyrians to consolidate his rule. At that time, a group of Mitannian royal family members supporting the Hurrian-Assyrian alliance emerged. The Assyrian king (Eriba-Adad I) was able to eliminate Mitanni influence in Assyria, and even gained influence in the Mitanni lands and began to interfere in the affairs of the Mitanni kingdom (Source 1).
The Hittite king (Suppiluliuma I) decided to extend his control over the kingdom of (Ishuwa) located on the upper Euphrates River, which had broken away from the Hittite kingdom during the reign of his grandfather, but all Hittite attempts to seize this kingdom failed. During the time of his father, other cities rebelled against Hittite rule. (Suppiluliuma I) claims that he defeated the rulers of these kingdoms, as the survivors of these kingdoms fled to the kingdom of (Ishuwa), which was part of the Mitanni kingdom. Many treaties between independent states and between rulers and their vassal states included a clause stipulating the return of fugitives, and therefore the harboring of fugitives by (Ishuwa) may have been a pretext for the Hittite invasion of this kingdom.
The Hittite army crossed the border and entered the city of (Ishuwa) and returned the fugitives to the control of Hittite rule. The Hittite king (Suppiluliuma I) says: I liberated the lands that I seized and the people began to live in their original places and all the people whom I released returned to their peoples and lands. Then the Hittite army marched through various regions towards the Mitanni capital (Wassukanni). (Suppiluliuma) claims that he looted the region and brought loot, prisoners, cattle, sheep, and horses to the Hittite kingdom. It is also claimed that (Tushratta) fled, yet (Suppiluliuma) failed to control the Mitanni capital (Wassukanni).
This Hittite military campaign weakened the Mitanni kingdom, but it did not pose a danger to its existence. In a second military campaign, the Hittites crossed the Euphrates River again and took control of the city of Aleppo, (Mukish), (Niya), (Arahati), (Apina), and (Qatna), in addition to some other cities whose names are not mentioned. Among the loot taken from the city of (Arahati) were the chariot drivers who were transported to the Hittite kingdom along with all their belongings. Incorporating enemy soldiers into the army was common at that time and this indicates the Hittite attempt to counter the Mitanni war chariots, which were the most effective weapon, by building or strengthening their forces composed of war chariots.
(Suppiluliuma I) claims that he invaded lands from Mount Lebanon and from the far bank of the Euphrates River, but the Hittite rulers or their vassal rulers mentioned only some cities and kingdoms. The Hittites made some territorial gains in present-day western Kurdistan, but it appears they failed to establish permanent authority in the regions located east of the Euphrates River.
Artatama II
(Artatama II) usurped power from King (Tushratta) in the fourteenth century BC. Nothing is known about the past of (Artatama II) or his contacts or whether he was a member of the royal family. He was called “King of the Kingdom of Khur”, while (Tushratta) was titled “King of the Mitanni Kingdom”. This indicates that (Artatama II) was at odds with (Tushratta). (Artatama II) may have been a brother of King (Tushratta) or may have belonged to a faction rivaling the Mitanni royal family. The Hittite king (Suppiluliuma I) concluded a treaty with the Mitanni king (Artatama II) after his invasion of the Mitanni kingdom. After this king, his son (Shuttarna III) ruled the Mitanni kingdom.
Shuttarna III
The rule of (Shuttarna III) lasted for a short period in the fourteenth century BC. (Shuttarna III) is the son of King (Artatama II) who usurped the Mitanni throne from King (Tushratta). King (Shuttarna III) sought support from the Assyrians to counter the Hittites, but he was defeated by the Hittites when the Hittite army headed towards the Mitanni capital (Wassukanni), where (Shattiwaza) was installed on the Mitanni throne by the Hittites.
Shattiwaza / Kurtiwaza
(Shattiwaza) was king of the Mitanni kingdom in the fourteenth century BC. (Shattiwaza) is the brother of King (Tushratta). His Hurrian name is (Kili-Teššup).
During the political unrest that followed the death of his predecessor, King (Shuttarna III), who usurped power, attempted to kill (Shattiwaza). Therefore, (Shattiwaza) fled and initially took refuge with the Hittite king (Suppiluliuma), where (Shattiwaza) married the daughter of the Hittite king and returned to the Mitanni kingdom with the Hittite army. King (Shuttarna III), who had seized power in the absence of (Shattiwaza), was defeated and (Shattiwaza) was installed as king of the Mitanni kingdom. These events are recorded in the treaty concluded between the Hittite king (Suppiluliuma) and the Mitanni king (Shattiwaza).
With the help of his subjects, one of the sons of (Tushratta) killed his father in order to succeed him in power. His brother (Shattiwaza) was forced to flee from the Mitanni kingdom. During the unrest that followed the murder incident, the Assyrians showed their strength under the leadership of their king (Ashur-uballit I), as they invaded the Mitanni kingdom and (Artatama II), who was claiming the throne, became powerful, followed by his son (Shuttarna). The Hittite king (Suppiluliuma) claims that the Mitanni kingdom was completely destroyed and that the land of Assyria and the land of (Alshi) divided the Mitanni kingdom between them, but it appears that this talk is just a kind of wishful thinking, as despite the occupation of Mitanni lands by the Assyrians, the Mitanni kingdom retained its existence. The Mitanni king (Shuttarna) maintained good relations with the Assyrians and returned to them the doors of the Assyrian royal palace that had been taken by the Mitanni king (Shaushtatar). Such loot constituted a powerful political symbol in ancient Mesopotamia.
Perhaps initially, (Shattiwaza) fled to Babylon, but he ended up in the court of the Hittite king who married him to one of his daughters. The treaty concluded between the Hittite king (Suppiluliuma) and the Mitanni king (Shattiwaza) has been preserved, and the texts of this treaty are one of the main sources for this period. After concluding the treaty between (Suppiluliuma) and (Shattiwaza), (Piyashshili), who is the son of (Suppiluliuma), led the Hittite army in its attack on the Mitanni kingdom. Hittite sources mention that (Piyashshili) and (Shattiwaza) crossed the Euphrates River at the city of (Carchemish) and then marched towards (Irridu) in the Mitanni lands. They sent messengers from the western bank of the Euphrates River to the inhabitants of (Irridu) and expected to be welcomed by the people there, but the city’s inhabitants were loyal to the new ruler (Tushratta) because of his wealth, as (Suppiluliuma) claims. The people mocked them and said: Why are you coming? If you are coming to fight, advance, but you will not return to the land of the Great King. King (Tushratta) sent men to reinforce the chariot forces in the (Irridu) region, but the Hittite army defeated them in battle and the inhabitants of (Irridu) petitioned the Hittites to establish peace between them. In the meantime, an Assyrian war chariot entered the Mitanni capital (Wassukanni) and the chariot was driven by only one person. It appears that the Mitanni king (Shuttarna) had sought to receive military aid from the Assyrians to face the Hittite threat. It also appears that the sent Assyrian force did not fulfill what (Shuttarna) aspired to obtain or that he might have changed his mind. In any case, the entry of the Assyrian army into the Mitanni kingdom was rejected, and instead of providing aid to the Mitanni kingdom, the Assyrian army besieged the Mitanni capital (Wassukanni). This reality seemed to change the mood of the people to become against their king (Shuttarna), as perhaps the majority of the inhabitants of the city of (Wassukanni) preferred to be under the patronage of the Hittite Empire rather than under Assyrian rule. In any case, the inhabitants of (Wassukanni) sent a messenger to both (Piyashshili) and (Shattiwaza) who were in the city of (Irridu), as they were speaking to the people there at the city gate. (Piyashshili) and (Shattiwaza) headed to the capital (Wassukanni) and the cities of (Harran) and (Pakarripa) surrendered to the Hittite forces. In (Pakarripa), which is a desolate country, the Hittite and Mitanni forces suffered from hunger and this led to some progress for the Assyrian forces there, but the Assyrians did not achieve any success. The Assyrian forces were forced to retreat before the Hittite and Mitanni forces and withdrew to the city of (Nilap_ini), but no military confrontation took place between the two sides. As a result of the superiority of the Hittite forces, it appears that the Assyrians were forced to withdraw and return to Assyria.
(Shattiwaza) became king of the Mitanni kingdom, but only after the Hittite king (Suppiluliuma) took the city of (Carchemish) and the lands west of the Euphrates River which his son (Piyashshili) was ruler of. Thus, the Mitanni kingdom became restricted to the valleys of the Khabur River and the Balikh River, and the Mitanni kingdom became heavily dependent on its ally the Hittite kingdom. Some scholars call the Mitanni kingdom a “puppet of the Hittite kingdom” during this period and say that it constituted a geographical buffer zone for the Hittites against powerful Assyria.
During the reign of the Assyrian king (Ashur-uballit), Assyria began to harass the Mitanni kingdom, as it invaded the kingdom of Nuzi located east of the Tigris River, which was a vassal to the Mitannians, and it was destroyed by the Assyrians.
The researcher (Trevor Bryce), specialized in Hittite history, mentions that the Mitanni kingdom was permanently occupied during the reign of the Hittite king (Mursili III), who was defeated by the Assyrians, and this defeat was a strong blow to the prestige of the Hittite kingdom in the ancient world and undermined the authority of the young Hittite king in his kingdom (Source 2).
Shattuara I
(Shattuara I) was king of the Mitanni kingdom in the thirteenth century BC. (Shattuara I) became a vassal to the kingdom of Assyria after being defeated by the Assyrian king (Adad-nirari I) (1295 – 1263 BC) (Source 3, page 276). In one of the inscriptions of the Assyrian king (Adad-nirari I), this king mentions that (Shattuara I) rebelled against him, but he was captured and his allegiance was renewed to him.
Another Mitanni king ruled the Mitanni kingdom later under the name (Shattuara) during the reign of the Assyrian king (Shalmaneser I) (1263-1233 BC), where in one of the Assyrian inscriptions, it is mentioned that the Mitanni king (Shattuara) revolted against the Assyrian king (Shalmaneser I), but it is likely that this event is a repetition of the Mitanni revolt that broke out against the Assyrian king (Adad-nirari I) by (Shattuara) or his son (Wasashatta).
The royal inscriptions of the Assyrian king (Adad-nirari I) (circa 1307 – 1275 BC) indicate that the Mitanni king (Shattuara I), whose kingdom was a vassal to Assyria, revolted against Assyrian rule and committed hostile acts against Assyria.
The kinship of (Shattuara I) with the lineage of the Mitanni king (Partatama) is unknown. Some scholars believe that he was the second son of King (Artatama II) and the brother of King (Shattiwaza) who was at one time the rival of King (Shuttarna). The Assyrian king (Adad-nirari I) claims that he arrested King (Shattuara) and brought him to Assyria, where he pledged there to be a vassal to Assyria. After that, he was allowed to return to the Mitanni kingdom and he paid tribute to the Assyrian king (Adad-nirari) regularly. This happened during the reign of the Hittite king (Mursili II), but there is no specific date for this incident.
Wasashatta
(Wasashatta) was king of the Mitanni kingdom at the beginning of the thirteenth century BC. He was a vassal to the Assyrians just as his father was.
Despite the power that Assyria enjoyed, (Wasashatta) tried to stage a revolt against the Assyrian occupation, seeking military aid from the Hittite kingdom, but the Hittite kingdom was suffering at that time from internal conflicts resulting from the usurpation of the Hittite throne by (Hattusili III) due to which his nephew (Urhi-Teššup) was forced to live in exile. The Assyrian king (Adad-nirari) indicates with glee in his inscriptions that the Hittites took the money given to them by (Wasashatta) in exchange for providing him with Hittite military aid, but the Hittites took the money without providing any help to him.
The Assyrians expanded their kingdom more and more, as they invaded the city of (Taidu) as well as the Mitanni capital (Wassukanni) and the cities of (Amasakku), (Kahat), (Shuru), (Nabula), (Hurra), and (Shuduhu). The Assyrians also invaded the city of (Irridu) and completely destroyed it and salted it. The wife of the son of the Mitanni king (Wasashatta) and his daughters were taken to Assyria, in addition to a lot of loot and prisoners. (Wasashatta) himself was not mentioned among the list of prisoners, and this indicates that he may have fled and escaped captivity. There are letters for (Wasashatta) in the Hittite documents. Some scholars believe that he later became ruler of a small Mitanni kingdom called (Shubria).
The Assyrian king (Adad-nirari I) occupied the heart of the Mitanni kingdom located between the (Balikh) River and the Khabur River, which was occupied by the Hittites, but it appears that the Assyrians did not cross the Euphrates River and that the city of (Carchemish) remained under Hittite rule. After his victory over the Mitanni kingdom, (Adad-nirari I) titled himself “Great King sharru rabû” in his letters sent to the rulers of the Hittite kingdom.
Shattuara II
(Shattuara II) was the last known Mitanni king in the thirteenth century BC, before the Assyrian invasion.
During the reign of the Assyrian king (Shalmaneser I) (1270 – 1240 BC), the Mitanni king (Shattuara), who was the son or nephew of the Mitanni king (Wasahatta), revolted against the Assyrian occupation with the help of the Hittites and the Aramaic nomads (Ahlamu) and that was around the year 1250 and his army was well equipped and managed to liberate all mountain passes and lakes so that the Assyrian army suffered from thirst during their advance, yet the Assyrian king (Shalmaneser I) achieved a crushing victory over the Hittites and Mitannians. The mentioned Assyrian king claims that he killed 14,400 men while the rest were blinded and thrown away. His inscriptions mention that he occupied nine fortified temples and turned 180 Hurrian cities into heaps of ruins and that (Shalmaneser) slaughtered the armies of the Hittites and their nomad Aramaic allies like sheep. His inscriptions also indicate that he seized cities starting from (Taidu) to the city of (Irridu) as well as Mount (Kashiar) reaching the Euphrates River and both the fortress of (Sudu) and (Harranu) to (Carchemish) located on the Euphrates River. Another inscription indicates the building of a temple to the Assyrian god (Adad) in the Mitanni city of (Kahat) which was also occupied by the Assyrians.
Roux, Georges (1966). Ancient Iraq. p. 229. Penguin Books.
Bryce, Trevor (2005). The kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-927908-X.
Idwards, I. E. S. (1973). The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 1, Part 2: Early History of the Middle East (The Cambridge Ancient History, 2nd edition), Cambridge University Press, p. 276.
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Note: This text is translated from the original Arabic version… Read the Arabic version:Click here
