Mitanni: Map & History
Mitanni or Mittani, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c.
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Mitanni or Mittani, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Ḫanigalbat or Ḫani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or Naharin in Egyptian and some Akkadian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking kingdom in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia with Indo-Aryan linguistic and political influences. Since no histories, royal annals or chronicles have yet been found in its excavated sites, knowledge about Mitanni is sparse compared to the other powers in the area, and dependent on what its neighbours commented in their texts.
Modern Countries Once Part of Mitanni
At its mapped extent, Mitanni covered territory in 3 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Mitanni's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Mitanni in Depth
History
As early as 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, to the time of the Hittite sovereigns Hattusili I and Mursili I.
Hurrians are mentioned in the private Nuzi texts, in Ugarit, and the Hittite archives in Hattusa (Boğazköy). Cuneiform texts from Mari mention rulers of city-states in upper Mesopotamia with both Amurru (Amorite) and Hurrian names.
Government and society
There is very little information about the Mitannian royal family: apart from the sovereigns, we know the names of a few sovereigns' fathers, whose status as kings is unknown, of a single queen, Yuni, wife of Tushratta (who corresponds directly to the Egyptian queen mother Tiye according to the Amarna letter EA 26), and of three princesses married to Egyptian kings (one whose name is unknown, who married Thutmose IV, Gilu-Heba, then Tadu-Heba who married Amenhotep III). The succession to the throne generally passed from father to son, but it is possible that this principle of succession was not the rule since other cases are attested (but in the minority). The dynastic principle is evident in the use of a dynastic seal, that of Shaushtatar, by the latter's successors up to Tushratta.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Mitanni (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Mitanni: Key Facts
| Capital | Tell el Fakhariya |
|---|---|
| Official language | Hurrian |
| Founded | 1650 BCE |
| Dissolved | 1260 BCE |
Facts from Wikidata Q178665 (CC0).
Mitanni Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Mitanni appears, with the other states of the time.
Mitanni Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 189,149 km² in 1450 BCE.
Mitanni: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Mitanni exist?
Mitanni is dated to 1500 BCE – 1241 BCE, in the Bronze Age Civilizations era.
What was the capital of Mitanni?
The capital of Mitanni was Washukanni.
How large was Mitanni at its peak?
At its peak in 1450 BC Mitanni covered about 189,149 km².
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