General Notes

ote: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia

The Hurrian and Mitanni kingdoms.

The weakening of the Semitic states in Mesopotamia after 1550enabled the Hurrians to penetrate deeper into this region, wherethey founded numerous small states in the eastern parts ofAnatolia, Mesopotamia, and Syria. The Hurrians came fromnorthwestern Iran, but until recently very little was knownabout their early history. After 1500, isolated dynastiesappeared with Indo- Aryan names, but the significance of thisis disputed. The presence of Old Indian technical terms in laterrecords about horse breeding and the use of the names of Indiangods (such as, for example, Indra and Varuna) in some compactsof state formerly led several scholars to assume that numerousgroups of Aryans, closely related to the Indians, pushed intoAnatolia from the northeast. They were also credited with theintroduction of the light war chariot with spoked wheels. Thisconclusion, however, is by no means established fact. So far ithas not been possible to appraise the numbers and the politicaland cultural influence of the Aryans in Anatolia and Mesopotamiarelative to those of the Hurrians.

Some time after 1500 the kingdom of Mitanni (or Mittani) arosenear the sources of the Khabur River in Mesopotamia. Since norecord or inscription of their kings has been unearthed, littleis known about the development and history of the Mitannikingdom before King Tushratta. The Mitanni empire was known tothe Egyptians under the name of Naharina, and Thutmose IIIfought frequently against it after 1460 BC. By 1420 the domainof the Mitanni king Saustatar (Saushatar) stretched from theMediterranean all the way to the northern Zagros Mountains, inwestern Iran, including Alalakh, in northern Syria, as well asNuzi, Kurrukhanni, and Arrapkha. The northern boundary dividingMitanni from the Hittites and the other Hurrian states was neverfixed, even under Saustatar's successors Artatama I andShuttarna II, who married their daughters to the pharaohsThutmose IV (1400-1390) and Amenhotep III (1390-1353). Tushratta(c. 1365-c. 1330), the son of Shuttarna, was able to maintainthe kingdom he had inherited for many years. In his sometimesvery long letters--one of them written in Hurrian--to AmenhotepIII and Akhenaton (1353-1336), he wrote about commerce, hisdesire for gold, and marriage. Weakened by internal strife, theMitanni kingdom eventually became a pawn between the risingkingdoms of the Hittites and the Assyrians.

The kingdom of Mitanni was a feudal state led by a warriornobility of Aryan or Hurrian origin. Frequently horses were bredon their large landed estates. Documents and contract agreementsin Syria often mention a chariot-warrior caste that alsoconstituted the social upper class in the cities. Thearistocratic families usually received their landed property asan inalienable fief. Consequently, no documents on the sellingof landed property are to be found in the great archives ofAkkadian documents and letters discovered in Nuzi, near Kirkuk.The prohibition against selling landed property was oftendodged, however, with a stratagem: the previous owner "adopted"a willing buyer against an appropriate sum of money. The wealthylord Tehiptilla was "adopted" almost 200 times, acquiringtremendous holdings of landed property in this way withoutinterference by the local governmental authorities. He hadgained his wealth through trade and commerce and through aproductive two-field system of agriculture (in which each fieldwas cultivated only once in two years). For a long time, PrinceShilwa-Teshub was in charge of the royal governmentaladministration in the district capital. Sheep breeding was thebasis for a woolen industry, and textiles collected by thepalace were exported on a large scale. Society was highlystructured in classes, ranks, and professions. The judiciary,patterned after the Babylonian model, was well organized; thedocuments place heavy emphasis on correct procedure.

Native sources on the religion of the Hurrians of the Mitannikingdom are limited; about their mythology, however, much isknown from related Hittite and Ugaritic myths. Like the otherpeoples of the ancient Middle East, the Hurrians worshiped godsof various origins. The king of the gods was the weather godTeshub. According to the myths, he violently deposed his fatherKumarbi; in this respect he resembled the Greek god Zeus, whodeposed his father Kronos. The war chariot of Teshub was drawnby the bull gods Seris ("Day") and Hurris ("Night"). Majorsanctuaries of Teshub were located at Arrapkha (modern Kirkuk)and at Halab (modern Aleppo) in Syria. In the east his consortwas the goddess of love and war Shaushka, and in thewest the goddess Hebat (Hepat); both were similar to theIshtar-Astarte of the Semites.

The sun god Shimegi and the moon god Kushuh, whose consort wasNikkal, the Ningal of the Sumerians, were of lesser rank. Moreimportant was the position of the Babylonian god of war and theunderworld, Nergal. In northern Syria the god of warAstapi and the goddess of oaths Ishara are attested as early asthe 3rd millennium BC.

In addition, a considerable importance was attributed toimpersonal numina such as heaven and earth as well as to deitiesof mountains and rivers. In the myths the terrible aspect of thegods often prevails over indications of a benevolent attitude.The cults of sacrifices and other rites are similar to thoseknown from the neighbouring countries; many Hurrian rituals werefound in Hittite Anatolia. There is abundant evidence for magicand oracles.

Temple monuments of modest dimensions have been unearthed; inall probability, specific local traditions were a factor intheir design. The dead were probably buried outside thesettlement. Small artifacts, particularly seals, show a peculiarcontinuation of Babylonian and Assyrian traditions in theirpreference for the naturalistic representation of figures. Therewere painted ceramics with finely drawn decorations (white on adark background). The strong position of the royal house wasevident in the large palaces, existing even in districtcapitals. The palaces were decorated with frescoes. Because onlya few Mitanni settlements have been unearthed in Mesopotamia,knowledge of Mitanni arts and culture is as yet insufficient.