page_title: Mitanni
hierarchical_section_title: Mitanni
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the near east circa 1400 BCE. עברית: מפת אזור המזרח הקרוב חלוקה לאימפריות בשנת 1400 לפנה"ס
context_page_description: Mitanni, also called Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian or Naharin in Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia.
  Currently there are two hypotheses regarding how Mitanni was formed:
  First theory:
  Mitanni 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 are from before the time of Thutmose I, so dated to the time of the Hittite sovereigns Hattusili I and Mursili I, when the middle chronology is applied.
  Second theory:
  Mitanni came to be due to a political vacuum in Syria, which had been created first through the destruction of the kingdom of Yamhad by the Hittites and then through the inability of Hatti to maintain control of the region during the period following the death of Mursili I.
  If the second hypothesis is considered, Mitanni could have come to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of Amorite Babylon occurred in 1531, and a series of ineffectual Assyrian kings created a power vacuum in Mesopotamia.
context_section_description: Mitanni  (/mɪˈtæni/; Hittite cuneiform 𒆳𒌷𒈪𒋫𒀭𒉌 KUR Mi-ta-an-ni; Mittani 𒈪𒀉𒋫𒉌 Mi-it-ta-ni), also called Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat (Hanikalbat, Khanigalbat, cuneiform 𒄩𒉌𒃲𒁁 Ḫa-ni-gal-bat, Ḫa-ni-rab-bat) in Assyrian or Naharin in Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia.
  Currently there are two hypotheses regarding how Mitanni was formed:
  First theory:
  Mitanni 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 are from before the time of Thutmose I, so dated to the time of the Hittite sovereigns Hattusili I and Mursili I, when the middle chronology is applied.
  Second theory:
  Mitanni came to be due to a political vacuum in Syria, which had been created first through the destruction of the kingdom of Yamhad by the Hittites and then through the inability of Hatti to maintain control of the region during the period following the death of Mursili I.
  If the second hypothesis is considered, Mitanni (c. 1500 to 1300 BC as per short chronology) could have come to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of Amorite Babylon occurred in 1531 (also in short chronology), and a series of ineffectual Assyrian kings created a power vacuum in Mesopotamia.
  While the Mitanni kings were supposedly Indo-Aryan, they used the language of the local people, which was at that time a non-Indo-European language, Hurrian. Their sphere of influence is shown in Hurrian place names, personal names and the spread through Syria and the Levant of a distinct pottery type.
caption: Map of the Near East c. 1400 BC showing the Kingdom of Mitanni at its greatest extent
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