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18-403: He had been placed on the throne after the murder of his brother Artashumara . He was probably quite young at the time and was destined to serve as a figurehead only but he managed to dispose of the murderer. A tablet was found in a Mitanni building at Tell Brak which stated it was witnessed "in the presence of Tushratta, the king" and had a seal of an earlier king Shaushtatar on the reverse which

36-571: A group led by one of his sons. A time of civil war followed which came to an end when Suppiluliuma placed Shattiwaza on the Mitannian throne. Six of the Tushratta letters, including EA 24, were subjected to Neutron Activation Analysis to match the clay composition to potential sites for Waššukanni. The results ruled out a Tell Fakhariyah location. Artashumara Artashumara ( Mittani Aryan : Artasmara ; Akkadian : Artašumara )

54-767: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni Some loanwords in the variant of the Hurrian language spoken in Mitanni during the 2nd millennium BCE are identifiable as originating in an Indo-Aryan language ; these are considered to constitute an Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni (or in Mitanni Hurrian). The words are theonyms , proper names and technical terminology related to horses (hippological). It

72-603: Is a cognate of the Vedic Sanskrit term ऋतस्मर ( Ṛta-smara ), meaning " he remembers Ṛta ". He is known only from a single mention in a tablet found in Tell Brak "Artassumara the king, son of Shuttarna the king" and a mention in Amarna letter 17. According to the letter, after the death of Shuttarna II , he briefly took power but was later assassinated. This Ancient Near East biographical article

90-478: Is dear", Priyamazda (priiamazda) as Priyamedha "whose wisdom is dear", Citrarata as Citraratha "whose chariot is shining", Indaruda/Endaruta as Indrota "helped by Indra", Shativaza (šattiṷaza) as Sātivāja "winning the race prize", Šubandu as Subandhu "having good relatives" (a name in Palestine ), Tushratta (tṷišeratta, tušratta, etc.) as *tṷaišaratha, Vedic Tveṣaratha "whose chariot is vehement". All of

108-592: Is generally believed that Indo-Aryan peoples settled in Upper Mesopotamia and northern Syria , and established the kingdom of Mitanni following a period of political vacuum, while also adopting Hurrian. This is considered a part of the Indo-Aryan migrations . Professor Eva von Dassow concurs with the presence of Indo-Aryan terms in Mitanni vocabulary, but cautiously advises against the notion of an "Indo-Aryan takeover". Michael Witzel argues for

126-444: Is of particular importance because it places the superstrate in the vicinity of Indo-Aryan proper ( Vedic Sanskrit eka , with regular contraction of /ai/ to [eː]) as opposed to Indo-Iranian or early Iranian (which has *aiva ; compare Vedic eva "only") in general. A document from Nuzi has babru(-nnu) ( babhru , brown), parita(-nnu) ( palita , grey), and pinkara(-nnu) ( pingala , red) for horse colours. Their chief festival

144-671: The Amurru and Nuhašše in Hanigalbat . According to the Suppiluliuma- Shattiwaza treaty, Suppiluliuma had made a treaty with Artatama, a rival of Tushratta. Nothing is known of Artatama's previous life or connection, if any, to the royal family. The document calls him king of the Hurrians , while Tushratta is given the title of "King of Mitanni", which must have disagreed with Tushratta. Suppiluliuma started to plunder

162-531: The Egyptian kingdom. However, when Suppiluliuma invaded his kingdom, the Egyptians failed to respond in time—perhaps because of the sudden death of Akhenaten, and the resulting struggle for control of the Egyptian throne. According to a treaty later made between Suppiluliuma and Shattiwaza , a son of Tushratta, after a third devastating Hittite raid led to the fall of Carchemish , Tushratta was assassinated by

180-779: The antiquity of the Indo-Aryan words attested in the Mitanni data, since they almost certainly predate linguistic developments attested in the Rigveda . In a treaty between the Hittites and Mitanni (between Suppiluliuma I and Shattiwaza , c. 1380 BC), the deities Mitra , Varuna , Indra , and Nasatya ( Ashvins ) are invoked. Kikkuli 's horse training text ( circa 1400 BC) includes technical terms such as aika ( Vedic Sanskrit eka , one), tera ( tri , three), panza ( pañca , five), satta ( sapta , seven), na ( nava , nine), vartana ( vartana , round). The numeral aika "one"

198-529: The capital. While the campaign weakened Tushratta's kingdom, he still held onto his throne. In a second campaign, the Hittites again crossed the Euphrates and subdued Halab , Mukish , Niya , Arahati , Apina , and Qatna as well as some cities whose names have not been preserved. Charioteers are mentioned among the booty from Arahati, who were brought to Hatti together with all their possessions. While it

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216-420: The lands of the west bank of the Euphrates river and he annexed Mount Lebanon . Tushratta threatened to raid beyond the Euphrates if even a single lamb or kid was stolen. Suppiluliuma then recounts how the land of Isuwa on the upper Euphrates had seceded in the time of his grandfather. Attempts to conquer it failed. In the time of his father, other cities rebelled. Suppiluliuma claims to have defeated them, but

234-423: The people whom I released rejoined their peoples and Hatti incorporated their territories," Suppiluliuma later boasted. The Hittite army then marched through various districts towards the Mitanni capital of Washshukanni . Suppiluliuma claims to have plundered the district and to have brought loot, captives, cattle, sheep and horses back to Hatti. He also claims that Tushratta fled, but obviously he failed to capture

252-511: The survivors fled to the territory of Isuwa that must have been part of Tushratta's realm. A clause to return fugitives was part of many treaties made at the time, so possibly the harbouring of fugitives by Isuwa formed the pretext for the Hittite invasion. A Hittite army crossed the border, entered Isuwa and returned the fugitives (or deserters or exile governments) to Hittite rule. "I freed the lands which I captured; they dwelt in their places. All

270-561: Was a Hurrian ruler who briefly succeeded his father Shuttarna II as the king of Mitanni in the fourteenth century BC. He was a brother of Tushratta and Artatama II. He was later assassinated by a pro-hittite group led by Tuhi who declared himself as a regent after placing Tushratta on the throne. Tuhi was later executed by Tushratta. The name Artašumara is the Akkadian form of the Mittani Aryan name Artasmara , which

288-545: Was a common practice. Recorded in three distinct spellings— Tušratta , Tušeratta , Tuišeratta —Tushratta's name is an Akkadianised rendition of an Indo-Aryan name Tvaiṣaratha meaning "[one with, having] a charging chariot". At the beginning of his reign, the Hittite King Suppiluliuma I reconquered Kizzuwatna , then invaded the western part of the Euphrates valley and conquered

306-468: Was common practice to incorporate enemy soldiers in the army, this might point to a Hittite attempt to counter the most potent weapon of the Mitanni, the war-chariots , by building up or strengthening their own chariot forces. Tushratta had possibly suspected Hittite intentions on his kingdom, for the Amarna letters include several tablets from Tushratta concerning the marriage of his daughter Tadukhipa with Akhenaten, explicitly to solidify an alliance with

324-648: Was the celebration of the solstice ( vishuva ) which was common in most cultures in the ancient world. The Mitanni warriors were called marya (Hurrian: maria-nnu ), the term for '(young) warrior' in Sanskrit as well, formed by adding the Hurrian suffix -nnu ; note 'mišta-nnu' (= miẓḍha,~ Sanskrit mīḍha) "payment (for catching a fugitive)". Sanskritic interpretations of Mitanni names render Artashumara (artaššumara) as Arta-smara "who thinks of Arta/Ṛta ", Biridashva (biridašṷa, biriiašṷa) as Prītāśva "whose horse

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