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Tushratta was a king of Mitanni
Mitanni

Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking Hittite vassal state in northern Syria from ca. 1500 BC-1300 BC."The Assyrians called the lands of Mitanni Hanigalbat while to the Hittites it was the land of the Hurrians....
 at the end of the reign of Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III

Amenhotep III was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1391 BC-December 1353 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died....
 and throughout the reign of Akhenaten
Akhenaten

Akhenaten , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, who died 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for attempting to compel the Egyptian population in the monotheism worship of Aten, although there are doubts as to how successful he was at this....
 -- approximately the late 14th century BC. He was the son of Shuttarna II
Shuttarna II

Shuttarna II was a king of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni in the early 14th century BC.Shuttarna was a descendant and probably a son of the great Mitannian king Artatama I....
. His sister Gilukhipa
Gilukhipa

Gilukhipa, or more probable Kilu-Hepa in Hurrian language, in the Egyptian language Kirgipa, was the daughter of Shuttarna II, king of Mitanni....
 and his daughter Tadukhipa
Tadukhipa

Tadukhipa, in Hurrian language Tadu-Hepa, was the daughter of Tushratta, king of Mitanni and his queen, Queen Juni.Relatively little is known about this princess of Mitanni....
 was married to the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III

Amenhotep III was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1391 BC-December 1353 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died....
; Tadukhipa later married Akhenaten who took over his father's royal harem.

He had been placed on the throne after the murder of his brother Artashumara
Artashumara

Artashumara was a Hurrian pretender to the throne of Mitanni in the fourteenth century BC. His reign was very short, or non-existent, before he was murdered. He was the brother of Tushratta, who succeeded him....
. He was probably quite young at the time and was destined to serve as a figurehead only.






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Tushratta was a king of Mitanni
Mitanni

Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking Hittite vassal state in northern Syria from ca. 1500 BC-1300 BC."The Assyrians called the lands of Mitanni Hanigalbat while to the Hittites it was the land of the Hurrians....
 at the end of the reign of Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III

Amenhotep III was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1391 BC-December 1353 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died....
 and throughout the reign of Akhenaten
Akhenaten

Akhenaten , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, who died 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for attempting to compel the Egyptian population in the monotheism worship of Aten, although there are doubts as to how successful he was at this....
 -- approximately the late 14th century BC. He was the son of Shuttarna II
Shuttarna II

Shuttarna II was a king of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni in the early 14th century BC.Shuttarna was a descendant and probably a son of the great Mitannian king Artatama I....
. His sister Gilukhipa
Gilukhipa

Gilukhipa, or more probable Kilu-Hepa in Hurrian language, in the Egyptian language Kirgipa, was the daughter of Shuttarna II, king of Mitanni....
 and his daughter Tadukhipa
Tadukhipa

Tadukhipa, in Hurrian language Tadu-Hepa, was the daughter of Tushratta, king of Mitanni and his queen, Queen Juni.Relatively little is known about this princess of Mitanni....
 was married to the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III

Amenhotep III was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1391 BC-December 1353 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died....
; Tadukhipa later married Akhenaten who took over his father's royal harem.

He had been placed on the throne after the murder of his brother Artashumara
Artashumara

Artashumara was a Hurrian pretender to the throne of Mitanni in the fourteenth century BC. His reign was very short, or non-existent, before he was murdered. He was the brother of Tushratta, who succeeded him....
. 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.

History


At the beginning of his reign, the Hittite
Hittites

The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a Hittite language of the Anatolian languages of the Indo-European languages family, and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia ca....
 King Suppiluliuma I
Suppiluliuma I

Suppiluliuma I was king of the Hittites . He achieved fame as a great warrior and statesman, successfully challenging the then-dominant New Kingdom for control of the lands between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates....
, reconquered Kizzuwatna
Kizzuwatna

Kizzuwatna is the name of an ancient Anatolian kingdom in the second millennium BC. It was situated in the highlands of southeastern Anatolia, near the Gulf of Iskenderun in modern-day Turkey....
, then invaded the western part of the Euphrates
Euphrates

The Euphrates is the western of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia which flows from Anatolia....
 valley and conquered the Amurru and Nuhašše
Nuhašše

Nuha??e, also Nuha??a, was a territory in the Syria region mentioned in various Middle East documents as between Mari on the Euphrates and Hammath....
 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
Hurrians

The Hurrians were a people of the Ancient Near East, who lived in northern Mesopotamia and areas to the immediate east and west, beginning approximately 2500 BC....
, while Tushratta is given the title of "King of Mitanni", which must have disagreed with Tushratta. Suppiluliuma started to plunder the lands of the west bank of the Euphrates river and he annexed Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon

Mount Lebanon , as a geographic designation, is the Lebanon mountain range, known as the Western Mountain Range of Lebanon. It extends across the whole country along about 160 km , parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast with the highest peak, Qurnat as Sawda', at 3,088 m .Lebanon has historically been defined by these mountains, which provi...
. 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. Suppiluliumas claims to have defeated them, but 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 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 Hanilgalbat capital of Washshukanni. Suppiluliumas 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 the capital. While the campaign weakened Tushratta's kingdom, he still held onto his throne.

A second campaign


In a second campaign, the Hittites again crossed the Euphrates and subdued Halab, Mukish, Niya
Niya (kingdom)

Niya, Niye, and also Niy of Thutmose I's Ancient Egypt, also Nii of the Amarna letters, and Nihe, etc. was a kingdom in Syria, or northern Syria....
, Arahati, Apina, and Qatna
Qatna

Qatna, The tell occupies 1 km?, which makes it one of the largest bronze Age towns in western Syria. The tell is located at the edge of the limestone-plateau of the Syrian desert towards the fertile Homs-Bassin....
 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 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
Chariot

The chariot is the earliest and simplest type of carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Chariots were built in Mesopotamia by the Mesopotamians as early as 3000 BC and in China during the 2nd millennium BC....
, by building up or strengthening their own chariot forces.

Tushratta had possibly suspected Hittite intentions on his kingdom, for the Amarna letters
Amarna letters

The Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Ancient Egypt administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom....
 include several tablets from Tushratta concerning the marriage of his daughter Tadukhipa with Akhenaten, explicitly to solidify an alliance with the Egyptian kingdom. However, when Suppiluliumas 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 Tushratta's brother Shattiwaza
Shattiwaza

Shattiwaza , was a king of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni in the fourteenth century BC.Shattiwaza was the brother of king Tushratta. His Hurrian name was Kili-Te?up....
, after a third devastating Hittite raid led to the fall of Carchemish
Carchemish

Carchemish was an important ancient city of the Mitanni and Hittites empires, now on the frontier between Turkey and Syria. It was the location of an Battle of Carchemish between the Babylonians and Egyptians, mentioned in the Bible....
, Tushratta was assassinated by 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.

See also

  • Mitanni
    Mitanni

    Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking Hittite vassal state in northern Syria from ca. 1500 BC-1300 BC."The Assyrians called the lands of Mitanni Hanigalbat while to the Hittites it was the land of the Hurrians....