Tushratta
Tushratta | |
---|---|
King of Mitanni | |
Reign | c. 1358 BC – c. 1335 BC |
Predecessor | Artashumara |
Successor | Artatama II |
Issue | Shattiwaza Tadukhipa |
Father | Shuttarna II |
Tushratta (Akkadian: Tušratta[1] and Tuišeratta[2]) was a king of Mitanni, c. 1358–1335 BCE,[3] at the end of the reign of Amenhotep III and throughout the reign of Akhenaten. He was the son of Shuttarna II. Tushratta stated that he was the grandson of Artatama I.[4] His sister Gilukhipa (Gilu-ḫepa in Hurrian) and his daughter Tadukhipa (Tadu-ḫepa in Hurrian) were married to the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III;[5] 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. 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 was a common practice.[6]
Name
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".[7][8]
History
At the beginning of his reign, the
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 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 Mitanni capital of
A second campaign
In a second campaign, the Hittites again crossed the Euphrates and subdued
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 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 a group led by one of his sons.[9] A time of civil war followed which came to an end when Suppiluliuma placed Shattiwaza on the Mitannian throne.
Amarna letters
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.[10]
From King Tushratta to Amenhotep III[11]
- Amarna letter EA 17,
- Amarna letter EA 18,
- Amarna letter EA 19, "Love and Gold"
- Amarna letter EA 20,
- Amarna letter EA 21,
- Amarna letter EA 22, "Presents from Tushratta to Amenhotep III, when he gave to him his daughter Tadukhipa to wife"
- Amarna letter EA 23, "A Goddess travels to Egypt"
- Amarna letter EA 24,
- Amarna letter EA 25,
From King Tushratta to Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten)[11]
- Amarna letters EA 25
- Amarna letter EA 27, "The missing gold statues again"
- Amarna letter EA 28,
- Amarna letter EA 29,
From King Tushratta to Queen Tiye[11]
- Amarna letter EA 26, "To the Queen Mother, some missing gold statues"
References
- ^ tu-uš-rat-ta in "CDLI-Archival View". cdli.ucla.edu.
- ^ tu-iš-e-rat-ta in "CDLI-Archival View". cdli.ucla.edu.
- ^ Mladjov, I., (2019). "The Kings of Mittani in Light of the New Evidence from Terqa", in: NABU 2019, No. 1, March, p. 34.
- ^ Goetze, Albrecht. “On the Chronology of the Second Millennium B. C. (Concluded).” Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, 1957, pp. 63–73
- ISBN 0-500-05128-3,
- ^ N. J. J. Illingworth. “Inscriptions from Tell Brak 1986.” Iraq, vol. 50, 1988, pp. 87–108
- . Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ Liverani, Mario (2014). "16.1. The 'mountain people' and the 'dark age'". The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. Routledge. p. 273.
- ^ Devecchi, Elena. “Details That Make the Difference: The Akkadian Manuscripts of the ‘Šattiwaza Treaties.’” Die Welt Des Orients, vol. 48, no. 1, 2018, pp. 72–95
- ^ Dobel, Allan, et al. “Neutron Activation Analysis and the Location of Waššukanni.” Orientalia, vol. 46, no. 3, 1977, pp. 375–82
- ^ a b c Mercer, Samuel (1939). The Tell El-Amarna Tablets. Vol. 1: The Macmillan Company of Canada Limited. p. xxiv.
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