Tušratta

Tušratta or Tuschratta ( Akkadian LUGAL ^Kur Ḫa-ni-gal-ba-at Tu-uš-e-rat-ta ) was a Mitannic king. In the Amarna letters salutation used lugal (in expansion EN-in.MESCH ) Hurri is first among Mursili I. occupied. More common is the designation as King of the Men of Hurri . He was married to June and was the father of Taduchepa and Šattiwazza .

Term of office

Artaššumara is named as King of Mitanni in Amarna letter EA 17 and later mentioned as my brother in Tušratta's report.

Amarna letters

In the 10th year of Amenhotep III's reign . Tušratta is already mentioned as the authorized representative for the marriage of the daughter Kiluchepa of Šutarna II. Since Tušratta later reported that he was represented as a minor heir to the throne by a UD-HI , the reign of Artassumara was very short. In the 30th year of Amenhotep III's reign. Šutarna II had already died. Only six years later, Tušratta's daughter was Taduchepa with Amenhotep III. married (EA 23).

Daughters were married between the ages of 12 and 15. According to Wolfgang Helck's theory, Taduchepa was at the earliest between the 22nd and 25th year of Amenhotep III's reign. born. The age of Tušratta would then be around 11 to 15 years. Wolfgang Helck therefore sets the beginning of the government of Tušratta in the 15th-18th centuries. Amenhotep III's year of reign, which means that Tušratta was born between the 10th and 14th year of Amenhotep III's reign. would mean. However, this setting collides with the reference in the 10th year of Amenophis III's reign, in which Tušratta is named as authorized representative . If one follows this timeline, Tušratta's birth can even be placed in the final years of Thutmose IV's reign , which again contradicts the previous chronology. The contradiction could not be explained satisfactorily until today.

Entry into government

After Tušratta was used as a puppet king, he managed to seize power and kill UD-HI and his followers. Tušratta then resumed diplomatic contact with Egypt, which was broken off after Artassumara's death (EA 17-29). In his first letter (EA 17) he sent booty from a campaign against Hatti to his "brother" Amenophis III. (Nimmuriya). In a later letter (EA 21), Tušratta reports how he received the Egyptian ambassador Mane and his translator Uane with high honors and gave them rich gifts. He was therefore very careful to maintain good relations with Egypt, whose power in the north was, of course, on the decline.

After the death of Amenhotep III. married Amenhotep IV. Taduchepa.

Under Tušratta large parts of Mitannis were conquered by the Hittites under Šuppiluliuma I, but they did not succeed in establishing a permanent rule. Tušratta's son Šattiwaz (z) a succeeded him on the throne, he was married to a daughter of Šuppiluliuma.

Contemporaries of Tušratta (1370-1350)
Egypt	Assyria	Hittites
Amenhotep III (1390-1352)	Eriba-Adad I (1391-1366)	Arnuwanda I (1400-1375)
Amenhotep IV (1351-1337)	Aššur-uballit I. (1365-1330)	Tudḫaliya II. (1375-1355)
		Šuppiluliuma I. (1355–1323)

literature

• Hans-Peter Adler: The Akkadian of King Tusratta of Mittani. Neukirchen 1976.
• Amir Harrak: Assyria and Hanilgalbat. A historical reconstruction of the bilateral relations from the middle of the 14th to the end of the 12th centuries BC. (= Studies on Oriental Studies Volume 4) Olms, Hildesheim et al. 1987, ISBN 3-487-07948-8 .
• Michael Klein: Comments on the Mittanni letter - Mit. I 83-109 as a certificate of diplomatic correspondence. (= The Mittani letter and the orthography and grammar of Hurrian , Volume 5), GRIN-Verlag Munich 2013.
• Texts from the environment of the Old Testament . Volume 1, Old Series, Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, Gütersloh 1982, ISBN 3-579-00061-6 .
• Cord Kühne : Political scenery and international relations in the Middle East around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC (also a concept of the short chronology). With a timetable. In: Hans J. Nissen / Johannes Renger (ed.): Mesopotamia and its neighbors. Political and cultural interrelationships in the ancient Orient from the 4th to the 1st millennium BC Chr. (= Berlin contributions to the Middle East 1. ). Reimer, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-496-00710-9 , pp. 203-264.
• Gernot Wilhelm : Basics of the history and culture of the Hurriter. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1982, ISBN 3-534-08151-X .
• Nasser-Mekawi Ouda, Horst Steible : The means of international communication between Egypt and the Middle East in the late Bronze Age. Dissertation: Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg i. Br. - Philosophical Faculty - Oriental Seminar, Freiburg (Breisgau) 2003; Print edition: Freiburg (Breisgau) January 19, 2004, ( PDF file ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Artaššumara 1375-1370 BC Chr.	King of Mittani 1370-1350 BC Chr.	Šattiwazza , 1350-1320 BC Chr.