Mitanni Empire

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.