Mitanni (;
Hittite cuneiform ;
Mittani ), also called
Hanigalbat (
Hanigalbat, Khanigalbat cuneiform ) in
Assyrian or
Naharin in Egyptian texts, was a
Hurrian-speaking state in northern
Syria and southeast
Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC. Founded by an
Indo-Aryan ruling class governing a predominantly
Hurrian population, Mitanni came to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of
Amorite Babylon and a series of ineffectual
Assyrian kings created a power vacuum in Mesopotamia. At the beginning of its history, Mitanni's major rival was Egypt under the
Thutmosids. However, with the ascent of the
Hittite empire, Mitanni and Egypt made an alliance to protect their mutual interests from the threat of Hittite domination. At the height of its power, during the 14th century BC, Mitanni had outposts centered on its capital,
Washukanni, whose location has been determined by archaeologists to be on the headwaters of the
Khabur River. Eventually, Mitanni succumbed to Hittite and later Assyrian attacks, and was reduced to the status of a province of the
Middle Assyrian Empire.
