HURRIANS
The
approximate area of Hurrian settlement in the Middle Bronze Age
is shown in purple
Regions
with significant populations : Near East
Languages : Hurrian
Religion : Hurrian religion
The
Hurrians (also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or
Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke
a Hurro-Urartian language called Hurrian and lived in Anatolia,
Syria and Northern Mesopotamia. The largest and most influential
Hurrian nation was the kingdom of Mitanni, its ruling class perhaps
being Indo-Iranian speakers.
The
population of the Indo-European-speaking Hittite Empire in Anatolia
included a large population of Hurrians, and there is significant
Hurrian influence in Hittite mythology. By the Early Iron Age, the
Hurrians had been assimilated with other peoples. Their remnants
were subdued by a related people that formed the state of Urartu.
The
present-day Armenians are an amalgam of the Indo-European groups
with the Hurrians and Urartians.
Language
:
Incense burner. Hurrian period, 1300-1000 BC. From Tell
Basmosian (also Tell Bazmusian), modern-day Lake Dukan, Iraq. Currently
displayed in Erbil Civilization Museum
The
Louvre lion and accompanying stone tablet bearing the earliest known
text in Hurrian
The Hurrian language is closely related to the Urartian language,
the language of the ancient kingdom of Urartu. Together they form
the Hurro-Urartian language family. The external connections of
the Hurro-Urartian languages are disputed. There exist various proposals
for a genetic relationship to other language families (e.g. the
Northeast Caucasian languages), but none of these are generally
accepted.
From
the 21st century BCE to the late 18th century BCE, Assyria controlled
colonies in Anatolia, and the Hurrians, like the Hattians or Lullubis,
adopted the Assyrian Akkadian cuneiform script for their own language
about 2000 BCE. Texts in the Hurrian language in cuneiform have
been found at Hattusa, Ugarit (Ras Shamra), as well as in one of
the longest of the Amarna letters, written by King Tushratta of
Mitanni to Pharaoh Amenhotep III. It was the only long Hurrian text
known until a multi-tablet collection of literature in Hurrian with
a Hittite translation was discovered at Hattusa in 1983.
History
:
Middle Bronze Age :
Hurrian names occur sporadically in northwestern Mesopotamia and
the area of Kirkuk in modern Iraq by the Middle Bronze Age. Their
presence was attested at Nuzi, Urkesh and other sites. They eventually
infiltrated and occupied a broad arc of fertile farmland stretching
from the Khabur River valley in the west to the foothills of the
Zagros Mountains in the east. I. J. Gelb and E. A. Speiser believed
East Semitic speaking Assyrians/Subarians had been the linguistic
and ethnic substratum of northern Mesopotamia since earliest times,
while Hurrians were merely late arrivals. However, Subarians are
now believed to have been a Hurrian, or at least a Hurro-Urartian,
people.
Urkesh
:
Foundation
tablet. Dedication to God Nergal by Hurrian king Atalshen, king
of Urkish and Nawar, Habur Bassin, circa 2000 BC. Louvre Museum
AO 5678
"Of Nergal the lord of Hawalum, Atal-shen, the caring shepherd,
the king of Urkesh and Nawar, the son of Sadar-mat the king, is
the builder of the temple of Nergal, the one who overcomes opposition.
Let Shamash and Ishtar destroy the seeds of whoever removes this
tablet. Shaum-shen is the craftsman."
The Khabur River valley became the heart of the Hurrian lands for
a millennium. The first known Hurrian kingdom emerged around the
city of Urkesh (modern Tell Mozan) during the third millennium BCE.
There is evidence that they were initially allied with the east
Semitic Akkadian Empire of Mesopotamia, indicating they had a firm
hold on the area by the reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad (c. 2254–2218
BCE). This region hosted other rich cultures. The city-state of
Urkesh had some powerful neighbors. At some point in the early second
millennium BCE, the Northwest Semitic speaking Amorite kingdom of
Mari to the south subdued Urkesh and made it a vassal state. In
the continuous power struggles over Mesopotamia, another Amorite
dynasty had usurped the throne of the Old Assyrian Empire, which
had controlled colonies in Hurrian, Hattian and Hittite regions
of eastern Anatolia since the 21st century BCE. The Assyrians then
made themselves masters over Mari and much of north east Amurru
(Syria) in the late 19th and early 18th centuries BCE. Shubat-Enlil
(modern Tell Leilan), was made the capital of this Old Assyrian
empire by Shamshi Adad I at the expense of the earlier capital of
Assur.
Yamhad
:
The Hurrians also migrated further west in this period. By 1725
BCE they are found also in parts of northern Syria, such as Alalakh.
The mixed Amorite–Hurrian kingdom of Yamhad is recorded as
struggling for this area with the early Hittite king Hattusilis
I around 1600 BCE. Hurrians also settled in the coastal region of
Adaniya in the country of Kizzuwatna, southern Anatolia. Yamhad
eventually weakened vis-a-vis the powerful Hittites, but this also
opened Anatolia for Hurrian cultural influences. The Hittites were
influenced by both the Hurrian and Hattian cultures over the course
of several centuries.
Late
Bronze Age :
Mitanni :
The Indo-European Hittites continued expanding south after the defeat
of Yamhad. The army of the Hittite king Mursili I made its way to
Babylon (by then a weak and minor state) and sacked the city. The
destruction of the Babylonian kingdom, the presence of unambitious
or isolationist kings in Assyria, as well as the destruction of
the kingdom of Yamhad, helped the rise of another Hurrian dynasty.
The first ruler was a legendary king called Kirt who founded the
kingdom of Mitanni (known also as Hanigalbat/?anigalbat by the Assyrians,
and to the Egyptians as nhrn) around 1500 BCE.
Mitanni
gradually grew from the region around the Khabur valley and was
perhaps the most powerful kingdom of the Near East in c. 1475–1365
BCE, after which it was eclipsed and eventually destroyed by the
Middle Assyrian Empire.
Some
theonyms, proper names and other terminology of the Mitanni exhibit
an Indo-Aryan superstrate, suggesting that an Indo-Aryan elite imposed
itself over the Hurrian population in the course of the Indo-Aryan
expansion. (See Mitanni-Aryan.)
Arrapha
:
Another Hurrian kingdom also benefited from the demise of Babylonian
power in the sixteenth century BCE. Hurrians had inhabited the region
northeast of the river Tigris, around the modern Kirkuk. This was
the kingdom of Arrapha. Excavations at Yorgan Tepe, ancient Nuzi,
proved this to be one of the most important sites for our knowledge
about the Hurrians. Hurrian kings such as Ithi-Teshup and Ithiya
ruled over Arrapha, yet by the mid-fifteenth century BCE they had
become vassals of the Great King of Mitanni. The kingdom of Arrapha
itself was destroyed by the Assyrians in the mid 14th century BCE
and thereafter became an Assyrian city.
Bronze
Age collapse :
By the 13th century BCE all of the Hurrian states had been vanquished
by other peoples, with the Mitanni kingdom destroyed by Assyria.
The heartlands of the Hurrians, the Khabur river valley and south
eastern Anatolia, became provinces of the Middle Assyrian Empire
(1366–1020 BCE) which came to rule much of the Near East and
Asia Minor. It is not clear what happened to these early Hurrian
people at the end of the Bronze Age. Some scholars have suggested
that Hurrians lived on in the country of Nairi north of Assyria
during the early Iron Age, before this too was conquered by Assyria.
The Hurrian population of northern Syria in the following centuries
seems to have given up their language in favor of the Assyrian dialect
of Akkadian, and later, Aramaic.
Urartu
:
However, a power vacuum was to allow a new and powerful state whose
rulers spoke Urartian, similar to old Hurrian, to arise. The Middle
Assyrian Empire, after destroying the Hurro-Mitanni Empire, the
Hittite Empire, defeating the Phrygians and Elamites, conquering
Babylon, the Arameans of Syria, northern Ancient Iran and Canaan
and forcing the Egyptians out of much of the near east, itself went
into a century of relative decline from the latter part of the 11th
century BCE. The Urartians were thus able to impose themselves around
Lake Van and Mount Ararat, forming the powerful Kingdom of Urartu.
During the 11th and 10th centuries BCE, the kingdom eventually encompassed
a region stretching from the Caucasus Mountains in the north, to
the borders of northern Assyria and northern Ancient Iran in the
south, and controlled much of eastern Anatolia.
Assyria
began to once more expand from circa. 935 BCE, and Urartu and Assyria
became fierce rivals. Urartu successfully repelled Assyrian expansionism
for a time, however from the 9th to 7th century BCE it progressively
lost territory to Assyria. It was to survive until the 7th century
BCE, by which time it was conquered fully into the Neo Assyrian
Empire (911–605 BCE).
The
Assyrian Empire collapsed from 620 to 605 BCE, after a series of
brutal internal civil wars weakened it to such an extent that a
coalition of its former vassals; the Medes, Persians, Babylonians,
Chaldeans, Scythians and Cimmerians were able to attack and gradually
destroy it. Urartu was ravaged by marauding Indo-European speaking
Scythian and Cimmerian raiders during this time, with its vassal
king (together with the king of neighbouring Lydia) vainly pleading
with the beleaguered Assyrian king for help. After the fall of Assyria,
Urartu came under the control of the Median Empire and then its
successor Persian Empire during the 6th century BCE.
During
the 2nd millennium BC a new wave of Indo-European speakers migrated
over the Caucasus into Urartian lands, these being the Armenians.
An alternate theory suggests that Armenians were tribes indigenous
to the northern shores of Lake Van or Urartu's northern periphery
(possibly as the Hayasans, Etuini, and/or Diauehi, all of whom are
known only from references left by neighboring peoples such Hittites,
Urartians, and Assyrians). This theory is supported by genetic and
archaeological evidence, which is suggestive of an Indo-European
presence in Armenia and eastern Turkey by the end of the 3rd millennium
BCE.
It
is argued that proto-Armenian came into contact with Urartian at
an early date (3rd or 2nd millennium BC), before the formation of
the Urartian kingdom. While the Urartian language was used by the
royal elite, the population they ruled may have been multi-lingual,
and some of these peoples would have spoken Armenian.
In
the 6th century BCE the region became part of the Armenian Orontid
Dynasty. The Hurro-Urartians seem to have disappeared from history
around this time, almost certainly being absorbed into the Indo-European
Armenian population.
Culture
and society :
Knowledge of Hurrian culture relies on archaeological excavations
at sites such as Nuzi and Alalakh as well as on cuneiform tablets,
primarily from Hattusa (Boghazköy), the capital of the Hittites,
whose civilization was greatly influenced by the Hurrians. Tablets
from Nuzi, Alalakh, and other cities with Hurrian populations (as
shown by personal names) reveal Hurrian cultural features even though
they were written in Akkadian. Hurrian cylinder seals were carefully
carved and often portrayed mythological motifs. They are a key to
the understanding of Hurrian culture and history.
Ceramic
ware :
The Hurrians were masterful ceramists. Their pottery is commonly
found in Mesopotamia and in the lands west of the Euphrates; it
was highly valued in distant Egypt, by the time of the New Kingdom.
Archaeologists use the terms Khabur ware and Nuzi ware for two types
of wheel-made pottery used by the Hurrians.
Khabur
ware is characterized by reddish painted lines with a geometric
triangular pattern and dots, while Nuzi ware has very distinctive
forms, and are painted in brown or black.
Metallurgy
:
The Hurrians had a reputation in metallurgy. It is proposed that
the Sumerian term for "coppersmith" tabira/tibira was
borrowed from Hurrian, which would imply an early presence of the
Hurrians way before their first historical mention in Akkadian sources.
Copper was traded south to Mesopotamia from the highlands of Anatolia.
The Khabur Valley had a central position in the metal trade, and
copper, silver and even tin were accessible from the Hurrian-dominated
countries Kizzuwatna and Ishuwa situated in the Anatolian highland.
Gold was in short supply, and the Amarna letters inform us that
it was acquired from Egypt. Not many examples of Hurrian metal work
have survived, except from the later Urartu. Some small fine bronze
lion figurines were discovered at Urkesh.
Horse
culture :
The Mitanni were closely associated with horses. The name of the
country of Ishuwa, which might have had a substantial Hurrian population,
meant "horse-land" (it is also suggested the name may
have Anatolian or proto-Armenian roots). A text discovered at Hattusa
deals with the training of horses. The man who was responsible for
the horse-training was a Hurrian called Kikkuli. The terminology
used in connection with horses contains many Indo-Aryan loan-words
(Mayrhofer, 1974).
Music
:
Among the Hurrian texts from Ugarit are the oldest known instances
of written music, dating from c. 1400 BCE. Among these fragments
are found the names of four Hurrian composers, Tapšihuni, Puhiya(na),
Ur?iya, and Ammiya.
Religion
:
The Hurrian culture made a great impact on the religion of the Hittites.
From the Hurrian cult centre at Kummanni in Kizzuwatna Hurrian religion
spread to the Hittite people. Syncretism merged the Old Hittite
and Hurrian religions. Hurrian religion spread to Syria, where Baal
became the counterpart of Teshub. The later kingdom of Urartu also
venerated gods of Hurrian origin. The Hurrian religion, in different
forms, influenced the entire ancient Near East, except ancient Egypt
and southern Mesopotamia.
Hurrian incense container
The
Hittite gods Teshub and Hebat, chamber A, Yazilikaya, Hittite rock
sanctuary, Turkey
The main gods in the Hurrian pantheon were :
•
Teshub, Teshup;
the mighty weather god.
• Hebat,
Hepa; his wife, the mother goddess, regarded as the Sun goddess
among the Hittites, drawn from the deified Sumerian queen Kubaba.
• Sharruma,
or Sarruma, Šarruma; their son.
• Kumarbi;
the ancient father of Teshub; his home as described in mythology
is the city of Urkesh.
• Shaushka,
or Shawushka, Šauska; was the Hurrian counterpart of Assyrian
Ishtar, and a goddess of fertility, war and healing.
• Shimegi,
Šimegi; the sun god.
• Kushuh,
Kušuh; the moon god. Symbols of the sun and the crescent moon
appear joined together in the Hurrian iconography.
• Nergal;
a Babylonian deity of the netherworld, whose Hurrian name is unknown.
• Ea;
was also Babylonian in origin, and may have influenced Canaanite
El, and also Yam, God of the Sea and River.
Hurrian cylinder seals often depict mythological creatures such
as winged humans or animals, dragons and other monsters. The interpretation
of these depictions of gods and demons is uncertain. They may have
been both protective and evil spirits. Some is reminiscent of the
Assyrian shedu.
The
Hurrian gods do not appear to have had particular "home temples",
like in the Mesopotamian religion or Ancient Egyptian religion.
Some important cult centres were Kummanni in Kizzuwatna, and Hittite
Yazilikaya. Harran was at least later a religious centre for the
moon god, and Shauskha had an important temple in Nineve, when the
city was under Hurrian rule. A temple of Nergal was built in Urkesh
in the late third millennium BCE. The town of Kahat was a religious
centre in the kingdom of Mitanni.
The
Hurrian myth "The Songs of Ullikummi", preserved among
the Hittites, is a parallel to Hesiod's Theogony; the castration
of Uranus by Cronus may be derived from the castration of Anu
by Kumarbi, while Zeus's overthrow of Cronus and Cronus's regurgitation
of the swallowed gods is like the Hurrian myth of Teshub and Kumarbi.
It has been argued that the worship of Attis drew on Hurrian myth.
The Phrygian goddess Cybele would then be the counterpart of the
Hurrian goddess Hebat.
Urbanism
:
The Hurrian urban culture was not represented by a large number
of cities. Urkesh was the only Hurrian city in the third millennium
BCE. In the second millennium BCE we know a number of Hurrian cities,
such as Arrapha, Harran, Kahat, Nuzi, Taidu and Washukanni –
the capital of Mitanni.
Although
the site of Washukanni, alleged to be at Tell Fakhariya, is not
known for certain, no tell (city mound) in the Khabur Valley much
exceeds the size of 1 square kilometer (250 acres), and the majority
of sites are much smaller. The Hurrian urban culture appears to
have been quite different from the centralized state administrations
of Assyria and ancient Egypt. An explanation could be that the feudal
organization of the Hurrian kingdoms did not allow large palace
or temple estates to develop.
Archaeology
:
Hurrian settlements are distributed over three modern countries,
Iraq, Syria and Turkey. The heart of the Hurrian world is bisected
by the modern border between Syria and Turkey. Several sites are
situated within the border zone, making access for excavations problematic.
A threat to the ancient sites are the many dam projects in the Euphrates,
Tigris and Khabur valleys. Several rescue operations have already
been undertaken when the construction of dams put entire river valleys
under water.
The
first major excavations of Hurrian sites in Iraq and Syria began
in the 1920s and 1930s. They were led by the American archaeologist
Edward Chiera at Yorghan Tepe (Nuzi), and the British archaeologist
Max Mallowan at Chagar Bazar and Tell Brak. Recent excavations and
surveys in progress are conducted by American, Belgian, Danish,
Dutch, French, German and Italian teams of archaeologists, with
international participants, in cooperation with the Syrian Department
of Antiquities. The tells, or city mounds, often reveal a long occupation
beginning in the Neolithic and ending in the Roman period or later.
The characteristic Hurrian pottery, the Khabur ware, is helpful
in determining the different strata of occupation within the mounds.
The Hurrian settlements are usually identified from the Middle Bronze
Age to the end of the Late Bronze Age, with Tell Mozan (Urkesh)
being the main exception.
Important
sites :
The list includes some important ancient sites from the area dominated
by the Hurrians. Excavation reports and images are found at the
websites linked. As noted above, important discoveries of Hurrian
culture and history were also made at Alalakh, Amarna, Hattusa and
Ugarit.
•
Tell Mozan (ancient
Urkesh)
• Yorghan
Tepe (ancient Nuzi)
• Tell
Brak (ancient Nagar)
• Tell
Leilan (ancient Shehna and Shubat-Enlil)
• Tell
Barri (ancient Kahat)
• Tell
Beydar (ancient Nabada)
• Kenan
Tepe
• Tell
Tuneinir
• Umm
el-Marra (ancient Tuba?)
• Tell
Chuera
• Hammam
al Turkman (ancient Zalpa?)
• Tell
Sabi Abyad
• Hamoukar
• Chagar
Bazar
• Tell
el Fakhariya / Ras el Ayn (ancient Washukanni?)
• Tell
Hamidiya (ancient Taidu?)
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Hurrians
