Some European History from 1000-750BC

Golden Hat of Berlin

This post will look at European history for the period from around 1000-750BC. Due to the lack of sources we will have no real written records to rely on. This means that to look at history for this place and time we have to rely primarily on the archaeological record. This is fine and useful, but like all methods of looking at history it has its flaws and caution must be used. The dates in particular must be treated with caution. Some of the issues with dating have been dealt with in the previous post on European history. 

By the year 1000BC, Indo-European languages had probably reached nearly every part of Europe, although some areas, such as upper Scandinavia, perhaps parts of Ireland, Crete, Sardinia and parts of the Iberian Peninsula may not have spoken Indo-European languages. The Bronze Age had now spread across practically the entire continent, but was slowly being replaced by the new iron-working knowledge from the Middle East. While there were few trade routes as such, the Amber Road, which brought the prized amber from the Baltic, through the Moravian Gate and into central and southern Europe. 

Iron Age houses

In the century of the 1000’s BC the last remnants of civilisation on Crete appear to disappear. This had been known as the Sub-Minoan Age and was perhaps the last place where the palace organisations survived. But eventually this too was abandoned. It seems that Crete had a non-Greek speaking population until the 3rd century BC. This language, known as Eteocretan, was very likely to be a descendant language of the language spoken by the Minoans. Very few inscriptions remain; enough to be tantalising but not enough to translate satisfactorily, and some of those few were destroyed in World War II. Enough remains however to show that it has no clear relationship with Indo-European languages or any other known language family. 

Far to the north of Europe, it is around this time that the speakers of Uralic languages began to inhabit the northern reaches of Scandinavia. The languages spoken by these people would eventually evolve into Sami, Finnish and Estonian. 

Artifact from Hallstatt

Also in Scandinavia, at the site of Uppsala in Sweden, a great mound was made around this time called the Håga Mound. It is one of the largest Bronze Age burials in Europe and was larger even than the King’s Mound in Scania. Uppsala, where this tomb lay, would be an important cultural and religious centre in Scandinavia. It was the largest pre-Christian temple of the pagans and even today is the home of an old cathedral that was built at the site after the Christianisation of Sweden. The Håga Mound itself was excavated in 1902 by, among others, a young Swedish prince with a love for archaeology who later became King Gustaf IV Adolf of Sweden. 

On the Balearic Islands of Minorca and Mallorca a new culture, known as the Talaiotic Culture, arose around this time. Like the torri of Corsica or the nuraghes of Sardinia, the taliots of the Balearic Islands were tower-like structures that appeared all over the islands. They do however appear to be somewhat later than the nuraghes and it is unclear if the two phenomenon are related. 

This period also saw the burial of a huge cache of gold known as the Treasure of Villena. This was the largest Bronze Age treasure from all of Europe. The hoard was discovered in Spain and contained gold, silver, iron and amber. Despite the fact that the prehistory of the Iberian Peninsula is poorly known outside the region and often is not talked about, the sheer volume of treasure found at this one site, outweighed the golden goods of the Mycenaean graves. 

One of the major shifts that was happening quietly around this time was that the use of iron was beginning to spread throughout Europe. The Treasure of Villena contained iron, but it seemed to be a valuable metal that was used more for a decoration. The Iron Age refers to a time when iron was so cheap and economical to use that people used it more than bronze or stone for their tools and weapons. It is the ubiquity of the material that makes the age. Slowly but steadily iron-working technology was spreading westward and northwards across Europe and bronze would be gradually used less. Thus the Iron Age came by slow degrees to Europe. 

Urns of the Urnfield culture

Culturally, much of continental Europe was dominated by the Urnfield culture, where the dead were generally buried in urns. Cremation was common. Bronze was the main metal of choice, even as the use of iron began to spread through the tribal lands. Warrior elites fought from chariots with spoked wheels. Large fortified settlements were built atop hills, while in the lakes of the Alpine regions, houses were built on piles driven into the lakes to protect the dwellers from those who roamed the shores. In central Europe, though not necessarily outside it, the Urnfield culture may have corresponded loosely to the speakers of proto-Celtic, though we must be careful of confusing material cultures with linguistic ones. 

Two more of the enigmatic Golden Hats were created around this time. The Golden Cone of Ezelsdorf-Buch and the Avanton Gold Cone date from around this period. The astronomical features of these golden hats and other earlier artefacts such as the Trundholm Sun chariot might suggest that the Urnfield culture peoples, and the peoples of the Nordic Bronze Age cultures, might have primarily worshipped the sun. But this is speculation. 

The Golden Hat of Berlin

Around the year 950 the Golden Hat of Berlin was made. Like the Golden Hat of Schifferstadt, the Golden Cone of Ezelsdorf-Buch and the Avanton Gold Cone, this was an ornate golden hat, beaten out of thin sheet gold and covered with intricate spirals, similar in construction to the Mold Cape from Britain. The metallurgy needed to create such a perfect work from such a tiny amount of gold showed that the tribes of northern Europe had master goldsmiths. The golden hat would have been worn atop a hat of other materials and was probably worn for religious purposes. The symbols on the hat were probably astronomical in nature and may have represented the astronomical knowledge of the wise men of these tribes. 

The hat was deliberately buried with earth inside it to preserve its shape. The shape of the hat is tall, with a broad brim. The Berlin Hat is, in my opinion, the finest of the late Bronze Age Golden Hats and is well worth a visit to the Neues Museum in Berlin. 

I wonder if there was some cultural memory of old wise people wearing tall hats that transferred to a later wizard stereotype. It probably is a mere coincidence but I cannot look at any of the golden hats (there are four that are known to us) without considering the possibility of a Bronze Age Gandalf.

Around the year 900BC the Proto-Villanovan culture ended in Italy and was replaced by the Villanovan culture. This was more of a gradual evolution rather than a violent replacement. The Proto-Villanovan and Villanovan were both derived from or influenced by the Urnfield culture that was dominant in central Europe in previous centuries. 

Villanovan burial urn

The Villanovan culture roughly coincided with the spread of iron working to the Italian Peninsula. Their warriors wore elaborately crested helms and they had a warrior culture similar to the other regions of Europe. Not much more can be said of this culture, although those who came afterwards would be famed. 

Around this time the Phoenicians, who lived on the Levantine coast, began to send colonies throughout the Mediterranean. These were mostly in the eastern Mediterranean or in Africa to begin with, but not long afterwards Phoenician colonies would be settled in the Iberian Peninsula, on the island of Sicily and along the southern coasts of what is now France. There is the possibility that Phoenician colonisation began some centuries earlier, but this is debateable. 

Around the year 850 the Eberswalde Hoard was buried in the region that is now Germany. This was a hoard of the late Bronze Age, although the Iron Age was coming to that region of the world. There over 80 gold objects, mostly gold spirals and bangles, but including some beautifully decorated gold bowls. The treasure was stored in Germany and disappeared to Russia in the aftermath of WWII. A reproduction can now be viewed in Germany. 

Around the year 800BC the Urnfield Culture is generally viewed as coming to an end and the Hallstatt Culture is said to have evolved out of the parent Urnfield Culture. The Hallstatt Culture was named after a burial site at a village called Hallstatt in Austria. Over 1,300 burials were found, spanning a period of centuries. The distinctive artwork found in certain of these graves has given rise to the name of the culture. The Hallstatt culture, in the areas west of Hallstatt, are generally associated with the culture later known as Celtic. 

Around this time the Iron Age seems to have reached the island of Britain. Strangely enough the technology does not seem to have crossed over to Ireland, perhaps because there were large quantities of copper on Ireland that made bronze cheaper to produce than in other areas. 

Giant of Mont’e Prama

Around this time the people of the Nuraghic culture, on the island of Sardinia, built a huge tomb, possibly an entire necropolis. This tomb, near Mont’e Prama, was flanked (probably) with large statues carved as outsized warriors. The artwork might appear crude to us, but the site was subject to extensive looting after its discovery and many of the most impressive sculptures are probably missing. The dating of this tomb and these statues is problematic. They could date anywhere between 1000-300BC. I have written about them during this time period, but this is merely one interpretation. It is worth remembering that there were little known civilisations who nevertheless produced artworks. Without writing it is of course difficult to say more. 

On the Pontic steppe, in the areas now referred to as Ukraine and southern Russia, the Novocherkassk culture began. These were a steppe people who buried their dead in kurgans. Like other steppe peoples they appear to have been very concerned with horses and cattle, but not much more can be said of them. 

In the year 776BC the first Olympic Games in Greece are said to be held and the Greeks dated their Olympiads from this date. There is no contemporary evidence of this event and I would be wary of taking the date overly seriously. But there is no real reason to discount it automatically either. 

Spread of Celtic culture across Europe

In the year 753BC Rome was said to have been founded by Romulus. As with the Olympic dating in the previous decades, there is no contemporary evidence of this and there is a strong chance that it is legendary. However, it is likely that there were some village settlements on the hills of Rome during this time and that they may have begun to amalgamate themselves in or around this time period. Possibly they did this under the guidance of a charismatic tribal leader: Possibly his name was Romulus. But while not impossible we cannot leave it unquestioned either. 

The Oracle of Delphi was probably established by around the mid-700’s BC. This was a prophetess cult in Central Greece. Volcanic vapours wafted into a cavern over which a temple was later built. A woman specially chosen for the purpose would be sent into the cave for some time, before emerging in a euphoric trance speaking prophecies, which might or might not be intelligible. Those who came to the Pythia, for so she was called, would have these replies cast into a definite form by the priests and this guidance led most of the Greek world. Whenever a Greek individual or city wished to do anything of importance they would first consult the Oracle and thus it became the main focal point of the Greek world. 

Reconstruction of the Eberswalde Hoard

It was around this time that the Greeks were beginning to emerge from their Dark Ages. Greek cities, while still small and relatively poor compared to the cities of Egypt or the Near East, were now suffering from overpopulation. To solve the problems of overpopulation and discontent, Greek cities would send away colonies, groups of perhaps a thousand or more people to found a new city in faraway lands. There would be generally good ties between the parent city and the child colony, but many of the colonies became major cities in their own right. The prospective colonists would consult the Oracle who would give advice on where and how to settle the new lands. After this the Greeks would sail out into the frightening waters, for navigation was still an uncertain art for the Greeks. They would come into conflict with the Carthaginians who were already colonising and trading in the Mediterranean. 

Treasure of Aliseda

One of the most important markets for both the Carthaginians and the Greeks was the semi-mythical city of Tartessos. This was probably located in the region of southern Spain/Portugal, past the Pillars of Heracles, but south of the Tagus. Archaeology has shown that there was a rich culture in the region, but it is unclear exactly where the city of Tartessos itself existed, if it did exist. 

The Greek accounts are contradictory as to where exactly it lay and there is the possibility that Tartessos was not an exact place. The Phoenicians of Tyre, Sidon and Carthage were the main commercial contacts of Tartessos and jealously guarded their secrets. The confusion over Tartessos may be as the result of contradictory tales put about by the Phoenicians to protect their trade secrets. 

Tartessos may even be mentioned in the Bible a number of times, as the Biblical writers mention a trading port named Tarshish across the sea to the west. But they give few further details of this strange place. 

Villanovan Helmet

Possibly the most important change that occurred around the mid-700’s BC was the creation of the Greek alphabet, adopted from the Phoenician alphabet. This is the ancestor of the current Greek alphabet, as well as the ancestor of many of the alphabets in use in the world today. While no texts survive from this exact time period, the script must have been invented around this time, as many inscriptions appear shortly afterwards. This means that after several centuries of near total silence, at least one European civilisation could transmit their writings to later generations. 

And thus the period draws to a close, with the Iron Age technology spreading westwards across the continent, but with the fringe regions still primarily using bronze. The proto-Celtic Urnfield Culture had evolved into the primarily Celtic Hallstatt culture. Great advances were being made in Greece, which was once again linked by trading ties to the Near East and the Greek region is about to re-enter the field of history rather than prehistory.

Related Blog Posts:
Some European history from 4000-3000BC
Some European history from 3000-2000BC
Some European History from 2000-1500BC
Some European History from 1500-1000BC
Some European History from 1000-750BC
Some European History from 750-500BC

The Mitanni

Map of the Middle East in 1400 showing Mitanni kingdom

After the fall of Babylon to the Hittites, centralised power in Mesopotamia declined. Mursilis I, the king of the Hittites was assassinated and his successors did not consolidate his conquests. The Assyrian kings controlled the area around Asshur but were too weak to conquer areas far from their city. The Kassite tribes established themselves in Babylon but were engaged in subduing opposition from the southern dynasty of the Sealand kingdom (when Sealand was an actual kingdom and not a vanity micro-state off the coast of Britain). The Egyptians had not yet extended their empire into Palestine and would not establish true power in the region until after Tuthmosis I raided as far as the Euphrates around 1500BC. This left a power vacuum in what is now Syria, with isolated cities and tribes scattered across the plains of the Euphrates and Khabur rivers.

Into this vacuum came the Mitanni, whose kingdom was also referred to as Khanigalbat. They are (to me at least) the most mysterious of the ancient empires. They left few marks on the landscape: no gigantic buildings; no works of art. There are in fact few physical traces of their existence. However for a short period they were able to contend with the greatest powers of the era, clashing with the Egyptians, Babylonians, Hittites and Assyrians before eventually disappearing.

Egyptian chariot with light-spoked wheels of the period

Thus speaks Kikkuli, master horse trainer of the land of Mitanni
Manual on Training Horses, excavated from Khattusha

Warfare in the region changed around this time. Earlier civilisations, such as the Sumerians, had used chariots, but their chariots were more like war-carts or war-wains. They had four heavy, solid wheels and were pulled by onagers or donkeys. These Sumerian “chariots” would have functioned as mobile battle platforms for archers and spear throwers if they were used in battle at all. With the onset of the Late Bronze Age the great powers began to use war horses to pull chariots that had two spoked, ultra-thin wheels; that could travel at great speeds, whirling elite troops from one side of the battle to the other, wheeling and firing barrages of arrows and charging down infantry as needed. It is unclear if the Mitanni were the innovators in this regard (I suspect that they were not, as the Hittites were also known as charioteers), but they were adept at the new style of warfare. The late Bronze Age was the golden age of chariot warfare, with Egyptians, Assyrians, Hittites, Mycenaeans and Mitanni all fielding elite units. After the Bronze Age Collapse chariots continued to be used but cavalry was favoured, as being more adaptable.

A fascinating series of texts were excavated from Khattusha, the capital of the Hittite Empire, known as the Hittite horse texts. One of these is a copy of a text from the 1500’s BC, written by Kikkuli the Mitannian, which was preserved and recorded by the Hittite scribes, probably as a manual for training chariot horses for war. Many people have taken this to be a sign that the Mitanni invented or transmitted the secrets of chariotry to the region. However, all it proves is that there was at least one person from the Mitanni state who was deemed an expert.

Teshub, lord of heaven and earth, Sin and Shamash, lords of heaven and earth, Teshub, lord of Kurinni of Kapa, Nergal of Kurta, Teshub, lord of Uhushuman, Ea-sharri, lord of wisdom, Anu, Antum, Enlil and Ninlil, the gods Mitrashshil, the gods Uruwan- ashshil, the god Indar, the gods Nashatianna, Ellatsha, Shamanmin- uhi, Teshub, lord of Washshukkani, Teshub, lord of all of Irrite, Partahi of Shuta, Nabarwa, Shuruhi, Ashur, the star, Shala, Nin-egal, Dam- kina, Ishhara, the mountains and the rivers, the gods of heaven and the gods of earth, by the words of this treaty may they stand, and may they give ear. For they are the witnesses.
Treaty between Suppiluliuma I, King of the Hittites and Shattiwaza, King of the Mitanni showing Indo-European god names (Indar similar to Indra) amid the Mesopotamian and Hurrian gods called to witness the treaty

Amarna Letter

Linguistically the Mitanni kingdom is very interesting. The main population spoke a language called Hurrian, which is only related to one other language (Urartian), which makes their language fascinating in its own right. Some linguists have suggested that Hurrian is the basis that Tolkien used in creating the Black Speech of Mordor, as certain structures appear to be similar between the languages and Tolkien would certainly have been familiar with the recent translations of Hurrian.This is speculation however and was never confirmed in writing by Tolkien.

However, their ruling class seems to have had names that used a different language, a very antiquated form of Indo-Aryan, (referred to in academia (and Wikipedia) as the Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni). It is unlikely that at the time of the Mitanni Empire that the rulers actually spoke this Indo-Aryan tongue but they preserved a number of words (particularly those relating to horses and gods) that used this language, rather like how fragments of Latin have survived in academic and legal use in English. Like the other societies of the time the Mitanni were fairly ecumenical with their gods and worshipped the gods of Mesopotamia, as well as the Hurrian gods but the ruling classes do seem to have retained a few of the gods of the Indo-European pantheon as well.

It’s easy to get overly carried away with speculations about what the Indo-Aryan words in Mitanni mean for linguistics and theories about where the Indo-European language originated. But it must be borne in mind that the Mitanni sources are very scarce. Nearly everything recorded of them comes from their neighbours who may have garbled the transmission. Until more information comes to light it would be best to withhold opinion.

In the early 1400’s BC the Mitanni were ruled by Shuttarna who had built a strong kingdom near the Khabur River. His son Parshatatar extended the kingdom significantly, taking Aleppo, controlling south-west Anatolia (known as Kizzuwatna) and raiding as far in the other direction to the east. Parshatatar may have fought with the Egyptian Pharaoh Tuthmosis I who led a raiding expedition as far as the Euphrates, although I think it more likely that the clash took place in the reign of Shuttarna. Oddly, as the Egyptians had never seen a major river that flowed southwards, they referred to the river found on this expedition as the river that flows backwards (Herodotus later said the same thing about the Nile in reverse). The clash between the Mitanni and the Egyptians was the first time Egypt had met another empire that could match it in combat (the Hyksos had invaded from outside Egypt and conquered it, but the Hyksos had never been part of an empire). The clash between the two powers augured badly. At this point the Mitanni would have been stronger than the Hittites, Assyrians or Babylonians, but would not have expected an attack from the south.

Tuthmosis I had raided as far as the Euphrates and even crossed it in a symbolic gesture, but there had been no pitched battles or major engagements between the two powers and the cities that had supposedly were conquered by the Egyptians stopped acknowledging supremacy as soon as the armies were removed. His grandson Tuthmosis III would change this. Early in his reign he realised that the Canaanite kings were preparing to withstand Egypt. They were led by someone from Kadesh, a strategic city in southern Syria that was within the sphere of Mitanni influence. After winning a decisive victory against the Canaanite alliance at Megiddo, Tuthmosis received gifts from the kings of the Middle East, except the Mitanni.

Modern drawing of the Seal of Shaushtatar

"Year 23, first month of summer, day 16, (arrival) at the town of Yehem. His majesty ordered a consultation with his valiant army, saying: "That wretched foe of Kadesh has come and entered into Megiddo and is there at this moment. He has gathered to him the princes of all the foreign lands that had been loyal to Egypt, as well as those from as far as Nahrin, consisting of ---, Khor and Kedy, their horses, their armies, their people. And he says--it is reported--'I shall wait and fight his majesty here in Megiddo....'" 
Inscription of Tuthmosis III from the temple at Karnak describing the alliance that fought him at the Battle of Megiddo.

The Mitanni were not expecting an attack as their border cities were still untouched and the Pharaoh had no way of transporting a large army across the Euphrates. Tuthmosis III is sometimes called the Egyptian Napoleon but the Egyptian Hannibal would be appropriate as well. As at Megiddo, where Tuthmosis III had used forced marching over difficult terrain to gain tactical advantage over the Canaanites, he now stole a march on the Mitanni. Raiding a coastal city he captured a large amount of boats which he transported overland as part of his army before rapidly bypassing and capturing the cities between him and the Euphrates. Once across the River, with the Mitanni army unready for war, Tuthmosis III plundered wherever he pleased before retreating with large quantities of spoil.We must of course remember that these events are described only from Egyptian sources. Tuthmosis III was undoubtedly a great general but the Egyptian Pharaohs had a penchant for describing every battle as a great victory, even if it was a tactical or strategic defeat.

And my Majesty sailed to the northern border of Asia. My Majesty ordered that many ships be built of cedar from the mountains of God's Land in the neighbourhood of the Mistress of Byblos. They were placed on wagons towed by bulls. They travelled ahead of my Majesty to ferry across that river that is between this foreign land and Naharin - a king to be boasted of because of his two arms in melee, and who crossed the Euphrates after them who had attacked him, as the first of his army while seeking that miserable enemy in the foreign lands of Mitanni, while he fled for fear before His Majesty to another land, a far place.
Then my Majesty established my stele on that mountain of Naharin, as one extracted from the mountain on the western side of the Euphrates.
Napata Stele of Tuthmosis III describing the campaign against the Mitanni 

The probable king of the Mitanni at this period was Shaushtatar, who seems to have been a great general. He had attacked the city of Asshur and carried away the great ceremonial gates of the city, reducing Assyria to a mere vassal state. When Tuthmosis III had surprised the Mitanni before, the armies may have been engaged to the east. Now awakened to the danger, the Mitanni garrisoned the west of their empire properly and further campaigns by Tuthmosis III in the region proved fruitless, with one “great victory” earning a paltry ten prisoners as captives. Tuthmosis III died and Shaushtatar now prepared for war to carry the battle to the Egyptians, before dying himself.

Amarna Letter from Tushratta

Instead of the expected clash of superpowers something unexpected happened. Peace broke out. Amenhotep II of Egypt does not seem to have campaigned in Syria and his son, Tuthmosis IV and Artatama I of Mitanni made a peace treaty that included marriage alliances and Mitanni princesses becoming part of the Egyptian royal family. The two empires corresponded and their rulers addressed each other as “brother”. It was the beginning of the Bronze Age diplomacy that became famous with the discovery of the Amarna Letters. At this period the Hittites were beginning to threaten Mitanni again but the establishment of peace between Egypt and the Mitanni allowed the Mitanni kingdom to reach the height of its power under Shuttarna I.

... he asked for the daughter of my grandfather, the sister of my father. He wrote 5, 6 times, but he did not give her. When he wrote my grandfather 7 times, then only under such pressure, did he give her
Letter from Tushratta of Mitanni to Akhenaten of Egypt describing the marriage alliance between their royal houses.  

The prosperity of the Mitanni kingdom was short-lived. Shuttarna I was murdered and after a power struggle his son Tushratta was able to kill the murderer, his brother Artashumara. Tushratta was to be the last of the Great Kings of the Mitanni. He was a contemporary of the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten of Egypt, to whom he was related by marriage, and also contemporary with the greatest general of all the Hittite kings, Suppiluliuma I. In the chaos after the murder of Shuttarna, another Mitanni king, Artatama, had set up a rival kingdom. Suppiluliuma I supported Artatama and attacked the Mitanni three times, at one point apparently forcing Tushratta to abandon his capital.

You are the one who knows the words of Mimmuriya, your husband, but you have not sent me yet the gift of homage which Mimmuriya, your husband, has ordered to be sent to me. I have asked Mimmuriya, your husband, for massive gold statues ... But your son has sent gold-plated statues of wood. As the gold is like dust in the country of your son, why have they been the reason for such pain, that your son should not have given them to me? ... Neither has he given me what his father had been accustomed to give.
Letter from Tushratta, King of the Mitanni to Tiye (Queen Mother of Egypt and mother of Akhenaten)

Map of Middle East showing Khanigalbat (Mitanni)
being squeezed between Assyria and the Hittites

To make matters worse for the beleaguered empire, the Assyrians had cast off the Mitanni yoke and were supporting factions in the warring empire. In the face of these wars Tushratta fought back and won some successes but the armies of the Hittites were relentless. Tushratta sent a series of letters to Akhenaten asking for large quantities of gold. After the continual wars and Hittite conquests the Mitanni finances were probably not good. No help came from the Egyptians, who were involved in religious reforms and appeared unable to even control their vassals in Palestine and southern Syria. As later civilisations in Syria and Palestine would learn, Egypt was powerful but not necessarily a reliable ally. Tushratta was murdered, possibly by his brothers but probably by his sons, as Suppiluliuma I took the vital city of Carchemish on the Euphrates cutting the Mitanni off from their rich tribute cities on the Syrian coast.

A confused series of events follows, with Artatama II and Shuttarna III ruling as quick usurpers from within the royal family. Shuttarna III returned the great doors of Asshur to the Assyrians and called in Assyrian aid against the Hittites and his enemies within his family. The Assyrians came but ended up attacking the Mitanni capital before Suppiluliuma I attacked both forces and installed Shattiwaza, the brother of Tushratta, on the throne. Shattiwaza was installed, not as a Great King, who could address the Pharaoh of Egypt as an equal, but as a vassal of the Great King of the Hittites. At this point all the satellite states of the Mitanni had been lost to the Hittites and the Assyrians, leaving only the heartland remaining. The Kassite Babylonians were claiming that Asshur was their vassal city, but the Assyrians were determined to be recognised as Great Kings in their own right.

Akhenaten: contemporary of Tushratta
and Suppiluliuma

Shattuara was installed as king of the Mitanni by the Assyrians but rebelled. His son Wasashatta also rebelled against the Assyrians and his revolt was ruthlessly crushed by Adad-Nirari I of Assyria. While Wasashatta may have escaped, the rest of the Mitanni royal family were captured and taken to Asshur. Their fate was probably not pleasant.

You continue to speak about [the defeat] of Wasa[shatta and the conquest?] of the land of Hurri. You indeed conquered by force of arms. And you conquered […] and have become a Great King. But why do you still continue to speak about brotherhood and about seeing Mount Amanus? What is this, brotherhood? And what is this, seeing Mount Amanus? For what reason should I write to you about brotherhood? Who customarily writes to someone about brotherhood? Do those who are not on good terms customarily write to one another about brotherhood? On what account should I write to you about brotherhood? Were you and I born from one mother? As [my grandfather] and my father did not write to the King of Assyria [about brotherhood], you shall not keep writing to me [about brotherhood] and Great Kingship. [It is not my] wish.
Letter from Mursilis II of the Hittites to Adad-Nirari I of the Assyrians

Mursilis II of the Hittites still treated the Assyrians as arrogant upstarts, possibly justified as Adad-Nirari I called himself not only a Great King but held the title King of the Four Corners (or King of the Universe). Mursilis II was overthrown by his uncle, the great general Hattusili III who had led the Hittite armies against Ramesses II at the Battle of Kadesh. Hattusili III acknowledged Adad-Nirari I as a Great King and corresponded with him respectfully concerning their borders which now lay near the Euphrates River. The rich coastal cities that had been subject to the Mitanni were now subject to the Hittites, who now had made peace with the Egyptians after their strategic victory/stalemate at Kadesh. The Mitanni heartlands were held by the rising power of Assyria and were incorporated into Assyria proper. The old capital of Washukanni had been abandoned and the new capital of Taite had been turned into a wilderness by Adad-Nirari.

To the Sun my father say: thus says the king of [Ha]nigalbat (Mitanni) your son.
 Pe[ace] be with the Sun my father.
I trust the Sun my father. As for me, I thus say, like my father, let the Sun say […]
What sin did I commit against my father? ...
If a man has two judges], the one comes forth and the other does not c[ome forth]. Now the king of Ashur my enemy has asked, and, in accordance (with the words) of Adad my lord, he acted.  The Sun, my father, heard.  I am living in the city Sinamu and Ehli-sarruma has sent his message to me. He wrote the following: [….]
Letter from a king of the Mitanni (probably Shattuara II) to a king of the Hittites (probably Hattusili III)

A stele possibly showing
Adad-Nirari I, a destroyer of the
Mitanni kingdom

There was possibly another Mitanni king, Shattuara II who was in the dangerous situation of ruling almost nothing and yet being claimed as subject by two Great Kings. He seems to have written a letter to Hattusili III begging for assistance, writing as a powerless subject to a Great King. He was crushed by Adad-Nirari’s son, Shalmaneser I who was the first Assyrian king to practice deportations of conquered peoples. It is possible however that this episode was invented by Shalmaneser I after campaigns in the region, claiming the deeds of his father as his own. In any event, power held in the region was now held by Assyrian governors rather than Mitanni kings and thus the Mitanni disappear from history.

The Mitanni are not renowned in history. Their achievements are mainly depicted as negatives, recorded by their neighbours who were often enemies. They left no monuments or cities and little art; their language and substrate languages have vanished from the earth, leaving no literature or epics behind. We know that they were great charioteers and horsemen at a time when the chariot ruled the battlefield and horsemanship was vital to empires but we do not know if they were the developers of these techniques and technologies or if they simply excelled in the technologies of others.

One of the things that the Mitanni, or more strictly speaking, the Hurrians, left us is some of the earliest notated music, found in their tributary city of Ugarit near the Syrian coast. After thirty-three hundred years it still sounds, not bad at all. The video below gives an artists rendering of the Hymn known as Hurrian Hymn Six.

Their main legacy may be great power diplomacy. When the Mitanni and Egyptian kingdoms corresponded as respectful and powerful equals they laid the foundations for the diplomacy and trade of the Late Bronze Age, where Great Kings addressed each other as brother and tried to avoid confrontations. Diplomacy certainly predates the Mitanni but the idea of powerful kingdoms with smaller satellite states maintaining balance was new. Most diplomacy before this had simply been between city-states. Ironically the new diplomacy came into its own when the Mitanni had effectively been removed from the scene.

Even if we allow them a pivotal role in the development of Late Bronze Age diplomacy the Mitanni are still largely silent. But this may not always be the case. We know that they had at least two capitals; Washukanni and, at later periods, Taite. These have never been found but we do know that they lie somewhere near the Khabur River in Syria. There may well be archives of letters and literature lying beneath the ancient mounds that will one tell the tales of this empire to the world.

At present this land is controlled by Daesh, (or IS/ISIS/ISIL) who are barbarically destroying the heritage of the region. Even the items that they do not destroy but sell on the black market are a blow to humanity, as a looted item has no context and has lost most of its historical value. I hope that one day the cities of the Mitanni are discovered but while the thuggish barbarians still roam the land, wrecking the treasures they do not understand, perhaps it is best that they stay hidden.

Related Blog Posts:
The Time of the Amorites: I
The Time of the Amorites: II
The Late Bronze Age in the Middle East
The Collapse of the Bronze Age: I
The Collapse of the Bronze Age: II
The Collapse of the Bronze Age: III

Indus Valley Civilisation

Map of the Indus Valley Civilisation

Indian history was a bit of an enigma to archaeologists for many years and, to a great extent, it remains so. Alexander’s invasion of north-west India in 326 BC was an early fixed date, but it was evident that Alexander had entered a land that already had an ancient culture. Scholars were aware that there were ancient religious texts called the Vedas, the oldest of which was dated to the centuries in or around 1200 BC, but these were religious texts that dealt only obliquely with historical events. The Vedas did not necessarily shed much light on what was happening in India when these texts were composed. Scholars worked on the assumption that India was a relatively late civilisation, one that was predated by Sumer and Egypt by thousands of years. Around the turn of the last century there were striking discoveries along the Indus River that proved this assumption completely wrong.

A site called Harappa, in what is present day Pakistan was excavated, showing the remains of a city. The locals believed it to be the city of a medieval king but once dated, it was discovered to be around five thousand years old. Other discoveries were made in the region and soon it became apparent that there had been an advanced civilisation in the area. There were a series of cities all along the river all built along a vaguely similar pattern.

Mohenjo-Daro: Note Possible public bath in foreground

The cities showed some signs of urban planning. Drainage was attended to and streets were laid out in an orderly fashion. There were walls but it was unclear if these were for defence or for flood control (or both), as nearly all the cities were built very near rivers. There were raised areas in the cities that were identified as citadels but it is impossible to properly describe their function. Early investigations noted the absence of monumental architecture. There were no gigantic pyramids or ziggurats to mark these cities, their skyline was comparatively quite boring. But if you were an inhabitant of one of these cities, such as Mohenjo-Daro, you might have been consoled about the lack of public temples by the fact that the cities appear to have public baths. Public baths might seem unhygienic to us now but they were light years in advance of bathing facilities available to the ancient Egyptians or Mesopotamians.

Statue from Mohenjo-Daro

They weren’t quite as egalitarian as once thought. All of the houses had access to public drainage but, well, some got neat cisterns and covered drains, others had open sewers. But they do not appear to have had kings in our sense of the word. No single dwelling in the cities was vastly larger than the others. Archaeologists speculate that the cities may have been controlled by trading elites.

They certainly were interested in trade. Once the artefacts of the Indus Valley Civilisation were recognised for what they were, they began turning up in archaeological digs in what is now Iraq. Clearly there were trade links between the two cultures but the Sumerians do not seem to have sold any of their artefacts in return. This is odd because the Sumerians lacked real commodities to trade. The strength of their civilisation lay in their ability to use irrigation to produce multiple harvests. This leads to the fascinating possibility that perhaps the Indus Valley traded luxury goods for grain, building ships to transport grain over thousands of miles of open sea to feed their population five thousand years ago. While the Indus Valley did not have irrigation complexes on the scale of Mesopotamia or Egypt they nevertheless were a major agricultural society so this idea is of course, highly speculative (and given the nature of boats in those times, rather unlikely). There are remains of what could be ports but their uses are debated.

Cylinder seals from Indus: Note the writing above the pictures

We have some of their artwork but it is impossible to understand much of their culture or history because their writing is currently undecipherable. Like many ancient cultures they signed their documents using cylinder seals that would be rolled in wet clay to leave a distinctive mark on a trade document. Most of the writing recovered from the Indus Valley has been on these seals and these terse statements in an unknown tongue and isolated script, have sadly proved undecipherable so the enigmatic builders of the cities must remain silent for now.

This unassuming, well organised civilisation existed for hundreds of years before going into decline around 1700 BC. Possibly the causes were invasion, cultural changes or climate change but the cities were gradually abandoned. To this day only a few of the many known sites have been excavated and less is known of this culture than of any major civilisation that existed around that period.

Indra: Accused?

Partly this is because of the difficulties in understanding their writing but mainly this is because of politics. Different political ideologies have, over the years, really messed up any attempt to properly understand things. Firstly the British archaeologists (remember at the time the cities were discovered all of the Indian subcontinent was under British rule) assumed that the cities had been built by Dravidians (peoples who spoke a type of language most commonly spoken in southern India) and that the ancestors of the current inhabitants of northern India had arrived as nomads from Iran and Afghanistan, worshipping Iranian gods and destroying the civilisation that stood in their path. When a prominent British archaeologist was asked what had destroyed these cities he famously stated, "Indra (an early Hindu god who may have been known as the destroyer of cities) stands accused." This belief in nomadic invaders from the north is known as the Aryan Invasion Theory.

Quite frankly there is very little evidence for any violent invasion. There is a strong suspicion that, by portraying Hindu culture as basically a foreign imposition, the British were trying to justify their own foreign rule. Be that as it may, some Hindu fundamentalists see the cities of the Indus River as being part of an ancient Hindu culture. They explain cultural and linguistic similarities between their culture and Iran by saying that the culture spread from India to Iran rather than vice versa. There is a much stronger version of the theory that states that all civilisation and the Indo-European language family originally came from the Indus Valley. This is known as the Out of India theory and there is almost no evidence to support the strong version of it.

Bullock Cart Statue from the Indus Valley

To compound the religious and cultural issues involved in "claiming" the Indus Valley, some people from the south of India believe (following elements of the Aryan Invasion Theory) that the language (and by extension the people and culture) of the Indus was Dravidian rather than Indo-European. Due to the unfortunate tension that exists between India and Pakistan and the fact that some Indian political parties claim the Indus Valley as the birthplace of distinctively Hindu civilisation, there have been issues in conducting large scale excavations.

So, do check out the Indus Valley Civilisation online but be aware that we know very little about it. Also be aware that, sadly, there are people who have very definite agendas, or political and religious points to make so be wary in your research.This is one area where political interest in history has unfortunately obscured the search for truth.

Related Blog Posts:
India from 1800-500BC: Part One
India from 1800-500BC: Part Two