Changes

By the year 1,500 BC the Mitanni state had probably been in existence for several decades, but it was around that time when the Mitanni King Barrattarna Parrattarna (ruled. C. early 1400s BC) embarked on a campaign of conquest. One of Parrattarna’s most important conquests was of the Syrian kingdom of Alalah, which is recounted in an inscription on a statue of its leader, Idrimi.

“However, for seven years, Barattarna, the mighty king, the king of the Hurrian warriors, treated me as an enemy. In the seventh year, I sent Anuanda (as messenger) to King Barattarna, the king of the (Hurrian) warriors, and told (him) about the services of my forefathers when my forefathers had been in their (the kings’) service and (when) what we had said was pleasing to the kings of the Hurrian warriors, and (that) they had made an alliance based on a solemn oath among themselves. The mighty king heard of our former services and of the oath they had sworn to each other – they had read the wording of the oath to him, word by word as well as (the list of) our services. He accepted my messenger (lit.: my greeting). I increased the gifts indicating my loyalty, which were was heavy, and returned to him (his) lost household. I swore him a mighty oath as to my status as a loyal vassal. And (so) I became king in charge of Alalakh.” <ref> Pritchard, James B, ed. <i>Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament.</i> Third Edition. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992), p. 557</ref>

Saushtatar Paushtatar significantly expanded the borders of the Mitanni Empire by conquering most of Assyria, including the city of Ashur. Although Assyria was not as wealthy as the Mitanni possessions in Syria and the Levant, the usually bellicose Assyrians were temporarily subdued by the conquest, which allowed the Mitanni to focus on the more lucrative areas of the Levant. Suashtatar was able to take the wealthy Levantine coastal city of Ugarit and Anatolian kingdom of Kizzuwadna, which served as a buffer state between Mitanni and Hatti. <ref> Kuhrt, pgs. 293-6</ref> The conquests of Parrattarna and Saushtatar certainly extended Mitanni’s physical reach and influence in the Near East, but its imperial administration also played a role in the kingdom’s early rise to power.