Mitanni, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or Naharin in Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia with Indo-Aryan linguistic and political influences. Since no histories, royal annals or chronicles have yet been found in its excavated sites, knowledge about Mitanni is sparse compared to the other powers in the area, and dependent on what its neighbours commented in their texts.
Cylinder seal, c. 16th–15th century BC, Mitanni
Cuneiform tablet containing a letter from Tushratta of Mitanni to Amenhotep III (of 13 letters of King Tushratta). British Museum
Cylinder seal, c. 1500–1350 BC, Mitanni
Assyria was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC, then to a territorial state, and eventually an empire from the 14th century BC to the 7th century BC.
The head of a female statue, dating to the Akkadian period (c. 2334–2154 BC). Found at Assur, on display at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin
The ruins of the Old Assyrian trading colony at Kültepe
A partial relief of Tiglath-Pileser III, r. 745–727 BC, under whom the Neo-Assyrian Empire was consolidated, centralized and significantly expanded
Detail of a stele in the style of the Neo-Assyrian royal steles, erected in Assur in the 2nd century AD under Parthian rule, by the local ruler Rʻuth-Assor
