Nuhašše (^kurnu-ḫa-áš-še; ^kurnu-ḫa-še^ki), was a region in northwestern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

that flourished in the 2nd millennium BC. It was east of the Orontes River bordering

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

(northwest) and

Qatna Qatna (modern: , Tell al-Mishrifeh; also Tell Misrife or Tell Mishrifeh) was an ancient city located in Homs Governorate, Syria. Its remains constitute a tell situated about northeast of Homs near the village of al-Mishrifeh. The city was an ...

(south). It was a petty kingdom or federacy of principalities probably under a high king. Tell Khan Sheykhun has tenatively been identified as ^kurnu-ḫa-še^ki.Eduardo Torrecilla () Reflections on the Qaṭna Letters TT1–5 (I): Hittite Expansionism and the Syrian Kingdom

ttps://www.ub.edu/ipoa/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/20222AuOr07Torrecilla.pdf

Name, borders and society

The Proto-Semitic language, Semitic name "Nuhašše" means "rich, prosperous". Nuhašše stretched from the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

valley in the east to the Orontes valley in the west between

Hamath Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one of ...

in the south and Aleppo in the north; it did not include

Ebla Ebla (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''eb₂-la'', , modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a Tell (archaeology), tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was ...

and it was separated from the Euphrates river by

Emar Emar (, ), is an archaeological site at Tell Meskene in the Aleppo Governorate of northern Syria. It sits in the great bend of the mid-Euphrates, now on the shoreline of the man-made Lake Assad near the town of Maskanah. It has been the sourc ...

and Ashtata. In the west, it reached the Orontes river only if it included the region of Niya which is debated. The main city was named Ugulzat (possibly modern Khan Shaykhun). Hittite texts mention the "Kings of Nuhašše", indicating that the region consisted of a number of petty kingdoms that might have formed a confederacy; one of the monarchs took the role of

primus inter pares is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority in office. H ...

(first among equals), and resided in Ugulzat. The majority of population in the second half of the second millennium BC was West-Semitic, while the ruling classes were Hurrians. The diplomatic language used in the region was a Hurrianized form of Akkadian as Hurrian traits appear in every Akkadian sentence in tablets written in Nuhašše; the Hurrian elements comprise around fifth of a sentence. The coronation of a king included anointing; a common practice in Bronze Age monarchies of Western Asia.

History

Middle Bronze

The name Nuhašše appears in a bilingual Hittite-Hurrian text (named the Song of Release) which is copied from a Hurrian original dating to 2000 BC. In the Hurrian text, Nuhašše was a close ally of Ebla.

Middle Bronze IIA

The region was mentioned also in the archive of Mari and in the archive of

Alalakh Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished as an urban settlement in the Middle and Late Bronze Age ...

but did not designate a politically unified entity; at the times of Mari, the northern regions of Nuhašše were under the supremacy of

Yamhad Yamhad (Yamḫad) was an ancient Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo) in Syria (region), Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC and was ruled by the Yamhad dynasty, who counted on both mi ...

while the southern ones were subordinate to

Late Bronze

The petty kingdom of Nuhašše changed hands between great powers in the region such as

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Mitanni Mitanni (–1260 BC), earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, ; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or in Ancient Egypt, Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian language, Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria (region), Syria an ...

and the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

Egypto-Mitanni Conflict

Thutmose I Thutmose I (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis I, Thothmes in older history works in Latinized Greek; meaning "Thoth is born") was the third pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of History of Ancient Egypt, Egypt. He re ...

conducted military campaigns in the region reaching the Euphrates River.

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, (1479–1425 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors, military commanders, and milita ...

(c. 1470 BC) annexed the region, then

established its rule over the area.

Hittite Period

Šuppiluliuma I Šuppiluliuma I, also Suppiluliuma () or Suppiluliumas (died c. 1322 BC) () was an ancient Hittite king (r. –1322 BC).Bryce 2005: xv, 154; Freu 2007b: 311 dates the reign to c. 1350–c. 1319 BC; Kuhrt 1995: 230 dates him within the range 1370 ...

fought a series of military campaigns ("Great Syrian Wars", c. 1350-1345 BC) against

Tushratta Tushratta ( Akkadian: and ) was a king of Mitanni, 1358–1335 BCE, at the end of the reign of Amenhotep III and throughout the first half the reign of Akhenaten. He was the son of Shuttarna II. Tushratta stated that he was the grandson of A ...

of Mitanni (d. 1345 BC following the Siege of Carchemish), attacking and annexing the region.

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen, (; ), was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Born Tutankhaten, he instituted the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of an ...

also died, causing Suppiluliuma I to become the most powerful ruler in the Near East controlling large parts of Anatolia and Syria. The

Amarna Amarna (; ) is an extensive ancient Egyptian archaeological site containing the ruins of Akhetaten, the capital city during the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and a ...

archives (c. 1350 BC) reveals that Nuhašše was engaged in territorial disputes with its neighbour Amurru. Amurru had swiftly aligned itself with the Hittites. A Hittite treaty dating to the reign of

Muwatalli II Muwatalli II (also Muwatallis, or Muwatallish; meaning "mighty") was a king of the New Kingdom of the Hittite empire c. 1295–1282 ( middle chronology) and 1295–1272 BC in the short chronology. Biography He was the eldest son of Mursili II ...

, 13th century BC, mentions earlier border disputes between Nuhašše and Aleppo to the northwest where the people of Nuhašše asked the Mitannian king to interfere; the king campaigned against Aleppo and gave the disputed lands to Nuhašše. The treaty mentions that the people of Aleppo committed an offence against a Hittite monarch called Hattusili and the Nuhašše petitioned the former for districts belonging to Aleppo; The Hittites granted Nuhašše its request. The date of the border disputes in which the Hittites interfered is related to the date of the monarch named Hattusili but the identity of that king is mysterious but could have reigned as co-king of

Arnuwanda I Arnuwanda I was a Hittite great king during the early 14th century BC, ruling in c. 1390–1380/1370 BC. Origins Arnuwanda's parents are unknown. Because both Arnuwanda and his wife, Queen Ašmu-Nikkal, are described on their respective seals a ...

, early 14th century BC. In Hittite clay tablet (CTH 63), Barga and Nuḫašše disputed the dominion of the city Yaruqatta (^urui-ia-ru-wata-an/aš). Tette of Nuḫašše () was the grandson of Šarrupši and was installed by king Šuppiluliuma I as the new king in a vassal treaty (CTH 53). When Šuppiluliuma I died around 1323 BC, the population's confidence in Tette decreased. The office was given to his brother, Šummittara. Tette staged a revolt against his brother and returned to the trone, being installed by Muršili II. In a Hittite document ( KUB 19.15 + KBo 50.4), Tette tried to enlist Egypt as a partner when Nuḫašše (as apparently also Kinza ) rose in rebellion against the Hittites. The prevailing opinion equates this rebellion with the seventh year of Muršili's reign, but there are also opinions according to which it took place in the ninth year of Muršili's reign. From Egypt, which may actually have undertaken a campaign into Syria, the Hittite king demanded Tette's extradition in a letter addressed to Arma'a (

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab, Haremheb or Haremhab (, meaning "Horus is in Jubilation"), was the last pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1292 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 1319 ...

). Tell Afis may have been part of Nuḫašše, later becoming an administrative center under

Hattusili III Ḫattušili (''Ḫattušiliš'' in the inflected nominative case) was the regnal name of three Hittite kings: * Hattusili I (Labarna II) * Hattusili II * Hattusili III It was also the name of two Neo-Hittite kings: * Hattusili I (Kummuh) * Hattus ...

Name, borders and society

History

Middle Bronze

Middle Bronze IIA

Late Bronze

Egypto-Mitanni Conflict

Hittite Period

Iron Age

References

Citations

Sources