Nuzi & The Hurrians:
Urkesh
Nuzi
Seals & Sealings
Religion
Yorghan Tepe
Non-frame Pages
Giza & the Pyramids
The Cesnola Collection
from Ancient Cyprus
Museum Home Page
Exhibit curated by Dr. James Armstrong
By about 2400 BCE, Hurrians - people who spoke the Hurrian language - had expanded southward from the highlands of Anatolia. They infiltrated and occupied a broad arc of fertile farmland stretching from the headwaters of the Habur River to the foothills of the Zagros Mountains.
Hurrians established themselves as rulers of small kingdoms in northern Mesopotamia and Syria. They have been identified at ancient Urkesh (Tell Mozan) and other northern sites. Along with sporadic mentions of Hurrians in Sumerian and Akkadian documents, the finds from these sites help us outline the history of the early Hurrians.
From about 1500 BCE the Hurrian kingdom of Mittani, centered around the headwaters of the Habur River, was the dominant power among the small states of northern Mesopotamia and Syria. Mittani emerged as a world power and the equal of Egypt and Babylonia.
Sites such as Nuzi (modern Yorghan Tepe), Alalakh and Tell Brak have provided most of our information on the history and archaeology of Mittani and the Hurrians in the second millennium BCE. Washshukkanni, the capital of Mittani, has not yet been positively identified.
The Semitic Museum would like to invite you to view a selection of the artifacts currently on display in the exhibit, Nuzi & the Hurrians: Fragments from a Forgotten Past. Hopefully you will also visit us, if possible, and see the full exhibit. You may click on some items in the case photos for additional detail and information.