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Shaushtatar

Shaushtatar reigned as King of Mitanni c. 1480 –1460 BC. He sacked the Assyrian capital of Assur some time in the 15th century during the reign of Nur-ili, and took the silver and golden doors of the royal palace to Washukanni. This is known from a later Hittite document, the Suppililiuma-Shattiwaza treaty. After the sack of Assur, Assyria may have paid tribute to Mitanni up to the time of Eriba-Adad I (1390 – 1366 BC).

The states of Aleppo in the west, and Nuzi and Arrapha in the east, seem to have been incorporated into Mitanni under Shaushtatar as well. A letter (HSS 9 1) sealed with the seal of Shaushtatar was discovered in the house (Room A26) of Prince Šilwa-teššup in Nuzi which lay just north of the main mound. The letter is addressed to Ithia, vassal ruler of Arrapha under Mitanni. Because Šauštatar is not mentioned in the letter and dynastic seals were often used after the reign of a ruler, especially in the periphery of empire, it is difficult to date this letter. Stein, based on various factors, puts the date at c. 1400 BC. His seal shows heroes and winged geniuses fighting lions and other animals, as well as a winged sun. This style, with a multitude of figures distributed over the whole of the available space, is taken as typically Hurrian. A second seal, belonging to Shuttarna I and found in Alalakh, used by Shaushtatar in two letters (AT 13 and 14) shows a more traditional Post-Akkadian - Ur III style.

During the reign of Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep II, Mitanni seems to have regained influence in the middle Orontes valley that had been conquered by Thutmose III. Amenhotep II fought in Syria in 1425 BC, presumably against Mitanni as well, but did not reach the Euphrates.