The Battle of Niḫriya was the culminating point of the hostilities between the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...

and the Assyrians for control over the remnants of the former empire of

Mitanni Mitanni (; Hittite cuneiform ; ''Mittani'' '), c. 1550–1260 BC, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat (''Hanikalbat'', ''Khanigalbat'', cuneiform ') in Assyrian records, or ''Naharin'' in ...

. When Hittite king

Šuppiluliuma I Suppiluliuma I () or Suppiluliumas I () was king of the Hittites (r. c. 1344–1322 BC ( short chronology)). He achieved fame as a great warrior and statesman, successfully challenging the then-dominant Egyptian Empire for control of the lands bet ...

(r. c. 1344–1322 BC) conquered Mitanni, he created two provinces ( Aleppo and

Carchemish Carchemish ( Turkish: ''Karkamış''; or ), also spelled Karkemish ( hit, ; Hieroglyphic Luwian: , /; Akkadian: ; Egyptian: ; Hebrew: ) was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during it ...

), and distributed the large part of territories of this kingdom between his allies. The rest of what had been the empire of Mitanni retained its independence as a Hittite vassal state called Ḫanigalbat. During the reign of the Hittite king Mursili III (better known as Urḫi-Tešub), Ḫanigalbat was conquered by the Assyria Empire and the Assyrians controlled the East bank of the Euphrates. When Ḫattusili III ousted his nephew Urḫi-Tešub and seized the Hittite throne, he had to be content with the permanent loss of Ḫanigalbat to the Assyrians despite its former status as a Hittite vassal state. The Assyrian involvement in Syria continued under the command of king Sulmanu-ašared I and precipitated a crisis with Ḫatti. The Hittites considered Assyrian involvement to be a clear attack on the frontiers of their empire and went into battle under their king: Tudḫalia IV, Ḫattusili's son and successor. This led to a major battle which is known today as the Battle of Niḫriya. A letter (RS 34.265) giving details of the campaign and its outcome was sent by Sulmanu-ašared to Ugarit. In addition, information within Hittite document KBo IV 14 has been interpreted to show that the battle must have occurred around the 20th year of Sulmanu-ašared's reign. The former idea that Niḫriya was to be equated with Na’iri, along the Upper Tigris, has been shown to be wrong.Jared L. Miller, “The Location of Nihriya and its Disassociation from Na'iri”. In: H.D. Baker, K. Kaniuth and A. Otto, eds. Stories of Long Ago. Festschrift für Michael D. Roaf (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 397). Ugarit-Verlag. Münster: (2012) 349-372. As per the Mari and Dur-Katlimmu letters, Niḫriya was located in the Upper Balikh region.

Outcome

The conflict between the two great powers took place in the neighborhood of

Nihriya Nairi ( classical hy, Նայիրի, ''Nayiri'', reformed: Նաիրի, ''Nairi''; , also ''Na-'i-ru'') was the Akkadian name for a region inhabited by a particular group (possibly a confederation or league) of tribal principalities in the Armen ...

, with the

Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...

ns gaining a decisive victory. The Assyrian victory shook the Hittite state to its foundations as its king Tudhaliya IV faced several internal revolts against his reign. Tudhaliya IV would ultimately overcome all these challenges to his authority and retain the kingship of Hatti. Hostilities between Assyria and Ḫatti continued for some five years before a peace was negotiated and maintained.

Outcome

Notes

See also