On the Chronology of the Mittani Empire - Some Archaeological Considerations
Mirko Novák

The formaton of the Mitanni Empire happened during the 16^th century. It was destroyed by the Hittite king Shuppiluliuma I in the 14^th century. The expansion of the empire from Central Syria to the Zargos Ranges and from the Anatolian Mountains to the Syrian Desert made it one of the vastest political units of the Ancient Near East. Since none of its capitals and major cities has been localised and excavated so far, a reconstruction of its history must still be based entirely on external sources. The material culture is just known from two outposts at the empire's furthermost West and East: Alalakh in Northern Syria, and Nuzi near Kirkuk in Northeastern Mesopotamia. Therefore, the contribution of Mittani to the chronological discussion is very limited. In this paper, an overview on the data and their sgnificance on a chronology of the beginning of the Late Bronze Age will be given.