Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MITANNI

A Hurrian confederacy and their vassal states, perhaps dominated by an Indo-aryan military elite, that served as an important buffer state in northern Mesopotamia during part of the patriarchal period (ca. 1500-1350 b.c.e.). While not mentioned in the biblical record, the Hurrians are probably to be identified with the Horites (Gen. 14:6; 36:20-30; Deut. 2:12, 20), who settled around Mt. Seir; however, the Horites’ southerly location placed them under Egyptian hegemony and precluded their inclusion in the Mitannian league.

The Mitannians appear in the records of the Egyptians, Hittites, and Assyrians for 250 years until they lose their independence to Assyria under Shalmaneser I (1273-1244). These records include the Amarna Letters, which indicate that Mitanni was a major regional power allied to Egypt through marriages to the pharaohs.

Mitanni’s biblical significance lies in the information that the records from Nuzi, a Mitannian dependency, provide about patriarchal customs. For example, Abraham’s adoption of Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. 15:2-3), the surrogate motherhood of Hagar (16:2), Bilhah, and Zilpah (30:3, 9), and the double portion to the firstborn (Deut. 21:17) all have important parallels in the Nuzi tablets. Clearly, some common northern Mesopotamian cultural habits were present during the patriarchal era.

See Hurrians.

Jesse Curtis Pope