Wasashatta, son of Shattuara, resisted Assyrian rule and sought Hittite assistance. Adad-nirari I’s inscription records the campaign, the seizure of cities and the deportation of Wasashatta’s family.

Dark bronze sickle sword displayed diagonally on a pale background, with cuneiform signs along the curved blade and an engraved animal near the handle
Sickle sword bearing Adad-nirari I’s name, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 11.166.1, gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1911. The museum interprets it as a likely ceremonial emblem. It belonged to the Assyrian ruler’s context, not Wasashatta, and is not evidence of its use in this campaign. [4] Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 11.166.1, gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1911, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

The source and the succession

The royal inscription edited as RIMA 1 A.0.76.3 identifies Wasashatta, written Uasašatta in the translation, as Shattuara’s son. Adad-nirari I says he had previously captured Shattuara, returned him to Hanigalbat after an oath and received annual tribute. Wasashatta’s resistance followed his father’s death. [1] The narrative is an Assyrian king’s account of his own victories.

Hittite assistance and the campaign

According to lines 15–51, Wasashatta sought help in Hatti; the Hittites accepted payments but gave no assistance. Adad-nirari lists captured cities including Taidu and Washukanni, records booty taken to Assur, and describes Irridu’s destruction. He claims to have deported Wasashatta’s palace wife, sons, daughters and people from Irridu and imposed labour on those remaining. [1] These are the inscription’s claims, not a surviving account from Wasashatta’s court.

What happened to Wasashatta himself?

David Kertai observes that the inscription does not state Wasashatta’s personal fate. He proposes escape as an interpretation; it should not be converted into a documented capture or death. Kertai also distinguishes this campaign from Shalmaneser I’s later war against Shattuara II. [2] Wasashatta therefore should not be described as defeated by Shalmaneser I or as the last named ruler in all subsequent Mitanni resistance.

Taidu after conquest

A related inscription, RIMA 1 A.0.76.4, continues with Adad-nirari’s restoration of a dilapidated structure at Taidu and the placement of commemorative inscriptions. [3] Its sequence connects warfare with construction and the preservation of the Assyrian ruler’s name. It also helps explain why royal texts are both historical evidence and monuments to authority.

Chronology and the limits of identification

Kertai places Adad-nirari I in 1295–1264 BCE, whereas the Met’s sword catalogue uses approximately 1307–1275 BCE. [2] [4] A precise single-year reign for Wasashatta would conceal these chronological differences. His place here is in the history of Hanigalbat, Assyrian expansion and the region’s later historical study. Neither royal text cited establishes a direct genealogy linking him to modern Kurdish families, nor does it derive Washukanni’s name from a modern Kurdish phrase.

Why illustrate the article with this sword?

The Met’s bronze sickle sword bears Adad-nirari’s royal name in three places and an engraved antelope. Its curators interpret such curved swords as emblems of authority and suggest ceremonial use. [4] It provides a contemporary material comparison for Assyrian kingship. It cannot identify Wasashatta’s appearance, equipment or battlefield.

Sources and further reading

  1. Adad-narari I 03, RIMA 1 A.0.76.3, especially lines 4–51; Grayson 1987, digital edition by Novotny and Morello, ORACC/RIAo.
  2. David Kertai, The History of the Middle-Assyrian Kingdom, Talanta XL–XLI (2008–2009), 25–52, especially 28–32; published 2010.
  3. Adad-narari I 04, RIMA 1 A.0.76.4, lines 37–53; Grayson 1987, digital edition by Novotny and Morello, ORACC/RIAo.
  4. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sickle sword, Middle Assyrian, bronze, 11.166.1; inscription, attribution, chronology and curatorial interpretation.
  5. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sickle sword, image DP239582, via Wikimedia Commons; CC0 public-domain dedication.