- Shaushtatar
Shaushtatar (or Šauštatar) was a king of the
Hurrian kingdom ofMitanni in the fifteenth century BC.Invasion of Assyria
Shaushtatar was the son of
Parshatatar . By the time he ascended the throne ca. the 15th century BC, his father had installed Hurrian client kings in a number of cities, making it easier for Shaushtatar to make Mittani aMesopotamia n power. Now freed from the constant thread undergone by Mitanni of theEgyptians , Shaushtatar turned his attention towardAssyria . He invaded Assyria and sacked and looted its capital,Assur . [ [http://www.google.com/books?id=jxi1PIqvmnMC&pg=PA37&dq=Shaushtatar&sig=5CnXjUAWosYbiGdKM07eeGyHlbQ#PPP1,M1 Bryce, Trevor. Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East.] .]Later Battles
After his invasion of Assyria, Shaushtatar turned his army westward across the
Euphrates , along the way gathering beneath his sway all the northernSyrian states as he brought his army to theMediterranean coast. He was looking to extend Mitanni's power further south, perhaps intoPalestine . However, much of southern Syria still lay within the Egyptian sphere of influence, which had long been a threat to Mitanni.There was a consequence into Shaushtatar's expansion into Palestine: war with Egypt. Despite Mitanni's advantage that Palestine had a significant Hurrian population at the time, the war would be difficult to win. During the planning stages, however, Shaushtatar died, and his son
Artatama I would negotiate with the pharaohAmenhotep II over an alliance. [ [http://www.google.com/books?id=jxi1PIqvmnMC&pg=PA37&dq=Shaushtatar&sig=5CnXjUAWosYbiGdKM07eeGyHlbQ#PPP1,M1 Bryce, Trevor. Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient Near East.] .]References
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