Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni

The ancient Middle Eastern state of Mitanni (modern-day Northeast Syria, Southeastern Turkey, 2nd millennium BCE) used a dialect of Hurrian as its main language. This dialect however contains some loanwords of evidently Indo-Aryan origin, i.e. related to Sanskrit, the ancestor of many modern languages of the Indian subcontinent. The loaned vocabulary seems to be related to an elite group in Mitanni society, as they appear in the names of rulers and gods as well as in relation to horse-breeding and the military (thus forming a so-called superstrate).^[2]

Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni
Mitanni-Aryan
Native to	Mitanni
Region	Upper Mesopotamia
Ethnicity	Indo-Aryan peoples of Mitanni
Extinct	after 1300s BC[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni
Writing system	Cuneiform
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	None

It is thus generally believed that Indo-Aryan peoples settled in Upper Mesopotamia and northern Syria, and established the kingdom of Mitanni following a period of political vacuum, while also adopting Hurrian. This is considered a part of the Indo-Aryan migrations.^[3][4][5]

Linguistic context

Professor Eva von Dassow concurs with the presence of Indo-Aryan terms in Mitanni vocabulary, but cautiously advises against the notion of an "Indo-Aryan takeover".^[6] Michael Witzel argues for the antiquity of the Indo-Aryan words attested in the Mitanni data, since they almost certainly predate linguistic developments attested in the Rigveda.^[7]

In a treaty between the Hittites and Mitanni (between Suppiluliuma I and Shattiwaza, c. 1380 BC), the deities Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and Nasatya (Ashvins) are invoked. Kikkuli's horse training text (circa 1400 BC) includes technical terms such as aika (Vedic Sanskrit eka, one), tera (tri, three), panza (pañca, five), satta (sapta, seven), na (nava, nine), vartana (vartana, round). The numeral aika "one" is of particular importance because it places the superstrate in the vicinity of Indo-Aryan proper (Vedic Sanskrit eka, with regular contraction of /ai/ to [eː]) as opposed to Indo-Iranian or early Iranian (which has *aiva; compare Vedic eva "only") in general.^[8]

A document from Nuzi has babru(-nnu) (babhru, brown), parita(-nnu) (palita, grey), and pinkara(-nnu) (pingala, red) for horse colours. Their chief festival was the celebration of the solstice (vishuva) which was common in most cultures in the ancient world.

The Mitanni warriors were called marya (Hurrian: maria-nnu), the term for '(young) warrior' in Sanskrit as well,^[9] formed by adding the Hurrian suffix -nnu;^[10] note 'mišta-nnu' (= miẓḍha,~ Sanskrit mīḍha) "payment (for catching a fugitive)".^[11]

Sanskritic interpretations of Mitanni names render Artashumara (artaššumara) as Arta-smara "who thinks of Arta/Ṛta",^[12] Biridashva (biridašṷa, biriiašṷa) as Prītāśva "whose horse is dear",^[13] Priyamazda (priiamazda) as Priyamedha "whose wisdom is dear",^[14][15] Citrarata as Citraratha "whose chariot is shining", ^[16] Indaruda/Endaruta as Indrota "helped by Indra",^[17] Shativaza (šattiṷaza) as Sātivāja "winning the race prize",^[18] Šubandu as Subandhu "having good relatives" (a name in Palestine^[19]), Tushratta (tṷišeratta, tušratta, etc.) as *tṷaišaratha, Vedic Tveṣaratha "whose chariot is vehement". ^[20]

Attested words and comparisons

All of the following examples are from Witzel (2001).^[21] For the pronunciation of the sounds transcribed from cuneiform as š and z, see Proto-Semitic language#Fricatives.

Names of people

Transcription of cuneiform	Interpretation	Vedic equivalent	Comments
bi-ir-ya-ma-aš-da	Priyamazdha	Priyamedha	"whose wisdom is dear"; /azd(ʰ)/ to [eːd(ʰ)] is a regular development in Vedic and its descendants (Indo-Aryan in the narrow sense)
bi-ir-ya-aš-šu-wa, bi-ir-da-aš-šu-wa	Priyāśva ~ Prītāśva	Prītāśva	"whose horse is dear"
ar-ta-aš-šu-ma-ra	Artasmara	Ṛtasmara	"who thinks of Arta/Ṛta"
ar-ta-ta-a-ma	Artadhāma(n?)	Ṛtadhāman	"his abode is Ṛta"
tu-uš-rat-ta, tu-iš-e-rat-ta, tu-uš-e-rat-ta	Tvaiša(?)ratha	Tveṣáratha	"whose chariot is vehement"
in-tar-ú-da, en-dar-ú-ta	Indrauta	Indrota	"helped by Indra"; /au/ to [oː] is a regular development in Vedic; ú specifically indicates [u] as opposed to [o]

Names of deities

From treaties of Mitanni.

Transcription of cuneiform	Interpretation	Vedic equivalent	Comments
a-ru-na, ú-ru-wa-na	Varuna	Varuna
mi-it-ra	Mitra	Mitra
in-tar, in-da-ra	Indra	Indra
na-ša-ti-ya-an-na	Nasatya(-nna)	Nasatya	Hurrian grammatical ending -nna
a-ak-ni-iš	Āgnis	Agni	only attested in Hittite, which retains nominative -/s/ and lengthens stressed syllables

Horse training

From Kikkuli.

Transcription of cuneiform	Interpretation	Vedic equivalent	Comments
a-aš-šu-uš-ša-an-ni	āśva-san-ni?	aśva-sana-	"master horse trainer" (Kikkuli himself)
-aš-šu-wa	-aśva	aśva	"horse"; in personal names
a-i-ka-	aika-	eka	"1"
ti-e-ra-	tera- ?	tri	"3"
pa-an-za-	pańća- ?	pañca	"5"; Vedic c is not an affricate,[citation needed] but apparently its Mitanni equivalent was
ša-at-ta	satta	sapta	"7"; /pt/ to /tː/ is either an innovation in Mitanni or a misinterpretation by a scribe who had Hurrian šinti "7" in mind
na-a-[w]a-	nāva-	nava	"9"
wa-ar-ta-an-na	vartan(n)a	vartana	round, turn

Other lexicon

The following table includes the remaining lexicon, considered to attest horse colours.^[22]

Transcription of cuneiform	Interpretation	Vedic equivalent	Comments
ba-ab-ru-un-nu[23]	papru-nnu or babru-nnu	babhrú-	'brown'
pi2-in-ka4-ra-an-nu[24]	pinkara-nnu or bingara-nnu	piṅgalá-	'reddish brown'
pa2-ri-it-ta-an-nu[25]	paritta-nnu or baritta-nnu	palitá-	'gray'

See also

• Kikkuli
• Sindoi
• Substratum in Vedic Sanskrit
• Maryannu
• Mitanni
• Gutian language
• Washukanni

References

1. Sigfried J. de Laet 1996, p. 196.
2. Kümmel 2022, p. 246.
3. Sigfried J. de Laet 1996, p. 562.
4. Beckwith 2009, pp. 39–41.
5. Bryce 2005, p. 55.
6. Dassow 2014, pp. 12–14.
7. Witzel 2001, pp. 5 and footnote nr. 8, 36, 49, 53–55.
8. Fournet 2010, pp. 26–40.
9. Mayrhofer 1998, p. 293.
10. Dassow 2014, p. 27.
11. Mayrhofer 1998, Entry "mīḍha". p. 358.
12. Mayrhofer 1998, Entry "SMAR". p. 780.
13. Mayrhofer 1998, p. 182.
14. Mayrhofer 1998, Entry "priyá-". p. 189.
15. Mayrhofer 1998, Entry "medhắ-". p. 378.
16. Mayrhofer 1992, p. 553.
17. Mayrhofer 1992, pp. 134.
18. Mayrhofer 1998, pp. 540, 696.
19. Mayrhofer 1998, pp. 209, 735.
20. Mayrhofer 1992, pp. 686, 736.
21. Witzel 2001, pp. 1–115.
22. Deshpande, Madhav M. (1995). "Vedic Aryans, non-Vedic Aryans, and non-Aryans: Judging the linguistic evidence of the Veda". In George Erdosy (ed.). The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. pp. 67-84 [71]. doi:10.1515/9783110816433-008.
23. Kogan, Leonid; Krebernik, Manfred (2020). Etymological Dictionary of Akkadian. Vol. 1: Roots beginning with p and b. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. p. 392. doi:10.1515/9781614512394.
24. Kogan, Leonid; Krebernik, Manfred (2020). Etymological Dictionary of Akkadian. Vol. 1: Roots beginning with p and b. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. p. 372. doi:10.1515/9781614512394.
25. Kogan, Leonid; Krebernik, Manfred (2020). Etymological Dictionary of Akkadian. Vol. 1: Roots beginning with p and b. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. pp. 348–349. doi:10.1515/9781614512394.

Sources

• Dassow, Eva von (2014). "Levantine Polities under Mittanian Hegemony". In Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum; Nicole Brisch & Jesper Eidem (eds.). Constituent, Confederate, and Conquered Space: The Emergence of the Mittani State. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. pp. 11–32. doi:10.1515/9783110266412.11. ISBN 9783110266412.
• Fournet, Arnaud (2010). "About the Mitanni Aryan gods". Journal of Indo-European Studies. 38 (1–2): 26–40.
• Kümmel, Martin Joachim (2022). "Indo-Iranian". In Thomas Olander (ed.). The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 246–268. doi:10.1017/9781108758666.014. ISBN 9781108758666.
• Mallory, J. P (1997). "Kuro-Araxes Culture". Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Chicago–London: Fitzroy Dearborn.
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (1982). "Welches Material aus dem Indo-arischen von Mitanni verbleibt für eine selektive Darstellung?". In E. Neu (ed.). Investigationes philologicae et comparativae: Gedenkschrift für Heinz Kronasser (in German). Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz. pp. 72–90.
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992). Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan] (in German). Vol. I. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag. ISBN 3-533-03826-2.
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (1998). Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen (in German). Vol. II. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (2001). Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen (in German). Vol. III. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.
• Thieme, Paul (1960). "The 'Aryan' Gods of the Mitanni Treaties". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 80 (4): 301–17. doi:10.2307/595878. JSTOR 595878.
• Witzel, Michael (2001). "Autochthonous Aryans? The evidence from Old Indian and Iranian texts". Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 7 (3): 1–93. doi:10.11588/ejvs.2001.3.830.
• Sigfried J. de Laet, ed. (1996). History of Humanity: From the Third Millennium to the Seventh Century B.C. UNESCO Publishing. ISBN 978-92-3-102811-3.
• Beckwith, Christopher I. (2009). Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13589-2.
• Bryce, Trevor (2005). The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927908-1.

Further reading

• Campos Méndez, Israel (2021). "El primer testimonio mitraico" [The First Mithraic Testimony]. In Roberto Rodríguez (ed.). Sociedades antiguas del Creciente Fertil: territorios, memorias e identidades culturales (in Spanish). Vol. 3, book 1. Buenos Aires: Remitente Patagonia. pp. 23–50. ISBN 978-987-8464-15-2.
• Cotticelli-Kurras, P.; Pisaniello, V. (2023). "Indo-Aryans in the Ancient Near East". In Giusfredi, Federico; Pisaniello, Valerio; Matessi, Alvise (eds.). Contacts of Languages and Peoples in the Hittite and Post-Hittite World. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 332–345. doi:10.1163/9789004548633_014. ISBN 978-90-04-54863-3.
• Dassow, Eva von (2022). "Mittani and Its Empire". In Karen Radner; Nadine Moeller & D. T. Potts (eds.). The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East. Vol. III: From the Hyksos to the Late Second Millennium BC, Oxford University Press. Oxford University Press. pp. 475–479. ISBN 9780190687601.
• García Ramón, José Luis (2017) [2015]. "Old Indo-Aryan Lexicon in the Ancient Near East: Proto-Indo-European, Anatolian and Core Indo-European". Atti del Sodalizio Glottologico Milanese. X: 17–33. doi:10.13130/1972-9901/10277.
• Gentile, Simone (2019). "Indo-Iranian personal names in Mitanni: A source for cultural reconstruction". Onoma. 54: 137–159. doi:10.34158/ONOMA.54/2019/8. S2CID 239241967.
• Kloekhorst, A.; Lubotsky, A. (2021). "Indo-Aryan -(a)u̯artanna in the Kikkuli treatise". In H. Fellner; M. Malzahn; M. Peyrot (eds.). lyuke wmer ra: Indo-European studies in honor of Georges-Jean Pinault. Ann Arbor, New York: Beech Stave Press. pp. 331–336. hdl:1887/3480048.
• Lahe, Jaan; Sazonov, Vladimir (2019). "Mitra esmamainimine Hetiidi kuninga Šuppiluliuma I ja Mitanni kuninga Šattiwaza lepingus? Lühiuurimus indoiraani usundiloost" [First mention of Mitra in the treaty between the Hittite king Šuppiluliuma I and the Mittannian ruler Šattiwaza? A short study into the Indo-Iranian religion]. Mäetagused. Hüperajakiri. 73: 5–14. doi:10.7592/MT2019.73.lahe_sazonov. S2CID 188199063.
• Parpola, Asko (2015). The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization. Oxford University Press. pp. 83–91. ISBN 9780190226923.