Maryannu
Encyclopedia
Maryannu is an ancient word for the caste of chariot
-mounted hereditary warrior nobility which dominated many of the societies of the Middle East
during the Bronze Age
.
The term is attested in the Amarna letters
written by Haapi
. Robert Drews writes that the name 'maryannu' although plural takes the singular 'marya', which in Sanskrit means young warrior, and attaches a Hurrian suffix.(Drews:p. 59)http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fcVIcaJxgdUC&pg=PA59&vq=maryannu&dq=new+light+on+the+maryannu+as+chariot-warriors&lr=&source=gbs_search_s&sig=ACfU3U0DRvQBDUE0BwsKAzkQ7MPcz-ipfA He suggests that at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age most would have spoken either Hurrian or Aryan but by the end of the 14th century most of the Levant maryannu had Semitic names. Maryannu was also an alternate Egyptian name for Mitanni
, where the word undoubtedly originated.
Chariot
The chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
-mounted hereditary warrior nobility which dominated many of the societies of the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
during the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
.
The term is attested in the Amarna letters
Amarna letters
The Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom...
written by Haapi
Haapi
Haapi, also Haip and Ha'ip was a commissioner of the 1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence. The name "Hapi" in Egyptian is the name for the Nile god Hapi....
. Robert Drews writes that the name 'maryannu' although plural takes the singular 'marya', which in Sanskrit means young warrior, and attaches a Hurrian suffix.(Drews:p. 59)http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fcVIcaJxgdUC&pg=PA59&vq=maryannu&dq=new+light+on+the+maryannu+as+chariot-warriors&lr=&source=gbs_search_s&sig=ACfU3U0DRvQBDUE0BwsKAzkQ7MPcz-ipfA He suggests that at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age most would have spoken either Hurrian or Aryan but by the end of the 14th century most of the Levant maryannu had Semitic names. Maryannu was also an alternate Egyptian name for Mitanni
Mitanni
Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...
, where the word undoubtedly originated.