Mitanni, << mih TAN ee, >> was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia. The kingdom was in what is now southeastern Turkey and northeastern Syria. The Mitannians used horses and were skilled in the use of chariots in war. The neighboring Hittites learned how to use chariots in warfare from the Mitannians. In the 1400’s B.C., the Mitannians fought the Egyptians for control of Syria. But both kingdoms feared the rise of Hittite power. A Mitannian princess married into the Egyptian royal family as a sign of unity. About 1370 B.C., however, the Hittites defeated the Mitannians. Civil war further weakened them, and the kingdom was finally absorbed into the Assyrian Empire by about 1350 B.C.
