Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni explained
Some loanwords in the variant of the Hurrian language spoken in Mitanni during the 2nd millennium BCE are identifiable as originating in an Indo-Aryan language; these are considered to constitute an Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni (or in Mitanni Hurrian). The words are theonyms, proper names and technical terminology related to horses (hippological).
It is 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.
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". 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.
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.
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, formed by adding the Hurrian suffix -nnu; note 'mišta-nnu' (= miẓḍha,~ Sanskrit mīḍha) "payment (for catching a fugitive)".
Sanskritic interpretations of Mitanni names render Artashumara (artaššumara) as Arta-smara "who thinks of Arta/Ṛta", Biridashva (biridašṷa, biriiašṷa) as Prītāśva "whose horse is dear", Priyamazda (priiamazda) as Priyamedha "whose wisdom is dear", Citrarata as Citraratha "whose chariot is shining", Indaruda/Endaruta as Indrota "helped by Indra", Shativaza (šattiṷaza) as Sātivāja "winning the race prize", Šubandu as Subandhu "having good relatives" (a name in Palestine), Tushratta (tṷišeratta, tušratta, etc.) as *tṷaišaratha, Vedic Tveṣaratha "whose chariot is vehement".
Attested words and comparisons
All of the following examples are from Witzel (2001). 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, 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.[1]
| Transcription of cuneiform | Interpretation | Vedic equivalent | Comments |
|---|
| ba-ab-ru-un-nu[2] | papru-nnu or babru-nnu | babhrú- | 'brown' |
| pi2-in-ka4-ra-an-nu[3] | pinkara-nnu or bingara-nnu | piṅgalá- | 'reddish brown' |
| pa2-ri-it-ta-an-nu[4] | paritta-nnu or baritta-nnu | palitá- | 'gray' | |
See also
Sources
- Book: Dassow, Eva von . 2014 . Levantine Polities under Mittanian Hegemony . Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum . Nicole Brisch . Jesper Eidem . Constituent, Confederate, and Conquered Space: The Emergence of the Mittani State . Berlin, Boston . De Gruyter . 11–32 . 10.1515/9783110266412.11 . 9783110266412 . free . amp.
- Fournet. Arnaud. About the Mitanni Aryan gods. Journal of Indo-European Studies. 38. 1–2. 2010. 26–40.
- Book: Kümmel, Martin Joachim . Indo-Iranian . The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective . Thomas Olander . Cambridge . Cambridge University Press . 2022 . 246–268 . 10.1017/9781108758666.014 . 9781108758666 . free.
- Encyclopedia: JP Mallory . Mallory . J. P . Kuro-Araxes Culture . . Chicago–London . Fitzroy Dearborn . 1997.
- Book: Mayrhofer, Manfred . Manfred Mayrhofer . Welches Material aus dem Indo-arischen von Mitanni verbleibt für eine selektive Darstellung? . Investigationes philologicae et comparativae: Gedenkschrift für Heinz Kronasser . E. Neu . Wiesbaden . O. Harrassowitz . 1982 . 72–90 . de .
- Book: Mayrhofer, Manfred . Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen . I . Heidelberg . Carl Winter Universitätsverlag . 1992 . de . Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan . 3-533-03826-2.
- Book: Mayrhofer, Manfred . Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen . II . Heidelberg . Carl Winter Universitätsverlag . 1998 . de.
- Book: Mayrhofer, Manfred . Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen . III . Heidelberg . Carl Winter Universitätsverlag . 2001 . de.
- Thieme . Paul . Paul Thieme . The 'Aryan' Gods of the Mitanni Treaties . . 80 . 4 . 1960 . 301–17 . 10.2307/595878. 595878 .
- Michael . Witzel . Michael Witzel . 2001 . Autochthonous Aryans? The evidence from Old Indian and Iranian texts . Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies . 7 . 3 . 1–93 . 10.11588/ejvs.2001.3.830 . free .
- Book: Sigfried J. de Laet . History of Humanity: From the Third Millennium to the Seventh Century B.C. . 1996 . UNESCO Publishing . 978-92-3-102811-3 . en.
- Book: Beckwith, Christopher I. . Christopher I. Beckwith. Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present . 2009 . Princeton University Press . 978-0-691-13589-2 . en.
- Book: Bryce, Trevor . Trevor Bryce . The Kingdom of the Hittites . 2005 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-927908-1 . en.
Further reading
- Book: Campos Méndez, Israel . https://www.academia.edu/50123113 . El primer testimonio mitraico . The First Mithraic Testimony . Sociedades antiguas del Creciente Fertil: territorios, memorias e identidades culturales . 3, book 1 . Roberto Rodríguez . Buenos Aires . Remitente Patagonia . 2021 . 23–50 . es . 978-987-8464-15-2.
- Book: P. . Cotticelli-Kurras . V. . Pisaniello . Indo-Aryans in the Ancient Near East . Contacts of Languages and Peoples in the Hittite and Post-Hittite World . Leiden, The Netherlands . Brill . 2023 . 332–345 . Federico . Giusfredi . Valerio . Pisaniello . Alvise . Matessi . 10.1163/9789004548633_014 . 978-90-04-54863-3.
- Book: Dassow, Eva von . 2022 . Mittani and Its Empire . Karen Radner . Nadine Moeller . D. T. Potts . The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East . III: From the Hyksos to the Late Second Millennium BC, Oxford University Press . 475–479 . Oxford University Press . 9780190687601 . amp.
- García Ramón . José Luis . Old Indo-Aryan Lexicon in the Ancient Near East: Proto-Indo-European, Anatolian and Core Indo-European . Atti del Sodalizio Glottologico Milanese . X . 2017 . 17–33 . 10.13130/1972-9901/10277 . 2015 . free.
- Gentile . Simone . 2019 . Indo-Iranian personal names in Mitanni: A source for cultural reconstruction . Onoma . 54 . 137–159 . 10.34158/ONOMA.54/2019/8. 239241967 . free.
- Book: Kloekhorst . A. . Lubotsky . A. . 2021 . Indo-Aryan -(a)u̯artanna in the Kikkuli treatise . H. Fellner . M. Malzahn . M. Peyrot . lyuke wmer ra: Indo-European studies in honor of Georges-Jean Pinault . 331-336 . Ann Arbor, New York . Beech Stave Press . 1887/3480048.
- Lahe . Jaan . Sazonov . Vladimir . 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 . 2019 . 5–14 . 10.7592/MT2019.73.lahe_sazonov. 188199063 . free.
- Book: Parpola, Asko . Asko Parpola . The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization . Oxford University Press . 2015 . 83–91 . 9780190226923.
Notes and References
- Book: Deshpande, Madhav M. . Vedic Aryans, non-Vedic Aryans, and non-Aryans: Judging the linguistic evidence of the Veda . The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity . George Erdosy . 67-84 [71] . Berlin, Boston . De Gruyter . 1995 . 10.1515/9783110816433-008.
- Book: Kogan . Leonid . Krebernik . Manfred . Etymological Dictionary of Akkadian . 1: Roots beginning with p and b . Berlin, Boston . De Gruyter . 2020 . 392 . 10.1515/9781614512394.
- Book: Kogan . Leonid . Krebernik . Manfred . Etymological Dictionary of Akkadian . 1: Roots beginning with p and b . Berlin, Boston . De Gruyter . 2020 . 372 . 10.1515/9781614512394.
- Book: Kogan . Leonid . Krebernik . Manfred . Etymological Dictionary of Akkadian . 1: Roots beginning with p and b . Berlin, Boston . De Gruyter . 2020 . 348-349 . 10.1515/9781614512394.
