Maryannu

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Maryannu is an ancient word for the caste of chariot-mounted nobility which dominated many of the societies of the Middle East during the Bronze Age. The word is believed to derive from Indo-Iranian origins (mari- "warrior", originally "mortal, human")

Indo-European maryannu classes are believed to have ruled over the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni and over the kingdom of the Hittites. Many Canaanite rulers had Indo-European or Hurrian names and may have derived from immigrant maryannu groups. Similar groups dominated the various city-states of Mycenaean Greece.

The term is attested in the Amarna letters written by Haapi.

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Last updated on Monday October 01, 2007 at 00:52:54 PDT (GMT -0700)
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