Colloque - Pouvoir et culture écrite en Haute-Mésopotamie au XVIIIe siècle av. J.-C. - Regine Pruzsinszky : Tigunanum, from Zimri-Lim to Hattusili I

Dominique CharpinCollège de FranceAnnée 2025-2026Civilisation mésopotamienneColloque - Pouvoir et culture écrite en Haute-Mésopotamie au XVIIIe siècle av. J.-C. - Regine Pruzsinszky : Tigunanum, from Zimri-Lim to Hattusili IRegine PruzsinszkyProfesseure, université de Freiburg/BrisgauRésuméIn the 1990s, Mirjo Salvini published the Labarna letter and the Ḫabiru prism, providing the first glimpse into the 'Dark Age', a period in the mid-second millennium characterised by significant gaps in the historical record. Both cuneiform texts originate from the archive of King Tunip-Teššup of Tigunani, who was a contemporary of Ḫattušili I, the ruler of the Old Hittite Kingdom (c. 1650–1620 BCE). The largely unpublished documents and letters in this archive not only provide new insights into the nature of the kingdom of Tigunani, but also into the sociopolitical structure of Upper Mesopotamia and its interconnections with Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the Levant during the transition from the collapse of Samsi-Addu's huge kingdom to the beginning of the Mittani Empire.