kingdom · Mesopotamia and Iran
Kingdom of Arrapha
Origins
Arrapha, the ancient name of Kirkuk, became the capital of a Hurrian kingdom east of the Tigris in the 15th century BCE, when the region fell within the sphere of the Mitanni Empire. Its kings ruled the plain between the Lesser Zab and the Zagros foothills as Mitannian vassals.
Rule and society
The best evidence comes from Nuzi (Yorghan Tepe), a provincial town excavated in the 1920s and 1930s, where over 5,000 tablets were found. Written in a local Akkadian with many Hurrian words, they record family archives such as that of Tehip-tilla, adoptions used to transfer land, slave contracts, marriage settlements and lawsuits. Society was dominated by the palace and by chariot-owning families. Kings such as Kipi-Teshup and Ithi-Teshup are named in seal impressions and documents.
Decline and legacy
As Mitanni weakened in the mid-14th century BCE, Nuzi was burnt around 1340 BCE, probably by Assyrian forces, and Arrapha was soon absorbed by the Assyrian Empire, later becoming an Assyrian province.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Kingdom of Arrapha was a vassal of Mitanni Empire1500 BCE – 1340 BCE
- Kingdom of Arrapha was conquered by Assyrian Empire1340 BCE
More states of Mesopotamia and Iran →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Arrapha. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-arrapha
- MLA
- “Kingdom of Arrapha.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-arrapha. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Arrapha.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-arrapha.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Arrapha’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-arrapha (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻