10-12-2007, 11:28 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->wiki link 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.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->