Details that Make the Difference: the Akkadian Manuscripts of the "Sattiwaza Treaties"

The archives of the Hittite capital,.attusa, handed down one of the largest corpora of state treaties of the Ancient Near East. To this group belong also the so-called "Sattiwaza treaties", two documents ratifying the subjugation of Sattiwaza of Mittani to the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I, concluded at the time when the kingdom of Mittani lost its independence and became part of the Hittite empire. While we have no explicit information about diplomatic negotiations preceding the conclusion of the treaties, an analysis of the Akkadian manuscripts of the "Sattiwaza treaties" will show which features might betray Hittite and Mittanian influence on the drafting of these two documents and suggest how and to what extent the treaty partners may have influenced their composition.