284 Mittani faith: not the temporary and changing face of external history, but the permanent and enduring world of holiness and eternality For example, the fifth order mainly concerns the Temple, even though the Temple had been destroyed generations earlier and its grounds were off-limits to Jews Half of the Mishnah addresses this imaginary world of officials and customs that were no longer present or possible in Judah ha-Nasi’s day Jews in late antiquity, however, could take “realworld” consolation in the message of the Mishnah Its message hinted at an imaginary world that countered the Roman worldview where Caesar demanded total allegiance The Mishnah says that God owns the land of Palestine and gives it to the people of Israel, Israel must pay God representative payments (tithes and offerings) and observe religious calendars to show divine ownership, and God has sovereignty over the social dimensions of human life as in clan and culture If the Mishnah is a selective treatment of the Bible and reflects a theology that its compilers found inspiring but not overtly related to the external world, then its sequel, the Talmud, also commented on the Mishnah according to its later priorities Whole sections of the Mishnah were ignored The Jerusalem Talmud covers only 39 of the 63 tractates and says nary a word on the fifth order and little on the sixth order; the Babylonian Talmud has its own set of equally limited applications Together, both treated the Mishnah in a manner that was different than what the compilers of the Mishnah intended If the Mishnah is analogous to the New Testament, then the Talmuds are analogous to the writings of the fathers of the church Very soon after the Mishnah was compiled, Jews made it the centerpiece of their study, and it became the structure and content of their discussions Other academies outside of Yavneh (Tiberias, Caesarea, Sepphoris, and Lydda in Palestine; Sura, Pumbedita, and Nehardea in Babylonia) adopted the Mishnah as their base text Even non-Mishnaic materials (such as the baraitot) were studied in relation to their parallels in the Mishnah Its language, commonly called Mishnaic Hebrew, is a direct development of the spoken Hebrew language of the late biblical period with heavy influence by the predominant Aramaic language Because of the Mishnah’s authority not only in Palestine but also in the other great center of Jewish culture, Babylon, the Hebrew language was revitalized and never died out in rabbinic circles See also Caesar, Augustus; Christianity, early; Judaism, early (heterodoxies); messianism; Roman Empire Further reading: Hezser, Catherine The Social Structure of the Rabbinic Movement in Roman Palestine Tübingen, Germany: Mohr [Siebeck], 1997; Goodblatt, David M The Monarchic Principle: Studies in Jewish Self-Government in Antiquity Tübingen, Germany: Mohr [P Siebeck], 1994; Neusner, J Judaism: The Evidence of the Mishnah Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981; ——— The Mishnah: Social Perspectives Boston: E J Brill, 1999 Mark F Whitters Mittani The kingdom of Mittani was an impressive IndoEuropean empire that ruled over northern Mesopotamia, or the Fertile Crescent, during the 15th and 14th centuries b.c.e At its height the geographical region of Mittani stretched from the ancient city of Nuzi and the Tigris River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west The two capital cities, Taite and Waššukanni, were most likely located in the heartland of the Khabur river valley or at its headwaters The capitals’ archaeological sites have not yet been located Despite its greatness no Mittani texts regarding its own history have been found, so most of the information concerning the Mittani comes from Egyptian, Hittite, and Assyrian records The Hurrians, a people who were present in the Khabur River valley for several hundred years prior to the Mittani’s political establishment, composed the majority of the population The ruling class of Mittani, however, seems to have been an Indo-European people in origin and worshipped Vedic deities; that is, the marks of this society planted in today’s Middle Eastern heartland bore resemblance to classical Indian culture Whether the Mittani introduced the horse to the Fertile Crescent is disputed, yet they did make use of it in a new form of chariot warfare The Mittani developed a two-wheeled chariot drawn by two horses The elite aristocratic warriors, called Maryannu (meaning “noble in chariot”), and an accompanying archer manned these chariots The Maryannu, along with their horses, were clothed in bronze or iron scale armor The chariots were used as a vehicle to surround enemies and a base from which to fire consistent volleys of arrows and javelins The chariots were also used as collision and trampling weapons This form of warfare served as a model for the Egyptians, Hittites, Babylonians, and Canaanites The Mittani kingdom ruled over all of northern Mesopotamia in the 15th century b.c.e and reduced the former Assyrian state to vassal status By the 14th century b.c.e the constant conflict with the Hittites and