"Turtanu" or "Turtan" (Akkadian: 𒌉𒋫𒉡 tur-ta-nu; Hebrew: תַּרְתָּןtartān; Greek: Θαρθαν; Latin: Tharthan; Syriac: ܬܵܪܬܵܢtartan) is an Akkadian word/title meaning 'commander in chief'[1] or 'prime minister'. In Assyria, the Turtanu ranked next to the king.[2]
The Assyrian king would assign the individual who was turtanu to go to battle for him,[3] thus giving great power and influence to the turtanu.
The office seems to have been duplicated, and there was a tartanu imni or 'tartan of the right', as well as a tartanu shumeli or 'tartan of the left'. In later times the title became territorial; we read of a tartan of 'Kummuh' (Commagene). The title is also applied to the commanders of foreign armies; thus Sargon speaks of the Tartan Musurai, or 'Egyptian Tartan'.[4] The Tartan of 720 BC was probably called Ashur-iska-danin; in 694 BC, Abdai, and in 686 BC Bel-emurani, held the title.[4] It does not seem to have been in use among the closely related Babylonians.
^Van De Mierroop, Marc (2007). A history of the ancient Near East, ca 3000-323 B.C. (2 ed.). Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing. p. 242. ISBN 978-1-4051-4911-2.
^D. J. Wiseman, Tartan, in New Bible Dictionary – Third Edition, hrsg. von J. D. Douglas (First Ed.), N. Hillyer (Second. Ed.), D. R. W. Wood (Third Ed.) with the consulting Editors for the Third Edition I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, D. J. Wiseman, Nottingham 14. Edition 2013, S. 1154b.
^Yamada, Shiego. "The Construction of the Assyrian Empire: A Historical Study of the Inscriptions of Shalmaneser III (859-824 BC) Relating to His Campaigns to the West". Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill, (2000). p.332 ISBN 90-04-11772-5
^ abAssyrian Deeds C. H. W. Johns et al, Deighton, Bell and Company, 1901, Page 68. (Scanned book, University of Tronto Library website)
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