The Hittite conquest of Yamhad, an Amorite kingdom centered at Hala (Aleppo) in northern Syria, the weak middle Assyrian kings, and the internal strivings of the Hittites had created a power vacuum in upper Mesopotamia, where a substantial Hurrian population had also settled, their culture influencing the area.

It is believed that the warring Hurrian tribes and city states had become united under one dynasty after the collapse of Babylon due to the Hittite sack by Mursili I and the Kassite invasion.

This leads to the formation of the kingdom of Mitanni, or Hanigalbat, around 1500 by a legendary king called Kirta.