Mannaeans

Mannaea (, sometimes written as Mannea; Akkadian: Mannai, Biblical Hebrew: Minni (מנּי)) was an ancient kingdom that flourished in northwestern Iran, primarily south and southeast of Lake Urmia, during the early first millennium BCE, roughly from the 10th to the 7th century BCE. It developed into a prominent regional power along the northeastern frontier of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, situated between major neighbors like Urartu and a constellation of smaller buffer states, such as Zikirta and Musasir. The capital of Mannaea was likely at Izirtu, near modern-day Saqqez.

Muṣaṣir (Assyrian cuneiform: and variants, including Mutsatsir, Akkadian for Exit of the Serpent/Snake), in Urartian Ardini was an ancient city of Urartu, attested in Assyrian sources of the 9th and 8th centuries BC.

archaeological site in Iran

thumb|Iranzu Iranzu was an important king of Mannae. He is said to have risen to power circa 725 BCE during a period of struggle between the Assyrians and the Urartians.

thumb|250px|Location of Matiene, between Corduene and Atropatene Matiene was the name of a kingdom in northwestern Iran on the lands of the earlier kingdom of the Mannae. Ancient historians including Strabo, Ptolemy, Herodotus, Polybius, and Pliny mention names such as Mantiane, Martiane, Matiana, Matiani, Matiene, Martuni to designate a region located to the northwest of Media."

Izirtu () was the capital of the Mannai state, which existed from the 9th century BC to the 6th century BC.