On The Kassites And Kurds

On The Kassites And Kurds

It has long been suggested by many scholars that Kassites were, at least partially, ancestors of the Kurds. They base this claim on historical migrations, and the fact that after having conquered Mesopotamia, renamed their empire to ''Karduniash'' (land of Kardun).
I'm intending to explore this claim on linguistic bases.
Actually, when it comes to linguistic grounds, our information concerning the Kassite language is really negligible. There is nothing known of the Kassite language except for a dozen of lexemes, mostly understood through available Akkadian equivalents:


janzu/janzi = king
iash/ash/yashu = earth, country
Bugai? = Prince or god?
Sakr = Chakr/Charx, wheel? chariot?, sakrumash = charioteer
kamsu= bronze component of harness?
(a)tanah = sagarakti = napsuru = to sigh, tired, save
prtl = a medicinal herb
kudurru = boundary, frountier
kurigalzu = herder of the folk
mashu/bashkhu = god
saribu= foot
sirpi = brown (pl. Sirpami)
minzir= dotted, (pl. Minzamur)
dakash = star
sagegi = heaven
ilulu = heaven
miriash = earth
turukhna/turuhna = wind, storm
nu (or kur)-la = 'king'
mali = man
meli = slave
kukla = slave
barkhu/marhu = head
khameru/hamir = foot
akriyaš = agriya-s "(running) in front?",
timiraš = "black?"
nashbu = people, population
hashmar = falcon
simbar = young people
shimdi = to give

As seen above, it appears that Kassites (like many ancient peoples) spoke two languages among themselves, probably one belonging to their ruling class and the other to the oridinary people.
Kassite language(s) is described as a language isolate, meaning it had no relatives among other known languages. Anyways, some words sound similar to Hurro-Urartian (and hence Kurdish). For example the Kassite word ''khameru'' which meant ''foot'', is somehow similar to Urartian ''kuri, (Kurdish ''qul'': foot). Or the Kassite ''meli'', meaning ''slave'', sounds similar to Urartian ''bura'' (Kurdish ''bora'': commoner). Though still Urartian equivalents are way closer to Kurdish (almost identical).

Regarding the frequency of the Kassite names in the toponymy of Kurdistan, it is known that Kassite personal names, although used throughout ancient Kurdistan, from southernmost regions to the northernmost regions; but in a very low scale, not at all comparable to the huge amount of Hurro-Urartian ones.
Returning to historical evidence, the Kassites had to a large extent assimilated into the culture of their Bybylonian subjects; moreover, after the defeat of their empire the Kassite people had reduced to a small local kingdom to the south of Zamua and west of Ellipi. Later they are recorded as Cissians, along with the Elymaeans, as nomadic tribes of south-easternmost regions of ancient Kurdistam.


To sum up, the Kassite language's contribution to the formation of the Kurdish language, -at least at present, due to lack of  sufficient knowledge on Kassite- seems to be minimal.