"Turtanu" or "Turtan" (Akkadian: 𒌉𒋫𒉡 tur-ta-nu; Hebrew: תַּרְתָּן tartān; Greek: Θαρθαν; Latin: Tharthan; Syriac: ܬܵܪܬܵܢ tartan) 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.