was an ancient city southwest of Kirkuk in modern Iraq , located near the Tigris river. It was founded by the Hurrians around 1500 BC . From about 1500 to 1350 BC Nuzi was located on the outskirts of the Kingdom Of Mitannia , a major power in northern Mesopotamia , before being absorbed into the Assyrian Empire . Excavations in the 1920s unearthed Nuzi and, crucially, its archives of thousands of clay tablets inscribed with Akkadian Cuneiform Script . These provided invaluable insights into the legal, commercial and military activities of the city. They also shed light on the culture of the ancient Near East , including early versions of the stories of the Biblical characters Laban and Jacob .
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