Amorite nomads from the west establish themselves as local dynasts who initially form petty competing kingdoms throughout the region. Shamshi-Adad (ca. 1830–1776 B.C.) unites much of northern Mesopotamia, from Ashur on the Tigris to Mari on the Euphrates. His death allows Hammurabi (ca. 1792–1750 B.C.), king of Babylon, to expand his control of the south and unify much of Mesopotamia. The empire declines under succeeding kings and is brought to an end in a raid by the Hittites from Anatolia circa 1595 B.C. The Hurrians, who establish a state called Mitanni, dominate northern Mesopotamia, while in the south, the Kassites come to control Babylonia. By the mid-fourteenth century B.C., the emerging powers of the Hittites in Anatolia and the Assyrians in northern Mesopotamia bring an end to Mitanni’s power. The Assyrians briefly expand their control over Babylonia and Syria. Toward the end of the period, a number of sites are violently destroyed. The Hittite empire and numerous city-states in Syria and the Levant collapse, while Mesopotamia suffers a decline.