Old Assyrian Empire

Old Assyrian Empire
←
c. 2025 BCE–c. 1393 BCE →
 
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Map of the Ancient Near East c. 1390s BCE, showing the extent of the Old Assyrian Empire (in olive green) during its transition into the Middle Assyrian Empire.
Capital Aššur 2025 BCE
Shubat-Enlil 1807 BCE
Aššur 1774 BCE
Languages Sumerian language, Akkadian language
Religion Ancient Mesopotamian religion
Government Monarchy
King
 •  c. 2025 BCE Erishum I (first)
 • c. 1393 BCE Ashur-nadin-ahhe II (last)
Historical era Bronze Age
 •  Established c. 2025 BCE
 •  Disestablished c. 1393 BCE
Today part of  Iraq

The Old Assyrian Empire is one of three periods in which the history of Assyria is divided, the other two being: the Middle Assyrian Empire and the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Assyria was a major Mesopotamian Afro-Asiatic-speaking kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East. Centered on the Tigris-Euphrates River System in Upper Mesopotamia, the Assyrian people came to rule powerful empires at several times. Making up a substantial part of the "Cradle of Civilization", which included Sumer, the Akkadian Empire, and Babylonia, Assyria was at the height of technological, scientific and cultural achievements at its peak. At its peak, the Assyrian empire ruled over the what the ancient Mesopotamian religion referred to as the "Four Corners of the World": as far north as the Caucasus Mountains within the lands of what is today called the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as far east as the Zagros Mountains within the territory of present-day Islamic Republic of Iran, as far south as the Arabian Desert of today's Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as far west as the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, and even further to the west in Egypt and eastern Lybia.[1]

Assyria is named for its original capital, the ancient city of Aššur, which dates to c. 2600 BC, originally one of a number of Akkadian city states in Mesopotamia. Assyria was also sometimes known as Subartu and Azuhinum prior to the rise of the city-state of Aššūr, after which it was Aššūrāyu, and after its fall. "Assyria" can also refer to the geographic region or heartland where Assyria, its empires and the Assyrian people were (and still are) centered. The modern Eastern Aramaic-speaking Christian ethnic minority in northern Iraq, north east Syria, southeast Turkey and northwest Iran are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians (see Assyrian continuity).

In the Old Assyrian Empire, Assyria established colonies in Asia Minor and the Levant and, under king Ilushuma, it asserted itself over southern Mesopotamia (what was later to become Babylonia). The first written inscriptions by urbanized Assyrian kings appear c. 2450 BCE, after they had shrugged off Sumerian domination. The land of Assyria as a whole then consisted of a number of city-states and small Semitic kingdoms, some of which were initially independent of Assyria. The foundation of the first major temple in the city of Aššur was traditionally ascribed to king Ushpia who reigned c. 2050 BCE, possibly a contemporary of Ishbi-Erra of Isin and Naplanum of Larsa. He was reputedly succeeded by kings named Apiashal, Sulili, Kikkiya and Akiya (died c. 2026 BCE), of whom little is known, apart from much later mentions of Kikkiya conducting fortifications on the city walls, and building work on temples in Aššur.

Between c. 2500 BCE and c. 2400 BCE, Assyrian kings were pastoral leaders. The main rivals, neighbors or trading partners to early Assyrian kings between c. 2200 BCE and c. 2000 BCE would have been the Hattians and Hurrians to the north in Asia Minor, the Gutians, Lullubi and Turukku to the east in the Zagros Mountains of northwest Ancient Iran, the Elamites to the southeast in what is now south central Iran, the Amorites to the west in what is today Syria, and their fellow Sumero-Akkadian city-states of southern Mesopotamia such as Isin, Kish, Ur, Eshnunna and Larsa.[2] Around 2400 BCE, the Assyrians became subject to Sargon of Akkad, who united all the Sumero-Akkadian-speaking peoples of Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire, which lasted from c. 2334 BCE to c. 2154 BCE.[3] Assyria became a regionally powerful nation in the Old Assyrian Empire from c. 2100 BCE to c. 1800 BCE. The Amorites had overrun the kingdoms of southern Mesopotamia and the Levant between c. 2100 BCE and c. 1900 BCE, but had hitherto been successfully repelled by the Assyrian kings during this period. However, Erishum II (c. 1818 BCE – c. 1809 BCE) was to be the last king of the dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, founded c. 2025 BCE. In c. 1808 BCE he was deposed and the throne of Assyria was usurped by Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1809 BCE – 1776 BCE) in the expansion of Amorite tribes from the Khabur River delta in the north eastern Levant.

About 1800 BCE, Assyria came into conflict with the newly created city state of Babylon, which eventually eclipsed the far older Sumero-Akkadian states and cities in the south; such as Ur, Isin, Larsa, Kish, Nippur, Eridu, Lagash, Umma, Uruk, Akshak and Adab, incorporating them into a greater Babylonia. Assyria remained untroubled by the emergence of the Hittite Empire and Kingdom of Mitanni, both to the north of Assyria, and by the Kassites who had seized Babylonian from its Amorite founders. After securing its borders on all sides, Assyria entered into a quiet and peaceful period in its history which lasted for two and a half centuries. The emergence of the Mitanni Empire in c. 1600 BCE did eventually lead to a short period of sporadic Mitannian-Hurrian domination in c. 1500 BCE. The Indo-European language-speaking Mitannians are thought to have conquered and formed the ruling class over the indigenous Hurrians of eastern Anatolia. The Hurrians spoke a language isolate, i.e. neither Semitic nor Indo-European.

History, c. 2025 BCE — c. 1393 BCE

Dynasty of Puzur-Aššur I, c. 2025 BCE — c. 1809 BCE

In c. 2025 BCE, Puzur-Ashur I (perhaps a contemporary of Shu-ilishu of Larsa and Samium of Isin) is speculated to have overthrown Kikkiya and founded a new dynasty which was to survive for 216 years. His descendants left inscriptions mentioning him regarding the building of temples to gods such as Ashur, Adad and Ishtar in Assyria. The length of his reign is unknown.

Shalim-ahum (died c. 2009 BCE) succeeded the throne at a currently unknown date. He left inscriptions in archaic Old Assyrian regarding the construction of a temple dedicated to the god Ashur, and the placement of beer vats within it.

Ilushuma[4] (c. 2008–1975 BCE) took the throne in c. 2008 BCE, and is known from his inscription (extant in several copies) where he claims to have "washed the copper" and "established liberty" for the Akkadians in Sumerian city-states as far as the Persian Gulf. This has been taken by some scholars to imply that he made military campaigns into Southern Mesopotamia to relieve his fellow Mesopotamians from Amorite and Elamite invasions, however some recent scholars have taken the view that the inscription means he supplied these areas with copper from Hatti, and that the word used for "liberty" (adduraru) is usually in the context of his exempting the southern Mesopotamian kings from tariffs.

"The freedom[nb 1] of the Akkadians and their children I established. I purified their copper. I established their freedom from the border of the marshes and Ur and Nippur, Awal, and Kish, Der of the goddess Ishtar, as far as the City of (Ashur)."[5]

Assyria had long held extensive contact with Hattian, Hittite and Hurrian cities on the Anatolian plateau in Asia Minor. The Assyrians who had for centuries traded in the region, and possibly ruled small areas bordering Assyria, now established significant colonies in Cappadocia (e.g., at Kanesh (modern Kültepe) from 2008 BCE to 1740 BCE). These colonies, called karum, from the Akkadian word for 'port', were attached to Hattian cities in Anatolia, but physically separate, and had special tax status. They must have arisen from a long tradition of trade between Assyria and the Anatolian cities, but no archaeological or written records show this. The trade consisted of metals (copper or tin and perhaps iron; the terminology is not entirely clear) being traded for textiles from Assyria.

Erishum I[6] (c. 1974–1935 BCE) vigorously expanded Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor during his long reign, the major ones appearing to be at Kanesh, Ḫattuša (Boğazköy) (the future capital of the Hittite Empire) and Amkuwa (Alisar Höyük), together with a further eighteen smaller colonies. He created some of the earliest examples of Written Law, conducted extensive building work in the form of fortifying the walls of major Assyrian cities and the erection of temples dedicated to Ashur and Ishtar. It is from his reign that the continuous limmum lists are known, however there are references to the eponym-books for his predecessors having been destroyed at some point.

Ikunum (c. 1934–1921 BCE)[7] built a major temple for the god Ningal. He further strengthened the fortifications of the city of Assur and maintained Assyria's colonies in Asia Minor.

Sargon I (c. 1920–1881 BCE)[8] succeeded him in c. 1920 BCE, and had an unusually long reign of 39 years. It is likely he was named after his illustrious predecessor Sargon of Akkad. He is known to have refortified the defenses of major Assyrian cities, and maintained Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor during his reign. Apart from this, little has yet been unearthed about him. At some point he appears to have withdrawn Assyrian aid to southern Mesopotamia. It was during his reign in Assyria that the initially minor city-state of Babylon was founded in 1894 BCE by an Amorite Malka (prince) named Sumuabum.

Puzur-Ashur II (c. 1881–1873 BCE) came to the throne as an already older man due to his fathers long reign. Little is known about his rule, but it appears to have been uneventful.

Naram-Suen (c. 1872–1818 BCE) ascended to the throne in 1872 BCE, and is likely named after his predecessor Naram-Sin of the Akkadian Empire. Assyria continued to be wealthy during his 54-year-long reign (one of the longest in the ancient Near East), and he defeated the future usurper king Shamshi-Adad I who attempted to take his throne.

Erishum II (c. 1818–1809 BCE) was to be the last king of the dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, founded c. 2025 BCE. After only eight or nine years in power he was overthrown by Shamshi-Adad I, the Amorite usurper who had previously been defeated in an attempt to unseat Naram-Suen, and who claimed legitimacy by asserting descent from the mid 21st century BCE Assyrian king, Ushpia.

Reign of Puzur-Aššur I, c. 2025 BCE

Main article: Puzur-Ashur I

Puzur-Aššur I was an Assyrian king who ruled around 2025 BCE.

He is known only from his place in the Assyrian king list and from references in the inscriptions of later kings (his son and successor Shalim-ahum and the much later Ashur-rim-nisheshu and Shalmaneser III).[5] These later kings mentioned him among the kings who had renewed the city walls begun by Kikkia.[9]

Puzur Ashur may have started a native Assyrian dynasty that endured for eight generations until Erishum II was overthrown by the Amorite Shamshi-Adad I. His clearly Assyrian name (meaning "servant of Ashur") distinguishes him from his three immediate predecessors on the Assyrian Kinglist, who possibly bore non-Semitic names,[10] and from the earlier, Amorite-named "Kings who are ancestors" (also translatable as "Kings whose fathers are known"), often interpreted as a list of Shamshi-Adad's ancestors.[11] Hildegard Levy, writing in the Cambridge Ancient History, rejects this interpretation and sees Puzzur-Ashur as part of a longer dynasty started by one of his predecessors, Sulili.[9] Inscriptions link Puzur Ashur to his immediate successors,[12] who, according to the Kinglist, are related to the following kings down to Erishum II.

The Assyrian Kinglist omits Zariqum, who is known from inscriptions to have been governor (ensi) of Assur for the Third Dynasty of Ur under Amar-Sin; this Zariqum (whose name is Semitic) is sometimes placed by scholars immediately before Puzur-Asshur, and following Akiya.

Puzur-ashur's successors bore the title išši’ak aššur, vice regent of Assur, as well as ensi.[13]

Reign of Šalim-ahum, c. 2025 BCE — c. 1945 BCE

Main article: Shalim-ahum

Šalim-ahum was a ruler of the city state of Assur around 2025 BCE.[14]

He is the earliest independent ruler to be attested in a contemporary inscription.[14] The Assyrian Kinglist records his name as Šallim-aḫḫe, inscribed šal-lim-PAB-MEŠ, meaning "keep the brothers safe", and he appears amongst the six kings "whose eponyms are not found",[15] meaning that the length of his reign was unknown. He reigned near the beginning of the 2nd Millennium BCE.

He was described as the son of Puzur-Ashur I (dumu Puzu Assur) in his only known inscription.[12] Carved in curious archaic character mirror-writing in old Assyrian on an alabaster block found during the German excavations at Assur under Walter Andrae, this sole exemplar of his contemporary inscriptions records that the god Ashur "requested of him" the construction of a temple and that he had "beer vats and storage area" built in the "temple area." [5]:6–7

He ruled during a period when nascent Assyrian merchant companies were branching out into Anatolia to trade textiles and tin from Assur for silver.[14] He was succeeded by his son, Ilu-šūma, as recorded in his brick and limestone inscriptions[5]:7–8 and he appears in the genealogy of his grandson, Erišum I.[16]:12,15 His name appears in an inscription of Adad-nārārī I and one of Šulmanu-ašaredu I but only in the context of references to his son, Ilu-šūma.[16]:68,91

Shalim-ahum and his successors bore the title išši’ak aššur, vice regent of Assur, as well as ensi.[13]

Reign of Ilu-šūma, c. 1945 BCE — c. 1906 BCE

Main article: Ilu-shuma

Ilu-šūma, inscribed DINGIR-šum-ma,[i 1] son of Šalim-ahum[16] was the 32nd king of Assyria, c. 1945 BCE. The length of his reign is uncertain, as the Assyrian King List records him as one of the "six kings [whose names were written on (?)] bricks, (but) whose eponyms are not known (?),"[17] referring to the lists of officials after which years were named. His son, Erišum, is identified as the king who succeeded him and reigned for 30 years, (or 40, depending on the copy of the King List),[nb 2] followed by Ilu-shuma's other son, Ikunum.

Biography

He titled himself "vice-regent of Aššur, beloved of the god Aššur and the goddess Ištar." The Synchronistic King List[i 2] records "Eighty-two kings of Assyria from Erišum I, son of Ilu-šūma, to Aššurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon" in the concluding colophon.

The Chronicle of early kings records his contemporary as Su-abu, who was once identified with the founder of the 1st Dynasty of Babylon, Sumu-abum, ca. 1830 BCE.[i 3] The word "battles"[nb 3] is discernible on the subsequent, fragmentary line of the Chronicle and this has led some historians to believe Ilu-šūma may have engaged in conflict with his southerly neighbor.

A brick inscription of Ilu-šūma describes his relations with the south and reads The freedom[nb 4] of the Akkadians and their children I established. I purified their copper. I established their freedom from the border of the marshes and Ur and Nippur, Awal, and Kismar, Der of the god Ištaran, as far as the City (Aššur).[16] The historian M. Trolle Larsen has suggested that this represented an attempt to lure traders from the south of Assur with tax privileges and exemptions, to monopolize the exchange of copper from the gulf for tin from the east.[18] The cities cited therefore are the three major caravan routes the commodities would have traveled rather than campaign routes for the king.[19]

His construction activities included building the old temple of Ištar, a city wall, subdivision of the city into house plots and diversion of the flow of two springs to the city gates, "Aushum" and "Wertum".[16] Tukultī-Ninurta I recorded that he preceded him by 720 years, on his own inscriptions commemorating his construction of an adjacent Ištar temple.[17] From this it might be deduced that, despite later being among the "kings whose year names are not known", the reign length of Ilu-shuma was still known in the time of Tukulti-Ninurta I to be 21 years.[20]

Larsen has suggested that he may have been a contemporary of Iddin Dagān and Išme-Dagān of Isin, which would clash with the synchronization with Sumu-abum,[17] but make more sense given the current chronology favored.

Reign of Erišum I, c. 1905 BCE — c. 1867 BCE

Main article: Erishum I

Erišum I (inscribed me-ri-šu, or mAPIN-ìš in later texts but always with an initial i in his own seal, inscriptions, and those of his immediate successors,[21]:40 "he has desired,"[22]) son of Ilu-šuma, was the ruler of Assyria ca. 1905-1867 BCE (short chronology) or 1974–1935 BCE (middle chronology),[nb 5] the 33rd to appear on the Assyrian kinglist and reigned for 40 years.[i 4] He titled himself: "Aššur is king, Erišum is vice-regent"[nb 6] and Išši’ak Aššurki, "governor of Assyria," at a time when the small city state seems to have been controlled by an oligarchy of the patriarchs of the prominent families and subject to the "judgment of the city," or dīn alim. The most significant event of his reign was the establishment of distant trading posts, kārum, in central Anatolia, the best known being that located at Kültepe, ancient Kaneš, as the city’s merchant family firms vigorously pursued commercial expansion.

Biography

One of two copies of the Assyrian Kinglist[i 5] which include him gives his reign length as only 30 years,[23] but this contrasts with a complete list of his eponyms, some 40, which are extant from tablets[i 6] recovered at Kültepe.[21]:3–5 These were discovered in 1948 with three other similar though fragmentary lists and two copies of an inscription of Erišum detailing the regulations concerning the administration of justice in Aššur, including the possibility of bona fide plaintiffs to obtain an attorney (rābiṣum) to represent them:

The one who talks too much in the Step Gate, the demon of ruins will seize his mouth and his hindquarters; he will smash his head like a shattered pot; he will fall like a broken reed and water will flow from his mouth. The one who talks too much in the Step Gate, his house will become a house of ruin. He who rises to give false testimony, may the [Seven] Judges who decide legal cases in [the Step Gate, give a false] decision [against him]; [may Aššur], Adad, and Bel, [my god, pluck his seed]; a place […] may they not give to him.

[The one who…] … obeys me, [when he goes] to the Step Gate, [may] the palace deputy [assist him]; [may he send] the witnesses and plaintiff (to the court); [may] the judges [take the bench] and give a proper decision [in Ašš]ur.[5]

According to Veenhof, Erišum’s reign marks the period when the institution of the annually appointed limmum, or eponym, was introduced. The Assyrian Kinglist observes of his immediate predecessors, "in all six kings [known from] bricks, whose eponyms have not been marked/found."[24] Following the example set by his father, he proclaimed tax exemptions, or as Michael Hudson has interpreted: "I proclaimed a remission of debts payable in silver, gold, copper, tin, barley, wool, down to chaff." This appears in an inscription on one side of a large broken block of alabaster,[i 7] apparently described as a ṭuppu. The shallow depression on its top has led some to identify it as a door socket.[25]

It was during his reign that kārums were established along trade routes into Anatolia in the lower city of Kaneš (Kültepe), and others were to follow in Amkuwa (Alisar Höyük), Ḫattuša (Boğazköy) and eighteen other locations yet to be identified, some designated warbatums, satellites of and subordinate to the kārums. Around 23,000 tablets have been found at Kaneš spanning a period of 129 years from the 30th year of Erišum’s reign through to that of Puzur-Aššur II or possibly Narām-Sîn with the earliest from level II including copies of his inscriptions. The markets traded tin (inscribed AN.NA, Akkadian: annukum), textiles, lapis lazuli, iron, antimony, copper, bronze, wool, and grain for gold and silver.

His numerous contemporary inscriptions commemorate his building of the temple for Aššur, called "Wild Bull," with its courtyard (cattle pen?) and two beer vats and the accompanying curses to those who would use them for their intended purposes. His efforts were recalled by the later kings Šamši-Adad I, in his rebuilding dedication,[16]:20 and Šulmanu-ašared I, who noted that 159 years had passed between Erišum’s work and that of Šamši-Adad, and a further 580 years until his own when a fire had gutted it.[16]:84–85 He had exercised eminent domain to clear an area from the Sheep Gate to the People’s Gate to make way for an enlargement of the city wall, so that he could boast that "I made a wall higher than the wall my father had constructed."[16]:11 Erišum’s other civic constructions included the temple of Ištar and that of Adad.

Limmu officials by year

The annual eponym officials from the first full year of his reign until the year of his death are given with the middle chronology year.[21]:6–10

1974 Šu-Ištar, son of Abila
1973 Šukutum, son of Išuhum
1972 Iddin-ilum, son of Kurub-Ištar
1971 Šu-Anim, son of Isalia
1970 Anah-ili, son of Kiki
1969 Suitaya, son of Ir'ibum
1968 Daya, son of Išuhum
1967 Ili-ellat
1966 Šamaš-t.ab
1965 Agusa
1964 Idnaya, son of Šudaya
1963 Quqadum, son of Buzu
1962 Puzur-Ištar, son of Bedaki
1961 Laqip, son of Bab-idi
1960 Šu-Laban, son of Kurub-Ištar
1959 Šu-Belum, son of Išuhum
1958 Nab-Suen, son of Šu-Ištar
1957 Hadaya, son of Elali
1956 Ennum-Aššur, son of Begaya
1955 Ikunum, son of Šudaya
1954 Is.mid-ili, son of Idida
1953 Buzutaya, son of Išuhum
1952 Šu-Ištar, son of Amaya
1951 Iddin-Aššur, son of the priest
1950 Puzur-Aššur, the ghee maker
1949 Quqadum, son of Buzu
1948 Ibni-Adad, son of Susaya
1947 Irišum, son of Adad-rabi
1946 Minanum, son of Begaya
1945 Iddin-Suen, son of Šalim-ahum
1944 Puzur-Aššur, son of Idnaya
1943 Šuli, son of Uphakum
1942 Laqip, son of Zukua
1941 Puzur-Ištar, son of Erisua
1940 Aguwa, son of Adad-rabi
1939 Šu-Suen, son of S.illia
1938 Ennum-Aššur, son of Begaya
1937 Enna-Suen, son of Pussanum
1936 Ennanum, son of Uphakum
1935 Buzi, son of Adad-rabi

Reign of Ikunum, c. 1867 BCE — c. 1860 BCE

Ikunum was a king of Assyria between 1867 BCE to 1860 BCE and the son of Ilushuma.

Reign

He built a temple for the god Ninkigal.[26] strengthened the fortifications of the city of Assur and maintained commercial colonies in Asia Minor.[27]

Limmu officials by year

These are the 15 annual limmu officials from the year of accession of Ikunum to his death.[28] BCE dates are based on a date of 1833 BCE for the recorded solar eclipse in the limmu of Puzur-Ištar.[29]

1920 Buzi son of Adad-rabi
1919 Šuli son of Šalmah
1918 Iddin-Suen son of Šalmah
1917 Ikunum son of Šudaya
1916 Dan-Wer son of Ahu-ahi
1915 Šu-Anum from Nerabtim
1914 Il-massu son of Aššur-ṭab
1913 Šu-Hubur son of Šuli
1912 Idua son of Ṣulili
1911 Laqip son of Puzur-Laba
1910 Šu-Anum the hapirum
1909 Uku son of Bila
1908 Aššur-malik son of Panaka
1907 Dan-Aššur son of Puzur-Wer
1906 Šu-Kubum son of Ahu-ahi
1905 Irišum son of Iddin-Aššur

Reign of Sargon I, c. 1860 BCE — c. 1821 BCE

Main article: Sargon I

Sargon I or Sharru-ken reigned as king of the old-Assyrian Kingdom from ca. 1920 BCE to 1881 BCE. The name 'Sargon' means 'the king is legitimate' in Akkadian.[30] He is known for his work refortifying Assur.[31] The name "Sargon I" has also been used to refer to Sargon of Akkad, and the Assyrian Sargon may have been named after him.[32] Very little is known about this king.[32]

Limmu officials by year

Annual limmu officials from the year of accession of Šarru-kin to his death.[33] BCE dates depend on a date of 1833 BCE for the recorded solar eclipse in the limmu of Puzur-Ištar.[34]

1905 Irišum son of Iddin-Aššur
1904 Aššur-malik son of Agatum
1903 Aššur-malik son of Enania
1902 Ibisua son of Suen-nada
1901 Bazia son of Bal-Tutu
1900 Puzur-Ištar son of Sabasia
1899 Pišaḫ-Ili son of Adin
1898 Asqudum son of Lapiqum
1897 Ili-pilaḫ son of Damqum
1896 Qulali
1895 Susaya
1894 Amaya the Weaponer
1893 Ipḫurum son of Ili-ellat
1892 Kudanum son of Laqipum
1891 Ili-bani son of Ikunum
1890 Šu-Kubum son of Susaya
1889 Quqidi son of Amur-Aššur
1888 Abia son of Nur-Suen
1887 Šu-Ištar son of Šukutum
1886 Bazia son of Šepa-lim
1885 Šu-Ištar son of Ikunum, the starlike (kakkabanum)
1884 Abia son of Šu-Dagan
1883 Salia son of Šabakuranum
1882 Ibni-Adad son of Baqqunum
1881 Aḫmarši son of Malkum-išar
1880 Sukkalia son of Minanum
1879 Iddin-Aššur son of Kubidi
1878 Šudaya son of Ennanum
1877 Al-ṭab son of Pilaḫ-Aššur
1876 Aššur-dammiq son of Abarsisum
1875 Puzur-Niraḫ son of Puzur-Suen
1874 Amur-Aššur son of Karria
1873 Buzuzu son of Ibbi-Suen
1872 Šu-Ḫubur son of Elali
1871 Ilšu-rabi son of Bazia
1870 Alaḫum son of Inaḫ-ili
1869 Ṭab-Aššur son of Suḫarum
1868 Elali son of Ikunum
1867 Iddin-abum son of Narbitum
1866 Adad-bani son of Iddin-Aššur
1865 Aššur-iddin son of Šuli

Reign of Puzur-Aššur II, c. 1860 BCE — c. 1821 BCE

Main article: Puzur-Ashur II

Puzur-Aššur II was King of Assyria for 8 years between 1865 BCE to 1857 BCE. He was the son and successor of Šarru-kin I (Sargon I). Due to his father's long reign he came to the throne at a late age since one of his sons, named Ili-bani, was a witness in a contract (and so already a grown man) eleven years before Puzur-Aššur became ruler. He was succeeded by his son Naram-Suen.

Limmu officials by year

Annual limmu officials from the accession of Puzur-Aššur, the waklum (overseer), in the limum of Aššur-iddin son of Šuli to his death in the limum of Inaya son of Amuraya.[35] BCE dates are based on a date of 1833 BCE for the recorded solar eclipse in the limum of Puzur-Ištar.[29]

1865 Aššur-iddin son of Šuli
1864 Aššur-nada son of Puzur-Ana
1863 Kubia son of Karria
1862 Ili-dan son of Elali
1861 Ṣilulu son of Uku
1860 Aššur-nada son of Ili-binanni
1859 Ikuppi-Ištar son of Ikua
1858 Buzutaya son of Šuli
1857 Innaya son of Amuraya

Reign of Narām-Sîn, c. 1821 BCE — c. 1813 BCE

Main article: Narām-Sîn

Narām-Sîn, inscribed in cuneiform on contemporary seal impressions as dna-ra-am-dEN.ZU, was the en5.si or waklum of Aššur (da-šùr), listed as the 37th king of Assyria on the later Assyrian king lists, where he is inscribed mna-ram-dEN.ZU,[i 8][i 9][i 10] or a fragmentary list where he appears as -d30.[i 11] The length of his reign is uncertain, but based on various excavated eponym lists, the lists of officials after whom the Assyrians named their years, his reign and that of his son and successor Erišum II had a combined length of 64 years.[21]:29 As his successor’s rule was prematurely ended by the conquest of Šamši-Adad I, it is likely that his reign was the greater part of the period and the broken figure on the Nassouhi king list ends 4, so perhaps he reigned 44 or 54 years.(ca. 1872 onward, middle chronology).[36]:45 Despite this, there are no extant monumental inscriptions recording his activities.[37] He was son and successor of the short-reigning Puzur-Aššur II, filiation preserved in his seal impression on the envelopes of the waklum-letters to his expat Anatolian-based traders at Kaneš as well as the later king lists.

Biography

He was named for the illustrious Narām-Sîn of Akkad and, like his grandfather, Šarru-kīn I, took the divine determinative in his name. He should not be confused with the Narām-Sîn who ruled Eshnunna for around twelve years, the successor and son, as identified on an inscription, of the long-reigning Ebiq-Adad II.[38] It is probable that he was himself, however, contemporaneous with the earlier part of Ebiq-Adad II’s reign, whose last attestation was in the Mari Chronicle (MEC B line 25) some fifty-six years after Narām-Sîn’s inauguration.[36]:46

The city-state of Aššur which he had inherited would have been fairly wealthy as the hub of the trading network at the height of its Old Assyrian activity and, despite the destruction of the trading post at Kaneš partway through his reign, commerce apparently continued elsewhere.[36]:46

The Assyrian king list records that Šamši-Adad I "went away to Babylonia in the time of Narām-Sîn". He was not to return until taking Ekallatum, pausing three years and then overthrowing Erišum II, Narām-Sîn’s son and successor.[39]

List of eponyms

The last twenty-seven eponyms listed on the extant Kültepe Eponym Lists (KEL) represent his first years, ending nearly a decade before the ancient trading colony at Kaneš was destroyed (ca. 1837, the II layer), during his thirty-fifth year.[21]:29 The Mari Eponym Chronicle (MEC B), which resumes the listing until the seizure of Ekallatum by Šamši-Adad I, provides no clue as to when the succession of Narām-Sîn by his son took place. Also, a gap of up to four years is apparent between the end of the KEL and the beginning of MEC B.[36]:5 The dating is per middle chronology:

1872 BCE Šu-Suen, son of Bab-ilum
1871 BCE Aššur-malik, son of Alahum
1870 BCE Aššur-imitti, son of Ili-bani
1869 BCE Enna-Suen, son of Šu-Aššur
1868 BCE Akkutum, son of Alahum
1867 BCE Mas.i-ili, son of Irišum
1866 BCE Iddi-ahum, son of Kudanum
1865 BCE Samaya, son of Šu-Balum
1864 BCE Ili-Anum, son of Sukkalia
1863 BCE Ennam-Anum, son of Aššur-malik
1862 BCE Ennum-Aššur, son of Duni-Ea
1861 BCE Enna-Suen, son of Šu-Ištar
1860 BCE Hannanarum
1859 BCE Dadia
1858 BCE Kapatia
1857 BCE Išma-Aššur, son of Ea-dan
1856 BCE Aššur-mutappil, son of Azizum
1855 BCE Šu-Nirah, son of Azuzaya
1854 BCE Iddin-abum
1853 BCE Ili-dan, son of Azuza
1852 BCE Aššur-imitti, son of Iddin-Ištar
1851 BCE Buzia, son of Abia
1850 BCE Dadia, son of Šu-Ilabrat
1849 BCE Puzur-Ištar, son of Nur-ilišu
1848 BCE Isaya, son of Dagan-malkum
1847 BCE Abu-Šalim, son of Ili-Anum
1846 BCE Aššur-re'i, son of Ili-emuqi

Reign of Erišum II, c. 1813 BCE — c. 1807 BCE

Main article: Erishum II

Erišum II was the King of Assyria from 1813 BCE to 1807 BCE. After reigning only for 6 years, he was overthrown by Shamshi-Adad I.

Amorite Period in Assyria, c. 1809 BCE — c. 1750 BCE

The Amorites were successfully repelled by the Assyrian kings of the 20th and 19th centuries BCE. However, in 1809 BCE the native Mesopotamian king of Assyria Erishum II was deposed, and the throne of Assyria was usurped by Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1809 – 1776 BCE) in the expansion of Semitic Amorite tribes from the Khabur River delta in the north eastern Levant.

Although regarded as an Amorite by later Assyrian tradition, Shamshi-Adad's descent is suggested to be from the same line as the native Mesopotamian ruler Ushpia in the Assyrian King List. He put his son Ishme-Dagan on the throne of a nearby Assyrian city, Ekallatum, and maintained Assyria's Anatolian colonies. Shamshi-Adad I then went on to conquer the kingdom of Mari (in modern Syria) on the Euphrates putting another of his sons, Yasmah-Adad on the throne there. Shamshi-Adad's Assyria now encompassed the whole of northern Mesopotamia and included territory in central Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and northern Syria. Shamshi-Adad I mentions conducting raids on the Canaanite coasts of the far off Mediterranean, where he erected stelae to commemorate his victories. He himself resided in a new capital city founded in the Khabur valley in northern Mesopotamia, called Shubat-Enlil.

Ishme-Dagan I (1774–1763 BCE) inherited Assyria, but Yasmah-Adad was overthrown by a new king called Zimrilim in Mari. The new king of Mari allied himself with the Amorite king Hammurabi of Babylon, who had made the recently created, and originally minor state of Babylon into a major power. It was from the reign of Hammurabi onwards that southern Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia.

Assyria now faced the rising power of Babylon in the south. Ishme-Dagan responded by making an alliance with the enemies of Babylon, and the power struggle continued without resolution for decades. Ishme-Dagan, like his father was a great warrior, and in addition to repelling Babylonian attacks, campaigned successfully against the Turukku and Lullubi of the Zagros Mountains (in modern Iran) who had attacked the Assyrian city of Ekallatum, and against Dadusha, king of Eshnunna, and the state of Iamhad (modern Aleppo).

Reign of Shamshi-Adad I, c. 1807 BCE — c. 1774 BCE

Main article: Shamshi-Adad I

Shamshi-Adad I, (Akkadian) or Shamshi-Addu (Amorite) was an Amorite ancient Near East king of Assyria and other regions in Upper Mesopotamia. He rose to prominence when he carved out an empire encompassing much of Mesopotamia, Syria and Asia Minor often referred to as the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia. During his reign, the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia competed for power with Yahdun-Lim of Mari as well as the kingdom of Eshnunna in lower Mesopotamia.[40] After his death, the empire was soon defeated by Hammurabi of Babylon, coming briefly under the control of the First Babylonian Dynasty throughout this period. He was incorporated into the traditional king lists of Assyria and earlier archaeologists assumed he was indeed Assyrian.

Rise to power

His father Ila-kabkabu ruled in Terqa, a city on the borders of Mari in northern Syria. He was an Amorite king. Around 1833 Shamshi-Adad I inherited the throne in Terqa. After ten years of rule he was forced to flee to Babylon while Naram-Sin of Eshnunna attacked Ekallatum. Shamshi-Adad spent seven years in exile until Naram-Sim died. In 1808 he re-emerged as king and also conquered Assur.[41]

He took over the long abandoned Akkadian Empire era town of Shekhna in north eastern Syria,[42] building it into his capital and renaming the city Shubat-Enlil. The modern name of the site is Tell Leilan.

He placed his sons in key geographical locations and gave them responsibility to look over those areas. While he remained in Shubat-Enlil, his eldest son son, Ishme-Dagan I was put on the throne of Ekallatum. The younger son Yasmah-Adad was in charge of Mari following conquest there. Shamshi-Adad I attempted to legitimize his position on the Assyrian throne by claiming descent from Ushpia, a 21st-century BCE Assyrian ruler. at ang suso ni solenn heussaff

Reign

Shamshi-Adad I ascended the throne of Assur in 1808 BCE and ruled northern Mesopotamia until his death in 1776 BCE.

A main target for expansion was the city Mari, which controlled the caravan route between Anatolia and Mesopotamia. The king of Mari, Iakhdunlim, was assassinated by his own servants, possibly on Shamshi-Adad's orders. In 1795 Shamshi-Adad seized the opportunity and occupied Mari. The heir to the throne, Zimri-Lim, was forced to flee to Aleppo, ancient Yamkhad. Shamshi-Adad put his second son, Yasmah-Adad on the throne in Mari, and then returned to Shubat-Enlil.

With the annexation of Mari, Shamshi-Adad was in control of a large empire,[43] controlling the whole of Upper Mesopotamia. On inscriptions Shamshi-Adad boasts of erecting triumphal stelae on the coast of the Mediterranean, but these probably represent short expeditions rather than any attempts at conquest. Shamshi-Adad also proclaimed himself as "king of all", the title used by Sargon of Akkad.

In 1781 BCE Dadusha, a king of the neighboring state Eshnunna, made an alliance with Shamshi-Adad in order to conquer the area between the two Zab rivers. This military campaign of joint forces was commemorated on a victory stele which states that Dadusha gives the lands to Shamshi-Adad. Shamshi-Adad later turned against Dadusha by attacking cities including Shaduppum and Nerebtum. After the death of Shamshi-Adad, Eshnunna captured cities around Assur.[44]

Naturally, Shamshi-Adad's rise to glory earned him the envy of neighbouring kings and tribes, and throughout his reign, he and his sons faced several threats to their control. While Ishme-Dagan probably was a competent ruler, his brother Yasmah-Adad appears to have been a man of weak character; something the disappointed father was not above mentioning: Are you a child, not a man, have you no beard on your chin, he writes, and in another letter While here your brother is victorious, down there you lie about among the women.

Shamshi-Adad clearly kept a firm control on the actions of his sons, as shown in his many letters to them. At one point he arranged a political marriage between Yasmah-Adad to Beltum, the princess of his ally in Qatna. Yasmah-Adad already had a leading wife and put Beltum in a secondary position of power. Shamshi-Adad did not approve and forced his son to keep Beltum in the palace in a leading position.[45] Shamshi-Adad sent a letter on a tablet to Ishi-Addu (Beltum's father, the King of Qatna) in which he discusses their alliance, the attacks of their enemies, as well as the successful marriage between their children. In it he says, I heard that you gladly dispatched my daughter-in-law on a safe way back to me, that you treated my servants when they stayed with you well, and that they were not hindered at all. My heart is very happy.[46]

Shamshi-Adad was a great organizer and he kept a firm controls on all matters of state, from high policy down to the appointing of officials and the dispatching of provisions. His campaigns were meticulously planned, and his army knew all the classic methods of siegecraft, such as encircling ramparts and battering rams. Spies and propaganda were often used to win over rival cities. He allowed conquered territories to maintain some of their earlier practices. In Assur he held the title "governor of Assur." In Ninevah he used state resources to rebuild the Ishtar temple. The city Qattara local rulers maintained authority (but became vassals) when they were incorporated into the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia. A new change which was enforced was the unification of the dating system to be the Assyrian eponym system throughout the kingdom in cities such as Mari, Tuttul, Shubat-Enlil, and Terqa.[41]

Shamshi-Adad continued to strengthen his kingdom throughout his life, but as he got older, the state was more vulnerable and the neighboring powers Yamkhad and Eshnunna both began attacking. The empire lacked cohesion and was in a vulnerable geographical position. When the news of Shamshi-Adad's death spread, his old rivals at once set out to topple his sons from the throne. Yasmah-Adad was soon expelled from Mari by Zimri-Lim, and the rest of the empire was eventually lost during the reigns of Ishme-Dagan and Mut-Ashkur to another Amorite ruler, Hammurabi of Babylon.

Inscriptions

In Assur, near the temple there, were found stone tablets with Akkadian inscriptions, formatted in three columns and a total of 135 lines, from Shamshi-Adad. In this inscription he claims to be "king of the universe," and "unifier of the land between Tigris and Euphrates." He asserts that the king of the "upper Land" paid tribute to him and that he built the temple of Enlil. Archaeology supports this claim because excavations of the temple of Ashur show that many bricks and objects inside have the inscription "Shamshi-Adad, builder of the temple of Ashur" carved into them.[47] He outlines the market prices of that time as being one shekel of silver being worth two kor of barley, 15 minas of wool, or two seahs of oil.

Reign of Ishme-Dagan I, c. 1774 BCE — c. 1734 BCE

Main article: Ishme-Dagan I

Ishme-Dagan I was the son of Shamshi-Adad I, an Amorite king of the Upper Mesopotamian Empire. Shamshi-Adad I ruled from his capital of Shubat-Enlil, and installed his elder son, Ishme-Dagan, in Ekallatum, and made the younger, Yasmah-Adad, king of Mari.[48] Ishme-Dagan ruled the area of the upper Tigris, including the city-state of Assur, until being ousted by Hammurabi of Babylon. The Assyrian king list credits Ishme-Dagan with a rule of 40 years.

Family Correspondence

A number of letters relating the familial relationships between Shamshi-Adad and his two sons have been excavated, and these letters provide a glimpse into the tensions of this family of rulers. Shamshi-Adad often praised his oldest, while chiding his youngest. Ishme-Dagan appears to have been "a forceful soldier not afraid to risk his own skin," a quality which allowed Shamshi-Adad to rely on him unhesitatingly.[49] Shamshi-Adad’s correspondence to his younger son is not as generous (see Yasmah-Adad for examples), and Ishme-Dagan appears to have picked up his father’s censure of his younger brother and contributed to it, as other letters attest; in one, Ishme-Dagan asks his brother, "Why are you setting up a wail about this thing? That is not great conduct".[49]

Other letters may reinforce the idea that Ishme-Dagan shared his father’s distaste for Yasmah-Adad’s conduct; in one letter, Ishme-Dagan bluntly commands Yasmah-Adad to "show some sense".[49] In another, Ishme-Dagan tells his brother to stop writing their father directly, and use him as an intermediary. The reasons behind this move could be political, as a way for Ishme-Dagan to gain more political standing with their father, or perhaps Ishme-Dagan was sincere in his desire to help his brother appear more competent in their father’s eyes.

In addition to letters whose authorship can be verified to Ishme-Dagan, Shamshi-Adad and Yasmah-Adad, there have been letters attributed to this family that were not written by them. One such letter caused issues in Bronze Age chronology, as it allowed historians to place dates on Hammurabi. The letter was purportedly from Ishme-Dagan, writing to his brother after their father had died, and states, "I acceded to my father’s throne, but having been very busy, I haven’t sent you my news. Now you are my brother, and aside from you I have no brother. I will make peace with any city or king that you take as a vassal. Don’t ever worry. Your throne is yours to keep".[50] This letter led historians to believe that Yasmah-Adad held the throne of Mari for a while after his father died, but this letter was proven to actually be from Ishme-Addu of Ashnakku, written to Ibal-Addu of Ashlakka, thus disproving many chronologies that had been based on the letter.[50]

Territorial Holdings

Ishme-Dagan ruled the southeastern region of Upper Mesopotamia, with the capital of his realm of influence in Ekallatum. Ishme-Dagan’s main challenge was in keeping his enemies in check; to his east were the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, inhabited by warlike pastoral peoples, and to the south was the Mesopotamian kingdom of Eshnunna. Ishme-Dagan was involved in conflicts with both enemies.

Although his father counted Ishme-Dagan as politically astute and a capable soldier, commending him as he berated Yasmah-Adad in their letters, Ishme-Dagan was not able to hold his father’s empire for long after his father died. Ishme-Dagan eventually lost most of his domain, and was reduced to holding Assur and Ekallatum, despite waging several counter offensives to try to regain the upper Khabur area.[51] Some evidence indicates that after his reduction in power, Ishme-Dagan appeared to hold tolerable relations with Babylon, Eshnunna, and Mari (despite his brother’s expulsion). Hammurabi of Babylon requested reinforcements from Ishme-Dagan at least once, and Ishme-Dagan responded, though it seems his response was grudging, and Hammurabi was not entirely pleased with the poor support. Later, it is likely that Ishme-Dagan was the king of Assur when Hammurabi vanquished her king and occupied Assyrian lands.[52]

Warfare

Although it is difficult to reconstruct much of Ishme-Dagan’s rule, there are records of a few military campaigns he was part of, both against nomadic peoples and against the southern kingdom of Eshnunna. Eshnunna was to be his chief enemy, and although records are sparse, there are some accounts of some political conflicts involving Eshnunna, and these occurred both while his father was alive, and after he died. An instance of defeat occurs in a year-name coined by Dadusha, a king of Eshnunna (ruled ca. 1780 C.E.), which commemorates a victory over an army led by Ishme-Dagan.[53] However, the year-name of the 5th year of Ibalpiel II’s reign (Dadusha’s son), indicating some reverence to Shamshi-Adad I at his passing, suggests that Eshnunna had been become subservient to the Upper Mesopotamian Empire. This idea is confirmed by a letter written by Ishme-Dagan to his brother, after Ishme-Dagan assumes their father’s throne and the rule of all of Upper Mesopotamia, in which he tells Yasmah-Adad that he "has the Elamites on a leash as well as their ally, the king of Eshnunna".[53] His confidence was overstated, however, as year-names of the 8th and 9th years of King Ibalpiel’s reign indicate Eshnunna attacked and destroyed the armies of Assur and Mari, and Ishme-Dagan’s control over his father’s entire realm slipped, as his hold was reduced to the region of Assur and Ekallatum.

Another campaign for which records exist is a campaign that Ishme-Dagan appears to have engaged in with his father when he was still alive, against the nomadic tribe called the Ya’ilanum. In 1781 C. E., Shamshi-Adad, along with his son Ishme-Dagan, embarked on a new campaign against a few other kingdoms in the area (Qabra and Nurugum) and the Ya’ilanum tribe. These expeditions betray the different attitudes of the urban peoples toward the tribal peoples, as the people of the kingdoms were treated differently than the tribal people. During the course of the campaign on Nurugum, Ishme-Dagan and his armies besieged Nineveh, and once Nineveh was conquered—according to letters excavated from the period—Ishme-Dagan allowed some prisoners to enter his army, and gave special treatment to skilled prisoners (physicians and the like). Only one letter to Yasmah-Adad indicates the use of violence against prisoners.[54]

However, the respect accorded to people of the cities was not evident in the treatment of people from pastoral tribes, who were often viewed as dangerous to society. While Shamshi-Adad ordered his younger son, Yasmah-Adad, to execute all the members of this tribe under his authority, it was the troops of Ishme-Dagan who later exterminated the entire tribe. There are two accounts of this annihilation, one from Shamshi-Adad, and one from Ishme-Dagan. Shamshi-Adad seems to have slightly reneged on his earlier bloodthirstiness toward the tribes, as his account appears to limit the killing to the leaders and the combatants of the army,[54] but in a letter from Ishme-Dagan to Yasmah-Adad, it seems the whole population was eradicated, as he states, "Mar-Addu and all the sons (of the tribe) of Ya’ilanum were killed, and all its servants and soldiers were killed, and not one enemy escaped".[55]

Assyria under Babylonian domination, c. 1750 BCE — c. 1732 BCE

Hammurabi of Babylon (ruled the Paleo-Babylonian Empire c. 1728 BCE — c. 1686 BCE) (short chronology timeline of the Near East), after first conquering Mari, Larsa, and Eshnunna, eventually prevailed over Ishme-Dagan I (ruled the Old Assyrian Empire c. 1774 BCE — c. 1734 BCE)'s replacement Mut-Ashkur (c. 1734 BCE — c. 1724 BCE), and subjected him to Babylon c. 1734 BCE. With Hammurabi, the various karum colonies in Anatolia ceased trade activity—probably because the goods of Assyria were now being traded with the Babylonians. The Assyrian monarchy survived, however the three Amorite kings succeeding Ishme-Dagan, Mut-Ashkur (who was the son of Ishme-Dagan and married to a Hurrian queen), Rimush (1739–1733 BCE) and Asinum (1732 BCE), were vassals, dependent on the Babylonians during the reign of Hammurabi, and for a short time, of his successor Samsu-iluna.

Maximum extent of the Paleo-Babylonian Empire during the reign of King Hammurabi's son, Samsu-iluna of Babylon reaching the capital city of the Old Assyrian Empire Assur and as far west as Tuttul (light green), c. 1750 BCE — c. 1712 BCE

Reign of Mut-Ashkur, c. 1734 BCE — c. 1724 BCE

Main article: Mut-Ashkur

Mut-Ashkur was the king of Assyria from 1734 BCE to 1724 BCE. He was the son and successor of Ishme-Dagan. His father arranged for him to marry the daughter of the Hurrian king Zaziya.[56]

Reign of Asinum, c. 1724 BCE

Main article: Asinum

Asinum was an Assyrian king, grandson of Shamshi-Adad I, driven out by vice-regent Puzur-Sin because he was of Amorite extraction; not included in the standard King List, but attested in Puzur-Suen's inscription.

Reign of Aššūr-dugul, c. 1724 BCE — c. 1718 BCE

Main article: Ashur-dugul

Aššūr-dugul, inscribed maš-šur-du-gul, "Look to (the god) Aššur!", was the king of Assyria probably during the 18th century BC, a period of confusion in Assyrian history. Reigning for six years, he was the 44th ruler to be listed on the Assyrian Kinglist, and was designated by the list as a usurper.[57]

Biography

He seized power in the aftermath of the overthrow of the dynasty first established by Šamši-Adad I, when native warlords jockeyed for power in the vacuum left by its demise. Šamši-Adad had been an Amorite who founded a brief, foreign dynasty apparently greatly resented by the locals judging by an alabaster slab inscription left by Puzur-Sîn, an otherwise unattested Assyrian monarch who had deposed the son of Asinum, descendant of Šamši-Adad.[58] The Assyrian Kinglist[i 12][i 13] says of Aššūr-dugul that he was a "son of a nobody, without right to the throne" meaning that he was not of royal descent and consequently unqualified to govern according to the patrilineal principle of legitimacy relied upon by later monarchs.

During his reign six other kings, "sons of nobodies also ruled at the time." This may suggest a fragmentation in the small Assyrian kingdom, with rival claims to the throne. Alternatively, Newgrosh proposes that these may actually have been his limmu’s, the officials appointed each year who gave the year its name, providing the eponym dating system, and that a later scribe may have confused them for kings.[59] The last of these, Adasi, was to go on to found the succeeding dynasty. Apart from the two copies of the kinglist, there are no other extant references to him.

He was succeeded by Bēl-bāni, the son of Adasi.

Assyrian Adaside dynasty, c. 1732 BCE — c. 1451 BCE

The short lived Babylonian Empire quickly began to unravel upon the death of Hammurabi, and Babylonia lost control over Assyria during the reign of Hammurabi's successor Samsu-iluna (1750–1712 BCE). A period of civil war ensued after Asinum (a grandson of Shamshi-Adad I and the last Amorite ruler of Assyria) was deposed in approximately 1732 BCE by a powerful native Assyrian vice regent named Puzur-Sin, who regarded Asinum as both a foreigner and a former lackey of Babylon.

A native king named Ashur-dugul seized the throne in 1732 BCE, probably with the help of Puzur-Sin. However, he was unable to retain control for long, and was soon deposed by a rival claimant, Ashur-apla-idi. Internal instability ensued with four further kings (Nasir-Sin, Sin-namir, Ipqi-Ishtar and Adad-salulu) all reigning in quick succession over a period of approximately six years between 1732 and 1727 BCE. Babylonia seems to have been too powerless to intervene or take advantage of this situation.

Finally, a king named Adasi (1726–1701 BCE) came to the fore c. 1726 BCE and managed to quell the civil unrest and stabilize the situation in Assyria. Adasi completely drove the Babylonians and Amorites from the Assyrian sphere of influence during his reign, and Babylonian power began to quickly wane in Mesopotamia as a whole, also losing the far south of Mesopotamia (an area roughly corresponding to ancient Sumer) to the native Akkadian-speaking Sealand Dynasty, although the Amorites would retain control over a much reduced and weak Babylonia itself until 1595 BCE, when they were overthrown by the Kassites, a people from the Zagros Mountains who spoke a language isolate and were neither Semites nor Indo-Europeans.

Assyrian, 1400 BCE

Adasi was succeeded by Bel-bani (1700–1691 BCE) who is credited in Assyrian annals with inflicting further defeats on the Babylonians and Amorites, and further strengthening and stabilising the kingdom.

Little is currently known of many of the kings that followed such as; Libaya (1690–1674 BCE), Sharma-Adad I (1673–1662 BCE), Iptar-Sin (1661–1650 BCE), Bazaya (1649–1622 BCE) (a contemporary of Peshgaldaramesh of the Sealand Dynasty), Lullaya (1621–1618 BCE) (who usurperped the throne from Bazaya), Shu-Ninua (1615–1602 BCE) and Sharma-Adad II (1601–1599 BCE). However, Assyria seems to have been a relatively strong and stable nation, existing undisturbed by its neighbours such as the Hattians, Hittites, Hurrians, Amorites, Babylonians, Elamites or Mitannians during this period.

Assyria remained strong and secure; when Babylon was sacked and its Amorite rulers deposed by the Hittite Empire, and subsequently fell to the Kassites in 1595 BCE, both powers were unable to make any inroads into Assyria, and there seems to have been no trouble between the first Kassite ruler of Babylon, Agum II, and Erishum III (1598–1586 BCE) of Assyria, and a mutually beneficial treaty was signed between the two rulers.

Shamshi-Adad II (1585–1580 BCE), Ishme-Dagan II (1579–1562 BCE) and Shamshi-Adad III (1562–1548 BCE) seem also to have had peaceful tenures, although few records have thus far been discovered about their reigns. Similarly, Ashur-nirari I (1547–1522 BCE) seems not to have been troubled by the newly founded Mitanni Empire in Asia Minor, the Hittite empire, or Babylon during his 25-year reign. He is known to have been an active king, improving the infrastructure, dedicating temples and conducting various building projects throughout the kingdom.

Puzur-Ashur III (1521–1498 BCE) proved to be a strong and energetic ruler. He undertook much rebuilding work in Assur, the city was refortified and the southern quarters incorporated into the main city defenses. Temples to the moon god Sin (Nanna) and the sun god Shamash were erected during his reign. He signed a treaty with Burna-Buriash I the Kassite king of Babylon, defining the borders of the two nations in the late 16th century BCE. He was succeeded by Enlil-nasir I (1497–1483 BCE) who appears to have had a peaceful and uneventful reign, as does his successor Nur-ili (1482–1471 BCE).

The son of Nur-ili, Ashur-shaduni (1470 BCE) was deposed by his uncle Ashur-rabi I (1470–1451 BCE) in his first year of rule. Little is known about his nineteen-year reign, but it appears to have been largely uneventful.

Reign of Adasi, c. 1718 BCE — c. 1699 BCE

Main article: Adasi

Adasi was an Assyrian king, the last in a line of 7 kings designated by the Assyrian King List as usurpers of the Assyrian throne, who reigned from 1718 - 1699 BC after the ejection of the Amorite ruled Babylonians from Assyria. He is credited in the Assyrian King List with stabilising Assyria and freeing it from civil war and Amorite influence.[60] The Adaside dynasty of Assyria was named after him. He was succeeded by Bel-bani.

Reign of Bel-bani, c. 1699 BCE — c. 1689 BCE

Main article: Bel-bani

Bēl-bāni, inscribed mdEN-ba-ni, "the Lord is the creator," was the king of Assyria c. 1699 BC (short chronology) and was the first ruler of what was later to be called the dynasty of the Adasides.[61] His reign marks the inauguration of a new historical phase following the turmoil of the competing claims of the seven usurpers who preceded him. He was the 48th king to appear on the Assyrian King List and reigned for ten years.[62]

Biography

He was the son of Adasi, the last of the seven monarchs who were "sons of nobody," i.e. unrelated to previous kings, and who had competed for the throne over a period of six years. He was to be revered by later monarchs, notably Esarhaddon (681 – 669 BC) but also his second and third sons Šamaš-šumu-ukin and Aššur-bāni-apli, for restoring stability and founding a dynasty which endured and where he assumed semi-mythical status as their ancestor figure.[63] Esarhaddon described himself as "a lasting offspring (liplippi dārû) of Belu-bani the son of Adasi, precious scion of Baltil (pir'i BAL.TIL sûquru)." Baltil, the "city of wisdom," was the name of the ancient precincts of the god Aššur in the innermost part of the city of Aššur.[64]

He was succeeded by Libaia, which the Assyrian King List gives as his son, although Landsberger has suggested that he was in fact his brother.[63]

Reign of Libaya, c. 1689 BCE — c. 1673 BCE

Main article: Libaya

Libaya was a king of Assyria from c. 1689 BCE — c. 1673 BCE. He succeeded Bel-bani in the Adaside Dynasty which came to the fore after the ejection of the Babylonians and Amorites from Assyria.[65]

Little is known of his reign, however Assyria appears to have been a relatively peaceful, secure and stable nation during this period.[60]

Biography

The Assyrian King List provides a sequence of five kings with short reigns purported to be father-son successions, leading Landsberger to suggest that Labaj(j)a, Šarma-Adad I and IB.TAR.Sîn may have been brothers of Bēlu-bāni rather than his descendants. It reports him as the son of Šarma-Adad I. He is omitted from the list on another fragment.[i 14][66] He is called LIK.KUD-Šamaš on the Synchronistic King List[i 15] which gives his Babylonian counterpart as mDIŠ+U-EN (reading unknown), an unidentified person inserted between the reigns of Gulkišar and his son Pešgaldarameš of the Sealand Dynasty.

He was succeeded by Bazaj(j)a, son of Bēlu-bāni.

Reign of Iptar-Sin, c. 1673 BCE — c. 1661 BCE

Main article: Iptar-Sin

IB.TAR.Sîn[nb 7] (reading uncertain), was the 51st Assyrian king according to the Assyrian King List.[i 16] He reigned for 12 years some time during the 17th century BC.

Reign of Bazaya, c. 1661 BCE — c. 1633 BCE

Main article: Bazaya

Bāzāia or Bāzāiu, inscribed mba-za-a-a and of uncertain meaning, was the ruler of Assyria rather speculatively c. 1661 BCE — c. 1633 BCE, the 52nd listed on the Assyrian King List, succeeding IB.TAR.Sîn, to whom he was supposedly a great-uncle. He reigned for twenty-eight years and has left no known inscriptions.[67]

Biography

The Assyrian king lists[i 17][i 18][i 19] give Bāzāiu’s five predecessors as father-son successors, although all reigned during a fifty-two period, stretching genealogical credibility. All three extant copies give his father as Bēl-bāni, the second in the sequence, whose reign had ended forty-one years earlier and who had been the great-grandfather of his immediate predecessor.[68] The literal reading of the list was challenged by Landsberger who suggested that the three preceding kings, Libaia, Šarma-Adad I and IB.TAR.Sîn, may have been Bēl-bāni's brothers.[69]

The Synchronistic Kinglist[i 20] gives his Babylonian counterpart as Pešgaldarameš of the Sealand Dynasty. He was succeeded by Lullaia, a usurper, whose brief reign was followed by that of Bāzāiu’s own son, ŠÚ-Ninua.[70]

Reign of Lullaya, c. 1633 BCE — c. 1627 BCE

Main article: Lullaya

Lullaya was the 53rd king of Assyria to be added to the Assyrian King List. He was a "son of a nobody," i.e. unrelated to a previously monarch, and reigned 6 years, from c. 1633 BCE — c. 1627 BCE, during a period when a rather diminished Assyria was overshadowed by its more powerful neighbor, the Mitanni.[71] Reade speculates that he may be identified with the earlier king, Aššūr-dugul, on the basis of their similar lengths of reign and lack of royal parentage.[72]

Biography

He was the last in the sequence of kings omitted from the dissident Assyrian Kinglist known as KAV 14,[i 21] which otherwise provides the only extant sequence of Šamši-Adad I’s later successors, [Mu]t-Aškur and Rīmu[š].[73] The Synchronistic Kinglist[i 22] gives his Babylonian counterpart as Ayadaragalama of the Sealand Dynasty.[74] There are no extant inscriptions from Lullaia's or his predecessor's reigns in marked contrast with their Sealand contemporaries.[71]

He was succeeded by ŠÚ- or Kidin-Ninua, the son of his predecessor, Bāzāiu, for whom he may have acted as regent until reaching his majority as there is no tradition that Lullaia was a usurper.

Assyria in decline, c. 1450 BCE — c. 1393 BCE

Maximum extent of the Mitanni Empire in the latter half of the 15th century BCE.

The emergence of the Mitanni Empire in the 16th century BCE did eventually lead to a short period of sporadic Mitannian-Hurrian domination in the latter half of the 15th century. The Indo-European-speaking Mitannians are thought to have conquered and formed the ruling class over the indigenous Hurrians of eastern Anatolia. The Hurrians spoke a language isolate, i.e. neither Semitic nor Indo-European.

Ashur-nadin-ahhe I (1450–1431 BCE) was courted by the Egyptians, who were rivals of Mitanni, and attempting to gain a foothold in the Near East. Amenhotep II sent the Assyrian king a tribute of gold to seal an alliance against the Hurri-Mitannian empire. It is likely that this alliance prompted Saushtatar, the emperor of Mitanni, to invade Assyria, and sack the city of Ashur, after which Assyria became a sometime vassal state, with Ashur-nadin-ahhe I being forced to pay tribute to Saushtatar. He was deposed by his own brother Enlil-nasir II (1430–1425 BCE) in 1430 BCE, possibly with the aid of Mitanni, who received tribute from the new king. Ashur-nirari II (1424–1418 BCE) had an uneventful reign, and appears to have also paid tribute to the Mitanni Empire.[2]

The Assyrian monarchy survived, and the Mitannian influence appears to have been sporadic. They appear not to have been always willing or indeed able to interfere in Assyrian internal and international affairs.

Ashur-bel-nisheshu (1417–1409 BCE) seems to have been independent of Mitannian influence, as evidenced by his signing a mutually beneficial treaty with Karaindash, the Kassite king of Babylonia in the late 15th century. He also undertook extensive rebuilding work in Ashur itself, and Assyria appears to have redeveloped its former highly sophisticated financial and economic systems during his reign.

Ashur-rim-nisheshu (1408–1401 BCE) also undertook building work, strengthening the city walls of the capital.

Ashur-nadin-ahhe II (1400–1393 BCE) also received a tribute of gold and diplomatic overtures from Egypt, probably in an attempt to gain Assyrian military support against Egypt's Mitannian and Hittite rivals in the region. However, the Assyrian king appears not to have been in a strong enough position to challenge Mitanni or the Hittites.

Eriba-Adad I (1392–1366 BCE), a son of Ashur-bel-nisheshu, ascended the throne in 1392 BCE and finally broke the ties to the Mitanni Empire.

There are dozens of Mesopotamian cuneiform texts from this period, with precise observations of solar and lunar eclipses, that have been used as 'anchors' in the various attempts to define the chronology of Babylonia and Assyria for the early 2nd millennium BCE (i.e., the "high", "middle", and "low" chronologies.)

Reign of Ashur-nadin-ahhe I, c. 1435 BCE — c. 1420 BCE

Main article: Ashur-nadin-ahhe I

Ashur-nadin-ahhe I was the king of Assyria from c. 1435 BCE — c. 1420 BCE. He took power after the death of his father, Ashur-rabi I. Beginning with his reign, Assyria became a vassal of Mitanni. After a 15-year rule, he was overthrown by his brother Enlil-Nasir II.

See also

Inscriptions

  1. ↑ Khorsabad copy of the Assyrian King List i 24, 26.
  2. ↑ Synchronistic King List iv 17.
  3. ↑ Chronicle of early kings, BM 26472, 37.
  4. ↑ Khorsabad kinglist.
  5. ↑ SDAS Kinglist: [mE-ri-š] u DUMU mDINGIR-šum-ma, [šá li-ma-ni? -šu-ni 10] + 30 MU.MEŠ LUGAL-ta DÙ-uš.
  6. ↑ KEL A (kt 92/k 193), at CDLI.
  7. ↑ BM 115689, Ass. 16850.
  8. ↑ SDAS List, IM 60484, i 34.
  9. ↑ Nassouhi List, Istanbul A. 116 (Assur 8836), i 33.
  10. ↑ Khorsabad List, IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, DS 32-54), i 34.
  11. ↑ Assyrian Kinglist fragment VAT 9812 = KAV 14: ‘3
  12. ↑ Khorsabad Kinglist, tablet IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, DS 32-54), ii 4–6.
  13. ↑ SDAS Kinglist, tablet IM 60484, ii 8–9.
  14. ↑ KAV 14.
  15. ↑ Synchronistic King List A.117, Assur 14616c, i 5.
  16. ↑ Ḫorsābād King List ii 18.
  17. ↑ Khorsabad List, IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, DS 32-54), ii 20.
  18. ↑ SDAS List, IM 60484, ii 18.
  19. ↑ Nassouhi List, Istanbul A. 116 (Assur 8836), ii 15.
  20. ↑ Synchronistic Kinglist, Ass 14616c (KAV 216), I 6’.
  21. ↑ Assyrian Kinglist fragment VAT 9812 = KAV 14: 5.
  22. ↑ Synchronistic Kinglist, Ass 14616c (KAV 216), I 7’.

Notes

  1. ↑ Freedom: addurāru.
  2. ↑ Lines 27 to 28: [IE-r]i-šu dumu Iilu-šum-ma [šá li-ma-ni]-šu-ni 40 mumeš lugalta dùuš.
  3. ↑ Battles, gigam.didli.
  4. ↑ Freedom = addurāru.
  5. ↑ Some historians quote ca. 1939–1900 BCE (after Amélie Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East, C. 3000-330 BCE, Volume 1, Routledge, 1996, p. 82).
  6. ↑ da-šùr LUGAL i-ri-šu-um PA.
  7. ↑ mIB.TAR-d30.

References

  1. ↑ Albert Kirk Grayson (1972). Assyrian Royal Inscriptions: Volume I. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. p. 108. §716.
  2. 1 2 Georges Roux (1964), Ancient Iraq
  3. ↑ Georges Roux (1964), Ancient Iraq, pp. 161–191.
  4. ↑ Lines 27 to 28: [IE-r]i-šu dumu Iilu-šum-ma [šá li-ma-ni]-šu-ni 40 mumeš lugalta dùuš.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Albert Kirk Grayson (1972). Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, Volume 1. Otto Harrassowitz.:7–8
  6. ↑ Tablet copies: An 201139 and An 20114
  7. ↑ Cahit Günbattı, An Eponym List (KEL G) from Kültepe Altoriental. Forsch. 35 (2008) 1, 103–132.
  8. ↑ Klaas R. Veenhof, The old Assyrian list of year eponyms from Karum Kanish and its chronological implications (Ankara, Turkish Historical Society, 2003
  9. 1 2 Hildegard Levy, "Assyria c. 2600-1816 B.C.", Cambridge Ancient History. Volume 1, Part 2: Early History of the Middle East, 729-770, p. 746-747.
  10. ↑ Arthur Ungnad interpreted these names as Hurrian (BA VI, 5, S. 13) but Ungnad's thesis can no longer be sustained nowadays and was rejected as unconvincing by Arno Poebel ("The Assyrian King List from Khorsabad", Journal of Near Eastern Studies 1/3, 1942, 253) as early as 1942.
  11. ↑ Meissner, Bruno (1990). Reallexikon der Assyriologie 6. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 101–102. ISBN 3110100517.
  12. 1 2 Albert Kirk Grayson (2002). Assyrian Rulers. Volume 1: 1114 – 859 BCE. p. 14.
  13. 1 2 Barbara Cifola (1995). Analysis of variants in the Assyrian royal titulary from the origins to Tiglath-Pileser III. Istituto universitario orientale. p. 8.
  14. 1 2 3 J. A. Brinkman (2001). "Assyria". In Bruce Manning Metzger, Michael David Coogan. The Oxford companion to the Bible. Oxford University Press. p. 63.
  15. ↑ K. R. Veenhof (2003). The Old Assyrian List of Year Eponyms from Karum Kanish and is Chronological Implications. Turkish Historical Society. p. 21.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 A. K. Grayson (1972). Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, Volume 1. Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 7–8.
  17. 1 2 3 Jean-Jacques Glassner (2005). Mesopotamian Chronicles. SBL. pp. 137, 7, 271.
  18. ↑ M. Trolle Larsen (1976). The Old Assyrian City-State and its Colonies. Akademisk Forlag. p. 87.
  19. ↑ Emélie Kuhrt (1998). "The Old Assyrian merchants". In Helen Parkins, Christopher Smith. Trade, traders, and the ancient city. Routledge. p. 20.
  20. ↑ Cambridge Ancient History: Assyria 2060-1816 BCE, 1966, p. 22.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 K. R. Veenhof (2003). The Old Assyrian List of Year Eponyms from Karum Kanish and its Chronological Implications. Turkish Historical Society. pp. 40, 3–10.
  22. ↑ E. Frahm (1998). K. Radner, ed. The Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Volume 1, Part II: A. The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project. p. 404.
  23. ↑ I. J. Gelb (1954). "Two Assyrian King Lists". Journal of Near East Studies VIII (4): 213.
  24. ↑ Klaas R. Veenhof, Jesper Eidem (2008). Mesopotamia: the Old Assyrian period. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 29.
  25. ↑ J. E. Reade (2001). "A monument of Erišum I from Aššur". Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 94 (2): 177–178. doi:10.3917/assy.094.0177.
  26. ↑ Rogers, Robert (2003). A History of Babylonia and Assyria. Lost Arts Media. ISBN 978-1-59016-317-7.
  27. ↑ Bertman, Stephen (2005). Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. New York: Oxford UP. p. 88.
  28. ↑ Cahit Günbattı, An Eponym List (KEL G) from Kültepe Altoriental. Forsch. 35 (2008) 1, 103-132.
  29. 1 2 C. Michel, Nouvelles données pour la chronologie du IIᵉ millénaire, NABU 2002, Nr. 20, 17f.
  30. ↑ Chavalas, Mark William (29 Jun 2006). The ancient Near East: historical sources in translation. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-631-23580-4.
  31. ↑ Leick, Gwendolyn (2001). Who's Who in the Ancient Near East. Routledge. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-415-13231-2.
  32. 1 2 Bromiley, Geoffrey (31 Dec 1996). The international standard Bible encyclopedia (Revised ed.). William B Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-3784-4.
  33. ↑ Klaas R. Veenhof, The old Assyrian list of year eponyms from Karum Kanish and its chronological implications (Ankara, Turkish Historical Society, 2003)
  34. ↑ C. Michel, Nouvelles données pour la chronologie du IIe millénaire, NABU 2002, Nr. 20, 17f.
  35. ↑ Klaas R. Veenhof, The old Assyrian list of year eponyms from Karum Kanish and its chronological implications (Ankara, Turkish Historical Society, 2003).
  36. 1 2 3 4 Klaas R. Veenhof (2003). The Old Assyrian List of Year Eponyns from Karum Kanish and its Chronological Implications. Turkish History Society.
  37. ↑ A. K. Grayson (1972). Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, Volume I. Otto Harrassowitz. p. 18.
  38. ↑ Stephanie Dalley, A. T. Reyes (1998). "Mesopotamian Contact and Influence in the Greek World". In Stephanie Dalley. The Legacy of Mesopotamia. Oxford University Press. p. 87.
  39. ↑ I. J. Gelb (1954). "Two Assyrian King Lists". Journal of Near Eastern Studies 13 (4): 212–213.
  40. ↑ Chavalas, Mark W. (2006). The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. p. 95. ISBN 0-631-23581-7.
  41. 1 2 Van De Mieroop, Marc (2004). A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BCE (2nd ed.). Blackwell Publishing. p. 107. ISBN 9781405149112.
  42. ↑ Leilan.yale.edu, Harvey Weiss et al., The genesis and collapse of Third Millennium north Mesopotamian Civilization, Science, vol. 291, pp. 995-1088, 1993
  43. ↑ Some of the Mari letters addressed to Shamsi-Adad by his son can be found in the Mari Letters section of Shaika Haya Ali Al Khalifa and Michael Rice, (1986). Bahrain through the Ages. KPI. ISBN 0-7103-0112-X.
  44. ↑ Van De Mieroop, Marc (2004). A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BCE (2nd ed.). Blackwell Publishing. p. 99. ISBN 9781405149112.
  45. ↑ Van De Mieroop, Marc (2004). A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BCE (2nd ed.). Malden: Blackwell Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 9781405149112.
  46. ↑ Chavalas, Mark W. (2006). The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 114–115. ISBN 0631235817.
  47. ↑ Chavalas, Mark W. (2006). The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. pp. 102–103. ISBN 0-631-23581-7.
  48. ↑ Van De Mieroop, Mark. A History of the Ancient Near East (Second ed.). Victoria, Australia: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 108–109. ISBN 9781405149112.
  49. 1 2 3 The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume II, Part I (Third ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 3. ISBN 0521082307.
  50. 1 2 Sasson, Jack M. (1993). "Albright as an Orientalist". The Biblical Archaeologist 56 (1): 3. doi:10.2307/3210355.
  51. ↑ The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume II, Part I (Third ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 8. ISBN 0521082307.
  52. ↑ The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume II, Part I (Third ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 178. ISBN 0521082307.
  53. 1 2 The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume II, Part I (Third ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 7. ISBN 0521082307.
  54. 1 2 Vidal, Jordi (2013). ""Kill Them All!" Some Remarks on the Annihilation of the Ya'ilanum Tribe". Journal of the American Oriental Society 133 (4): 684. doi:10.7817/jameroriesoci.133.4.0683.
  55. ↑ Vidal, Jordi (2013). ""Kill Them All!" Some Remarks on the Annihilation of the Ya'ilanum Tribe". Journal of the American Oriental Society 133 (4): 685. doi:10.7817/jameroriesoci.133.4.0683.
  56. ↑ Who's who in the ancient Near East By Gwendolyn Leick
  57. ↑ K. Åkerman (1998). "Aššūr-dugul". In K. Radner. The Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Volume 1, Part I: A. The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project. pp. 179–180.
  58. ↑ A. K. Grayson (1972). Assyrian Royal Inscriptions. Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 29–30.
  59. ↑ Bernard Newgrosh (2007). Chronology at the crossroads: the late bronze age in western Asia. Matador. p. 226.
  60. 1 2 Georges Roux - Ancient Iraq
  61. ↑ K. R. Veenhof (2008). Mesopotamia: The Old Assyrian Period. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 24.
  62. ↑ A. Leo Oppenheim (1969). "Babylonian and Assyrian Historical Texts". In J. B. Pritchard. Ancient near eastern texts. Princeton University Press. p. 565.
  63. 1 2 J. A. Brinkman (1998). K. Radner, ed. The Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Volume 1, Part II: B–G. The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project. p. 288.
  64. ↑ Barbara N. Porter (1994). Images, Power, and Politics: Figurative Aspects of Esarhaddon's Babylonian Policy. Amer Philosophical Society. p. 122.
  65. ↑ K. R. Veenhof (2008). Mesopotamia: The Old Assyrian Period. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 24.
  66. ↑ J. A. Brinkman (1999). Dietz Otto Edzard, ed. Reallexikon Der Assyriologie Und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie: Ia – Kizzuwatna 5. Walter De Gruyter. pp. 23–24.
  67. ↑ A. K. Grayson (1972). Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, Volume 1. Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 30–31.
  68. ↑ B. Newgrosh (1999). "The Chronology of Ancient Assyria Re-assessed". JACF 8: 79–80.
  69. ↑ J. A. Brinkman (1998). "Bēl-bāni". In K. Radner. The Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Volume 1, Part 2: B–G. The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project. p. 288.
  70. ↑ K. Radner (1998). "Bāzāiu". The Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Volume 1, Part 2: B–G. The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project. p. 278.
  71. 1 2 Stephanie Dalley (2009). Babylonian Tablets from the First Sealand Dynasty in the Schoyen Collection. CDL Press. p. 3.
  72. ↑ Julian Reade (Jan 2001). "Assyrian King-Lists, the Royal Tombs of Ur, and Indus Origins". Journal of Near Eastern Studies 60 (1): 7. doi:10.1086/468883. JSTOR 545577.
  73. ↑ Jean-Jacques Glassner (2005). Mesopotamian Chronicles. Society of Biblical Literature. p. 88.
  74. ↑ A. Leo Oppenheim (1969). "Babylonian and Assyrian Historical Texts". In J. B. Pritchard. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (ANET). Princeton University Press. p. 273.

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Coordinates: 36°00′N 43°18′E / 36.0°N 43.3°E / 36.0; 43.3

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