Apum was an ancient
Amorite
The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the Levant who also occupied la ...
kingdom located in the upper
Khabur valley, modern northeastern
Syria. It was involved in the political and military struggle that dominated the first half of the 18th century BC and led to the establishment of the
Babylonian Empire
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state ...
. Apum was incorporated into Babylon in 1728 BC and disappeared from the records.
History
The majority of the kingdom inhabitants were Amorites. Originally, Apum was a small city perhaps located in the vicinity of modern-day
Qamishli
Qamishli ( ar, ٱلْقَامِشْلِي, Al-Qāmišlī, ku, قامشلۆ, Qamişlo, syc, ܒܝܬ ܙܠܝ̈ܢ, Bēṯ Zālīn, lit=House of Reeds or syr, ܩܡܫܠܐ, translit=Qamishlo) . The kingdom was attested for the first time in the
Archives of Mari (c. 1774 BC).
At the time of its attestation, Apum was already in control of the old
Assyrian capital
Shubat-Enlil which became Apum's capital.
In 1771 BC, Apum received a warning from Mari's monarch
Zimri-Lim __NOTOC__
Zimri-Lim (Akkadian: ''Zi-im-ri Li-im'') was king of Mari c. 1775–1761 BCE.
Zimri-Lim was the son or grandson of Iakhdunlim, but was forced to flee to Yamhad when his father was assassinated by his own servants during a coup. He ha ...
regarding an
Eshnunnite attack, however, the Apumites were unable to resist and their capital was occupied by the invading force.
Following the Eshnunnite main force departure, Apum's king
Zuzu became a vassal to Eshnnuna and was entrusted in commanding the Eshnunnite garrison.
Soon after, Apum was attacked by the neighboring kingdom of Qattara who occupied the capital,
but was evicted by the Eshnunnites. Afterwards, Apum was overrun by an
Elamite invasion led by a general named
Kunnam
Kunnam taluk is a taluk of Perambalur district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The headquarters of the taluk is the town of Kunnam. It is a town and a special grade municipality in the Perambalur district
Perambalur is one of the 38 dist ...
, who shared the power with the Apumite king
Haya-Abum, who was a vassal of Mari.
The Elamites left in 1765 BC,
and the capital of Apum was invaded by the kingdom of
Andarig.
However, it is certain that by 1750 BC, Apum's dynasty was in firm control over its capital,
after an alliance with the kingdom of
Kurda Kurda was an ancient city-state and kingdom located in Northern Mesopotamia. Kurda emerged during the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) and is attested in the administrative texts of this era as a city state and geographical territory in Upper Mes ...
that drove the Andarigites out.
Apum came to an end after the invasion of the
Babylonian king
Samsu-Iluna
Samsu-iluna (Amorite: ''Shamshu''; c. 1750–1712 BC) was the seventh king of the founding Amorite dynasty of Babylon, ruling from 1750 BC to 1712 BC ( middle chronology), or from 1686 to 1648 BC (short chronology). He was the son and successor of ...
in 1728 BC.
Rulers
See also
*
Amorite language
*
Hurrians
References
Citations
{{reflist, 2
Ancient Near East
Ancient Syria
History of Kurdistan
Amorite cities
Former kingdoms