Atarshumki I (also ''Bar-Guš'') was the King of

Bit Agusi Bit Agusi or Bit Agushi (also written Bet Agus) was an ancient Aramaean Syro-Hittite state, established by Gusi of Yakhan at the beginning of the 9th century BC. It had included the cities of Arpad, Nampigi (Nampigu) and later on Aleppo Arpad was ...

in ancient Syria; he was the son of Arames. The capital of Bit Agusi was Arpad.

History

Like his father, Atarshumki was rebellious against the

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

supremacy. At that time, Assyria was ruled by

Shamshi-Adad V Shamshi-Adad V ( akk, Šamši-Adad) was the King of Assyria from 824 to 811 BC. He was named after the god Adad, who is also known as Hadad. Family Shamshi-Adad was a son and successor of King Shalmaneser III, the husband of Queen Shammuramat (by ...

and then by

Adad-nirari III Adad-nirari III (also Adad-narari) was a King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. Note that this assumes that the longer version of the Assyrian Eponym List, which has an additional eponym for Adad-nirari III, is the correct one. For the shorter eponym ...

. Atarshumki tried to build a coalition with his neighbors against the Assyrians; finally, in 796, Adad-nirari III launched a military campaign in the area, and subjugated it.

The territorial conflict between Hamath and Arpad

The

Antakya stele Antakya (), historically known as Antioch ( el, Ἀντιόχεια; hy, Անտիոք, Andiok), is the capital of Hatay Province, the southernmost province of Turkey. The city is located in a well-watered and fertile valley on the Orontes River ...

( de) is believed to belong to the later years of Adad-Nirari III. This is when the prominent official

Shamshi-ilu Shamshi-ilu (Šamši-ilu) was an influential court dignitary and commander in chief (turtanu) of the Assyrian army who rose in high prominence. He was active during the reigns of Assyrian kings Adad-nirari III (810–782 BC), Shalmaneser IV (782� ...

, who is involved with the inscription, became active. Based on this, the inscription is believed to date in the 780s BC.

"The Antakya inscription describes the interference of the Assyrian King in a territorial conflict between Atarsumki, king of Arpad, and
Zakkur Zakkur (or ''Zakir'') was the ancient king of Hamath and Luhuti (also known as Nuhašše) in Syria. He ruled around 785 BC. Most of the information about him comes from his basalt stele, known as the Stele of Zakkur. History Irhuleni and his son ...
, king of
Hamath , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...
... At that time, both kings were vassals of Adad-nirari III ... the settlement was established in favour of the previously hostile king of Arpad ... The reason for preferring Arpad is clear: it had broken up the lines of the
Syro-Hittite The states that are called Syro-Hittite, Neo-Hittite (in older literature), or Luwian-Aramean (in modern scholarly works), were Luwian and Aramean regional polities of the Iron Age, situated in southeastern parts of modern Turkey and northwestern ...
coalition, and opened before Adad-nirari III the way to the south, to Damascus."Gershon Galil
CONFLICTS BETWEEN ASSYRIAN VASSALS. (PDF)
SAAB 6 (1992), p. 55-63

Notes

{{Reflist

Sources

*German Wikipedia

Bibliography

* A. K. Grayson, In: ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' Vol. 3, 1, Cambridge 1982, p.272 * John David Hawkins, In: ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' Vol. 3, 1, Cambridge 1982, pp 400–408 * Nili Wazana: ''Water division in border agreements.'' In: ''State Archives of Assyria Bulletin'' 10, 1996, 55-66
PDF

External links

A boundary marker between Ataršumki of Arpad and Zakkur of Hamath Aramean kings Syro-Hittite kings Ancient Syria History of Aleppo 8th-century BC Aramean kings