Bit Adini, a city or region of Syria, called sometimes ''Bit Adini'' in Assyrian sources, was an
Aramaean state that existed as an independent kingdom during the 10th and 9th centuries BC, with its capital at
Til Barsib
Til Barsip or Til Barsib ( Hittite Masuwari, modern Tell Ahmar; ar, تل أحمر) is an ancient site situated in Aleppo Governorate, Syria by the Euphrates river about 20 kilometers south of ancient Carchemish.
History
The site was inhabited ...
(now
Tell Ahmar
Til Barsip or Til Barsib ( Hittite Masuwari, modern Tell Ahmar; ar, تل أحمر) is an ancient site situated in Aleppo Governorate, Syria by the Euphrates river about 20 kilometers south of ancient Carchemish.
History
The site was inhabited ...
). The city is considered one of the two chief states of the Aramean-held territories in the Euphrates along with
Carchemish.
It is considered an
Early Iron Age Aramaean settlement between the
Balikh
The Balikh River ( ar, نهر البليخ) is a perennial river that originates in the spring of Ain al-Arous near Tell Abyad in the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests ecoregion. It flows due south and joins the Euphra ...
and the Euphrates rivers, and extended westwards into northern Syria. Some sources also refer to it as a
Neo-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 ...
kingdom due to the discovery of Hittite hieroglyphic inscriptions.
It is usually thought to have been in the bend of the
Euphrates River
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...
, south of Carchemish.
There are scholars who associate Bit Adini with Beth Eden, which may mean "house of evil" or "house of delight".
History
Bit Adini was ruled by a figure called Ahuni (also referred to as Akhuni
) during the mid-ninth century BC and became part of a territory that included the Neo-Hittite city Masuwari, Asmu, Dabigu, Dummetu, Kaprabu, and La'la'ru. Bit Adini was mentioned in ancient inscriptions such as the case of the recorded claim of
Adad-Nirari II (911-891) that he received a gift of "large female monkey and small female monkey" from the city.
Bit Adini has also exerted some degree of power and influence based on its interactions with Assyria. For instance, Bit-Adini - together with Babylon - supported the unsuccessful rebellion under
Assurnasirpal I's reign in the states of Suhu (Suru
), Hindanu, and Laqe.
In 883, during
Assurnasirpal II's rule, a figure from Bit Adini was brought in to rule the Assyrian province of Bit-Halupe after a rebellion and the killing of its governor. An account described how the Assyrians attacked Bit Adini by crossing the Calah region between the Tigris and Euphrates.
Ahuni, the then ruler of the kingdom, submitted and gave tribute.
In 856-5 BC, the kingdom was conquered and absorbed into the
Assyrian Empire during the reign of
Shalmaneser III.
See also
References
Sources
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External links
Ancient Mesopotamia
Aramean states
States and territories established in the 10th century BC
States and territories disestablished in the 9th century BC
Syro-Hittite states
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