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Ishbi-Erra ( Akkadian: d''iš-bi-ir₃-ra'') was the founder of the
dynasty of Isin The Dynasty of Isin refers to the final ruling dynasty listed on the '' Sumerian King List'' (''SKL''). The list of the Kings Isin with the length of their reigns, also appears on a cuneiform document listing the kings of Ur and Isin, the ''List o ...
, reigning from ''c.'' 2017 — ''c.'' 1986 BC on the
middle chronology The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...
or 1953 BC — ''c.'' 1920 BC on the short chronology. Ishbi-Erra was preceded by
Ibbi-Sin Ibbi-Sin ( sux, , ), son of Shu-Sin, was king of Sumer and Akkad and last king of the Ur III dynasty, and reigned c. 2028–2004 BCE ( Middle chronology) or possibly c. 1964–1940 BCE (Short chronology). During his rei ...
of the
third dynasty of Ur The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BC ( middle chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians consider t ...
in ancient Lower Mesopotamia, and then succeeded by Šu-ilišu. According to the
Weld-Blundell Prism The Weld-Blundell Prism ("WB", dated 1800 BCE) is a clay, cuneiform inscribed vertical prism housed in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The prism was found in a 1922 expedition in Larsa in modern-day Iraq by British archaeologist Herbert Weld Blun ...
,WB 444, the Weld-Blundell prism, r. 33. Išbi-erra reigned for 33 years and this is corroborated by the number of his extant year-names. While in many ways this dynasty emulated that of the preceding one, its language was Akkadian as the Sumerian language had become moribund in the latter stages of the third dynasty of Ur.


Biography

At the outset of his career, Ishbi-Erra was an official working for Sumerian King
Ibbi-Sin Ibbi-Sin ( sux, , ), son of Shu-Sin, was king of Sumer and Akkad and last king of the Ur III dynasty, and reigned c. 2028–2004 BCE ( Middle chronology) or possibly c. 1964–1940 BCE (Short chronology). During his rei ...
, the last king of the
third dynasty of Ur The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BC ( middle chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians consider t ...
. Ishbi-Erra was described as a man of Mari,Tablet UM 7772. either his origin or the city for which he was assigned. His progress is recorded in letters to the king and to the governor of Kazallu (Puzur-Numushda, later renamed Puzur-Šulgi). These are literary letters, copied in antiquity as scribal exercises and their authenticity is unknown. Charged with acquiring grain in Isin and Kazallu, Ishbi-Erra complained that he could not ship the 72,000 GUR he had bought for 20 talents of silver—apparently an exorbitant price—and now kept secure in Isin to other conurbations due to the incursions of the
Amorites 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 lar ...
(“Martu”) and requested Ibbi-Sin supply 600 boats to transport it while also requesting governorship of Isin and Nippur.CBS 2272, letter from Išbi-erra to Ibbi-Sin. Although Ibbi-Sin baulked at promoting him, Ishbi-Erra apparently succeeded in wrestling control over Isin by Ibbi-Sin’s 8th year, when he began assigning his own regnal year-names, and thereafter an uneasy chill descended on their relationship. Ibbi-Sin bitterly lambasted Ishbi-Erra as being "not of Sumerian seed" in his letter to Puzur-Šulgi and opined that: “ Enlil has stirred up the Amorites out of their land, and they will strike the Elamites and capture Ishbi-Erra.” Curiously, Puzur-Šulgi seems to have originally been one of Ishbi-Erra’s own messengers and indicated the extent to which loyalties were in flux during the waning years of the regime of the third dynasty of Ur. While there was no outright conflict, Ishbi-Erra continued to extend his influence as Ibbi-Sin’s steadily declined over the next 12 years or so, until Ur was finally conquered by Kindattu of Elam. Ishbi-Erra went on to win decisive victories against the Amorites in his 8th year and the Elamites in his 16th year. Some years later, Ishbi-Erra ousted the Elamite garrison from Ur, thereby asserting suzerainty over Sumer and Akkad, celebrated in one of his later 27th year-name, although this specific epithet was not used by this dynasty until the reign of Iddin-Dagan. He readily adopted the regal privileges of the former regime, commissioning royal praise poetry and hymns to deities, of which seven are extant, and proclaiming himself Dingir-kalam-ma-na, “a god in his own country.”Tablets NBC 6421. 7087. 7387. He appointed his daughter, En-bara-zi, to succeed that of Ibbi-Sin’s as Egisitu(priestess of An), celebrated in his 22nd year-name. He founded fortresses and installed city walls, but only one royal inscription is extant.IM 58336, Construction of a great lyre for Enlil. Various hymns to Ishbi-Erra, king of Isin, are known.


See also

* Sumer *
History of Sumer The history of Sumer spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BCE in southern Mesopotamia, and is taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods. Sumer was the region's earliest known civilization and ended with the downfall of the Third Dynasty o ...
*
Sumerian people Sumerian or Sumerians may refer to: *Sumer, an ancient civilization **Sumerian language ** Sumerian art **Sumerian architecture **Sumerian literature **Cuneiform script, used in Sumerian writing *Sumerian Records Sumerian Records is an Americ ...


Inscriptions


References


External links


A tigi to Nanaya for Išbi-erra at ETCSL.

Year names for Išbi-erra at CDLI.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishbi-Erra 20th-century BC Sumerian kings Sumerian rulers Dynasty of Isin