Kikkia (sometimes given as Kikkiya), inscribed
m''Ki-ik-ki-a''
[''Khorsabad Kinglist'', i 23.][''SDAS Kinglist'', i 22.] was according to the ''
Assyrian King List
The king of Assyria (Akkadian: ''Išši'ak Aššur'', later ''šar māt Aššur'') was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, which was founded in the late 21st century BC and fell in the late 7th century BC. For much of its ear ...
'' (AKL) the 28th Assyrian monarch, ruling in Assyria's
early period. He is listed within a section of the AKL as the second out of the six, "kings whose eponyms are not known."
As all the other early rulers listed in the king list and unattested elsewhere, there is dispute among scholars as to whether Kikkia was a real historical figure.
Apart from his appearance in two copies of the Assyrian King List (the Khorsabad and SDAS copies, but not the Nassouhi one which is damaged at the top where he might have appeared), he is only known from two building inscriptions of his successors, moreover; the earliest of these is that of
Ashur-rim-nisheshu
Aššur-rā’im-nišēšu, inscribed md''aš-šur-''ÁG-UN.MEŠ''-šu'', meaning “(the god) Aššur loves his people,” was ruler of Assyria, or ''išši’ak Aššur'', “vice-regent of Aššur,” written in Sumerian: PA.TE.SI (=ÉNSI), c. ...
(c. 1398 BC — c. 1391 BC), who commemorated his reconstruction of the wall of the inner-city of Assur by listing the previous restorers on a
commemorative cone,
[Cone VAT? 2764.] (beginning with Kikkia.) The later king,
Shalmaneser II Salmānu-ašarēd II, inscribed mdSILIM''-ma-nu-''MAŠ/SAG, meaning " Being peaceful is foremost," was the king of Assyria 1030–1019 BC, the 93rd to appear on the ''Khorsabad'' copy''Khorsabad Kinglist'', tablet IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, ...
, restored this wall and gave credit to his predecessor in his inscription. The erection of a defensive wall suggests that Kikkia may have won his independence from the waning influence of the
Neo-Sumerian Empire
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 to ...
. An earlier Assyrian ''šakkanakkum'' (
KIŠ.NITA2) and chief magistrate of Assur,
Zariqum
Zariqum or Zarriqum was a Sumerian governor (''šakkanakkum'') of the city of Assur under the Third Dynasty of Ur, attested there between the 44th year of Shulgi () and the 5th year of Amar-Sin ().
He is the only governor of the city during this ...
, who had been omitted from the extant copies of the Assyrian King Lists, had been a contemporary and vassal of
Shulgi
Shulgi ( dŠulgi, formerly read as Dungi) of Ur was the second king of the Third Dynasty of Ur. He reigned for 48 years, from c. 2094 – c. 2046 BC (Middle Chronology) or possibly c. 2030 – 1982 BC ( Short Chronology). His accomplishme ...
(c. 2029 BC — c. 1982 BC) and of
Amar-Sin
Amar-Sin ( akk, : '' DAmar D Sîn'', after the Moon God Sîn", the "𒀭" being a silent honorific for "Divine"), initially misread as Bur-Sin (c. 2046-2037 BC middle chronology, or possibly ca. 1982–1973 BC short chronology) was the third rule ...
of
Ur (c. 1981 BC — c. 1973 BC), so one would suppose that Kikkia must have reigned after this time. Arthur Ungnad interpreted Kikkia's name, and that of
Ushpia Ushpia ( akk, 𒍑𒉿𒀀, Uš-pi-a) was according to the ''Assyrian King List'' (AKL) the 16th Assyrian monarch, ruling in Assyria's early period, though he is not attested in any known contemporary artefacts. The list places him as the second la ...
, as being that of the
Hurrian language
Hurrian is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language spoken by the Hurrians (Khurrites), a people who entered northern Mesopotamia around 2300 BC and had mostly vanished by 1000 BC. Hurrian was the language of the Mitanni kingdom in northern Mesopota ...
(BA VI, 5, S. 13), but more recent research no longer holds this thesis as tenable, and Arno Poebel was not convinced by the interpretation.
[Arno Poebel, The Assyrian King List from Khorsabad, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 1/3, 1942, 253]
See also
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Timeline of the Assyrian Empire
The timeline of ancient Assyria can be broken down into three main eras: the Old Assyrian period, Middle Assyrian Empire, and Neo-Assyrian Empire. Modern scholars typically also recognize an Early period preceding the Old Assyrian period and a ...
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Early Period of Assyria
The Early Assyrian period was the earliest stage of Assyrian history, preceding the Old Assyrian period and covering the history of the city of Assur, and its people and culture, prior to the foundation of Assyria as an independent city-state unde ...
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List of Assyrian kings
The king of Assyria (Akkadian: ''Išši'ak Aššur'', later ''šar māt Aššur'') was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, which was founded in the late 21st century BC and fell in the late 7th century BC. For much of its ear ...
*
Assyrian continuity
Assyrian continuity is the theory of continuity between the modern Assyrian people, an indigenous ethnic minority in the Middle East, and the people of ancient Assyria. Assyrian continuity is a key part of the identity of the modern Assyrian peo ...
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Assyrian people
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Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
Inscriptions
References
20th-century BC Assyrian kings
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