Kazalla or Kazallu is the name given in
Akkadian sources to a city in the ancient
Near East whose locations is unknown. Its god is
Numushda.
History
Under its king Kashtubila, Kazalla warred against
Sargon of Akkad in the 24th or 23rd century BC. Sargon laid the city of Kazalla to waste so effectively that "the birds could not find a place to perch away from the ground." The city was briefly under the control of Elam under
Puzur-Inshushinak
Puzur-Inshushinak ( Linear Elamite: ''Puzur Šušinak'', Akkadian: , ''puzur3- dinšušinak'', also , ''puzur4- dinšušinak'' "Calling Inshushinak"), also sometimes thought to read Kutik-Inshushinak in Elamite, was king of Elam, around 2100 ...
until E[am fell to Ur. Under the Ur III empire, the city was ruled by ensi (governors). Some of them, Ititi, Izariq, Kallamu, Šu-Mama, and Apillaša (appointed in year 7 of Amar-Suen), are known by name. All during the reigns of Shulgi and Amar-Suen. There is a letter from Ibbi-Sin, the last ruler of Ur III, and Puzur-Numušda 1 who he had made governor of Kazallu, complaining that he was not doing enough to oppose Ishbi-Erra, ruler of Isin.
In the early 2nd millennium BC the city had a number of conflicts with
Larsa
Larsa ( Sumerian logogram: UD.UNUGKI, read ''Larsamki''), also referred to as Larancha/Laranchon (Gk. Λαραγχων) by Berossos and connected with the biblical Ellasar, was an important city-state of ancient Sumer, the center of the cult ...
. A year name of
Sin-Iqisham marks the destruction of Kazullu. A year name of Ward-Sin lists the destruction of the walls of Kazullu. Larsa ruler
Kudur-Mabuk
Kudur-Mabuk was a ruler in the ancient Near East city-state
of Larsa from 1770 BC to 1754 BC. His sons Warad-Sin and
Rim-Sin I were kings of Larsa. His daughter En-ane-du was high
priestess of the moon god in Ur.
Chronology of the Larsa Dynas ...
also reports repelling the forces of Kazullu. A ruler of
Isin,
Erra-imitti
Erra-Imittī, (cuneiform: d''èr-ra-i-mit-ti'Ur-Isin King List'' 14. or ''èr-ra-''ZAG.LU''Chronicle of Early Kings'' (ABC 20) A 31 to 36 and repeated as B 1 to 7. meaning “Support of Erra”) ca. 1805–1799 BC (short chronology) or ca. 186 ...
, also claimed to have destroyed Kazullu. Lastly, mulbalum, ruler of
Esnunna claimed to have defeated a coalition which included Kazallu. Kazallu briefly became a city-state in its own right before falling to Babylon. The 13th year name of Babylonian ruler Sumu-abum lists the destruction of Kazallu.
Location
According to a tablet from the reign of
Gudea of
Lagash
Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: ''Lagaš''), was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba) w ...
, Kazalla was located somewhere to the west of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
, in the land of
Martu. According to a letter to
Ibbi-Sîn the Martu were hindering travel between Ur and Kazallu. Some scholars today believe it was only about 15 km from the city of
Babylon, and just west of the Euphrates. In texts from Drehem the city is said to be to the east of the unlocated city of Girtab. Old Babylonian records have it as being in the area of
Marad (modern Tell as-Sadoum).
[Wu, Y. (1998). Kings of Kazallu and Marad in the early OB Period. XXXIVème Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, 221-227]
See also
*
Cities of the ancient Near East
The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending on the interpretation of the term, either with the conquest by ...
References
{{Reflist
Former populated places in Southwest Asia