King of the Lands (

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...

: ''šar mātāti''), also interpreted as just King of Lands or the more boastful King of All Lands was a title of great prestige claimed by powerful monarchs in

ancient Mesopotamia The history of Mesopotamia ranges from the earliest human occupation in the Paleolithic period up to Late antiquity. This history is pieced together from evidence retrieved from archaeological excavations and, after the introduction of writing i ...

. Introduced during the

Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history and the final and greatest phase of Assyria as an independent state. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew t ...

(911 BC–609 BC), the term ''mātāti'' explicitly refers to foreign (e.g. non-Assyrian) lands, often beyond the confines of Mesopotamia itself (in contrast to the word ''mātu'' which refers to the Assyrian land itself), suggesting that the Assyrian king had the right to govern foreign lands as well as his own.

History

The title was introduced by the king

Ashurnasirpal II Ashur-nasir-pal II (transliteration: ''Aššur-nāṣir-apli'', meaning " Ashur is guardian of the heir") was king of Assyria from 883 to 859 BC. Ashurnasirpal II succeeded his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II, in 883 BC. During his reign he embarked ...

in the variation ''šar mātāti šarhu'', meaning "splendid" or "glorious king of lands". This title, and the similar epithet of ''murtedu kališ mātāte'' ("leader of all lands") were also used by Ashurnasirpal's son and successor

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Ashurnasirpal II in 859 BC to his own death in 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campai ...

. Other than these two kings, the title is rarely attested during the Neo-Assyrian period, only being used in connection to one other king,

Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal (Neo-Assyrian language, Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "Ashur (god), Ashur is the creator of the heir") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BCE to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king o ...

. After his conquest of Babylon in 539 BC,

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

assumed several traditional Mesopotamian titles, among them ''šar mātāti''. Cyrus and all succeeding kings of the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

would use the similar title of King of Countries (

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...

: ''xšāyaθiya dahyūnām'') in their inscriptions. Scribes in the city of Babylon translated this title into ''šar mātāti''. Achaemenid kings who are explicitly attested with the Akkadian-language variant (when discussed by Babylonian scribes) include Cyrus the Great,

Cambyses II Cambyses II ( peo, 𐎣𐎲𐎢𐎪𐎡𐎹 ''Kabūjiya'') was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 530 to 522 BC. He was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great () and his mother was Cassandane. Before his accession, Cambyses ...

and

Artaxerxes I Artaxerxes I (, peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης) was the fifth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465 to December 424 BC. He was the third son of Xerxes I. He may have been the " Artasy ...

. The title was also assumed by rebels in Babylon during Achaemenid times. Šamaš-erība, who rebelled against the rule of

Xerxes I Xerxes I ( peo, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ξέρξης ; – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of ...

, claimed to be the "King of Babylon and of the Lands". Following the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire the title is only very rarely attested for some of the succeeding rulers of Mesopotamia. It occurs rarely during the Seleucid period, with king

Antiochus I Antiochus I Soter ( grc-gre, Ἀντίοχος Σωτήρ, ''Antíochos Sōtér''; "Antiochus the Saviour"; c. 324/32 June 261 BC) was a Greek king of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus succeeded his father Seleucus I Nicator in 281 BC and reigned du ...

claiming it alongside several other traditional Mesopotamian titles in the

Antiochus cylinder The Antiochus cylinder is a devotional cylinder written in traditional Akkadian by Antiochus I Soter, circa 250 BCE. Discovered in Borsippa, it is now located in the British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human h ...

, which describes how Antiochus rebuilt the Ezida Temple in the city of

Borsippa Borsippa ( Sumerian: BAD.SI.(A).AB.BAKI; Akkadian: ''Barsip'' and ''Til-Barsip'')The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. or Birs Nimrud (having been identified with Nimrod) is an archeologi ...

. It is used only once during the

Parthian Empire The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conque ...

, claimed by king

Phraates II Phraates II (also spelled Frahad I; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭇𐭕 ''Frahāt'') was king of the Parthian Empire from 132 BC to 127 BC. He was the son and successor of Mithridates I (). Because he was still very young when he came to the throne, his moth ...

List of known Kings of the Lands

Neo-Assyrian Empire

(r. 883–859 BC)' *

(r. 859–824 BC)' *

(r. 669–631 BC)'

Achaemenid Empire

(r. 559–530 BC), claimed the title from 539 BC.' *

(r. 530–522 BC)' *

(r. 465–424 BC)' * ''All other Achaemenid kings used the equivalent title King of Countries''.' * Šamaš-erība (r. 484 BC) – rebel in Babylon.'

Seleucid Empire

(r. 281–261 BC)'

Parthian Empire

(r. 132–127 BC)'

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Ancient Mesopotamian royal titles 9th-century BC establishments 2nd-century BC disestablishments Ancient Mesopotamia Neo-Assyrian Empire Cyrus the Great Artaxerxes I Achaemenid Empire Royal titles