Malgium (also Malkum) is an ancient

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 F ...

n city identified as Tell Yassir which thrived especially in the

Middle Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, ca. 2000 BC - 1600 BC. Located on the river

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

, south of where the Diyala River branches off and upstream of Maškan-šapir, it formed a small city-state in an area where the edges of the territories controlled by

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 cul ...

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

and

Elam Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...

converged. Inscribed in

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

as ma-al-gi-im^KI, its chief deities were Ea and

Damkina Damgalnuna, also known as Damkina, was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of the god Enki. Her character is poorly defined in known sources, though it is known that like her husband she was associated with ritual purification and that she ...

Tell Yassir

The site is a single mound covering around 15 hectares. Iraqi archaeologists conducted a surface survey. The site was heavily looted after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, to the extent that administrative and palatial structures visible from earlier satellite images could no longer be found. Along with pottery shards a number of inscribed bricks were found including those of Ur III rulers (

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 ...

and Shu-Suen) and rulers of Malgium An example brick inscription:

History

Three of its rulers have been identified with certainty, through attestation in their inscriptions as šàr (lugal) ma-al-gi-im^ki, Takil-ilissu, son of Ištaran-asû, Imgur-Sin, son of Ili-abi, and, probably the last one, Ipiq-Ištar, son of Apil-Ilišu, a contemporary of Ḫammu-rāpi of Babylon, who celebrated conflict with the city in two of his year names (10 and 35). A further three rulers have been proposed, Šu-Kakka, Nabi-Enlil (son of Šu-Kakka) and Šu-Amurrum (son of Nabi-Enlil), three generations of a dynasty, based upon Šu-Kakka’s year name honoring the goddess Damkina and seal impressions. Their absolute position is uncertain but they seem to have reigned from the immediate aftermath of the downfall of the

Ur III 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 ...

empire. Cuneiform tablets from the city of Irisaĝrig (now believed to be the nearby

Tell al-Wilayah Tell al-Wilayah is an archaeological site in the Wasit Governorate of eastern Iraq. The site has now been completely destroyed by large scale looting. It is located around 20 km southwest of the modern city of Kut and 6 kilometers southwest ...

), now published, show that Malkum conquered that city roughly after year 10 of

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 reign, ...

, the last ruler of the Ur III empire. The tablets also included year names showing that kings Nur-Eštar (previously unknown), Šu-Kakka, Nabi-Enlil, Šu-Amurrum, Imgur-Sin, and Ištaran-asu ruled over

Irisaĝrig Irisaĝrig (also Urusagrig, Iri-Saĝrig, and Al-Šarrākī) was an ancient Near East city in Iraq whose location is not known with certainty but is currently thought to be at the site of Tell al-Wilayah, on the ancient Mama-šarrat canal off the T ...

. The kings of Larsa targeted Malgium in their pursuit of territorial expansion with

Gungunum Gungunum ( akk, , Dgu-un-gu-nu-um) was a king of the city state of Larsa in southern Mesopotamia, ruling from 1932 to 1906 BC. According to the traditional king list for Larsa, he was the fifth king to rule the city, and in his own inscriptions h ...

celebrating its conquest in his 19th year name, circa 1914 BC,

Sin-Iddinam Sin-Iddinam (, dsuen-i-din-nam) ruled the ancient Near East city-state of Larsa from 1785 BC to 1778 BC. He was the son of Nur-Adad, with whom there may have been a short co-regency overlap. The annals for his 7-year reign record that he campai ...

its defeat in his 5th year name ca. 1844 and Warad-Sîn commemorated mu ugnim mà-al-gu-um^ki ^gištukul ba(-an)-sìg, “Year : the army^? of Malgium was smitten by weapons”, ca. 1831 BC. Ḫammu-rāpi, in a grand coalition with

Shamshi-Adad I Shamshi-Adad ( akk, Šamši-Adad; Amorite: ''Shamshi-Addu''), ruled 1808–1776 BC, was an Amorite warlord and conqueror who had conquered lands across much of Syria, Anatolia, and Upper Mesopotamia.Some of the Mari letters addressed to Shamsi-Ada ...

and

Ibal-pi-El II Ibal pi’el II was a king of the city kingdom of Eshnunna in ancient Mesopotamia. He reigned c. 1779–1765 BC). He was the son of Dadusha and nephew of Naram-Suen of Eshnunna. He conquered the cities of Diniktum and Rapiqum. With Ḫammu-rāp ...

(of

Eshnunna Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in th ...

), campaigned against the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

until its ruler bought them off with 15

talents of silver The talent was a unit of weight that was introduced in Mesopotamia at the end of the 4th millennium BC, and was normalized at the end of the 3rd millennium during the Akkadian-Sumer phase, divided into 60 minas or 3,600 shekels. In classical antiqu ...

. Freed from its vassalage to

, by Ḫammu-rāpi’s triumph over them, Malgium’s king, Ipiq-Ištar, concluded a treaty and subsequently provided aid and soldiers in Ḫammu-rāpi’s campaign against

. For as yet uncertain reasons, Ḫammu-rāpi turned on his erstwhile ally and sacked the city ca. 1758, deporting much of its populace to Babylonia. Its state in the Middle Babylonian Period and later periods was much more humble as an administrative district called Malgu and a settlement referred to as Maliki.

References

External links

Tablet from Malgium at CDLI naming ruler Ipiq-Eštar son of Apil-ilīšu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malgium Ancient cities of the Middle East City-states Former populated places in Iraq Archaeological sites in Iraq

Tell Yassir

History

See also

References

External links