Puzur-Ashur I ( akk, , Pu-AMAR-Aš-ŠUR) was an

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

king in the 21st and 20th centuries BC. He is generally regarded as the founder of Assyria as an independent city-state, 2025 BC. He is in 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 ...

and is referenced in the inscriptions of later kings (his son and successor

Shalim-ahum Shalim-ahum or Šalim-ahum was a ruler of the city-state of Assur in the 20th century BC. The Assyrian King List records his name as ''Šallim-aḫḫe'', inscribed ''šal-lim''-PABMEŠ, meaning, “keep the brothers safe”, and he appears among ...

and the later

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. ...

and

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 ...

.) These later kings mentioned him among the kings who had renewed the city walls of

Assur Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'a ...

begun by

Kikkia 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'' (AKL) the 28th Assyrian monarch, ruling in Assyria's early period. He is listed within a ...

Hildegard Lewy Hildegard Lewy ( Schlesinger; 17 November 1903 – 8 October 1969) was an Assyriologist and academic. Having originally trained as a physicist, upon her marriage to Julius Lewy she moved into Assyriology; she specialised in cuneiform texts and Babyl ...

, "Assyria c. 2600-1816 B.C.", ''Cambridge Ancient History. Volume 1, Part 2: Early History of the Middle East'', 729-770, p. 746-747. Puzur-Ashur I may have started a native Assyrian dynasty that endured for eight generations until

Erishum II ErishumI or Erišum II, the son and successor of Naram-Sin, was the king of the city-state Assur from 1828/1818 BC to 1809 BC. Like his predecessors, he bore the titles “Išši’ak Aššur” (Steward of Assur) and “ensí”. The length of Er ...

was overthrown by the Amorite

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 ...

, writing in the ''

Cambridge Ancient History ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' is a multi-volume work of ancient history from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The first series, consisting of 12 volumes, was planned in 1919 by Irish historian J. B. Bur ...

'', rejects this interpretation and sees Puzur-Aššur I as part of a longer dynasty started by one of his predecessors,

Sulili Sulili ( akk, 𒋢𒇷𒇷, Su-li-li) was according to the ''Assyrian King List'' (AKL) the 27th Assyrian monarch, ruling in Assyria's early period. He also appears within the Assyrian King List as the first out of the six kings “(whose names wer ...

. Inscriptions link Puzur-Aššur I to his immediate successors, who, according to the Assyrian King List, are related to the following kings down to Erišum II. Puzur-Ashur I's successors bore the title Išši’ak Aššur, vice regent of Assur, as well as ''ensí''.

References

21st-century BC Assyrian kings 20th-century BC Assyrian kings {{ANE-bio-stub

See also

References