Shu-Ilishu (

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 ...

: ''Šu-ilišu'';Inscribed ^d''šu-i-li-šu''. '' fl.'' ''c.'' 1920 BC — ''c.'' 1911 BC by the

short chronology The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...

, or ''c.'' 1984 BC — ''c.'' 1975 BC by the

middle chronology The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...

) was the 2nd ruler of the

dynasty of Isin The Dynasty of Isin refers to the final ruling dynasty listed on the ''Sumerian King List'' (''SKL''). The list of the Kings Isin with the length of their reigns, also appears on a cuneiform document listing the kings of Ur and Isin, the ''List of ...

. He reigned for 10 years (according to his extant year-names and a single copy of the ''

Sumerian King List The ''Sumerian King List'' (abbreviated ''SKL'') or ''Chronicle of the One Monarchy'' is an ancient literary composition written in Sumerian that was likely created and redacted to legitimize the claims to power of various city-states and king ...

'',''Sumerian King List'', MS 1686. which differs from the 20 years recorded by others.)Such as WB 444, the Weld-Blundell prism. Shu-Ilishu was preceded by Išbi-erra. Iddin-Dagān then succeeded Shu-Ilishu. Shu-Ilishu is best known for his retrieval of the cultic idol of

Nanna Nanna may refer to: *Grandmother Mythology * Sin (mythology), god of the moon in Sumerian mythology, also called Suen * Nanna (Norse deity), goddess associated with the god Baldr in Norse mythology * Nana Buluku, Fon/Dahomey androgynous deity cre ...

from the Elamites and its return to Ur.

Biography

Shu-Ilishu's inscriptions gave him the titles: “Mighty Man” — “King of Ur” — “God of His Nation” — “Beloved of the gods

Anu Anu ( akk, , from wikt:𒀭#Sumerian, 𒀭 ''an'' “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An ( sux, ), was the sky father, divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the list of Mesopotamian deities, dei ...

Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Bab ...

, and Nanna” — “King of the Land of

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...

and

Akkad Akkad may refer to: *Akkad (city), the capital of the Akkadian Empire *Akkadian Empire, the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia *Akkad SC, Iraqi football club People with the name *Abbas el-Akkad, Egyptian writer *Abdulrahman Akkad, Syrian LGBT act ...

” — “Beloved of the god Enlil and the goddess

Ninisina Ninisina ( Sumerian: "Mistress of Isin") was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as the tutelary deity of the city of Isin. She was considered a healing deity. She was believed to be skilled in the medical arts, and could be described as a divine ph ...

” — “Lord of his Land”, but not “King of Isin” (a title which was not claimed by a ruler of Isin until the later reign of

Ishme-Dagan Ishme-Dagan ( akk, , Diš-me- Dda-gan, ''Išme-Dagān''; ''fl.'' ''c.'' 1889 BC — ''c.'' 1871 BC by the short chronology of the ancient near east) was the 4th king of the First Dynasty of Isin, according to the "''Sumerian King List''" (''SK ...

). Shu-Ilishu did, however, rebuild the walls of his capital city Isin. He was a great benefactor of Ur (beginning the restoration which was to continue through his successors Iddin-Dagān and Išme-Dagan). Shu-Ilishu built a monumental gateway and recovered an idol representing Ur's patron deity (Nanna, god of the moon) which had been expropriated by the Elamites when they sacked the city, but whether he obtained it either through diplomacy or conflict is unknown. An inscription told of the city's resettlement: “He established for him when he established in Ur the people scattered as far as Anšan in their abode.” 4.1.2.2. The “

Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur The Lament for Ur, or Lamentation over the city of Ur is a Sumerian lament composed around the time of the fall of Ur to the Elamites and the end of the city's third dynasty (c. 2000 BC). Laments It contains one of five known Mesopotamian " ...

” was composed around this time to explain the catastrophe, to call for its reconstruction and to protect the restorers from the curses attached to the ruins of the é.dub.lá.maḫ. Shu-Ilishu commemorated the fashioning of a great emblem for Nanna, an exalted throne for An, a

dais A dais or daïs ( or , American English also but sometimes considered nonstandard)dais
in the Random House Dictionary< ...

for Ninisin, a magur-boat(boat with highly raised Stern and prow) for

Ninurta , image= Cropped Image of Carving Showing the Mesopotamian God Ninurta.png , caption= Assyrian stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu, showing the god with his thunderbolts pursuing Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from En ...

, and a dais for

Ningal Ningal ( Sumerian: "Great Queen"), also known as Nikkal in Akkadian, was a Mesopotamian goddess of Sumerian origin regarded as the wife of the moon god, Nanna/Sin. She was particularly closely associated with his main cult centers, Ur and Harran, ...

in year names for Shu-Ilishu's reign. An adab (or hymn) to

Nergal Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; la, Nirgal) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations under indicating hi ...

Tablets CBS 14074, Ni 2482 and N 2833. was composed in honor of Shu-Ilishu, together with an adab of An and perhaps a 3rd addressed to himself. The archive of a craft workshop (or giš-kin-ti) from Isin has been uncovered with 920 texts dating from Ishbi-Erra year 4 through to Shu-Ilishu year 3 — a period of 33 years. The tablets are records of receipts and disbursements of the leather goods, furniture, baskets, mats, and felt goods that were manufactured along with their raw materials. A 2nd archive (a receipt of cereal and issue of bread from a bakery, possibly connected to the temple of Enlil in Nippur) included an accounting recordTablet UM 55-21-125, University Museum, Philadelphia. of expenditures of bread for the provision of the king and includes entries dated to his 2nd through 9th years which was used by Steele to determine the sequence of most of this king's year-names.

Inscriptions

Notes

References

External links

Šu-ilišu year-names at CDLI.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shu-ilishu Amorite kings 20th-century BC Sumerian kings Dynasty of Isin 20th-century BC people

Biography

See also

Inscriptions

Notes

References

External links