Yahdunlim (or ''Yakhdunlim, Yahdun-Lim'') was the king of
Mari probably in 1820—1796 BC. He was of
Amorite
The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the Levant who also occupied lar ...
origin, and became king after the death of his father
Iagitlim
Iagitlim was king of Mari, Syria during the 19th century BC. He was probably of Amorite origin. Little is known about his reign except that he came into conflict with his neighbour Ila-kabkabu of Terqa after the two had first been allies. Iagitli ...
. Yahdunlim built Mari up to become one of the major powers of the region. He led a successful campaign to the coast of the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
.
Reign
![Goddess of the vase, Mari,18th century BCE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Goddess_of_the_vase%2C_Mari%2C18th_century_BCE.jpg)
Yahdun-Lim started his reign by subduing seven of his rebelling tribal leaders, and rebuilding the walls of Mari and Terqa in addition to building a new fort which he named Dur-Yahdun-Lim.
Yahdun-Lim's kingdom was threatened by incursions from various
nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
tribes, such as the
Canaanites
{{Cat main, Canaan
See also:
* :Ancient Israel and Judah
Ancient Levant
Hebrew Bible nations
Ancient Lebanon
0050
Ancient Syria
Wikipedia categories named after regions
0050
Phoenicia
Amarna Age civilizations ...
, but he was able to subjugate them and force them to pay
tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...
. After having established internal peace, he built a temple to the
god
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
Shamash
Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...
.
He then expanded west and claimed to have reached the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, however he later had to face a rebellion by the ''Banu-Yamina'' nomads who were centered at
Tuttul
The Bronze Age town of Tuttul is identified with the archaeological site of Tell Bi'a in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria. Tell Bi'a is located near the modern city of Raqqa and the confluence of the rivers Balikh and Euphrates.
History
During ...
, and the rebels were supported by
Yamhad
Yamhad was an ancient Semitic kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo), Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC, and was ruled by the Yamhadite dynasty kings, who counted on both military and diplomacy to expand their realm. ...
's king
Sumu-Epuh
Sumu-Epuh (reigned Middle chronology) is the first attested king of Yamhad (Halab). He founded the Yamhad dynasty which controlled northern Syria throughout the 17th and 18th centuries BC.
Reign
Although Sumu-Epuh's early life or the way he asce ...
, whose interests were threatened by the recently established alliance between Yahdun-Lim and
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 ...
. Yahdun-Lim defeated the Yamina but an open war with Yamhad was avoided.
Shamshi-Adad I
Yahdun-Lim then became occupied by his rivalry 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 ...
of
Shubat-Enlil
Tell Leilan is an archaeological site situated near the Wadi Jarrah in the Khabur River basin in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. The site has been occupied since the 5th millennium BC. During the late third millennium, the site was ...
, the son of the late
Ila-kabkabu The Amorite name Ila-kabkabu appears twice in the Assyrian King List:
* Ila-kabkabu ( akk, 𒀭𒆏𒅗𒁉, ILA-KAB-ka-bi) appears within the Assyrian King List among the “kings whose fathers are known” (alongside both: Ila-kabkabu's father a ...
.
He received pleas for help from kings threatened by Shamshi-Adad's expansionist plans. But before Yahdunlim could move against Shamshi-Adad, he was assassinated in c. 1798 BC by his possible son
Sumu-Yamam, who himself got assassinated two years after ascending the throne.
But according to William J. Hamblin, Yahdun-Lim was killed in a battle with Shamshi-Adad ca 1796 BC. Shamshi-Adad then assigned his son
Yasmah-Addu
Yasmah-Adad (Yasmah-Addu, Yasmakh-Adad, Ismah-Adad, Iasmakh-Adad) was the younger son of the Amorite king of Upper Mesopotamia, Shamshi-Adad I. He was put on throne of Mari by his father after a successful military attack following the assassinati ...
to the lordship of Mari.
[ /]
Archived version
/ref>
In the chaos that followed, Shamshi-Adad Shamshi-Adad advanced and annexed Mari. The war ended in a defeat for Mari.
Zimrilim __NOTOC__
Zimri-Lim (Akkadian: ''Zi-im-ri Li-im'') was king of Mari c. 1775–1761 BCE.
Zimri-Lim was the son or grandson of Iakhdunlim, but was forced to flee to Yamhad when his father was assassinated by his own servants during a coup. He ha ...
, Yakhdunlim's son and heir, was forced to flee to Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, image_map1 =
...
, where he would remain as an exile until Shamshi-Adad's death.
Yahdul-Lim
Yahdul-Lim was a king of Carchemish proposed to have reigned between 1764 and 1745 BCE. During this period, the information about Carchemish mostly comes from the archives of Mari, Syria.
Son of Aplahanda, he succeeded his brother Yatar-Ami. Litt ...
of Carchemish may also be sometimes referred to as Yahdun-Lim.
See also
* Royal Palace of Mari
The Royal Palace of Mari was the royal residence of the rulers of the ancient kingdom of Mari in eastern Syria. Situated centrally amidst Palestine, Syria, Babylon, Levant, and other Mesopotamian city-states, Mari acted as the “middle-man” to ...
Notes
Literature
*
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book, title=The Chronology of Ancient Western Asia and Egypt, first=Petrus, last=Van Der Meer, edition=2, publisher=Brill, series=Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui, volume=2, orig-year=1947, year=1955, oclc=4727997
Amorite kings
Kings of Mari
19th-century BC rulers
19th-century BC people