Abī-Ešuḫ (variants: ^m''a-bi-ši'',''Chronicle of Early Kings'', (ABC 20), Tablet B, reverse, lines 8 to 10. "Abiši", ^m''E-bi-šum'',''Babylonian King List B'', obverse line 8. "Ebišum") was the 8th king of the 1st Dynasty of

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 reigned for 28 years from ca. 1648–1620 BC (

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 1711–1684 BC ( middle chronology). He was preceded by Samsu-iluna, who was his father.

Biography

His exuberant titles included, “descendant of

Sumu-la-El Sumu-la-El (also Sumulael or Sumu-la-ilu) was a King in the First Dynasty of Babylon The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dy ...

, princely heir of Samsu-iluna, eternal seed of kingship, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, king who makes the four quarters be at peace.” This was presumably achieved by his two aggressive military campaigns. His fourth year-name records that he subdued the army of the

Kassites The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology). They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylo ...

.Tablet BM 16998. The Chronicle of Early Kings recalls his damming of the Tigris in a vain attempt to capture Ilum-ma-ilī, the founder of the

Sealand Dynasty The First Sealand dynasty, (URU.KÙKIWhere ŠEŠ-ḪA of King List A and ŠEŠ-KÙ-KI of King List B are read as URU.KÙ.KI) or the 2nd Dynasty of Babylon (although it was independent of Amorite-ruled Babylon), very speculatively c. 1732–1460 B ...

. A clay cylinder fragmentAsh. 1924.616. from Kiš is tentatively assigned to this king because the events it commemorates coincide with three of his year-names. It mentions the

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 ...

river (year “o” the damming of the Tigris), the Tigris gate (year “m” the ''ká-gal-i''₇''idigna''), the fashioning of a mace for

Marduk Marduk (Cuneiform: dAMAR.UTU; Sumerian: ''amar utu.k'' "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) was a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon. When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of ...

(year “g”) and digging of the Zubi canal (year “I”). He is described as “the great champion” in his son,

Ammi-Ditana Ammi-Ditana was a king of Babylon who reigned from 1683–1640s BC. He was preceded by Abi-Eshuh. Year-names survive for the first 37 years of his reign, plus fragments for a few possible additional years. His reign was a largely peaceful one; he ...

's inscription,Late Babylon copy on a tablet, BM 38308. and in the genealogy of his descendant Ammī-ṣaduqa. The

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 ...

ites under their king Kutir-nahhunte I raided into Babylonia early in his reign and sacked 30 cities. Two copies of a building inscriptionTablets BM 38446 and BM 55472 + 40125. commemorate his construction activities at Luḫaia, a town founded by Ḫammu-rāpi on the Araḫtum canal to the north of Babylon. A single inscription exists found on an onyx eye stone dedicated to the goddess Ningal.Eyestone, Ash. 1922.293. He is richly attested in the cylinder seal impressions of his minions with oneOn tablet MLC 2239 dated to year 20 of Ammī-ditāna, at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

. of his servant, Lamānum, son of Bēl-kulla, anotherOn tablets YBC 8385 and YBC 5885 dated to Abī-Ešuḫ’s years “m” and “y,” at Yale. of Luštāmar-Adad, son of Mār-Sipparim, anotherOn tablet MLC 1539, at Yale. of Nabi’um-an asa son of Ilšu-ib īšu anotherOn tablet UMM 36, in the University Museum of Manchester. … son of Awīl-…, anotherCylinder seal VA 3242, in Berlin. Ilšu-nāṣir, diviner, son of Marduk-nāṣir, another a copyCylinder seal BM 89101, in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Iddin-Šamaš, sanga priest of 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 ...

, son of Ku-Ninisina, and anotherCylinder seal in the Lands of the Bible Archaeology Foundation. overseer of the merchants, Sīn-iddina son of Šērum-bān The ''Uruk List of Kings and Sages''W 20030,7 the Seleucid ''List of Sages and Scholars,'' recovered from Anu’s Bīt Rēš temple during the 1959/60 excavation. records that “during the reign of Abī-ešuḫ, the king, Gimil-Gula and Taqis-Gula were the scholars.”.

Inscriptions

References

External links

Abī-Ešuḫ year-names at CDLI.A hymn to Marduk for Abī-Ešuḫ at ETCSL.A praise poem of Abī-Ešuḫ at ETCSL.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abi-Eshuh 17th-century BC Babylonian kings First dynasty of Babylon