Samsu-ditāna, inscribed phonetically 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-sh ...

''sa-am-su-di-ta-na'' in the seals of his servants, the 11th and last king of the

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 la ...

or First Dynasty of Babylon, reigned for 31 years,BM 33332 Babylonian King List A i 2.BM 38122 Babylonian King List B II. 1625 – 1595 BC (

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 ...

) or 1562 – 1531 BC ( Short Chronology). His reign is best known for its demise with the sudden fall of Babylon at the hands of the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...

History

He was the great great grandson of

Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian: ; ) was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from to BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered Elam and the city-states ...

and, although the Babylonian kingdom had shrunk considerably since its peak under this illustrious ancestor, it still extended north from Babylon and the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

to Mari and

Terqa Terqa is the name of an ancient city discovered at the site of Tell Ashara on the banks of the middle Euphrates in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria, approximately from the modern border with Iraq and north of the ancient site of Mari, Syria. ...

. For the most part, he appears to have been non-belligerent and content to stay at home at the seat of his kingdom as none of his year names describe the waging of war or the building of monumental edifices. They are about pious gifts to the gods and the erection of statues dedicated to himself. None of his inscriptions have survived. A royal epic of Gulkišar, the 6th king of the 2nd Dynasty of Babylon, the Sealand Dynasty, describes his enmity against Samsu-ditāna. Samsu-ditāna apparently feared an attack as evidenced in extant ''tamitu'' texts, oracle questions addressed to the gods

Šamaš 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. ...

and

Adad Hadad ( uga, ), Haddad, Adad ( Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm and rain god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions. He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. ...

, which name seven “rebel” enemies. However, he was powerless to prevent it, as the Babylonian state was in decay, with offices becoming hereditary, usurping royal prerogative, and payments accepted in lieu of military service to fund the bloated bureaucracy. The eventual coup-de-grace came from an unexpected quarter and his reign was brought to an abrupt end by a raid by the Hittite king, Muršili I in 1595 BC (Middle Chronology), 1531 BC (Short Chronology), which resulted in the sacking and complete devastation of Babylon. The Chronicle of Early KingsChronicle of early kings (ABC 20) tablet BM 96152, reverse, line 11: ana tar-ṣi ^mŠamaš-di-ta-na ^kurḪat-tu-ú ana ^kurAkkadi^ki lllik-ma tersely reported: “At the time of Samsu-ditāna, the Hittites marched against Akkad.” Muršili conquered just to seize loot and captives, without attempting any lasting occupation, a strategy he had previously employed in his opportunistic putsch against Halpa (ancient Aleppo). The Hittite account appears in the Edict of Telepinu, which relates: “Subsequently he marched to Babylon and he destroyed Babylon, and defeated the

Hurrian The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...

troops, and brought captives and possessions of Babylon to

Hattusa Hattusa (also Ḫattuša or Hattusas ; Hittite: URU''Ḫa-at-tu-ša'', Turkish: Hattuşaş , Hattic: Hattush) was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of ...

.”Edict of Telepinu (CTH19), KBo 3.1, KBo 7.15, KBo 12.4. He seized the statues of the Babylonian tutelary deity Marduk and his consort Sarpatinum and transported them to Ḫani where they would not be recovered until the reign of the

Kassite 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 Babylon ...

king Agum-Kakrime some 24 years later. Babylon was left in ruins and was not reoccupied until the advent of the Kassite dynasty, where documents from Tell Muḥammad are dated by the number of years after it was resettled for the reign of Šipta'ulzi.

Inscriptions

References

External links

Samsu-ditāna year-names at CDLI.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samsu-ditana 16th-century BC Babylonian kings First dynasty of Babylon