Šarru-lu-dari ( Akkadian: ), meaning "May the king be everlasting") was a king of
Ascalon
Ascalon or Ashkelon was an ancient Near East port city on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant of high historical and archaeological significance. Its remains are located in the archaeological site of Tel Ashkelon, within the city limi ...
during the reign of the
Neo-Assyria
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...
n emperors
Sennacherib
Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...
,
Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (, also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669 BC. The third king of the S ...
, and
Ashurbanipal
Ashurbanipal (, meaning " Ashur is the creator of the heir")—or Osnappar ()—was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BC to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Ashurbanipal inherited the th ...
. His father was named ''
Rukibtu
Rukibtu ( ''ru-ú-kib-tu'') or Rukibti ( ''ru-kib-ti'') ORACC was a king of
...
'', who ruled Ascalon before Šarru-lu-dari's predecessor, the rebellious king
Sidqa
Ṣidqa (Philistine language, Philistine: 𐤑𐤃𐤒𐤀 *''Ṣīdqāʾ''; Akkadian language, Akkadian: ) was a king of Ascalon in the 8th century BC. He, much like Hezekiah, king of the neighboring Kingdom of Judah, rebelled against the Assyria ...
. Though he was implicitly a
Philistine
Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia.
There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...
, his name is uniquely Assyrian.
During Sennacherib's reign, the Levant suffered multiple rebellions against Assyrian rule. Sidqa had incited rebellion in Ascalon, alongside the nobles of
Ekron
Ekron (Philistine: 𐤏𐤒𐤓𐤍 ''*ʿAqārān'', , ), in the Hellenistic period known as Accaron () was at first a Canaanite, and later more famously a Philistine city, one of the five cities of the Philistine Pentapolis, located in pr ...
and
Hezekiah
Hezekiah (; ), or Ezekias (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Kingdom of Judah, Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.Stephen L Harris, Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "G ...
of Judah. Ultimately, Sidqa was defeated after the Assyrians sacked Joppa and the surrounding cities in 701 BC. Following this, Sennacherib removed Sidqa from the throne, and replaced him with Šarru-lu-dari. Šarru-lu-dari was then forced to pay tribute to Sennacherib, as was the standard procedure in Assyria. During the reign of Sennacherib's son, Esarhaddon, Šarru-lu-dari is mentioned alongside the
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
Necho I
Menkheperre Necho I (Egyptian language, Egyptian: Nekau, Ancient Greek, Greek: Νεχώς Α' or Νεχώ Α', Akkadian language, Akkadian: Nikuu. or Nikû.) (? – near Memphis, Egypt, Memphis) was a ruler of the ancient Egyptian city of Sais, E ...
in several highly fragmented correspondences.
During the reign of Esarhaddon,
Mitinti Mitinti (Philistine: 𐤌𐤕𐤕NAVEH, JOSEPH. “Writing and Scripts in Seventh-Century B.C.E. Philistia: The New Evidence from Tell Jemmeh.” Israel Exploration Journal, vol. 35, no. 1, Israel Exploration Society, 1985, pp. 8–21, http://www.j ...
, the son of Sidqa, seemingly replaces Šarru-lu-dari as king of Ascalon. How and why this happened is not entirely clear, though given that Šarru-lu-dari was apparently collaborating with Necho I and is described as the governor of
Pelusium
Pelusium (Ancient Egyptian: ; /, romanized: , or , romanized: ; ; ; ; ) was an important city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, to the southeast of the modern Port Said. It became a Roman provincial capital and Metropolitan arc ...
during the reign of Ashurbanipal, it is possible that he was "reassigned" by Esarhaddon for whatever reason. As for why Mitinti, son of Sidqa, was his replacement, it is possible Esarhaddon placed Mitinti on the throne because he was the son of the previous king, just as his father Sennacherib had placed Šarru-lu-dari on the throne for the same reasons, but the matter of Sidqa's rebellion raises questions as to why his son would have been allowed to ascend the throne. It is also possible that Sidqa and Mitinti were close relatives of Rukibtu and Šarru-lu-dari, as there are no (surviving) indications that Sidqa had usurped the throne from Rukibtu.
During the reign of Esarhaddon's son Ashurbanipal, Šarru-lu-dari is listed among the Assyrian-appointed governors who fled their posts during the conquest of
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
by the
Nubia
Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
n king
Taharqa
Taharqa, also spelled Taharka or Taharqo, Akkadian: ''Tar-qu-ú'', , Manetho's ''Tarakos'', Strabo's ''Tearco''), was a pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and qore (king) of the Kingdom of Kush (present day Sudan) from 690 to 664 BC. ...
, where it is said he controlled the city of ''Ṣinu'', which is probably Pelusium. Afterwards, he, Necho, and another local ruler called ''Pa-qruru'' apparently entered into a treaty with Taharqa to split up the conquered lands amidst themselves, which Ashurbanipal saw as treason. In response, his eunuchs traveled to Egypt and captured both Necho and Šarru-lu-dari, and brought them to
Nineveh
Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
. Šarru-lu-dari was thrown into prison, while Ashurbanipal "had mercy" on Necho, clothing him in extravagant robes and giving him precious metals and jewels.Šarru-lu-dari (RULER OF PELUSIUM) ORACC Šarru-lu-dari likely died in captivity.