Bit-Zamani is an ancient

Aramean The Arameans, or Aramaeans (; ; , ), were a tribal Semitic people in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of Aram, originally covered ce ...

state in northern

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

, located within the mountainous region of

Tur Abdin Tur Abdin (; ; ; or ) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the Syria–Turkey border, border with Syria and famed since Late Antiquity for ...

. In Bit-Zamani was the city of

Amida Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of: ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Ro ...

(Amedu, modern

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

). It was one of the four Aramean states that bordered

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

. The others were

Bit-Halupe Bit-Ḫalupe, an ancient Aramean state in eastern Syria, located within the triangular area formed by the confluence of the Khabur River with the Euphrates River. It was one of the four Aramean states that bordered Assyria. The others were Bit-Za ...

Bit Bahiani Bit Baḫiani was an independent Aramean city-state kingdom (c. 1200 – 808 BC) with its capital at ''Guzana'' (modern day Tell Halaf). Bit Baḫiani was ruled by King Kapara. There were at least five kings and four governors of Bit Baḫiani b ...

and Laqe. By the ninth century BC all of them lost to Assyria.

History

Late Bronze

The first time Bit-Zamani named was in Middle Assyrian texts from the beginning of the 13th century BC, originating in the city of Shibaniba (modern Tell Billa), in which Ashur-kashid, governor of Bit-Zamani was mentioned.

Iron Age

Then Bit-Zamani appears only in Neo-Assyrian sources from the beginning of the ninth century BC, from the reign of Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta II (890–884 BC). The king was victorious over Ammi-Ba'al, the king of Bit-Zamani, and then entered into a treaty with him, as a result of which Bit-Zamani became an ally, and in fact a vassal of Assyria. Ammi-Ba'al remained in power, but from that moment on, he had to support Tukulti-Ninurta II during his military expeditions to the Upper

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern 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 Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

against the

Hurrians The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria, upper Mesopotamia and southeaste ...

and

Urartians Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom centered around the Armenian highlands between Lake Van, Lake Urmia, and Lake Sevan. The territory of the ancient kingdom of Urartu extended over the modern frontiers of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia.Kleiss, Wo ...

in Nairi. During the reign of

Ashurnasirpal II Ashur-nasir-pal II (transliteration: ''Aššur-nāṣir-apli'', meaning " Ashur is guardian of the heir") was the third king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 883 to 859 BC. Ashurnasirpal II succeeded his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II. His son and s ...

(883–859 BC), son and successor Tukulti-Ninurta II, Ammi-Ba'al was murdered in 879 BC during a rebellion, which amounted to the throne Bit-Zamani named Bur-Ramman. This was met with the quick reaction from Ashurnasirpal II, who invaded Bit-Zamani, chased rebellion and killed their leader. The Assyrian king appointed Ilan, Bur-Ramman's brother, on the throne of Bit-Zamani. At first he remained obedient to the Assyrian king, but later rebelled against him, forcing Ashurnasirpal II to another expedition to Bit-Zamani in 866 BC. He attacked Ilan's stronghold Damdammusa then the capital Amedu. The result of this expedition is not known, but it appears that Bit-Zamani remained a vassal of Assyria. In 856 BC,

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations o ...

(858–824 BC), son and successor of Ashurnasirpal II, during one of his military expeditions, took over Bit-Zamani and annexed the territory of this state to one of the Assyrian provinces (titled Rabshakeh). Bit-Zamani was later known under different names as province Amedu, Nairi, Sinabu or Tushhan. For example, at the end of the seventh century BC one of Assyrian officials (

Limmu : In the history of Assyria, Limmu was an Assyrian eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic'' ...

), Bel-iqbi mentioned in some of the sources as Governor of Bit-Zamani, while in others as Governor of Tushhan.

Rulers

*Amme-ba’li (under Assurnasirpal II) *Ilanu (under Assurnasirpal II)

Territory

*Damdammusa a fortified city Assurnasirpal II takes before attacking Amedi. * Amedi a capital city of Ilanu. * Sinabu *Tidu *Tušhan

References

{{reflist Ancient Syria Aramean states States and territories established in the 13th century BC States and territories disestablished in the 9th century BC