Kār-Kaššî was first mentioned as ''Karkasia'', a
Median
The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...
settlement paying tribute to
Assyrian king
Shalmaneser II
Shalmaneser II (Salmānu-ašarēd II, inscribed mdSILIM''-ma-nu-''MAŠ/SAG, meaning "Being peaceful is foremost") was the king of Assyria in 1030–1019 BC, the 93rd to appear on the ''Khorsabad'' copy''Khorsabad Kinglist'', tablet IM 60017 (excava ...
(1030–1019 BCE).
[: "Les expressions textuelles ne disent pas comme je l'ai cru que Kashtaritu était un chef gimirrien, ni que la ville de Karkashshi se trouvait sur le territoire des Gimir. J'ai trouvé dernièrement la vraie position de cette ville. Elle est mentionnée, sous la forme peu différente de ''Garkasia'', dans la liste des villes médiques qui ont payé tribut à Salmanassar II. Ce fait explique très naturellement le caractère visiblement iranien du chef.] Kār-Kaššî was later mentioned in tablets found in
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 ...
, dating from the 7th-century BCE. During the 670s BCE, it was in the possession of Median chieftain,
Kaštaritu.
[: "KASHTARITI (kaš-ta-ri-ti, the Old Iranian Khshathrita), a city lord of Karkashshi which was located in the Central Zagros mountains."]
In an article for the ''
Journal asiatique
The ''Journal asiatique'' (; full earlier title ''Journal Asiatique ou Recueil de Mémoires, d'Extraits et de Notices relatifs à l'Histoire, à la Philosophie, aux Langues et à la Littérature des Peuples Orientaux'') is a biannual peer-reviewed ...
'' in 1880,
Joseph Halévy
__NOTOC__
Joseph Halévy (15 December 1827, in Adrianople – 21 January 1917, in Paris) was an Ottoman born Jewish-French Orientalist and traveller.
His most notable work was done in Yemen, which he crossed during 1869 to 1870 in search of Sa ...
proposed that Kār-Kaššî was located in Karkathiokertha (Karkasiokertha) in
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
. However, he later withdrew his interpretation.
[: "Karkashshi had been identified with Karkathiokertha or Karkasiokertha in Armenia, by Halévy (''Journal Asiatique'', vol. xv. 1880, pp. 530, 531), who later on withdrew this interpretation (''Recherches Bibliques'', pp. 321, 325): the site is unknown, but the list of Median princes subdued by Sargon (Winckler, ''Die Keilschrifttexte Sargons'', vol. ii. pl. 44 B) shows that it was situated in Media"] It is now generally believed that Kār-Kaššî was located in Media, within the Central
Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains are a mountain range in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. The mountain range has a total length of . The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of s ...
(present-day
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
). Kār-Kaššî may have been presumably located near modern-day
Karkasheh.
References
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Medes