Mari Eponym Chronicles(MEC) are the oldest assyrian eponym chronicles compiled at Mari in the 18th century BC, covering the years before and during the reign of

Shamshi-Adad I Shamshi-Adad (; Amorite: ''Shamshi-Addu''), ruled 1813–1776 BC, was an Amorite warlord and conqueror who had conquered lands across much of Syria, Anatolia, and Upper Mesopotamia.Some of the Mari letters addressed to Shamsi-Adad by his son ca ...

.The chronicles are important sources for the

chronology of the Ancient Near East 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 ...

, which list at least one notable event per year under the name of a ruling official.The chronicles are extant in eleven fragments excavated at the

Royal Palace of Mari The Royal Palace of Mari was the royal residence of the rulers of the ancient kingdom of Mari in eastern Syria. Situated centrally amidst Syria, Babylon, Levant, and other Mesopotamian city-states, Mari acted as the “middle-man” to these larg ...

and was first edited by M. Birot in 1985. Michel (2002) proposed the identification of a solar eclipse mentioned in the Mari Eponym Chronicle (in the year eponymous of Puzur-Ishtar) as occurring on 24 June 1833 BC.C. Michel, "Nouvelles données pour la chronologie du IIe millénaire", ''Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires'', 2002, issue 1, note 20, pages 17-18

According to

Werner Nahm Werner Nahm (; born 21 March 1949) is a German theoretical physicist. He has made contributions to mathematical physics and fundamental theoretical physics. Life and work Werner Nahm attended Gymnasium Philippinum Weilburg. After high sch ...

(2014), this would date the beginning of the reign of

Hammurabi Hammurabi (; ; ), also spelled Hammurapi, 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 the ci ...

to 1784 BC (close to the date of 1792 BC according to the

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 ...

References

*M Birot, "Les chroniques 'Assyriennes' de Mari", ''MARI'' 4 (1985), 219–242. *Rafal Kolinski, "The Mari Eponym Chronicle: Reconstruction of the Lay-Out of the Text and the Placement of Fragment C", '' Anatolica'' 41 (2015), 61–86. *A. Millard
"The Eponyms of the Assyrian Empire 910-612 BC"
Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project (1994) 18th-century BC literature 1985 archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in Mari, Syria Middle Eastern chronicles Chronology Assyriology {{ANE-stub

See also

References