Shamshi-Adad ( akk, Šamši-Adad;

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 lar ...

: ''Shamshi-Addu''), ruled 1808–1776 BC, was an

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

and conqueror who had conquered lands across much of Syria,

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...

, and

Upper Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the region has be ...

.Some of the Mari letters addressed to Shamsi-Adad by his son can be found in the Mari Letters section of

Rise

Shamshi-Adad I inherited the throne in Ekallatum from Ila-kabkabu (fl. c. 1836 BC – c. 1833 BC). Ila-kabkabu is mentioned as the father of Shamshi-Adad I in the "

Assyrian King List The king of Assyria (Akkadian: ''Išši'ak Aššur'', later ''šar māt Aššur'') was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, which was founded in the late 21st century BC and fell in the late 7th century BC. For much of its ear ...

" (AKL); a similar name (not necessarily the same figure) is listed in the preceding section of the AKL among the “kings whose fathers are known”. However, Shamshi-Adad I did not inherit the Assyrian throne from his father but was instead a conqueror. Ila-kabkabu had been an Amorite king not of

Assur Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'at ...

(Aššur) (in

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the As ...

) but of Ekallatum. According to the '' Mari Eponyms Chronicle'', Ila-kabkabu seized Shuprum (c. 1790 BC), then Shamshi-Adad I “entered his father's house” (Shamshi-Adad I succeeded Ila-kabkabu as the king of Ekallatum, in the following year.)^:163 Šamši-Adad I had been forced to flee to Babylon (c. 1823 BC) while Narām-Sîn of Eshnunna (fl. c. 1850 BC – c. 1816 BC) had attacked Ekallatum. Shamshi-Adad I had remained in exile until the death of Naram-Sin of Eshnunna (c. 1816 BC.) The AKL records that Shamshi-Adad I "went away to

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state ...

in the time of Naram-Sin". Shamshi-Adad I did not return until retaking Ekallatum, pausing for some time, and then overthrowing King Erishum II of Assur (fl. c. 1818 BC – c. 1809 BC) Shamshi-Adad I conquered Assur and emerged as the first Amorite king of Assyria (c. 1808 BC) Although regarded as an Amorite by later Assyrian tradition, earlier archaeologists assumed that Shamshi-Adad I had indeed been a native Assyrian. Usha was the second last in the section "kings who lived in tents" of the AKL, however; Ushpia has not been confirmed by contemporary artifacts. Ushpia is succeeded on the AKL by his son Apiashal. Apiashal was a

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

of the Early Period of Assyria, according to the AKL. Apiashal is listed within the section of the AKL as the last of whom "altogether seventeen kings, tent dwellers". This section shows marked similarities to the ancestors of the

First Babylonian dynasty The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumer, Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dy ...

. Apiashal is also listed within a section of the AKL as the first of the ten "kings whose fathers are known". This section (which in contrast to the rest of the list) had been written in reverse order—beginning with Aminu and ending with Apiashal "altogether ten kings who are ancestors"—has often been interpreted as the list of ancestors of Shamshi-Adad I. In keeping with this assumption, scholars have inferred that the original form of the AKL had been written (among other things) as an "attempt to justify that Shamshi-Adad I was a legitimate ruler of the city-state Assur and to obscure his non-Assyrian antecedents by incorporating his ancestors into a native Assyrian genealogy". However, this interpretation has not been accepted universally; the '' Cambridge Ancient History'' rejected this interpretation and instead interpreted the section as being that of the ancestors of Sulili.Hildegard Levy, "Assyria c. 2600-1816 BC", ''Cambridge Ancient History. Volume 1, Part 2: Early History of the Middle East'', 729-770, p. 745-746.) In the city-state Assur, Shamshi-Adad I held the title "Governor of Assur". Stone tablets with

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform, early writing system * Akkadian myt ...

inscriptions (formatted in three columns and one hundred and thirty-five lines, from Shamshi-Adad I) have been found near the temple of the god

. Many bricks and objects inside the temple have the inscription "Shamshi-Adad I, Builder of the Temple of Assur" carved into them. In this inscription he claimed to have been "King of the Universe" and "Unifier of the Land Between

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost 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 and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

and Euphrates". He asserted that the king of the Upper Land had paid tribute to him and that he had built the temple of

Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Bab ...

. He outlined the market prices of that time as being one shekel of silver being worth two kors of barley, fifteen minas of wool, or two seahs of oil.

Conquests

Shamshi-Adad I took over the long-abandoned town of Shekhna (today known as

Tell Leilan Tell Leilan is an archaeological site situated near the Wadi Jarrah in the Khabur River basin in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. The site has been occupied since the 5th millennium BC. During the late third millennium, the site was ...

), converted it into the capital city of the

Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia Tell Leilan is an archaeological site situated near the Wadi Jarrah in the Khabur River basin in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. The site has been occupied since the 5th millennium BC. During the late third millennium, the site was k ...

, and then renamed it Šubat-Enlil (meaning "the residence of the god Enlil" in the

Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language th ...

) c. 1808 BC. During his reign, the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia competed for power in

Lower Mesopotamia Lower Mesopotamia is a historical region of Mesopotamia. It's located in the alluvial plain of Iraq from the Hamrin Mountains to the Faw Peninsula near the Persian Gulf. In the Middle Ages it was also known as the '' Sawad'' and al-Jazira al-sf ...

against: King Naram-Sin of Eshnunna (who died c. 1816 BC), Naram-Sin's successors, and Yahdun-Lim of Mari. A main target for expansion was the city of Mari, which controlled the caravan route between

and Mesopotamia. King Yahdun-Lim of Mari (fl. c. 1800 BC – c. 1700 BC) was assassinated by his own servants (possibly on Shamshi-Adad I's orders.) The heir to the throne of Mari,

Zimri-Lim __NOTOC__ Zimri-Lim (Akkadian: ''Zi-im-ri Li-im'') was king of Mari c. 1775–1761 BCE. Zimri-Lim was the son or grandson of Iakhdunlim, but was forced to flee to Yamhad when his father was assassinated by his own servants during a coup. He ha ...

, was forced to flee to

Yamhad Yamhad was an ancient Semitic kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo), Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC, and was ruled by the Yamhadite dynasty kings, who counted on both military and diplomacy to expand their realm. ...

. Shamshi-Adad I seized the opportunity and occupied Mari c. 1796 BC. He placed his sons ( Ishme-Dagan I and Yasmah-Adad) in key geographical locations and gave them responsibility to look over those areas. Shamshi-Adad I put his eldest son (Ishme-Dagan I) on the throne of Ekallatum, while Shamshi-Adad I remained in Šubat-Enlil. Shamshi-Adad I put his second son, Yasmah-Adad, on the throne in Mari. With the annexation of Mari, Shamshi-Adad I had carved out a large empire encompassing much of Syria, Anatolia, and the whole of

(this empire often referred to as either the "

" or the "Upper Mesopotamian Empire".) Shamshi-Adad I proclaimed himself as "King of All" (the title had been used by

Sargon Sargon (Akkadian: ''Šar-ru-gi'', later ''Šarru-kīn'', meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the name of three kings in ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes adopted in modern times as both a given name and a surname. Mesopotamian ...

of the

Akkadian Empire The Akkadian Empire () was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia after the long-lived civilization of Sumer. It was centered in the city of Akkad () and its surrounding region. The empire united Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rul ...

c. 2334 BC – c. 2279 BC). King Dadusha of

Eshnunna Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ...

(fl. c. 1800 BC – c. 1779 BC), made an alliance with Shamshi-Adad I to conquer the area between the two Zab rivers c. 1781 BC. This military campaign of joint forces was commemorated on a victory stele which states that Dadusha gave the lands to Shamshi-Adad I. Shamshi-Adad I later turned against Dadusha by attacking cities including Shaduppum, Nerebtum and

Andarig Andarig or Anderiq was a middle bronze age kingdom in the Sinjar Plain region of northern Mesopotamia, located between the Habur and Tigris river. It is mentioned several times in the documents found in Mari. Andarig was one of the largest and mo ...

. On inscriptions Shamshi-Adad I boasts of erecting triumphal

stelae A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek language, Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ...

on the coast of the Mediterranean, but these probably represent short expeditions rather than any attempts at conquest. His campaigns were meticulously planned, and his army knew all the classic methods of siegecraft, such as encircling ramparts and battering rams. The 5th year name of Dadusha's son and successor, Ibal-pi-el II records the death of Shamshi-Adad.

Family

While Ishme-Dagan I was probably a competent ruler, his brother Yasmah-Adad appears to have been a man of weak character; something the disappointed father (Shamshi-Adad I) was not above mentioning: Shamshi-Adad I wrote in another letter: Shamshi-Adad I clearly kept a firm control on the actions of his sons, as shown in his many letters to them. At one point he arranged a political marriage between Yasmah-Adad to Beltum, the princess of his ally in

Qatna Qatna (modern: ar, تل المشرفة, Tell al-Mishrifeh) (also Tell Misrife or Tell Mishrifeh) was an ancient city located in Homs Governorate, Syria. Its remains constitute a tell situated about northeast of Homs near the village of al ...

. Yasmah-Adad already had a leading wife and had put Beltum in a secondary position of power. Shamshi-Adad I did not approve and forced his son to keep Beltum in the palace in a leading position. Shamshi-Adad I sent a letter on a tablet to Ishi-Addu (Beltum's father, the King of Qatna) in which he discussed their alliance, the attacks of their enemies, and the successful marriage between their children. In it Shamshi-Adad I wrote:

Reign

Shamshi-Adad I was a great organizer and he kept firm controls on all matters of state, from high policy down to the appointing of officials and the dispatching of provisions. Spies and propaganda were often used to win over rival cities. He allowed conquered territories to maintain some of their earlier practices. In

Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern b ...

he used state resources to rebuild the

Ishtar Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in S ...

temple. The local rulers of the city

Qattara The Qattara Depression ( ar, منخفض القطارة, Munḫafaḍ al-Qaṭṭārah) is a depression in northwestern Egypt, specifically in the Matruh Governorate. The depression is part of the Western Desert of Egypt. The Qattara Depressi ...

maintained authority (but became

vassals A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. ...

) when they were incorporated into the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia. User of these Assyrian

Eponym dating system The Eponym dating system was a calendar system for Assyria, for a period of over one thousand years. Every year was associated with the name, an eponym, of the Limmu, the official who led that year's New Year festival. The dating system is thought ...

was enforced throughout the

in cities such as: Mari,

Tuttul The Bronze Age town of Tuttul is identified with the archaeological site of Tell Bi'a in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria. Tell Bi'a is located near the modern city of Raqqa and the confluence of the rivers Balikh and Euphrates. History Durin ...

, Terqa, and the capital city Šubat-Enlil.

Fall

Shamshi-Adad I continued to strengthen his kingdom throughout his life, but as he got older, the state became more vulnerable and the neighboring great powers Yamkhad and

began attacking. The empire lacked cohesion and was in a vulnerable geographical position. Naturally, Shamshi-Adad I's rise to glory earned him the envy of neighboring kings and tribes, and throughout his reign, he and his sons faced several threats to their control. After the death of Shamshi-Adad I, Eshnunna captured cities around Assur. When the news of Shamshi-Adad I's death spread, his old rivals set out to topple his sons from the throne. Yasmah-Adad was soon expelled from Mari by

(fl. c. 1775 BC – c. 1761 BC), and the rest of the empire was eventually lost during the reigns of Išme-Dagān I and Mut-Ashkur, first to a coalition of Mari, Andarig, and Eshnunna, then to another Amorite ruler,

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-state ...

of Babylon (fl. c. 1792 BC – c. 1750 BC)Lewy, Hildegard. “The Historical Background of the Correspondence of Baḫdi-Lim.” Orientalia, vol. 25, no. 4, 1956, pp. 324–52.

References

Sources

*OBO (''Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis'') 160/4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * P. Villard, "Shamshi-Adad and Sons: The Rise of an Upper Mesopotamian Kingdom", in J. M. Sasson (ed.), ''Civilizations of the Ancient Near East'', vol. II, Scribner, New York, 1995, p. 873-883 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shamshi-Adad 01 19th-century BC Assyrian kings 18th-century BC Assyrian kings Amorite kings Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 18th-century BC deaths Kings of the Universe