APUM
/ ABUM
Apum
/ Abum (City State of Shehna) :
Apum
developed as one of the more early larger states in Syria and northern
Mesopotamia which encompassed more than one city and operated more
on the basis of a small kingdom. Apum's capital was at Shehna (or
Shekhna, modern Tell Leilan) in the lush pastureland of the Khabur
Valley. The site was first built up around 2600 BC when it was expanded
from a farming village. Dominance under the Akkadian empire followed,
but severe drought around 2200 BC led to it being abandoned for
about three hundred years. At its height in the eighteenth century
BC, Apum controlled the eastern part of the Khabur/Habur Basin,
extending its control beyond Hamoukar, a vacant non-participant
in the Amorite population. The city, however, remained a 'hollow
capital', filled only sparsely with elaborately decorated administrative
buildings, such as the Acropolis temples.
(There
was also an area around Damascus in modern Syria known as Apum in
the first half of the second millennium BC and the two should not
be confused, even though popular theory for a time assigned the
kings mentioned in the Mari letters to Damascus. In fact, there
is no known reference to the Damascene Apum in the Mari letters.)
c.2600
BC :
Apum
is first built up from a farming village into a major town as similar
city states flourish in northern Mesopotamia and Syria.
c.2300
BC :
Northern
Mesopotamia is conquered by the Akkadian empire. The indigenous
rulers of Apum are removed from power.
c.2193
BC :
Abrupt
climate change leads to severe drought. In an event probably related
to this, the Akkadian empire collapses when southern Mesopotamia
is overrun by the Gutians. The drought also forces the abandonment
of Apum, with the last of the buildings being deserted by 2140 BC.
c.1900
BC :
Around
this time, Assyria has a trading centre at Kanesh in Anatolia, with
Apum, recently reinhabited, appearing to play an important role
in the trade route between northern Mesopotamia and Anatolia.
c.1809
- 1776 BC :
Apum
is conquered by Shamshi-Adad and is incorporated into the kingdom
of Upper Mesopotamia. In about 1806 BC, Shehna is taken as the capital
of this new state and is renamed Shubat-Enlil.
Upon
the collapse of the kingdom and the re-establishment of much of
the previous order in northern Mesopotamia, Apum establishes trade
relations with Zimri-Lim of Mari. With one of Shamshi-Adad's officials
retaining control of the city, it probably remains part of Ishme-Dagan's
domains while he rules from Ekallatum.
c.1776
- 1772 BC :
Samija
: One of Shamshi-Adad's officials.
c.1772
- 1762 BC :
Between
them, Samija and Ishme-Dagan can barely hold onto the city. Nearly
every king in the region hopes to conquer it and lay their hands
on Shamshi-Adad's accumulated wealth. For a decade from 1772 BC
no king is able to hold onto the city for long, with six different
rulers controlling it for short periods. The first three appear
to be vassals of Qarni-Lim of Andarig. Haya-abum and Zuzu are both
mentioned in Mari's archives, but Zuzu only holds onto the city
for a number of months before his death. Initially constructed under
Shamshi-Adad, the Northern Lower Town Palace in Apum is also associated
with Qarni-Lim and is probably used by him as his 'embassy' when
he visits the town - making it the earliest-known embassy.
![](Apum_TellLeilan_Palace01_full.jpg)
The
palace of Qarni-Lim at Tell Leilan displays the Andariq king's domination
of the city
c.1770?
- 1765 BC :
The
city falls under the control of Elam as the most powerful of its
occupiers.
c.1765
- 1761 BC :
A
decade after Shamshi-Adad's death, Atamrum of Andarig seizes the
city back from Elam, probably violently, as evidenced by ashy deposits
and burnt floors in Levels 3 and 4 of the Eastern Lower Town Palace.
His successor, Himdija, continues to control the city, probably
also rebuilding the palace (Level 2).
c.1761
- 1750 BC :
There
is a gap in the city's records, but by 1750 BC the political chaos
engulfing Apum seems to abate. Records found in the Eastern Lower
Town Palace document the final three rulers of the city, probably
all members of one family, relatives of one Dari-epuh, who may or
may not himself have ruled before them and may have been the one
who seized (or freed) the city and managed to hold onto it. By this
time, Apum's territory is a small part of the Khabur Plains, and
campaigns are conducted to the south and east. While Mutija is on
the throne, his two nephews hold positions of authority on the borders
of the state, in a form of governance that resembles that of Shamshi-Adad's.
Dari-epuh
:
Ruled?
fl
c.1750 BC :
Mutija
: Brother
of Dari-epuh.
Till-abnu
/ Til-abnu :
Son of Dari-epuh.
Till-abnu
renews a treaty with traders from Assur, who live in their own colony
within the town (after having been thrown out during the Elamite
occupation).
?
- c.1728/27 BC :
Yakun-ashar
/ Iakun-asar / Jakun-asar :
Brother. (Considered by some as a possible usurper.)
c.1728/27
BC :
The
thriving city is sacked by Samsu-iluna of Babylon in the twenty-third
year of his reign, and Yakun-ashar is killed. The city never recovers.
Temporary settlers build ovens, a brick platform, and a few fragmentary
walls on top of the ruins of the Eastern Lower Town Palace (Level
1), before the site is abandoned completely around 1700 BC.
c.1595
BC :
In
the political collapse which follows the Hittite destruction of
Alep and the sacking of Babylon, the region suffers further decline.
By the end of the century it is part of the Mitanni state which
unifies much of northern Mesopotamia.
Source
:
https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/
KingListsMiddEast/Mesopotamia
Apum.htm