LULLUBI
Towards
the end of the Sumerian period in ancient Mesopotamia, Sargon the
Great created an Akkadian empire which truly unified Sumer and Akkad
administratively for the first time ever. A military victory which
was won by his grandson, Naram-Sin, was immortalised on a stele
of pink limestone that is now exhibited at the Louvre Museum in
Paris. On it, Naram-Sin is depicted triumphing over a people of
the Zagros Mountains who were termed the Lullubi (or Lulubi). In
the exclusively Mesopotamian sources that are available today, the
Lullubi are depicted as 'barbarians', living a secluded life in
the mountains. Until recently little more has been known about them
other than that and other brief descriptions.
That
changed over the course of six excavation campaigns that were conducted
between 2012-2018. Archaeologists unearthed traces of an unexpected
find in modern Kurdistan in northern Iraq - an ancient city at the
site of Kunara. The city is located on the outskirts of the Zagros
Mountains, on two small hills overlooking the right bank of a branch
of the River Tanjaro, approximately five kilometres to the south-west
of the city of Sulaimani (the modern day cultural capital of Iraqi
Kurdistan). Previous excavations here were greatly hindered, first
by Saddam Hussein and then by years of regional conflict. Only in
the second decade of the twenty-first century have dealings with
officialdom become much warmer and more productive.
The
discovery at Kunara shone a new light on the indigenous pre-Indo-Iranian
Lullubi. Archaeologists have theorised that the city may even have
been the capital of the Lullubi, which if confirmed would create
a whole new scope for their history. Far from living isolated from
the ancient world, the inhabitants of Kunara built a thriving economy
on agriculture, but then expanded into maintaining commercial relations
with very distant regions both in the east (towards the Iranian
plateau with its still poorly-researched city states) and in the
north (toward the city states of Anatolia (such as Hattusa) and
the Caucasus). They had writing in the form of cuneiform, and left
some tablets at Kunara to describe some of their business dealings.
The Lullubi in general, though, may not have been an identifiable
ethnic grouping. The name very quickly came to mean 'highlander'
thanks to the local terrain and may have encompassed various groups.
(Information
by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Hethitsches Etymologisches
Glossar, Johann Tischler (Vols 5 & 6, 1977-2001, in German),
from The Cambridge Ancient History, edited by I E S Edwards, from
Babylonian & Oriental Record (Vol 8, Issue 2 to Vol 9, Issue
2, 1886-1901), and from External Links: Historical 4,000-year-old
lost city discovered in Iraqi Kurdistan (Ekurd Daily), and Encyclopaedia
Iranica.)
c.2250
- 2220 BC :
Uz is claimed
as the first-born son of Aram, who himself is the son of Shem
in the genealogy of nations descended from Noah, ancestor of the
Israelites. The Sumerian myth of Ziusudra exists in a single copy,
the fragmentary Eridu Genesis, which is datable by its script
to the seventeenth century BC (it may be this version which was
adapted in Babylon from earlier sources, and was then rewritten
for the Old Testament, compiled in the sixth century BC). It is
the Old Testament version which confirms Noah as a revised Ziusudra,
with the flood event itself being tentatively dated to 2900-2750
BC. Aram is a founder figure for Damas itself, as witnessed by
the use of the name Aram Damascus in first millennium BC records.
The
mysterious four thousand year-old lost city that was discovered
on the site of Kunara, near Sulaimani city in Iraqi Kurdistan
is thought to be a city of the Lullubi, an equally mysterious
people of northern Mesopotamia
The
title of ensi found on certain clay tablets in Kunara signifies
both 'king' and 'governor'. Its mention in addition to that of the
title of sukkal - a senior state dignitary - evokes a political
administration that is based on the Mesopotamian model. Could this
be a simple borrowing from its powerful neighbour, the Akkadian
empire, or a mark of submission to that empire.
fl
c.2240s? BC :
Sidur
: Prince of the Lullubi. Defeated by Naram-Sin.
fl
c.2240s? BC :
Satuni
/ Sutuni : Prince of the Lullubi. Defeated
by Naram-Sin.
It
is around this time that Naram-Sin conquers Kunara and the Lullubi
themselves of the region of 'Lulubum', as shown by his victory steles.
Two princes of the Lullubi are named as being defeated by Naram-Sin,
but this is their only mention in history.
c.2210s
- 2193 BC :
The
Gutians sweep through southern Mesopotamia and overthrow both Elam
and the Akkadian empire, either during Naram-Sin's reign or that
of his son, ending Sumerian/Akkadian domination of the region. However,
the Gutians have already taken over as the dominant force over the
Lullubi, as it is against them that the Lullubi rebel.
fl
c.2210s? BC :
Anubanini
: 'Mighty king of Lullubium'. Rebelled against the Gutians.
Anubanini is a contemporary of Iddin-Sin of Simurrum. Together they
rebel against the Gutian control of Eridu-pizir, presumably regaining
the independence of both peoples. Anubanini is best-known for his
'Anubanini petroglyph', a rock relief in the modern Kermanshah province
of Iraq. Lullubi rock reliefs are amongst the oldest in the region,
even predating those of Elam.
![](Lullubi_Kunara02_full.jpg)
The
first cuneiform tablets to be discovered during the Kunara excavation
is shown here, recording the very everyday delivery of different
types of flour
It
would seem that, under Anubanini, the Lullubi become regionally
powerful for a short time, raiding as far as the Persian Gulf and
Elam. Classifying Anubanini himself as Lullubi, however, cannot
be confirmed. Around the same time both Sumer and Egypt endure a
short (climate-induced) dark age at this time which lasts for at
least a century. The Lullubi probably retain their independence
during this period.
c.2100s
BC :
In
the north the Hurrians are already arising as a notably separate
group which is beginning to dominate the upper Tigris Valley and
the upper Euphrates. Immashku, king of Lulu, is recorded in an historical-mythological
fragment from Bo?azköy. This fragment stems from the Hurrian
tradition which states that there are several Lullubian kings at
the same time, presumably with a great king (a king of kings) controlling
several chieftains (who are also termed kings).
Immashku
: Over-king of the Lullubi? No dating available.
c.2000s
BC :
The Lullubi continue to crop up in the historical record. Their
cities are raided at least nine times by Shulgi of Ur in the middle
years of the 2000s. It would seem that the last raid at least turns
into domination or conquest. Shulgi's son, Amar-Sin, has Lullubians
forming a contingent in his armies.
Little
else is known of the Lullubians (or more often at this time the
Lullu of Lullim). Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon claims to subdue them
in the 1100s. To the east of Kunara, the Assyrians are still a minor
power, but in time they will rise to dominate all of northern Mesopotamia,
which includes Kunara. Their king, Tiglath-Pileser I, also claims
to subdue the Lullubians (somewhere close to 1100 BC), after which
they are subsumed within the Assyrian empire and disappear as an
individual people. Their region of Lullubium, though, is still subject
to Assyrian actions when suppressing revolts (notably in 881 BC).
![](Persia_CyrusGreat_01_full.jpg)
Cyrus
the Great freed the Indo-Iranian Parsua people from Median domination
to establish a nation that is recognisable to this day, but did
he also destroy a possible renewed independence of the Lullubians?
It
could be the Lullubians who are mentioned in connection with the
Persian conquests of Cyrus the Great around 547 BC. Cyrus moves
his army to the Tigris, below Arbela (which is probably today's
Erbil, a short way to the east of the modern flow of the Tigris).
He marches against the land of Lu-[?], and kills [?], its king,
before taking booty, and setting up a garrison there. Unfortunately
the name of the land is not quite legible. Various guesses have
been taken, and the location of Erbil on the western edge of the
Zagros Mountains makes it possible that the people are the Lullubians,
seemingly with a restored independent kingship.
Source
:
https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/
KingListsMiddEast/
MesopotamiaLullubi.htm