AMORITES
/ MARUTS
The
Amorites were Aryan people who seem to have emerged from western
Mesopotamia (modern-day Syria) at some point prior to the 3rd millennium
BCE. In Sumerian they were known as the Martu or the Tidnum (in
the Ur III Period), in Akkadian by the name of Amurru, Egypt as
Amar, and in Vedic Aryans as Maruts all of which mean 'westerners'
or 'those of the west', as does the Hebrew name Amorite.
They worshipped their own pantheon of gods with a chief deity named
Amurru (also known as Belu Sadi - 'Lord of the Mountains' whose
wife, Belit-Seri was 'Lady of the Desert'), which also became a
designation for the people as the Akkadians also referred to them
as 'the people of Amurru' and to the region of Syria as 'Amurru'.
There is no record of what the Amorites called themselves.
The
god Amurru's association with the mountains and his wife's with
the desert suggests that they may have originated in the area of
Syria around Mount Hermon, but this is unsubstantiated. From their
first appearance in the historical record, the Amorites had a profound
impact on the history of Mesopotamia and are probably best known
for their kingdom of Babylonia under the Amorite king Hammurabi
(r. 1792-1750 BCE). The span between 2000-1600 BCE in Mesopotamia
is known as the Amorite Period, during which their impact on the
region can most clearly be discerned, but there is no doubt that
they influenced the people of the various cities long before that
time, and their impact was felt long after.
Amorites
grew more powerful as they acquired more land until finally they
directly threatened the stability of those in the established cities
of the region.
This
situation came to crisis during the latter part of the Ur III Period
(also known as the Sumerian Renaissance, 2047-1750 BCE), when King
Shulgi of the Sumerian city of Ur constructed a wall 155 miles (250
kilometers) long specifically to keep the Amorites out of Sumer.
The wall was too long to be properly manned, however, and also presented
the problem of not being anchored at either end to any kind of obstacle;
an invading force could simply walk around the wall to bypass it,
and that seems to be precisely what the Amorites did.
Amorite
incursions led to the weakening of Ur and Sumer as a whole, which
encouraged the region of Elam to mount an invasion and break through
the wall. The sack of Ur by the Elamites in 1750 BCE ended Sumerian
civilization, but this was made possible by the earlier incursions
of the Amorites and their migrations throughout the region which
undermined the stability and trade of the cities.
![](images/qatna.jpg)
Ancient
Syro-Mesopotamia ca. 1764 BCE
This
map shows the political situation in Syro-Mesopotamia c. 1764 BCE.
During this time, the Amorite Kings, Hammurabi of Babylon and Zimri-Lim
of Mari were engaged in near-constant warfare with surrounding polities,
many of whom were also predominantly Amorite. The two kings crushed
powers like Eshnunna and fought back the Elamites. In 1761 BCE,
Babylon is known to have taken control of Mari and its territories,
and the reasons behind this are unclear to this day.
Amorite,
about 2400-2000 BC :
![](images/amoritepottery.jpg)
Amorite,
about 2400 - 2000 BC From the Middle Euphrates region, Syria
This
juglet, with its applied figurine, is pierced at the base and may
have been a strainer. Alternatively it could have been used a sprinkler,
by clamping a thumb over the top when the vessel was filled with
liquid, then withdrawing it gently and so releasing the pressure.
Much
of the Middle Euphrates region now lies beneath the waters of a
lake. Between 1963 and 1973 an international rescue mission excavated
many sites in the area, which was threatened by flooding as a result
of the construction of the Tabqa dam. These excavations revealed
a distinctive regional culture.
During
the period from about 2400 to 2000 BC, northern Mesopotamia and
Syria appear to have been dominated by a number of expanding sites.
Mari on the Euphrates and Ebla (modern Tell Mardikh, south-west
of Aleppo) were among the most important. Over 8000 inscribed clay
tablets discovered at Ebla show close contact with Mari and indicate
that the site wielded extensive political power. Contacts with cities
in the south of Mesopotamia were also significant. At the end of
the third millennium BC King Sargon, or Naram-Sin, who was ruler
of Agade, one of these southern cities, campaigned into the north
and destroyed Ebla, thus changing the balance of power
The
Amorite Period in Mesopotamia :
Following the sack of Ur in 1750 BCE, the Amorites merged with the
Sumerian population in southern Mesopotamia. They had already
been established in the cities of Mari and Ebla in Syria since 1900
BCE (Mari) and 1800 BCE (Ebla) and had ruled in Babylon since c.
1984 BCE. The Amorite king Sin-Muballit had assumed the throne in
Babylon in 1812 BCE and ruled until 1793 BCE when he abdicated.
He was succeeded by his son Ammurapi who is better known by his
Akkadian name Hammurabi. The fact that an Amorite king ruled in
Babylon prior to the fall of Ur supports the claim that not all
'Amorites' were Amorites and that, as previously mentioned, the
term was used rather loosely to refer to any nomadic tribe in the
Near East.
The
Amorites of Babylon seem to have been regarded positively in the
region, while the roaming Amorites continued to be a source of instability.
The Amorites of Babylon, just as those who inhabited other cities,
worshipped Sumerian gods and wrote down Sumerian myths and legends.
Hammurabi expanded the old city of Babylon and engaged in a number
of successful military campaigns (one being the destruction of rival
city Mari in 1761 BCE) that brought the vast region of Mesopotamia
from Mari to Ur under Babylon's rule and established the city as
the center of Babylonia (an area of land corresponding to modern-day
Syria to the Persian Gulf). Hammurabi's military, diplomatic, and,
political skills served to make Babylon the largest city in the
world at the time and the most powerful. He was unable, however,
to pass these talents on to his son and, after his death, the kingdom
he had built began to fall apart.
![](images/4417.jpg)
Remains
of the ziggurat attached to the so-called Temple of Lions at Mari
These
are the excavated remains of a 40-foot terrace which was attached
to a temple at Mari referred to as the "Temple of Lions"
by excavators. The temple, also known as the "Temple of the
King of the Land" was built by the ruler, Ishtup-Ilum, in the
22nd century BCE and dedicated to the god, Degan. The temple and
terrace were excavated at the site, modern-day Tell Hariri, Syria,
in the 20th century CE.
Hammurabi's
son, Samsu-Iluna (r. 1749-1712 BCE) could not continue the policies
his father had enacted nor defend the empire against invading forces
such as the Hittites and Assyrians. The Assyrians were the first
to make incursions and allowed for regions south of Babylon to break
away from the empire easily. Hammurabi's conquest of Eshnunna in
the north-east had removed a buffer zone and placed the border in
direct contact with tribes such as the Kassites. The greatest blow
came in 1595 BCE when Mursilli I of the Hittites (1620-1590 BCE)
sacked Babylon and carried away the treasures of the city's temples
and scattered the population, as he had done five years earlier,
in 1600 BCE, at Ebla.
The
Kassites followed the Hittites in taking Babylon and renaming it,
and they, in turn, were followed by the Assyrians. The Amorite Period
in Mesopotamia was ended by 1600 BCE, though it is clear through
the distinctive Semitic names of individuals on record that Amorites
continued to live in the area as part of the general population.
Amorites continued to pose problems for the Neo-Assyrian Empire
as late as c. 900-800 BCE. In time, the cultural Amorites came
to be referred to as 'Aramaeans' and the land they came from as
Aram, possibly from the old designation of Eber Nari. Following
the decline of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in c. 600 BCE, Amorites no
longer appear under the name 'Amorite' in the historical record.
![](images/gutianandamoriteinvasion.jpg)
Gutian
and Amorite Invasions - 2100 BCE
Note
:
Mention
of Amorites (Maruts) can be found in Aryan scriptures such as Veds
which western scholars have not referred to hence keeping in mind
the Vedic Aryan point of View I (Dr. Gaurav A. Vyas) have edited
the original source.
Source
:
https://www.worldhistory.org/amorite/