SHAMSHI-ADAD
- I
![](Shamshi-Adad_I.png)
Line-drawing
of an incomplete seal of Shamshi-Adad I
King
of Upper Mesopotamia
Reign c. : 1808 - 1776 BC
Preceded by : Ila-kabkabu
Succeeded
by : Ishme-Dagan
I (Assur and Ekallatum) Yasmah-Adad (Mari)
Regnal
titles of Shamshi-Adad I : King of the Universe, Pacifier
of the Land between Tigris and Euphrates
Died : c. 1776 BC Šubat-Enlil
Akkadian : Šamši-Adad
Amorite : Shamshi-Addu
Father : Ila-kabkabu
Shamshi-Adad
(Akkadian: Šamši-Adad; Amorite: Shamshi-Addu), ruled c.
1808–1776 BC, was an Amorite warlord and conqueror who had
conquered lands across much of Syria, Anatolia, and Upper Mesopotamia.
Rise
:
![](Third_Mari.png)
A
map of the Ancient Near East showing the geopolitical situation
around the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia (light brown) near contemporary
great powers such as: Eshnunna (light blue), Yamhad (dark blue),
Qatna (dark brown), the First Dynasty of Babylon (yellow), and the
Third Mariote Kingdom (shortly before the conquest of the long-abandoned
town of Šubat-Enlil c. 1808 BC by the Amorite conqueror Šamši-Adad
I.)
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" (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) (in Assyria) 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.) Šamši-Adad
I had been forced to flee to Babylon (c. 1823 BC) while Naram-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 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 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. 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.
In
the city-state Assur, Shamshi-Adad I held the title "Governor
of Assur". Stone tablets with Akkadian 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 Assur. 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 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. 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), converted it into the capital city of the
Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia, and then renamed it Šubat-Enlil
(meaning "the residence of the god Enlil" in the Akkadian
language) c. 1808 BC. During his reign, the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia
competed for power in Lower Mesopotamia 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 Anatolia 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, was forced to flee to Yamhad.
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 Upper Mesopotamia (this empire often referred to as either the
"Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia" or the "Upper Mesopotamian
Empire".) Shamshi-Adad I proclaimed himself as "King of
All" (the title had been used by Sargon of the Akkadian Empire
c. 2334 BC – c. 2279 BC).
King
Dadusha of Eshnunna (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. On
inscriptions Shamshi-Adad I boasts of erecting triumphal stelae
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:
"Are
you a child, not a man, have you no beard on your chin?"
Shamshi-Adad
I wrote in another letter:
"While
here your brother is victorious, down there you lie about among
the women."
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. 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:
"I
heard that you gladly dispatched my daughter-in-law on a safe way
back to me, that you treated my servants when they stayed with you
well, and that they were not hindered at all. My heart is very happy."
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 he used
state resources to rebuild the Ishtar temple. The local rulers of
the city Qattara maintained authority (but became vassals) when
they were incorporated into the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia. User
of these Assyrian Eponym dating system was enforced throughout the
Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia in cities such as: Mari, Tuttul, Terqa,
and the capital city Šubat-Enlil.
Fall
:
![](Yamhad_and_Vassals.png)
A
map of the Ancient Near East showing the geopolitical situation
around Assyria near contemporary great powers such as: Yamhad (dark
blue) and Qatna (dark brown), after the conquests of Hammurabi of
the First Dynasty of Babylon (green) c. 1750 BC.
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 Eshnunna 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 Zimri-Lim (fl. c. 1775 BC – c. 1761 BC), and
the rest of the empire was eventually lost during the reigns of
Išme-Dagan I and Mut-Ashkur, first to a coalition of Mari,
Andarig, and Eshnunna, then to another Amorite ruler, Hammurabi
of Babylon (fl. c. 1792 BC – c. 1750 BC).
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Shamshi-Adad_I