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Ashur-Nirari II King of Assyria


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Father: Enlil-Nasir King of Assyria II,   

Family 1: Miss BABYLON,      
  1. Aššūr-Bēl-Nīšēšu King of Assyria , b. ABT 1460 BC in Assyria     d. ABT 1409 BC
Sources:
  1. Title: Wikiwand: Assur
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Assur;
    Note: Aššur (/ˈæsʊər/; Akkadian; Syriac: "ܐܫܘܪ,"‎ "Āšūr"; Old Persian "𐎠𐎰𐎢𐎼," "Aθur," Persian: "آشور‎": Āšūr; Hebrew: "אַשּׁוּר": "Aššûr," Arabic: "اشور"‎), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian Empire (2025–1750 BC), the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1050 BC), and for a time, of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–608 BC). The remains of the city lie on the western bank of the Tigris River, north of the confluence with its tributary, the Little Zab, in what is now Iraq, more precisely in the al-Shirqat District of the Saladin Governorate. Occupation of the city itself continued for approximately 4,000 years, from c. 2600 BC to the mid-14th century AD, when the forces of Timur massacred its population. The site is a World Heritage Site, having been added to that organization's list of sites in danger in 2003 following the conflict that erupted following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and as a result of a proposed dam which would flood some of the site. Assur lies 65 kilometers (40 mi) south of the site of Nimrud and 100 km (60 mi) south of Nineveh. History of research Exploration of the site of Assur began in 1898 by German archaeologists. Excavations began in 1900 by Friedrich Delitzsch, and were continued in 1903–1913 by a team from the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft led initially by Robert Koldewey and later by Walter Andrae. More than 16,000 clay tablets with cuneiform texts were discovered. Many of the objects found made their way to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. More recently, Ashur was excavated by B. Hrouda for the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Bavarian Ministry of Culture in 1990. During the same period, in 1988 and 1989, the site was being worked by R. Dittmann on behalf of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Name Main article: Name of Syria Aššur is the name of the city, of the land ruled by the city, and of its tutelary deity from which the natives took their name, as did the entire nation of Assyria which encompassed what is today northern Iraq, north east Syria and south east Turkey. Today the Assyrians are still found throughout the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and the Diaspora in the western world. Assur is also the origin of the names Syria and terms for Syriac Christians, these being originally Indo-European derivations of Assyria, and for many centuries applying only to Assyria and the Assyrians (see Etymology of Syria) before also being applied to the Levant and its inhabitants by the Seleucid Empire in the 3rd century BC. Early Bronze Age Archaeology reveals the site of the city was occupied by the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. This was still the Sumerian period, before Assyria emerged in the 25th to 21st century BC. The oldest remains of the city were discovered in the foundations of the Ishtar temple, as well as at the Old Palace. In the subsequent period, the city was ruled by kings from the Akkadian Empire. During the Third Dynasty of Ur, the city was ruled by Assyrian governors subject to the Sumerians. Old and Middle Assyrian Empire By the time the Neo-Sumerian Ur-III dynasty collapsed at the hands of the Elamites around the end of the 21st century BC according to the Middle Chronology and mid-20th century according to the Short Chronology following increasing raids by Gutians and Amorites. The native Akkadian-speaking Assyrian kings were now free while Sumer fell under the yoke of the Amorites. The Assyrian king Ushpia who reigned around the 21st century BC is credited with dedicating the first temple of the god Ashur in his home city, although this comes from a later inscription from Shalmaneser I in the 13th century. The temple likely dates to the original settlement of the site when the people of Ashur established their nation under the patronage of the city's god. Soon after in around 2000 BC, Puzur-Ashur I founded a new dynasty, with his successors such as Ilushuma, Erishum I and Sargon I leaving inscriptions regarding the building of temples to Ashur, Adad and Ishtar in the city. Prosperity and independence produced the first significant fortifications in this period. As the region enjoyed relative peace and stability, trade between Mesopotamia and Anatolia increased, and the city of Ashur greatly benefited from its strategic location. Merchants would dispatch their merchandise via caravan into Anatolia and trade primarily at Assyrian colonies in Anatolia, the primary one being at Karum Kanesh (Kültepe). With Shamshi-Adad I's (1813–1781 BC) capital at Assur, he magnified the city's power and influence beyond the Tigris river valley, establishing what some regard as the first Assyrian Empire. In this era, the Great Royal Palace was built, and the temple of Assur was expanded and enlarged with a ziggurat. However, this empire met its end when Hammurabi, the Amorite king of Babylon conquered and incorporated the city into his short lived empire following the death of Ishme-Dagan I around 1756 BC, while the next three Assyrian kings were viewed as vassals. Not long after, the native king Adasi expelled the Babylonians and Amorites from Assur and Assyria as a whole around 1720 BC, although little is known of his successors. Evidence of further building activity is known from a few centuries later, during the reign of a native king Puzur-Ashur III, when the city was refortified and the southern districts incorporated into the main city defenses. Temples to the moon god Sin (Nanna) and the sun god Shamash were built and dedicated through the 15th century BC. The city was subsequently subjugated by the king of Mitanni, Shaushtatar in the late 15th century, taking the gold and silver doors of the temple to his capital, Washukanni, as spoils. Ashur-uballit I emulated his ancestor Adasi and overthrew the Mitanni empire in 1365 BC. The Assyrians reaped the benefits of this triumph by taking control of the eastern portion of the Mitanni Empire, and later also annexing Hittite, Babylonian, Amorite and Hurrian territory. The following centuries witnessed the restoration of the old temples and palaces of Assur, and the city once more became the throne of a magnanimous empire from 1365 BC to 1076 BC. Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244–1208 BC) also constructed a new temple to the goddess Ishtar. The Anu-Adad temple was established later during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I (1115–1075 BC). The walled area of the city in the Middle Assyrian period made up some 1.2 square kilometers (300 acres). Neo-Assyrian Empire In the Neo-Assyrian Empire (912–605 BC), the royal residence was transferred to other Assyrian cities. Ashur-nasir-pal II (884–859 BC) moved the capital from Assur to Kalhu (Calah/Nimrud) following a series of successful campaigns and produced some of the greatest artworks in the form of colossal lamassu statues and low-relief depictions of the royal court as well as battles. With the reign of Sargon II (722–705 BC), a new capital began to rise. Dur-Sharrukin (Fortress of Sargon) on a scale set to surpass that of Ashurnasirpal's. However, he died in battle and his son and successor Sennacherib (705–682 BC) abandoned the city, choosing to magnify Niniveh as his royal capital. However, the city of Ashur remained the religious center of the empire and continued to be revered as the holy crown of the empire, due to its temple of the national god Ashur. In the reign of Sennacherib (705–682 BC), the House of the New Year, Akitu, was built, and the festivities celebrated in the city. Many of the kings were also buried beneath the Old Palace while some queens were buried in the other capitals such as the wife of Sargon, Ataliya. The city was sacked and largely destroyed during the decisive battle of Assur, a major confrontation between the Assyrian and Median armies. Achaemenid Empire After the Medes were overthrown by the Persians as the dominant force in ancient Iran, Assyria was ruled by the Persian Achaemenid Empire (as Athura) from 549 BC to 330 BC (see Achaemenid Assyria). The Assyrians of Mada (Media) and Athura (Assyria) had been responsible for gold and glazing works of the palace and for providing Lebanese cedar timber, respectively. The city and region of Ashur had once more gained a degree of militaristic and economic strength. Along with the Assyrians in Mada, a revolt took place in 520 BC but ultimately failed. Assyria seems to have recovered dramatically, and flourished during this period. It became a major agricultural and administrative center of the Achaemenid Empire, and its soldiers were a mainstay of the Persian Army. Parthian Empire The city revived during the Parthian Empire period, particularly between 150 BC and 270 AD, being resettled and becoming an administrative centre of Parthian-ruled Assuristan. Assyriologists Simo Parpola and Patricia Crone suggest Assur may have had outright independence in this period. Other polities such as Beth Garmai, Beth Nuhadra and Adiabene also flourished due to the fact that the Parthians exercised only loose or intermittent control of Assyria. New administrative buildings were erected to the north of the old city, and a palace to the south. The old temple dedicated to the national god of the Assyrians Assur (Ashur) was rebuilt, as were temples to other Assyrian gods. Assyrian Eastern Aramaic inscriptions from the remains of Ashur have yielded insight into the Parthian-era city with Assyria having its own Aramaic Syriac script, which was the same in terms of grammar and syntax as that found at Edessa and elsewhere in the state of Osroene. German archaeologist Klaus Beyer published over 600 inscriptions from Mesopotamian towns and cities including Ashur, Dura-Europos, Hatra, Gaddala, Tikrit and Tur Abdin. Given that Christianity had begun to spread amongst the Assyrians throughout the Parthian era, the original Assyrian culture and religion persisted for some time, as proven by the inscriptions that include invocations to the gods Ashur, Nergal, Sin, Ishtar an..
  2. Title: Wikiwand: Ashur-bel-nisheshu
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Ashur-bel-nisheshu;
    Note: Aššūr-bēl-nīšēšu, inscribed "aš-šur-"EN-UN.MEŠ--"šú," and meaning "(the god) Aššur (is) lord of his people," was the ruler of Assyria from 1417–1409 BC or 1407–1398 BC (short chronology), the variants due to uncertainties in the later chronology. He succeeded his father, Aššur-nērārī II, to the throne and is best known for his treaty with Kassite king Karaindaš. Biography As was the practice during this period of the Assyrian monarchy, he modestly titled himself "vice-regent," or "išši'ak Aššur," of the god Ashur. The "Synchronistic Chronicle" records his apparently amicable territorial treaty with Karaindaš, king of Babylon, and recounts that they "took an oath together concerning this very boundary."His numerous clay cone inscriptions (line art for an example pictured) celebrate his re-facing of Puzur-Aššur III’s wall of the "New City" district of Assur. Contemporary legal documents detail sales of land, houses, and slaves and payment in lead. The Assyrian credit system was fairly sophisticated, with loans issued for commodities such as barley and lead, interest coming due when repayment way delayed. The security posted for loans could include property, the person of the debtor or indeed his children. There is a discrepancy in the data about his son and eventual successor. The Assyrian King List gives his immediate successor, Aššur-rā’im-nišēšu, as his son, but Aššur-rā’im-nišēšu's own contemporary inscription names his father as Aššur-nērārī II, suggesting that he may have been a brother of Aššūr-bēl-nīšēšu. The confusion is further compounded with the "Khorsabad Kinglist" and the "SDAS Kinglist" identifying Eriba-Adad I, who ascended the throne eighteen years later, as his son while the "Nassouhi" copy identifies him as the son of Aššur-rā’im-nišēšu. Inscriptions ^ "Nassouhi King List," Istanbul A. 116 (Assur 8836), iii 11–12. ^ "Khorsabad King List," IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, DS 32-54), iii 5–6. ^ "SDAS King List," tablet IM 60484, ii 38. ^ Cone VAT 7442, first published KAH 2 no. 22 (1922). ^ "Synchronistic Chronicle" (ABC 21), tablet K4401a, i 1–4. ^ Cone VAT? 2764, first published KAH 1 no. 63 (1911).
  3. Title: "Ancient and Modern Assyrians: A Scientific Analysis," by George V. Yana
    Author: Xlibris Corporation, Apr 10, 2008
    Note: Some scholars have doubted or denied the continuity of the Assyrian people from the times of empire to the present time. This work, based on a scientific analysis, sheds light on the subject, and demonstrates the continuous existence of the Assyrian people. Assyria, (northern Iraq), was a state grouped about the heavily fortified city of Ashur, on the middle of the Tigris River. Assyrians had become civilized in the third millennium BC, under the impetus of Mesopotamian development. They created the first empire known to history that was run by an empire administration. The empire created by Sargon Sharukin, much earlier in the third millennium, did not have an administration to hold it together. Toward the close of the Bronze Age (1700-1200 BC), Assyria had expanded westward to the middle of the Euphrates River, and in the south they held Babylon temporarily. Tiglat-Pileser I (1114-1076), extended Assyrian rule to the Mediterranean. But, Adadnirari II (911-891 BC) may be called the father of Assyrian imperial administration. Empire building was a necessity of economic development, which was based on the technological advances caused by the introduction of iron and the alphabet. International trade was necessary for the growth of industry and manufacture, and the Assyrians became the tools to carry out this historic economic necessity. The Assyrian army was the first army to use iron arms. The Assyrian Empire was defeated, in 612 BC, by an alliance of Medes (an Iranian people), Persians (Iran), Babylonians, and Cythians. Since then, Assyria has been governed by Persians, Greeks, Arabs and Turks. The Assyrians were the first non-Jewish people to accept Christianity, and since then, Christianity has become their identity. They burned all their ancient books that reminded them of their pagan kings. Thus, with time, a dark cloud was cast over their memories that separated them from their glorious past. But, now and then, there were sparks from the remote past that testified to the persistence of memory. Only recently has the full national awareness been restored. There are, still, scholars who doubt or deny any link between the ancient and the Modern Assyrians. They argue that the Assyrians were all massacred during the destruction of their empire. This book sets out to demonstrate that the Assyrians were not all massacred during the destruction of their country in 612 BC, and that they emerged as a Christian people in Assyria (northern Iraq) and the neighboring countries.
  4. Title: Wikiwand: Assyria
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Assyria;
    Note: Assyria (/əˈsɪəriə/), also called the Assyrian Empire, was a Mesopotamian kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East and the Levant that existed as a state from perhaps as early as the 25th century BC (in the form of the Assur city-state) until its collapse between 612 BC and 609 BC – spanning the periods of the Early to Middle Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age. From the end of the seventh century BC (when the Neo-Assyrian state fell) to the mid-seventh century AD, it survived as a geopolitical entity, for the most part ruled by foreign powers such as the Parthian and early Sasanian Empires between the mid-second century BC and late third century AD, the final part of which period saw Mesopotamia become a major center of Syriac Christianity and the birthplace of the Church of the East. A largely Semitic-speaking realm, Assyria was centered on the Tigris in Upper Mesopotamia. The Assyrians came to rule powerful empires in several periods. Making up a substantial part of the greater Mesopotamian "cradle of civilization," which included Sumer, the Akkadian Empire, and Babylonia, Assyria reached the height of technological, scientific and cultural achievements for its time. At its peak, the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911 to 609 BC stretched from eastern Libya and Cyprus in the East Mediterranean to Iran, and from present-day Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Transcaucasia to the Arabian Peninsula. The name "Assyria" originates with the Assyrian state's original capital, the ancient city of Aššur, which dates to c. 2600 BC – originally one of a number of Akkadian-speaking city-states in Mesopotamia. In the 25th and 24th centuries BC, Assyrian kings were pastoral leaders. From the late 24th century BC, the Assyrians became subject to Sargon of Akkad, who united all the Akkadian- and Sumerian-speaking peoples of Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire, which lasted from c. 2334 BC to 2154 BC. After the Assyrian Empire fell from power, the greater remaining part of Assyria formed a geopolitical region and province of other empires, although between the mid-2nd century BC and late 3rd century AD a patchwork of small independent Assyrian kingdoms arose in the form of Assur, Adiabene, Osroene, Beth Nuhadra, Beth Garmai and Hatra. The region of Assyria fell under the successive control of the Median Empire of 678 to 549 BC, the Achaemenid Empire of 550 to 330 BC, the Macedonian Empire (late 4th century BC), the Seleucid Empire of 312 to 63 BC, the Parthian Empire of 247 BC to 224 AD, the Roman Empire (from 116 to 118 AD) and the Sasanian Empire of 224 to 651 AD. The Arab Islamic conquest of the area in the mid-seventh century finally dissolved Assyria (Assuristan) as a single entity, after which the remnants of the Assyrian people (by now Christians) gradually became an ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious minority in the Assyrian homeland, surviving there to this day as an indigenous people of the region. Etymology Assyria was also sometimes known as Subartu and "Azuhinum" prior to the rise of the city-state of Ashur, after which it was Aššūrāyu, and after its fall, from 605 BC through to the late seventh century AD variously as Achaemenid Assyria, and also referenced as Atouria, Ator, Athor, and sometimes as "Syria," which etymologically derives from Assyria according to Strabo, "Syria"(Greek), "Assyria" (Latin) and Asōristān (Middle Persian). "Assyria" also can refer to the geographic region or heartland where Assyria, its empires and the Assyrian people were (and still are) centered. The indigenous modern Eastern Aramaic-speaking Assyrian Christian ethnic minority in northern Iraq, north east Syria, southeast Turkey and northwest Iran are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians (see Assyrian continuity). As Babylonia is called after the city of Babylon, Assyria means "land of Asshur." Etymologically, "Assyria" is connected to the name of "Syria,"with both being ultimately derived from the Akkadian "Aššur." Theodor Nöldeke in 1881 was the first to give philological support to the assumption that Syria and Assyria have the same etymology, a suggestion going back to John Selden (1617). A 21st-century discovery of the Çineköy inscription also confirmed that Syria, being a Greek corruption of the name Assyria, is ultimately derived from the Assyrian term "Aššūrāyu." Pre-history In prehistoric times, the region that was to become known as Assyria (and Subartu) was home to a Neanderthal culture such as has been found at the Shanidar Cave. The earliest Neolithic sites in what will be Assyria were the Jarmo culture c. 7100 BC, the Halaf culture c. 6100 BC, and the Hassuna culture c. 6000 BC. The Akkadian-speaking people (the earliest historically-attested Semitic-speaking people) who would eventually found Assyria appear to have entered Mesopotamia at some point during the latter 4th millennium BC (c. 3500–3000 BC), eventually intermingling with the earlier Sumerian-speaking population, who came from northern Mesopotamia, with Akkadian names appearing in written record from as early as the 29th century BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, a very intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians and the Akkadians throughout Mesopotamia, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian (a language isolate) on Akkadian, and vice versa, is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium BC as a "sprachbund." Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia somewhere after the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate), although Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD, as did use of the Akkadian cuneiform. The cities of Assur, Nineveh, Gasur and Arbela together with a number of other towns and cities, existed since at least before the middle of the 3rd millennium BC (c. 2600 BC), although they appear to have been Sumerian-ruled administrative centers at this time, rather than independent states. Greco-Roman classical writers such as Julius Africanus, Marcus Velleius Paterculus and Diodorus Siculus dated the founding of Assyria to various dates between 2284 BC and 2057 BC, listing the earliest king as Belus or Ninus. According to the Biblical generations of Noah, which appears to have been largely compiled between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, the city of Aššur was allegedly founded by a biblical Ashur the son of Shem, who was deified by later generations as the city's patron god. However, the much older attested Assyrian tradition itself lists the first king of Assyria as the 25th century BC Tudiya, and an early urbanized Assyrian king named Ushpia (c. 2050 BC) as having dedicated the first temple to the god Ashur in the city in the mid-21st century BC. It is highly likely that the city was named in honor of its patron Assyrian god with the same name. History Further information: Timeline of the Assyrian Empire Early Period, 2600–2025 BC Main article: Early Period (Assyria) The city of Aššur, together with a number of other Assyrian cities, seem to have been established by 2600 BC. However it is likely that they were initially Sumerian-dominated administrative centers. In the late 26th century BC, Eannatum of Lagash, then the dominant Sumerian ruler in Mesopotamia, mentions "smiting Subartu" (Subartu being the Sumerian name for Assyria). Similarly, in c. the early 25th century BC, Lugal-Anne-Mundu the king of the Sumerian state of Adab lists Subartu as paying tribute to him. Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is known. In the Assyrian King List, the earliest king recorded was Tudiya. According to Georges Roux he would have lived in the mid-25th century BC, i.e., c. 2450 BC. In archaeological reports from Ebla, it appeared that Tudiya's activities were confirmed with the discovery of a tablet where he concluded a treaty for the operation of a "karum" (trading colony) in Eblaite territory, with "king" Ibrium of Ebla (who now is known to have been the vizier of Ebla for king Ishar-Damu). Tudiya was succeeded on the list by Adamu, the first known reference to the Semitic name "Adam," and then a further thirteen rulers (Yangi, Suhlamu, Harharu, Mandaru, Imsu, Harsu, Didanu, Hanu, Zuabu, Nuabu, Abazu, Belus and Azarah). Nothing concrete is yet known about these names, although it has been noted that a much later Babylonian tablet listing the ancestral lineage of Hammurabi, the Amorite king of Babylon, seems to have copied the same names from Tudiya through Nuabu, though in a heavily corrupted form. The earliest kings, such as Tudiya, who are recorded as "kings who lived in tents," were independent semi-nomadic pastoralist rulers. These kings at some point became fully urbanised and founded the city state of Aššur in the mid 21st-century BC. Akkadian Empire and Neo-Sumerian Empires, 2334–2050 BC Further information: Akkadian Empire and Neo-Sumerian Empire During the Akkadian Empire (2334–2154 BC), the Assyrians, like all the Akkadian-speaking Mesopotamians (and also the Sumerians), became subject to the dynasty of the city-state of Akkad, centered in central Mesopotamia. The Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon the Great claimed to encompass the surrounding "four quarters." The region of Assyria, north of the seat of the empire in central Mesopotamia, had also been known as Subartu by the Sumerians, and the name Azuhinum in Akkadian records also seems to refer to Assyria proper. The Sumerians were eventually absorbed into the Akkadian (Assyro-Babylonian) population. Assyrian rulers were subject to Sargon and his successors, and the city of Ashur became a regional administrative center of the Empire, implicated by the Nuzi tablets. During this period, the Akka..
  5. Title: "Who's Who in the Ancient Near East," by Gwendolyn Leick
    Author: Routledge, Jan 31, 2002
    Publication: Name: https://books.google.com/books?id=nAGFAgAAQBAJ&dq=Ashur-nirari+I&q=Ashur-Nirari+I#v=snippet&q=Ashur-nirari%20II&f=false;
    Note: What do we know of the real Nebuchadnezzar? Was there an historical precedent for the mythical Gilgamesh? Who were the Hittites? When did Isaiah preach? How did Jezebel get her reputation? These and many more questions are answered in this fascinating survey of the people who inhabited the Near East between the twenty-fifth and the second centuries BC. From Palestine to Iran and from Alexander the Great to Zechariah, Who's Who in the Ancient Near East presents a unique and comprehensive reference guide for all those with an interest in the ancient history of the area. A comprehensive glossary, chronological charts, maps and bibliographical information complement the biographical entries.
  6. Title: Wikiwand: Mitanni
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mitanni;
    Note: Mitanni (/mɪˈtæni/; Hittite cuneiform "KUR URUMi-ta-an-ni"; Mittani "Mi-it-ta-ni"), also called Hanigalbat ("Hanigalbat," "Khanigalbat," cuneiform "Ḫa-ni-gal-bat") in Assyrian or Naharin in Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia from c. 1500 to 1300 BC. Mitanni came to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of Amorite Babylon and a series of ineffectual Assyrian kings created a power vacuum in Mesopotamia. At the beginning of its history, Mitanni's major rival was Egypt under the Thutmosids. However, with the ascent of the Hittite Empire, Mitanni and Egypt struck an alliance to protect their mutual interests from the threat of Hittite domination. At the height of its power, during the 14th century BC, Mitanni had outposts centered on its capital, Washukanni, whose location has been determined by archaeologists to be on the headwaters of the Khabur River. The Mitanni dynasty ruled over the northern Euphrates-Tigris region between c. 1475 and c. 1275 BC. Eventually, Mitanni succumbed to Hittite and later Assyrian attacks and was reduced to the status of a province of the Middle Assyrian Empire. While the Mitanni kings were Indo-Aryan, they used the language of the local people, which was at that time a non-Indo-European language, Hurrian. Their sphere of influence is shown in Hurrian place names, personal names and the spread through Syria and the Levant of a distinct pottery type. Geography The Mitanni controlled trade routes down the Khabur to Mari and up the Euphrates from there to Carchemish. For a time they also controlled the Assyrian territories of the upper Tigris and its headwaters at Nineveh, Erbil, Assur and Nuzi. Their allies included Kizuwatna in southeastern Anatolia; Mukish, which stretched between Ugarit and Quatna west of the Orontes to the sea; and the Niya, which controlled the east bank of the Orontes from Alalah down through Aleppo, Ebla and Hama to Qatna and Kadesh. To the east, they had good relations with the Kassites. The land of Mitanni in northern Syria extended from the Taurus mountains to its west and as far east as Nuzi (modern Kirkuk) and the river Tigris in the east. In the south, it extended from Aleppo across ("Nuhasse") to Mari on the Euphrates in the east. Its center was in the Khabur River valley, with two capitals: Taite and Washukanni, called "Taidu" and "Ussukana" respectively in Assyrian sources. The whole area supported agriculture without artificial irrigation and cattle, sheep and goats were raised. It is very similar to Assyria in climate, and was settled by both indigenous Hurrian and Amoritic-speaking ("Amurru") populations. Name The Mitanni kingdom was referred to as the Maryannu, Nahrin or Mitanni by the Egyptians, the Hurri by the Hittites, and the Hanigalbat by the Assyrians. The different names seem to have referred to the same kingdom and were used interchangeably, according to Michael C. Astour. Hittite annals mention a people called "Hurri" ("Ḫu-ur-ri"), located in northeastern Syria. A Hittite fragment, probably from the time of Mursili I, mentions a "King of the Hurri." The Assyro-Akkadian version of the text renders "Hurri" as "Hanigalbat." Tushratta, who styles himself "King of Mitanni" in his Akkadian Amarna letters, refers to his kingdom as Hanigalbat. Egyptian sources call Mitanni "nhrn," which usually is pronounced "Naharin(a)," from the Assyro-Akkadian word for "river," cf. "Aram-Naharaim." The name "Mitanni" is first found in the "memoirs" of the Syrian wars (c. 1480 BC) of the official astronomer and clockmaker Amenemhet, who returned from the "foreign country called 'Me-ta-ni'" at the time of Thutmose I. The expedition to the Naharina announced by Thutmosis I at the beginning of his reign actually may have taken place during the long previous reign of Amenhotep I. Helck believes that this was the expedition mentioned by Amenhotep II. People The ethnicity of the people of Mitanni is difficult to ascertain. A treatise on the training of chariot horses by Kikkuli, a Mitanni writer, contains a number of Indo-Aryan glosses. Kammenhuber [de] suggested that this vocabulary was derived from the still undivided Indo-Iranian language, but Mayrhofer has shown that specifically Indo-Aryan features are present. The names of the Mitanni aristocracy frequently are of Indo-Aryan origin, and their deities also show Indo-Aryan roots (Mitra, Varuna, Indra, Nasatya), though some think that they are more immediately related to the Kassites. The common people's language, the Hurrian language, is neither Indo-European nor Semitic. Hurrian is related to Urartian, the language of Urartu, both belonging to the Hurro-Urartian language family. It had been held that nothing more can be deduced from current evidence. A Hurrian passage in the Amarna letters – usually composed in Akkadian, the "lingua franca" of the day – indicates that the royal family of Mitanni was by then speaking Hurrian as well. Bearers of names in the Hurrian language are attested in wide areas of Syria and the northern Levant that are clearly outside the area of the political entity known to Assyria as "Hanilgalbat." There is no indication that these persons owed allegiance to the political entity of Mitanni; although the German term "Auslandshurriter" ("Hurrian expatriates") has been used by some authors. In the 14th century BC numerous city-states in northern Syria and Canaan were ruled by persons with Hurrian and some Indo-Aryan names. If this can be taken to mean that the population of these states was Hurrian as well, then it is possible that these entities were a part of a larger polity with a shared Hurrian identity. This is often assumed, but without a critical examination of the sources. Differences in dialect and regionally different pantheons ("Hepat/Shawushka," "Sharruma/Tilla," etc.) point to the existence of several groups of Hurrian speakers. History No native sources for the history of Mitanni have been found so far. The account is mainly based on Assyrian, Hittite, and Egyptian sources, as well as inscriptions from nearby places in Syria. Often it is not even possible to establish synchronicity between the rulers of different countries and cities, let alone give uncontested absolute dates. The definition and history of Mitanni is further beset by a lack of differentiation between linguistic, ethnic and political groups. Summary It is believed that the warring Hurrian tribes and city states became united under one dynasty after the collapse of Babylon due to its sacking by Hittite king Mursili I, and the Kassite invasion. The Hittite conquest of Aleppo (Yamhad), the weak middle Assyrian kings who succeeded Puzur-Ashur III, and the internal strife of the Hittites had created a power vacuum in upper Mesopotamia. This led to the formation of the kingdom of Mitanni. King Barattarna of Mitanni expanded the kingdom west to Aleppo and made the Canaanite King Idrimi of Alalakh his vassal. The state of Kizzuwatna in the west also shifted its allegiance to Mitanni, and Assyria in the east had become largely a Mitannian vassal state by the mid-15th century BC. The nation grew stronger during the reign of Shaushtatar, but the Hurrians were keen to keep the Hittites inside the Anatolian highland. Kizzuwatna in the west and Ishuwa in the north were important allies against the hostile Hittites. After a few successful clashes with the Egyptians over the control of Syria, Mitanni sought peace with them, and an alliance was formed. During the reign of Shuttarna, in the early 14th century BC, the relationship was very amicable, and he sent his daughter Gilu-Hepa to Egypt for a marriage with Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Mitanni was now at its peak of power. However, by the reign of Eriba-Adad I (1390–1366 BC) Mitanni influence over Assyria was on the wane. Eriba-Adad I became involved in a dynastic battle between Tushratta and his brother Artatama II and after this his son Shuttarna II, who called himself king of the Hurri while seeking support from the Assyrians. A pro-Hurri/Assyria faction appeared at the royal Mitanni court. Eriba-Adad I had thus loosened Mitanni influence over Assyria, and in turn had now made Assyria an influence over Mitanni affairs. King Ashur-Uballit I (1365–1330 BC) of Assyria attacked Shuttarna and annexed Mitanni territory in the middle of the 14th century BC, making Assyria once more a great power. At the death of Shuttarna, Mitanni was ravaged by a war of succession. Eventually Tushratta, a son of Shuttarna, ascended the throne, but the kingdom had been weakened considerably and both the Hittite and Assyrian threats increased. At the same time, the diplomatic relationship with Egypt went cold, the Egyptians fearing the growing power of the Hittites and Assyrians. The Hittite king Suppiluliuma I invaded the Mitanni vassal states in northern Syria and replaced them with loyal subjects. In the capital Washukanni, a new power struggle broke out. The Hittites and the Assyrians supported different pretenders to the throne. Finally a Hittite army conquered the capital Washukanni and installed Shattiwaza, the son of Tushratta, as their vassal king of Mitanni in the late 14th century BC. The kingdom had by now been reduced to the Khabur Valley. The Assyrians had not given up their claim on Mitanni, and in the 13th century BC, Shalmaneser I annexed the kingdom. Early kingdom As early as Akkadian times, Hurrians are known to have lived east of the river Tigris on the northern rim of Mesopotamia, and in the Khabur Valley. The group which became Mitanni gradually moved south into Mesopotamia before the 17th century BC. Hurrians are mentioned in the private Nuzi texts, in Ugarit, and the Hittite archives in Hattusa (Boğazköy). Cuneiform texts from Mari mention rulers of city-states in upper Mesopotamia with both Amurru (Amorite) and Hurrian names. Rulers with Hurrian names are also attested for Urshum and Hassum, and t..
  7. Title: "Dictionary of the Ancient Near East," edited by Piotr Bienkowski, ‎Curator of Egyptian and Near Eastern Antiquities National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside Honorary Research Fellow, British Museum
    Author: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000
    Publication: Name: https://books.google.com/books?id=KdlhaAfK1sYC&dq=Ashur-Nirari&q=Enlil-nasir+I#v=snippet&q=Ashur-nirari%20II&f=false;
    Note: Selected by "Choice" magazine in 2000 as an Outstanding Academic Book The earliest farms, cities, governments, legal codes, and alphabets developed in the ancient Near East. Four major religions--Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam--began in the region. Ideas, inventions, and institutions spread to all parts of the globe from the urban centers of the ancient Egyptians, Syrians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, and other peoples of the biblical world. For good reason is the ancient Near East known as the cradle of civilization. The only single-volume dictionary to embrace the whole of the ancient Near East, this major reference work covers Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Levant, and the Arabian peninsula from the earliest times, through the Old Testament period, until the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 B.C. From "Achaemenids" to "Ziwiye," "administration" to "ziggurat," in 500 concise, cross-referenced, and comprehensively indexed entries, the Dictionary of the Ancient Near East describes and explains the major ideas, institutions, places, peoples, and personalities that shaped the earliest development of Western civilization. Architecture, literature, economics, labor, religion, and society are all extensively treated, as are such subjects as crime, dreams, drunkenness, shipwrecks, and sexual behavior (and misbehavior). Each entry, written by a scholar of international standing, includes up-to-date bibliographic references. The book is richly illustrated with photographs, maps, and plans of major sites. Contributors: Douglas Baird (Lecturer in Near Eastern Archaeology, University of Liverpool), Jeremy Black (University Lecturer in Akkadian, Oriental Institute, Oxford University), Paul T. Collins (freelance lecturer in the Ancient Near East, London), Stephanie Dalley (Shillito Fellow in Assyriology, Oriental Institute, Oxford University), Anthony Green (Lecturer in Near Eastern Archaeology, Free University of Berlin), Gwendolyn Leick (Lecturer in Anthropology, the American International University, London), Michael Macdonald (Research Fellow, Oriental Institute, Oxford University), Roger Matthews (Director, British Institute for Archaeology, Ankara), Gerald L. Mattingly (Lecturer, Johnson Bible College, Knoxville, Tennessee), Graham Philip (Lecturer in Archaeology, University of Durham), Geoffrey Summers (Lecturer in Archaeology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara).
  8. Title: Wikiwand: Ashur (god)
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Ashur_(god);
    Note: Ashur (also, Assur, Aššur; cuneiform: "𒀭𒀸𒋩," "dAš-šur") is an East Semitic god, and the head of the Assyrian pantheon in Mesopotamian religion, worshiped mainly in the northern half of Mesopotamia, and parts of north-east Syria and southeast Asia Minor that constituted old Assyria. He may have had a solar iconography. Legend Aššur was a deified form of the city of Assur, which dates from the mid 3rd millennium BC and was the capital of the Old Assyrian kingdom. As such, Ashur did not originally have a family, but as the cult came under southern Mesopotamian influence, he later came to be regarded as the Assyrian equivalent of Enlil, the chief god of Nippur, which was the most important god of the southern pantheon from the early 3rd millennium BC until Hammurabi founded an empire based in Babylon in the mid-18th century BC, after which Marduk replaced Enlil as the chief god in the south. In the north, Ashur absorbed Enlil's wife Ninlil (as the Assyrian goddess Mullissu) and his sons Ninurta and Zababa—this process began around the 14th century BC and continued down to the 7th century. During the various periods of Assyrian conquest, such as the Assyrian Empire of Shamshi-Adad I (1813–1750 BC), Middle Assyrian Empire (1391–1056 BC) and Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC), Assyrian imperial propaganda proclaimed the supremacy of Ashur and declared that the conquered peoples had been abandoned by their own gods. When Assyria conquered Babylon in the Sargonid period (8th–7th centuries BC), Assyrian scribes began to write the name of Ashur with the cuneiform signs 𒀭𒊹 AN.ŠAR2, the ideograms for "whole heaven" in Sumerian, which may have been pronounced similarly to Aššur in Akkadian, the language of Assyria and Babylonia. The intention seems to have been to put Aššur at the head of the Babylonian pantheon, where Anshar and his counterpart Kishar ("whole earth") preceded even Enlil and Ninlil. Thus in the Sargonid version of the Enuma Elish, the Babylonian national creation myth, Marduk, the chief god of Babylon, does not appear, and instead it is Ashur, as Anshar, who slays Tiamat the chaos-monster and creates the world of humankind. Representation and symbolism Some scholars have claimed that Ashur was represented as the winged sun that appears frequently in Assyrian iconography. Many Assyrian kings had names that included the name Ashur, including, above all, Ashur-uballit I, Ashurnasirpal, Esarhaddon (Ashur-aha-iddina), and Ashurbanipal. Epithets include "bêlu rabû," "great lord," "ab ilâni," "father of gods," "šadû rabû," "great mountain," and "il aššurî," "god of Ashur." The symbols of Ashur include: 1. a winged disc with horns, enclosing four circles revolving round a middle circle; rippling rays fall down from either side of the disc; 2. a circle or wheel, suspended from wings, and enclosing a warrior drawing his bow to discharge an arrow; 3. the same circle; the warrior's bow, however, is carried in his left hand, while the right hand is uplifted as if to bless his worshipers (see picture). An Assyrian standard, which probably represented the world column, has the disc mounted on a bull's head with horns. The upper part of the disc is occupied by a warrior, whose head, part of his bow, and the point of his arrow protrude from the circle. The rippling water rays are V-shaped, and two bulls, treading river-like rays, occupy the divisions thus formed. There are also two heads—a lion's and a man's—with gaping mouths, which may symbolize tempests, the destroying power of the sun, or the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates. Jastrow regards the winged disc as "the purer and more genuine symbol of Ashur as a solar deity." He calls it "a sun disc with protruding rays," and says: "To this symbol the warrior with the bow and arrow was added—a despiritualization that reflects the martial spirit of the Assyrian empire." The Assyrian Tree of Life Simo Parpola, in his paper entitled: "The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the Origins of Jewish Monotheism and Greek Philosophy," explores the use of the "Tree of life" motif when Ashur is depicted in reliefs. Often times Ashur is depicted in a winged disk hovering on top of a tree, for instance, in Ashurnasirpal's throne room in Calah which was inscribed with "vice-regent of Ashur." Parpola continues by drawing on parallels between the Ein Sof in the Kabbalah and the symbolism of Ashur with the Tree of life. The depiction of Ashur, the universal God, behind a solar disk, representing light as his essential nature, just as in Kabbalah, is just one instance of Parpola's comparison.
  9. Title: Livius: The Assyrian King List
    Author: This page was created in 2006; last modified on 16 December 2019.
    Publication: Name: https://www.livius.org/sources/content/anet/564-566-the-assyrian-king-list/;
    Note: Assyrian King List: list of rulers of ancient Assyria, used as a framework for the study of Mesopotamian chronology. Incomplete lists of Assyrian kings have been discovered in each of Assyria's three capitals: Aššur, Dur-Šarukkin, and Nineveh. There are also two fragments. The texts of these copies are more or less consistent and goes back to one original, which was based on the list of yearly limmu-officials, who were appointed by the king and had to preside the celebration of the New Year festival. As a consequence, modern scholars tend to believe that the numbers of regnal years mentioned in the Assyrian King List are correct; however, there are minor differences between the copies. Down to the reign of Aššur-dan I, they offer identical information, and it is therefore reasonable to assume that the list is more or less reliable until his regnal years, 1178-1133. Before 1178, the three documents show divergences. Edition Jean-Jacques Glassner, Chroniques Mésopotamiennes (1993) (translated as Mesopotamian Chronicles, 2004) Assyrian King List [1-17] Tudija, Adamu, Janqi, Sahlamu, Harharu, Mandaru, Imsu, Harsu, Didanu, Hanu, Zuabu, Nuabu, Abazu, Belu, Azarah, Ušpija, Apiašal. ------------------------------------------ Total: 17 kings who lived in tents.note ------------------------------------------ [18-26] Aminu was the son of Ilu-kabkabu, Ila-kabkabi of Yazkur-el, Jazkur-ilu of Yakmeni, Jakmeni of Yakmesi, Jakmesi of Ilu-Mer, Ilu-Mer of Hayani, Hajanu of Samani,Samanu of Hale, Hale of Apiašal, Apiašal of Ušpia. ------------------------------------------ Total: 10 kings who were ancestors.note ------------------------------------------ [27-32] Sulili son of Aminu, Kikkija, Akija, Puzur-Aššur [I], Šalim-ahum, Ilušuma. Total: 6 kings named on bricks,note whose number of limmu-officials is unknown. ------------------------------------------ [33] Erišum [I], son of Ilušuma, [...] ruled for 30/40 years. ------------------------------------------ [34] Ikunum, son of Erishu, ruled for [...] years. ------------------------------------------ [35] Sargon [I], son of Ikunu, ruled for [...] years.note ------------------------------------------ [36] Puzur-Aššur [II], son of Sargon, ruled for [...] years. ------------------------------------------ [37] Naram-Sin, son of Puzur-Aššur, ruled for N+4 years. ------------------------------------------ [38] Erišum [II], son of Naram-Sin, ruled for [...] years. ------------------------------------------ [39] Šamši-Adad [I], sonnote of Ila-kabkabi, went to Karduniaš in the time of Naram-Sin. In the eponymy of Ibni-Adad, Šamši-Adad went up from Karduniaš. He took Ekallatum, where he stayed three years. In the eponymy of Atamar-Ištar, Šamši-Adad went up from Ekallatum. He ousted Erišum, son of Naram-Sin, from the throne and took it. He ruled for 33 years. (1813-1781) ------------------------------------------ [40] Išme-Dagan [I], son of Šamši-Adad, ruled for 40 years. ------------------------------------------ [41] Aššur-dugul, son of a nobody,note who had no title to the throne, ruled for 6 years. ------------------------------------------ [42-47] In the time of Aššur-dugul, son of a nobody, Aššur-apla-idi, Nasir-Sin, Sin-namir, Ipqi-Ištar, Adad-salulu, and Adasi, six sons of nobodies, ruled at the beginning of his brief reign. ------------------------------------------ [48] Belu-bani, son of Adasi, ruled for 10 years. ------------------------------------------ [49] Libaja, son of Belu-Bani, ruled for 17 years. ------------------------------------------ [50] Šarma-Adad [I], son of Libaja, ruled for 12 years. ------------------------------------------ [51] Iptar-Sin, son of Šarma-Adad, ruled for 12 years. ------------------------------------------ [52] Bazaja, son of Iptar-Sin, ruled for 28 years. ------------------------------------------ [53] Lullaja, son of a nobody, ruled for 6 years. ------------------------------------------ [54] Šu-Ninua, son of Bazaja, ruled for 14 years. ------------------------------------------ [55] Šarma-Adad [II], son of Šu-Ninua, ruled for 3 years. ------------------------------------------ [56] Erišum [III], son of Šu-Ninua, ruled for 13 years. ------------------------------------------ [57] Šamši-Adad [II], son of Erišum, ruled for 6 years. ------------------------------------------ [58] Išme-Dagan [II], son of Šamši-Adad, ruled for 16 years. ------------------------------------------ [59] Šamši-Adad [III], son of [another] Išme-Dagan, brother of Šarma-Adad [II], son of Šu-Ninua, ruled for 16 years. ------------------------------------------ [60] Aššur-nirari [I], son of Išme-Dagan, ruled for 26 years. ------------------------------------------ [61] Puzur-Aššur [III], son of Aššur-nirari, ruled for 24/14 years. ------------------------------------------ [62] Enlil-nasir [I], son of Puzur-Aššur, ruled for 13 years. ------------------------------------------ [63] Nur-ili, son of Enlil-nasir, ruled for 12 years. ------------------------------------------ [64] Aššur-šaduni, son of Nur-ili, ruled for 1 month. ------------------------------------------ [65] Aššur-rabi [I], son of Enlil-nasir, ousted him, seized the throne and ruled for [...] years. ------------------------------------------ [66] Aššur-nadin-ahhe [I], son of Aššur-rabi, ruled for [...] years. ------------------------------------------ [67] Enlil-nasir [II], his brother, ousted him and ruled for 6 years (1420-1415).note ------------------------------------------ [68] Aššur-nirari [II], son of Enlil-nasir, ruled for 7 years (1414-1408). ------------------------------------------ [69] Aššur-bêl-nišešu, son of Aššur-nirari, ruled for 9 years (1407-1399). ------------------------------------------ [70] Aššur-rem-nišešu, son of Aššur-bêl-nišešu, ruled for 8 years (1398-1391). ------------------------------------------ [71] Aššur-nadin-ahhe [II], son of Aššur-rem-nišešu, ruled for 10 years (1390-1381). ------------------------------------------ [72] Eriba-Adad [I], son of Aššur-bêl-nišešu, ruled for 27 years (1380-1354). ------------------------------------------ [73] Aššur-uballit [I], son of Eriba-Adad, ruled for 36 years (1353-1318). ------------------------------------------ [74] Enlil-nirari, son of Aššur-uballit, ruled for 10 years (1317-1308). ------------------------------------------ [75] Arik-den-ili, son of Enlil-nirari, ruled for 12 years (1307-1296). ------------------------------------------ [76] Adad-nirari [I], son of Arik-den-ili, ruled for 32 years (1295-1264). ------------------------------------------ [77] Šalmaneser [I], son of Adad-nirari, ruled for 30 years (1263-1234). ------------------------------------------ [78] Tukulti-ninurta [I], son of Šalmaneser, ruled for 37 years (1233-1197). ------------------------------------------ [79] During the lifetime of Tukulti-ninurta, Aššur-nadin-apli, his son, seized the throne and ruled for 4 years (1196-1193). ------------------------------------------ [80] Aššur-nirari [III], son of Aššur-nadin-apli, ruled for 6 years (1192-1187). ------------------------------------------ [81] Enlil-kudurri-usur, son of Tukulti-ninurta, ruled for 5 years (1186-1182). ------------------------------------------ [82] Ninurta-apil-Ekur, son of Ila-Hadda, a descendant of Eriba-Adad, went to Karduniaš. He came up from Karduniaš, seized the throne and ruled for 3 years (1181-1179). ------------------------------------------ [83] Aššur-dan [I], son of Aššur-nadin-apli, ruled for 46 years (1178-1133). ------------------------------------------ [84] Ninurta-tukulti-Aššur, son of Aššur-dan, briefly.note ------------------------------------------ [85] Mutakkil-Nusku, his brother, fought him and took him to Karduniaš. Mutakkil-Nusku held the throne briefly, then died. ------------------------------------------ [86] Aššur-reš-iši [I], son of Mutakkil-Nusku, ruled for 18 years (1132-1115). ------------------------------------------ [87] Tiglath-pileser [I], son of Aššur-reš-iši, ruled for 39 years (1114-1076). ------------------------------------------ [88] Ašarid-apil-Ekur, son of Tiglath-pileser, ruled for 2 years (1075-1074). ------------------------------------------ [89] Aššur-bêl-kala, son of Tiglath-pileser, ruled for 18 years (1073-1056). ------------------------------------------ [90] Eriba-Adad [II], son of Aššur-bêl-kala, ruled for 2 years (1055-1054). ------------------------------------------ [91] Šamši-Adad [IV], son of Tiglath-pileser, came up from Karduniaš. He ousted Eriba-Adad, son of Aššur-bêl-kala, seized the throne and ruled for 4 years (1053-1050). ------------------------------------------ [92] Aššurnasirpal [I], son of Šamši-Adad, ruled for 19 years (1049-1031). ------------------------------------------ [93] Šalmaneser [II], son of Aššurnasirpal, ruled for 12 years (1030-1019). ------------------------------------------ [94] Aššur-nirari [IV], son of Šalmaneser, ruled for 6 years (1018-1013). ------------------------------------------ [95] Aššur-rabi [II], son of Aššurnasirpal, ruled for 41 years (1012-972). ------------------------------------------ [96] Aššur-reš-iši [II], son of Aššur-rabi, ruled for 5 years (971-967). ------------------------------------------ [97] Tiglath-pileser [II], son of Aššur-reš-iši, ruled for 32 years (966-935). ------------------------------------------ [98] Aššur-dan [II], son of Tiglath-pileser, ruled for 23 years (934-912). ------------------------------------------ [99] Adad-nirari [II], son of Aššur-dan, ruled for 21 years (911-891). ------------------------------------------ [100] Tukulti-Ninurta [II], son of Adad-nirari, ruled for 7 years (890-884). ------------------------------------------ [101] Aššurnasirpal [II], son of Tukulti-Ninurta, ruled for 25 years (883-859). ------------------------------------------ [102] Šalmaneser [III], son of Aššurnasirpal, ruled for 35 years (858-824). ------------------------------------------ [103] Šamši-Adad [V], son of Šalmaneser, ruled for 13 years (823-81..
  10. Title: Wikiwand: Ashur-nirari II
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Ashur-nirari_II;
    Note: Aššur-nērārī II, inscribed "aš-šur-ERIM.GABA" (=DÁḪ), "(the god) Aššur is my help," was the king of Assyria, the 68th to appear on the "Assyrian Kinglist," ca. 1424–1418 BC or 1414–1408 BC depending on a later uncertainty in the chronology, at the tail end of the Old Assyrian period. The small city state of Aššur was a vassal state of the Mitanni empire at this time and still recovering from their sacking of the city under Šauštatar. Biography He was the son of IIlil-nāṣir II, who had preceded him on the Assyrian throne. According to the "Khorsabad Kinglist," he reigned for seven years, the corresponding columns on the "Nassouhi" and "SDAS Kinglists" are damaged at this point. A legal text from Aššur is dated to the “Eponym of Ber-nādin-aḫḫe, son of Aššur-nērārī, supreme judge” and another gives the witness "Šamaš-kidinnu, son of Ibaši-ilu, son of Ber-nādin-aḫḫe, supreme judge." The title and genealogy suggest Ber-nādin-aḫḫe may have been an otherwise unattested successor to Aššur-nērārī. He was succeeded by his son, Aššur-bēl-nišešu. Inscriptions ^ "Khorsabad Kinglist," tablet IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, DS 32-54), iii 3. ^ KAJ 174. ^ KAJ 8.
  11. Title: "Hebraica, Volume 38"
    Author: University of Chicago Press, 1921
    Publication: Name: https://books.google.com/books?id=DwE2AAAAIAAJ&dq=Erishum+III&q=Ashur-nirari+II#v=snippet&q=Ashur-nirari%20II&f=false;
  12. Title: "The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Volume 38"
    Author: University of Chicago Press, 1922
    Publication: Name: https://books.google.com/books?id=N601AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA225&lpg=PA225&dq=Sharma-Adad+I+of+Assyria&source=bl&ots=KfB17jWCuI&sig=ACfU3U2oR3nUfD1sPD0mz5v4Qg2efsKpGw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVxZ3BvaToAhXSlHIEHduwB744FBDoATACegQIFBAB#v=snippet&q=Ashur-nirari%20II&f=false;
  13. Title: Wikiwand: Ashur-nirari II
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Ashur-nirari_II;
    Note: Aššur-nērārī II, inscribed "aš-šur-ERIM.GABA" (=DÁḪ), "(the god) Aššur is my help," was the king of Assyria, the 68th to appear on the "Assyrian Kinglist," ca. 1424–1418 BC or 1414–1408 BC depending on a later uncertainty in the chronology, at the tail end of the Old Assyrian period. The small city state of Aššur was a vassal state of the Mitanni empire at this time and still recovering from their sacking of the city under Šauštatar. Biography He was the son of IIlil-nāṣir II, who had preceded him on the Assyrian throne. According to the "Khorsabad Kinglist" he reigned for seven years, the corresponding columns on the "Nassouhi" and "SDAS Kinglists" are damaged at this point. A legal text from Aššur is dated to the "Eponym of Ber-nādin-aḫḫe, son of Aššur-nērārī, supreme judge" and another gives the witness "Šamaš-kidinnu, son of Ibaši-ilu, son of Ber-nādin-aḫḫe, supreme judge." The title and genealogy suggest Ber-nādin-aḫḫe may have been an otherwise unattested successor to Aššur-nērārī. He was succeeded by his son, Aššur-bēl-nišešu. Inscriptions ^ "Khorsabad Kinglist," tablet IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, DS 32-54), iii 3. ^ "KAJ" 174. ^ "KAJ" 8.
  14. Title: Wikiwand: Shaushtatar
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Shaushtatar;
    Note: Shaushtatar (also spelled Šauštatar) was a king of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni in the fifteenth century BC. Invasion of Assyria Shaushtatar was the son of Parshatatar. By the time he ascended the throne ca. the 15th century BC, his father had installed Hurrian client kings in a number of cities, making it easier for Shaushtatar to make Mittani a Mesopotamian power. Now freed from the constant threat undergone by Mitanni of the Egyptians, Shaushtatar turned his attention toward Assyria. He invaded Assyria and sacked and looted its capital, Assur. Later Battles After his invasion of Assyria, Shaushtatar turned his army westward across the Euphrates, along the way gathering beneath his sway all the northern Syrian states as he brought his army to the Mediterranean coast. He succeeded in extending the boundaries of Mitanni to include the areas of Alalakh, Nuzi, Assur, and Kizzuwatna. He was looking to extend Mitanni's power further south, perhaps into Palestine. However, much of southern Syria still lay within the Egyptian sphere of influence, which had long been a threat to Mitanni. There was a consequence into Shaushtatar's expansion into Palestine: war with Egypt. Despite Mitanni's advantage that Palestine had a significant Hurrian population at the time, the war would be difficult to win. During the planning stages, however, Shaushtatar died, and his son Artatama I would negotiate with the pharaoh Amenhotep II over an alliance.
  15. Title: Wikiwand: List of Assyrian kings
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_Assyrian_kings;
    Note: The King of Assyria (Akkadian: "šar māt Aššur"), called the Governor or Viceroy of Assyria (Akkadian: "Išši’ak Aššur") in the Early and Old periods, was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, which existed from approximately the 26th century BC to the 7th century BC. All modern lists of Assyrian kings generally follow the Assyrian King List, a list kept and developed by the ancient Assyrians themselves over the course of several centuries. Though some parts of the list are probably fictional, the list accords well with Hittite, Babylonian and ancient Egyptian king lists and with the archaeological record, and is generally considered reliable for the age. The ancient Assyrians did not believe that their king was divine himself, but saw their ruler as the vicar of their principal deity, Ashur, and as his chief representative on Earth. In their worldview, Assyria represented a place of order while lands not governed by the Assyrian king (and by extension, the god Ashur) were seen as places of chaos and disorder. As such it was seen as the king's duty to expand the borders of Assyria and bring order and civilization to lands perceived as uncivilized. Originally vassals of more powerful empires, the early Assyrian kings used the title governor or viceroy ("Išši’ak"), which was retained as the ruling title after Assyria gained independence due to the title of king ("šar") being applied to the god Ashur. Later Assyrian kings, beginning with Ashur-uballit I (14th century BC) adopted the title "šar māt Aššur" as their empire expanded and later also adopted more boastful titles such as "king of Sumer and Akkad," "king of the Universe" and "king of the Four Corners of the World," often to assert their control over all of Mesopotamia. The line of Assyrian kings ended with the defeat of Assyria's final king Ashur-uballit II by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Median Empire in 609 BC, after which Assyria disappeared as an independent political unit, never to rise again. The Assyrian people survived and remain as an ethnic, linguistic, religious (Christians since the 1st–3rd centuries AD) and cultural minority in the Assyrian homeland and elsewhere to this day. Sources Incomplete king-lists have been recovered from all three of the major ancient Assyrian capitals (Aššur, Dur-Šarukkin and Nineveh). The three lists are largely consistent with each other, all originally copies of a single original list, and are based on the yearly appointments of "limmu"-officials (the eponymous officials for each year, appointed by the king to preside over the celebration of the New Year festival). Because of the consistency between the list and the method through which it was created, modern scholars usually accept the regnal years mentioned as more or less correct. There are some differences between the copies of the list, notably in that they offer somewhat diverging regnal years before the reign of king Ashur-dan I of the Middle Assyrian Empire (reign beginning in 1178 BC). After 1178 BC, the lists are identical in their contents. The king-lists mostly accord well with Hittite, Babylonian and ancient Egyptian king lists and with the archaeological record, and are generally considered reliable for the age. It is however clear that parts of the list are fictional, as some known kings are not found on the list and other listed kings are not independently verified. Originally it was assumed that the list was first written in the time of Shamshi-Adad I circa 1800 BC but it now is considered to date from much later, probably from the time of Ashurnasirpal I (1050–1031 BC). The oldest of the surviving king-lists, List A (8th century BC) stops at Tiglath-Pileser II (c. 967–935 BC) and the youngest, List C, stops at Shalmaneser V (727–722 BC). One problem that arises with the Assyrian King List is that the creation of the list may have been more motivated by political interest than actual chronological and historical accuracy. In times of civil strife and confusion, the list still adheres to a single royal line of descent, probably ignoring rival claimants to the throne. Additionally, there are some known inconsistencies between the list and actual inscriptions by Assyrian kings, often regarding dynastic relationships. For instance, Ashur-nirari II is stated by the list to be the son of his predecessor Enlil-Nasir II, but from inscriptions it is known that he was actually the son of Ashur-rabi I and brother of Enlil-Nasir. Titles See also: Akkadian royal titulary Assyrian royal titles typically followed trends that had begun under the Akkadian Empire (c. 2334–2154 BC), the Mesopotamian civilization that preceded the later kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon. When the Mesopotamian central government under the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112–2004 BC) collapsed and polities that had once been vassals to Ur became independent, many of the new sovereign rulers refrained from taking the title of king ("šar"), instead applying that title to their principal deities (in the case of Assyria, Ashur). For this reason, most of the Assyrian kings of the Old (c. 2025–1378 BC) and Middle Assyrian period (c. 1392–934 BC) used the title Išši’ak Aššur, translating to "governor of Assyria." In contrast to the titles employed by the Babylonian kings in the south, which typically focused on the protective role and the piety of the king, Assyrian royal inscriptions tend to glorify the strength and power of the king. Assyrian titularies usually also often emphasize the royal genaeology of the king, something Babylonian titularies do not, and also drive home the king's moral and physical qualities while downplaying his role in the judicial system. Assyrian epithets about royal lineage vary in how far they stretch back, most often simply discussing lineage in terms of "son of ..." or "brother of ...". Some cases display lineage stretching back much further, Shamash-shuma-ukin (r. 667–648 BC) describes himself as a "descendant of Sargon II," his great-grandfather. More extremely, Esarhaddon (r. 681–669 BC) calls himself a "descendant of the eternal seed of Bel-bani", a king who would have lived more than a thousand years before him. Assyrian royal titularies were often changed depending on where the titles were to be displayed, the titles of the same Assyrian king would have been different in their home country of Assyria and in conquered regions. Those Neo-Assyrian kings who controlled the city of Babylon used a "hybrid" titulary of sorts in the south, combining aspects of the Assyrian and Babylonian tradition, similar to how the traditional Babylonian deities were promoted in the south alongside the Assyrian main deity of Ashur. The assumption of many traditional southern titles, including the ancient "king of Sumer and Akkad" and the boastful "king of the Universe" and "king of the Four Corners of the World", by the Assyrian kings served to legitimize their rule and assert their control over Babylon and lower Mesopotamia. Epithets like "chosen by the god Marduk and the goddess Sarpanit" and "favourite of the god Ashur and the goddess Mullissu", both assumed by Esarhaddon, illustrate that he was both Assyrian (Ashur and Mullissu, the main pair of Assyrian deities) and a legitimate ruler over Babylon (Marduk and Sarpanit, the main pair of Babylonian deities). To examplify an Assyrian royal title from the time Assyria ruled all of Mesopotamia, the titulature preserved in one of Esarhaddon's inscriptions read as follows: “The great king, the mighty king, king of the Universe, king of Assyria, viceroy of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, son of Sennacherib, the great king, the mighty king, king of Assyria, grandson of Sargon, the great king, the mighty king, king of Assyria; who under the protection of Assur, Sin, Shamash, Nabu, Marduk, Ishtar of Nineveh, Ishtar of Arbela, the great gods, his lords, made his way from the rising to the setting sun, having no rival.” Role of the Assyrian king Ancient Assyria was an absolute monarchy, with the king believed to be appointed directly through divine right by the chief deity, Ashur. The Assyrians believed that the king was the link between the gods and the earthly realm. As such, it was the king's primary duty to discover the will of the gods and enact this, often through the construction of temples or waging war. To aid the king with this duty, there was a number of priests at the royal court trained in reading and interpreting signs from the gods. The heartland of the Assyrian realm, Assyria itself, was thought to represent a serene and perfect place of order whilst the lands governed by foreign powers were perceived as infested with disorder and chaos. The peoples of these "outer" lands were seen as uncivilized, strange and as speaking strange languages. Because the king was the earthly link to the gods, it was his duty to spread order throughout the world through the military conquest of these strange and chaotic countries. As such, imperial expansion was not just expansion for expansion's sake but was also seen as a process of bringing divine order and destroying chaos to create civilization. There exists several ancient inscriptions in which the god Ashur explicitly orders kings to extend the borders of Assyria. A text from the reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I (r. c. 1233–1197 BC) states that the king received a royal scepter and was commanded to "broaden the land of Ashur." A similar inscription from the reign of Ashurbanipal (r. 668–631 BC) commands the king to "extend the land at his feet." The king also was tasked with protecting his own people, often being referred to as a "shepherd." This protection included defending against external enemies and defending citizens from dangerous wild animals. To the Assyrians, the most dangerous animal of all was the lion, used (similarly to foreign powers) as an example of chaos and disorder due to their aggressive nature. To prove themselves worthy of rule and..
  16. Title: Wikiwand: Old Assyrian Empire
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Old_Assyrian_Empire;
    Note: The Old Assyrian Empire is the second of four periods into which the history of Assyria is divided, the other three being the Early Assyrian Period (2600–2025 BC), the Middle Assyrian Empire (1392-934 BC), and the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–609 BC). Assyria was a major Mesopotamian East Semitic-speaking kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East. Centered on the Tigris–Euphrates river system in Upper Mesopotamia, the Assyrian people came to rule powerful empires at several times. Making up a substantial part of the "cradle of civilization," which included Sumer, the Akkadian Empire, and Babylonia, Assyria was at the height of technological, scientific and cultural achievements at its peak. At its peak, the Assyrian empire ruled over what the ancient Mesopotamian religion referred to as the "four corners of the world": as far north as the Caucasus Mountains within the lands of what is today called Armenia and Azerbaijan, as far east as the Zagros Mountains within the territory of present-day Iran, as far south as the Arabian Desert of today's Saudi Arabia, as far west as the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, and even further to the west in Egypt and eastern Libya. Assyria is named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur, which dates to c. 2600 BC, originally one of a number of Akkadian city states in Mesopotamia. Assyria also sometimes was known as Subartu and Azuhinum prior to the rise of the city-state of Assur, and during the Sasanian Empire as Asōristān. History In the Old Assyrian Empire, Assyria established colonies in Anatolia and the Levant and, under king Ilu-shuma, it asserted itself over southern Mesopotamia (what was later to become Babylonia). The first written inscriptions by urbanized Assyrian kings appear c. 2450 BC, after they had shrugged off Sumerian domination. The land of Assyria as a whole then consisted of a number of city-states and small Semitic-speaking kingdoms, some of which were initially independent of Assyria. The foundation of the first major temple in the city of Aššur was traditionally ascribed to king Ushpia who reigned c. 2050 BC, possibly a contemporary of Ishbi-Erra of Isin and Naplanum of Larsa. He was reputedly succeeded by kings named Apiashal, Sulili, Kikkia and Akiya (died c. 2026 BC), of whom little is known, apart from much later mentions of Kikkiya conducting fortifications on the city walls, and building work on temples in Aššur. Between c. 2500 BC and c. 2400 BC, Assyrian kings were pastoral leaders. The main rivals, neighbors or trading partners to early Assyrian kings between c. 2200 BC and c. 2000 BC would have been the Hattians and Hurrians to the north in Anatolia, the Gutian people, Lullubi and Turukkaeans to the east in the Zagros Mountains of the northwest Iranian Plateau, Elam to the southeast in what is now south central Iran, the Amorites to the west in what is today Syria, and their fellow Sumero-Akkadian city-states of southern Mesopotamia such as Isin, Kish, Ur, Eshnunna and Larsa. Around 2400 BC, the Assyrians became subject to Sargon of Akkad, who united all the Sumero-Akkadian-speaking peoples of Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire, which lasted from c. 2334 BC to c. 2154 BC. At that time, the Sumerians were eventually absorbed into the Akkadian (Assyro-Babylonian) population. Assyria became a regionally powerful nation in the Old Assyrian Empire from c. 2100 BC to c. 1800 BC. The Amorites had overrun the kingdoms of southern Mesopotamia and the Levant between c. 2100 BC and c. 1900 BC, but had hitherto been successfully repelled by the Assyrian kings during this period. However, Erishum II (c. 1818 BC – c. 1809 BC) was to be the last king of the dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, founded c. 2025 BC. In c. 1808 BC he was deposed and the throne of Assyria was usurped by Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1809 BC – 1776 BC) in the expansion of Amorite tribes from the Khabur River delta in the north eastern Levant. About 1800 BC, Assyria came into conflict with the newly created city state of Babylon, which eventually eclipsed the far older Sumero-Akkadian states and cities in the south; such as Ur, Isin, Larsa, Kish, Nippur, Eridu, Lagash, Umma, Uruk, Akshak and Adab, incorporating them into a greater Babylonia. Assyria remained untroubled by the emergence of the Hittites and Mitanni, both to the north of Assyria, and by the Kassites who had seized Babylonian from its Amorite founders. After securing its borders on all sides, Assyria entered into a quiet and peaceful period in its history which lasted for two and a half centuries. The emergence of the Mitanni Empire in c. 1600 BC did eventually lead to a short period of sporadic Mitannian-Hurrian domination in c. 1500 BC. The Indo-European-speaking Mitanni are thought to have conquered and formed the ruling class over the indigenous Hurrians of eastern Anatolia. The Hurrians spoke a language isolate, i.e. neither Semitic nor Indo-European. Origin of name See also: Subartu "Assyria" is named after its first capital city, Assur. The city Assur is itself named after its patron deity, Ashur. Assyria was also sometimes known as "Azuhinum," prior to the rise of the city-state of Assur, after which it was referred to as "Aššūrāyu." "Assyria" also can refer to the geographic region of the Assyrian homeland, roughly equivalent to the territory of the Old Assyrian Empire, and the land of the modern Christian Aramaic-speaking Assyrians. Scholars suggest that Subartu may have been an early name for Assyria proper along the Tigris river and further upriver into Upper Mesopotamia, although there are various other theories placing it sometimes a little further out to the north, west, and/or east within the Tigris–Euphrates river system. Settlements Capital cities Assur Main article: Assur Assur was the capital city of Assyria c. 2025 BC – c. 1754 BC and c. 1681 BC – c. 1379 BC. The oldest remains of the city were discovered in the foundations of the Ishtar temple, as well as at the Old Palace. In around 2025 BC, Puzur-Ashur I founded a new dynasty, and his successors such as Ilu-shuma, Erishum I and Sargon I left inscriptions regarding the building of temples to the gods Ashur, Adad and Ishtar in the city. Assur developed rapidly into a center for trade, and trade routes led from the city to Anatolia, where merchants from Assur established trading colonies. These Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor were called karu, and traded mostly with tin and wool. In the city of Assur, the first great temples to the city god Ashur and the weather god Adad were erected. Assur was the capital of the empire of Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1754 BC – c. 1721 BC). He expanded the city's power and influence beyond the Tigris River valley, creating what some regard as the first Assyrian Empire. In this period, the Great Royal Palace was built, and the temple of Ashur was expanded and enlarged with a ziggurat. This empire came to end when Hammurabi, the Amorite king of Babylon incorporated the city into his short lived empire following the death of Ishme-Dagan I c. 1681 BC, and the next three Assyrian kings were regarded as vassals. A king named Adasi drove the Babylonians and Amorites from Assur and Assyria as a whole c. 1720 BC, however little is known of his successors. Renewed building activity is known a few centuries later, during the reign of a king Puzur-Ashur III, when the city was refortified and the southern quarters incorporated into the main city defenses. Temples to the moon god Sin and the sun god Shamash were erected c. 1490 BC. The city was then subjugated by the king of Mitanni, Shaushtatar c. 1450 BC, who removed the gold and silver doors of the temple to his capital, Washukanni, as plunder. Ashur-uballit I overthrew the Mitanni c. 1365 BC, and the Assyrians benefited from this development by taking control of the eastern portion of Mitanni territory, and later also annexing Hittite, Babylonian, Amorite and Hurrian territories. Shubat-Enlil Main article: Shubat-Enlil Shubat-Enlil was the capital city of Assyria c. 1754 BC – c. 1681 BC. Shubat-Enlil was known as Shekhna c. 2000 BC. The conquest of the region by Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1754 BC – c. 1721 BC of Assyria revived the abandoned site of Shekhna. He renamed it from Shekhna to Shubat-Enlil, meaning, "the residence of the god Enlil" in the Akkadian language. In the city a royal palace was built and a temple acropolis to which a straight paved street led from the city gate. There was also a planned residential area and the entire city was enclosed by a wall. The Babylonians were defeated and driven out of Assyria by the Assyrian king Adasi, however Shubat-Enlil was never reoccupied and the Assyrian capital city was transferred to its traditional home in Assur. Among many important discoveries at Šubat-Enlil is an archive of 1,100 cuneiform clay tablets maintained by the rulers of the city. These tablets date to c. 1700 BC and record the dealings with other Mesopotamian states and how the city administration worked. Šubat-Enlil was abandoned c. 1681 BC. Other cities Nineveh Main article: Nineveh Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia. The historic Nineveh is mentioned during the reign of Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1754 BC – c. 1721 BC) as a center of worship for the god Ishtar, whose cult was responsible for the city's early importance. The goddess' statue was sent to the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III (c. 1386 BC – c. 1349 BC), by orders of the king of the Mitanni. The Assyrian city of Ninâ became one of Mitanni's vassals for half a century until c. 1378 BC. Karum Main article: Karum (trade post) Assyrian merchants had established the "karum" (Akkadian: "kārum," "quay, port, commercial district," plural "kārū," from Sumerian kar "fortification (of a harbor), break-water") small colonial settlements next to Anatolian cities which paid taxes to the rulers of the cities c. 1960 BC. Among them were: Kanesh, Ankuwa, and Ḫattuša. There were also smalle..
  17. Title: Wikiwand: Enlil-Nasir II
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Enlil-Nasir_II;
    Note: Enlil-Nasir II was the king of Assyria from 1420 BC to 1414 BC. The brother of Ashur-nadin-ahhe I, he seized the throne in a successful coup.
  18. Title: Wikiwand: Eponym dating system
    Author: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Eponym_dating_system;
    Note: 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 individual holding office. The dating system is thought to have originated in the ancient city of Assur, and remained the official dating system in Assyria until the end of the Assyrian Empire in the seventh century BC. The names of the Limmu who became eponyms were originally chosen by lot sortition, until the first millennium it became a fixed rotation of officers headed by the king who constituted the limmu. The earliest known attestations of a year eponyms are at Karum-Kanesh, and became used in other Assyrian colonies in Anatolia. Its spread was due to Shamshi-Adad I's unification of northern Mesopotamia. Limmu lists With the establishment of eponym lists, succinct statements about events were sometimes added in order to keep track of the sequence. The limmu lists themselves run from 911 through to 631 BC, and are dated with the aid of the Canon of Ptolemaeus, which coincides with dates from the Canon between 747 and 631 BC. According to one limmu list, a solar eclipse occurred in the tenth reigning year of the Assyrian king Aššur-dan II, in the month of Sivan (May–June on the Gregorian calendar), by Bur-Sagale. Using the Canon of Kings the tenth year can be dated to 763 BC, and modern astronomy dating has backed the Assyrian eclipse up as June 15, 763 BC. Other events can be dated from this establishment of fact, such as the taking of the Egyptian city of Thebes by the Assyrians in 664 BC, and to be able to determine the date of the minting of ancient coins. Out of 19 surviving clay tablets with limmus, they between them show ten manuscripts that contain lists of years identified by the eponym with a summary note about what happened that year, most often military campaigns. Thus, such lists provide historians a way of dating long stretches of the Neo-Assyrian history, and give us in details military exploits and which were considered the most important. Such a translation can be found below (With BC added). Year Limmu Event 719 BC Sargon, King [of Assyria] [-ent]ered 718 BC Zer-ibni, governor of Ra[sappa] [to Ta]bal 717 BC Tab-shar-Assur, chamberlain [Dur-Sharru]kin was founded. 716 BC Tab-sil-Eshara, governor of the citadel [to] Mecca 715 BC Taklal-ana-beli, governor of Nasibina [ ] governors appointed 714 BC Ishtar-duri, governor of Arrapha [to Ur]artu, Musasir, Haldia 713 BC Assur-bani, governor of Kalhu [the] nobles in Ellipi, he entered the new house, to Musasir in the land 712 BC Sharru-emuranni, governor of Zamua in the land 711 BC Ninurta-alik-pani, governor of Si'mme [to] Marqasa 710 BC Shamash-belu-usur, governor of Arzuhina to Bit-zeri, the king stayed at Kish 709 BC Mannu-ki-Assur-le'i, governor of Tille Sargon took the hands of Bel 708 BC Shamash-upahhir, governor of Habruri Kummuhi conquered and a governor was appointed 707 BC Sha-Assur-dubbu, governor of Tushan the king returned from Babylon, the vizier and nobles, the booty of Dur-Jakin was destroyed, on the 22nd of Teshrit, the gods of Dur-Sharrukin entered the temples 706 BC Mutakkil-Assur, governor of Guzana the king stayed in the land, the nobles [ ]. on the 6th of Ayar, Dur-Sharrukin was completed 705 BC Nashur-Bel, governor of Amidu the king [ ] against Qurdi the Kullumean, the king was killed, the camp of the king of Assyria [ ]. on the 12th of Ab, Sennacherib [became] king
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