Ansud

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Ansud
King of Mari
Reignc. 2423 – 2416 BC. Middle chronology
Predecessor Ikun-Shamagan
Successor Saʿumu
King of Mari

Ansud (also read as Ianupu, Yanup, Anubu, Gansud, Anusu and Hanusum), [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] was an early king (Lugal) of the second Mariote kingdom who reigned c. 2423-2416 BC. [6] Ansud is known for warring against the Eblaites from a letter written by the later Mariote king Enna-Dagan.

Contents

Reign

Identity

It has been proposed that a bead (reference M. 4439) discovered at Mari, was sent as a gift by Mesannepada of Ur to king "Hanusum" (Gansud) of Mari. [7] [8] [9] This has now been corrected with new translations only giving Mesannepada as son of Meskalamdug: [10] [11]

Mari bead Mesannepada bead from Mari.jpg
Mari bead

𒀭𒈗𒌦 𒈩𒀭𒉌𒅆𒊒𒁕 𒈗 𒋀𒀊𒆠 𒌉 𒈩𒌦𒄭 𒈗 𒆧𒆠 𒀀 𒈬𒈾𒊒

d lugal-kalam mes-an-ne2-pa3-da lugal uri5ki dumu mes-ug-du10 lugal kishki a munaru

"To god Lugalkalam ("the Lord of the Land", identified with Dagan or Enlil), Mesannepada, king of Ur, son of Meskalamdug, king of Kish, has consecrated this bead""

—  Mesannepada Mari bead [13] [14] [10] [11] [12] [15]

It is unclear how this bead came to be in Mari, but this points to some kind of relation between Ur and Mari at that time. [9] The bead was discovered in a jar containing other objects from Ur or Kish. [16]

The letter of Enna-Dagan is extremely difficult to read, [17] and the word "Sa'umu" appeared in three passages of it. [3] In the second and third passages, the word referred to Ansud's successor Sa'umu. [3] [18] However, in the first passage, "Sa'umu" was read as a verb by Giovanni Pettinato, who later read it as (Anudu). [3] Alfonso Archi, recognized that this verb is a personal name of a monarch and read it as Anubu (motivated by the Sumerian King List which record a dynasty of Mari and king Anbu as the first monarch of the dynasty). [3] However, the discovery of an intact (SKL) with the names of Mari's dynasty bearing no resemblance to second kingdom monarchs, eliminated the need for Archi's identification. [3] According to Michael Astour, the name is Anusu (Ansud) and must be correlated with king Hanusum. [5]

Campaigns

In the letter Ansud is recorded defeating the cities of Aburu, Ilgi in the lands of Belan. [note 1] [1] [20] The king is also mentioned leaving ruins in the mountains of Labanan, [1] which were identified by Pettinato with Lebanon. [21] However, this identification was ruled as geographically impossible by Astour. [21]

King Ansud of Mari
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Mari
2423-2416 BC		Succeeded by

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Belan is located 26 km west of Raqqa. [19]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 "Monuments of War, War of Monuments: Some Considerations on Commemorating War in the Third Millennium BC. Orientalia Vol.76/4". Davide Nadali. 2007. p. 354. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Joan Aruz; Ronald Wallenfels (2003). Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. p. 463. ISBN   9781588390431.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cyrus Herzl Gordon; Gary Rendsburg; Nathan H. Winter (2002). Eblaitica vol.4. p. 57. ISBN   9781575060606.
  4. ↑ Nakl. Ceskoslovenské akademie věd (1969). Archiv Orientální, Volume 37 (in French). p. 623.
  5. 1 2 Cyrus Herzl Gordon; Gary Rendsburg; Nathan H. Winter (2002). Eblaitica vol.4. p. 58. ISBN   9781575060606.
  6. ↑ William J. Hamblin (2006). Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. p. 242. ISBN   9781134520626.
  7. ↑ Mario Liverani (2013). The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. p. 117. ISBN   9781134750849.
  8. ↑ Parrot, André (1965). "Les Fouilles de Mari". Syria: 220.
  9. 1 2 orientalia Vol.38. Gregorian Biblical BookShop. p. 358.
  10. 1 2 Description with photograph: Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2003. p. 143. ISBN   978-1-58839-043-1.
  11. 1 2 Orientalia: Vol. 73. Gregorian Biblical BookShop. p. 183.
  12. 1 2 Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2003. ISBN   978-1-58839-043-1.
  13. ↑ Orientalia: Vol. 73 (in Italian). Gregorian Biblical BookShop.
  14. ↑ "CDLI-Archival View". cdli.ucla.edu.
  15. ↑ "Mission archéologique de Mari" volume 4, p. 44, fig. 35 (photo); p. 53, fig. 36
  16. ↑ Matthews, Donald M. (1997). The Early Glyptic of Tell Brak: Cylinder Seals of Third Millennium Syria. Saint-Paul. p. 108. ISBN   978-3-525-53896-8.
  17. ↑ Martha A. Morrison; David I. Owen (1987). General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 9/1. p. 12. ISBN   9780931464089.
  18. ↑ Douglas Frayne (2008). Pre-Sargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC). p. 761. ISBN   9781442690479.
  19. ↑ P.M. Michèle Daviau; Michael Weigl; John W. Wevers (2001). The World of the Aramaeans: Studies in Honour of Paul-Eugène Dion, Volume 1. p. 233. ISBN   9780567200495.
  20. ↑ Winters, Ryan (2019). "Negotiating Exchange: Ebla and the International System of the Early Bronze Age" (PDF). PhD diss., Harvard University: 42–43.
  21. 1 2 Cyrus Herzl Gordon; Gary Rendsburg (1992). Eblaitica vol.3. p. 29. ISBN   9780931464348.

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