Ansud

Last updated
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] [15] [16]

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. [17] The bead was discovered in a jar containing other objects from Ur or Kish. [18]

The letter of Enna-Dagan is extremely difficult to read, [19] 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] [20] 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 Eblaite vassal cities of Aburu, Ilgi and Belan. [note 1] [1] The king is also mentioned leaving ruins in the mountains of Labanan, [1] which were identified by Pettinato with Lebanon. [22] However, this identification was ruled as geographically impossible by Astour. [22]

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. [21]

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. 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. 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. 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.
  16. "Mission archéologique de Mari" volume 4, p. 44, fig. 35 (photo); p. 53, fig. 36
  17. orientalia Vol.38. Gregorian Biblical BookShop. p. 358.
  18. 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.
  19. Martha A. Morrison; David I. Owen (1987). General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 9/1. p. 12. ISBN   9780931464089.
  20. Douglas Frayne (2008). Pre-Sargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC). p. 761. ISBN   9781442690479.
  21. 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.
  22. 1 2 Cyrus Herzl Gordon; Gary Rendsburg (1992). Eblaitica vol.3. p. 29. ISBN   9780931464348.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebla</span> Ancient Syrian city

Ebla was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a tell located about 55 km (34 mi) southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was an important center throughout the 3rd millennium BC and in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. Its discovery proved the Levant was a center of ancient, centralized civilization equal to Egypt and Mesopotamia and ruled out the view that the latter two were the only important centers in the Near East during the Early Bronze Age. The first Eblaite kingdom has been described as the first recorded world power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mesannepada</span> King of Kish, King of Ur

Mesannepada, Mesh-Ane-pada or Mes-Anne-pada was the first king listed for the First Dynasty of Ur on the Sumerian king list. He is listed to have ruled for 80 years, having overthrown Lugal-kitun of Uruk: "Then Unug (Uruk) was defeated and the kingship was taken to Urim (Ur)". In one of his seals, found in the Royal Cemetery at Ur, he is also described as king of Kish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mari, Syria</span> Ancient Sumerian and Amorite city

Mari was an ancient Semitic city-state in modern-day Syria. Its remains form a tell 11 kilometers north-west of Abu Kamal on the Euphrates River western bank, some 120 kilometers southeast of Deir ez-Zor. It flourished as a trade center and hegemonic state between 2900 BC and 1759 BC. The city was built in the middle of the Euphrates trade routes between Sumer in the south and the Eblaite kingdom and the Levant in the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meskalamdug</span> King of Ur

Meskalamdug was an early Sumerian ruler of the First Dynasty of Ur in the 26th century BCE. He does not appear in the Sumerian King List, but is known from a royal cylinder seal found in the Royal Cemetery at Ur, a royal bead inscription found in Mari, both mentioning him as King, and possibly his tomb, grave PG 755 at the Royal Cemetery at Ur.

Armi, was an important Bronze Age city-kingdom during the late third millennium BC located in northern Syria, or in southern Anatolia, Turkey, at the region of Cilicia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Cemetery at Ur</span> Archaeological site in southern Iraq

The Royal Cemetery at Ur is an archaeological site in modern-day Dhi Qar Governorate in southern Iraq. The initial excavations at Ur took place between 1922 and 1934 under the direction of Leonard Woolley in association with the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Vizier, is the title used by modern scholars to indicate the head of the administration in the first Eblaite kingdom. The title holder held the highest position after the king and controlled the army. During the reign of king Isar-Damu, the office of vizier became hereditary.

Iblul-Il, was the most energetic king (Lugal) of the second Mariote kingdom, noted for his extensive campaigns in the middle Euphrates valley against the Eblaites, and in the upper Tigris region against various opponents, which asserted the Mariote supremacy in the Syrian north.

Hanun-Dagan, was the Shakkanakku and king (Lugal) of Mari reigning c. 2016-2008 BC. He was the brother of his predecessor Hitlal-Erra, and is recorded as the son of Shakkanakku Puzur-Ishtar on a seal discovered in the city. Although the title of Shakkanakku designated a military governor, the title holders in Mari were independent monarchs, and nominally under the vassalage of the Ur III dynasty. Some Shakkanakkus used the royal title Lugal in their votive inscriptions, while using the title of Shakkanakku in their correspondence with the Ur's court, and it is certain that Hanun-Dagan used the royal title.

Saʿumu was a king (Lugal) of the second Mariote kingdom who reigned c. 2416–2400 BC. Some scholars, such as Joseph Martin Pagan, interpreted the king's name as derived from the root "ś-y-m", a cognate of the Akkadian word "šâmu-m", meaning "to buy".

Kun-Damu was a king (Malikum) of the first Eblaite kingdom ruling c. 2400 BC. The king's name is translated as "Arise, O Damu". Kun-Damu is attested in the archives of Ebla dated two generations after his reign. According to Alfonso Archi, he was a contemporary of Saʿumu of Mari. The archives of Ebla records the defeat of Mari in the 25th century BC, and based on the estimations for his reign, Kun-Damu might be the Eblaite king who inflicted this defeat upon Mari. Aleppo might have came under the rule of Ebla during his reign. Following his death, he was deified and his cult was attested in Ebla for at least 30 years after his reign.

Isar-Damu, was the king (Malikum) of the first Eblaite kingdom. Isar-Damu fought a long war with Mari which ended in Eblaite victory; he was probably the last king of the first kingdom.

Sagisu was a king (Malikum) of the first Eblaite kingdom ruling c. 2680 BC. The king's name is translated as "DN has killed".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akalamdug</span> King of Ur

Akalamdug was an early ruler of the First Dynasty of Ur in the 26th century BCE. He does not appear in the Sumerian King List, but is known from his tomb and an inscription at the Royal Cemetery at Ur. He may have been the father of Meskalamdug, as suggested by the similarity of their names and the chronological proximity of their graves. Alternatively, he may have been the son of Meskalamdug, and therefore brother of the great ruler Mesannepada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ur-Pabilsag</span> King of Ur

Ur-Pabilsag was an early ruler of the First Dynasty of Ur in the 26th century BCE. He does not appear in the Sumerian King List, but is known from an inscription fragment found in Ur, bearing the title "Ur-Pabilsag, king of Ur". It has been suggested that his tomb is at the Royal Cemetery at Ur. He may have died around 2550 BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A-Imdugud</span> King of Ur

A-Imdugud, was an early ruler of the First Dynasty of Ur in the 27th century BCE. He does not appear in the Sumerian King List, but is known from an inscribed seal found in tomb PG 1236 in the Royal Cemetery at Ur, which is the largest and probably the earliest tomb structure at the cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iku-Shamagan</span> King of Mari

Iku-Shamagan was a King of the second Mariote kingdom who reigned c. 2500 BCE. He is one of three Mari kings known from archaeology, Ikun-Shamash probably being the oldest one. Another king was Ishqi-Mari, also known from an inscribed statue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Etched carnelian beads</span>

Etched carnelian beads, or sometimes bleached carnelian beads, are a type of ancient decorative beads made from carnelian with an etched design in white, which were probably manufactured by the Indus Valley civilization during the 3rd millennium BCE. They were made according to a technique of alkaline-etching developed by the Harappans, and vast quantities of these beads were found in the archaeological sites of the Indus Valley civilization. They are considered as an important marker of ancient trade between the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia and even Ancient Egypt, as these precious and unique manufactured items circulated in great numbers between these geographical areas during the 3rd millennium BCE, and have been found in numerous tomb deposits.