Kikkia (sometimes given as Kikkiya), inscribed mKi-ik-ki-a [i 1] [i 2] was according to the Assyrian King List (AKL) the 28th Assyrian monarch, ruling in Assyria's early period. He is listed within a section of the AKL as the second out of the six, "kings whose eponyms are not known." [1] [2] As all the other early rulers listed in the king list and unattested elsewhere, there is dispute among scholars as to whether Kikkia was a real historical figure. [3]
Apart from his appearance in two copies of the Assyrian King List (the Khorsabad and SDAS copies, but not the Nassouhi one which is damaged at the top where he might have appeared), he is only known from two building inscriptions of his successors, moreover; the earliest of these is that of Ashur-rim-nisheshu (c. 1398 BC — c. 1391 BC), who commemorated his reconstruction of the wall of the inner-city of Assur by listing the previous restorers on a commemorative cone, [i 3] (beginning with Kikkia.) The later king, Shalmaneser II, restored this wall and gave credit to his predecessor in his inscription. [4] The erection of a defensive wall suggests that Kikkia may have won his independence from the waning influence of the Neo-Sumerian Empire. An earlier Assyrian šakkanakkum (KIŠ.NITA2) and chief magistrate of Assur, Zariqum, who had been omitted from the extant copies of the Assyrian King Lists, had been a contemporary and vassal of Shulgi (c. 2029 BC — c. 1982 BC) and of Amar-Sin of Ur (c. 1981 BC — c. 1973 BC), [5] so one would suppose that Kikkia must have reigned after this time. Arthur Ungnad interpreted Kikkia's name, and that of Ushpia, as being that of the Hurrian language (BA VI, 5, S. 13), but more recent research no longer holds this thesis as tenable, and Arno Poebel was not convinced by the interpretation. [6]
Salmānu-ašarēd II, inscribed mdSILIM-ma-nu-MAŠ/SAG, meaning "(the god) Salmānu is foremost," was the king of Assyria 1030–1019 BC, the 93rd to appear on the Khorsabad copy of the Assyrian Kinglist, although he has been apparently carelessly omitted altogether on the Nassouhi copy.
Adad-nārārī I, rendered in all but two inscriptions ideographically as mdadad-ZAB+DAḪ, meaning “Adad (is) my helper,” was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian Empire. He is the earliest Assyrian king whose annals survive in any detail. Adad-nārārī I achieved major military victories that further strengthened Assyria. In his inscriptions from Assur he calls himself son of Arik-den-ili, the same filiations being recorded in the Nassouhi kinglist. He is recorded as a son of Enlil-nirari in the Khorsabad kinglist and the SDAS kinglist, probably in error.
Aššūr-reš-iši II, inscribed maš-šur-SAG-i-ši, meaning "(the god) Aššur has lifted my head," was the king of Assyria, 971–967 BC, the 96th to be listed on the Assyrian Kinglist. His short five-year reign is rather poorly attested and somewhat overshadowed by the lengthy reigns of his predecessor, Aššur-rabi II, and successor, Tukultī-apil-Ešarra II.
Aššur-rabi II, inscribed maš-šur-GAL-bi, "(the god) Aššur is great," was king of Assyria 1012–972 BC. Despite his lengthy reign, one of the longest of the Assyrian monarchs, his tenure seems to have been an unhappy one judging by the scanty and laconic references to his setbacks from later sources.
Aššur-nērārī IV, inscribed maš-šur-ERIM.GABA, "(the god) Aššur is my help," was the king of Assyria, the 94th to appear on the Assyrian Kinglist, ruling 1019/18–1013 BC. His short six-year reign was marked by confusion and a dearth of contemporary inscriptions.
Erība-Adad II, inscribed mSU-dIM, “Adad has replaced,” was the king of Assyria 1056/55-1054 BC, the 94th to appear on the Assyrian Kinglist. He was the son of Aššur-bēl-kala whom he briefly succeeded and was deposed by his uncle Šamši-Adad IV.
Aššur-nerari III, inscribed maš-šur-ERIM.GABA, “Aššur is my help,” was king of Assyria. He was the grandson of Tukulti-Ninurta I and might have succeeded his uncle or more probably his father Ashur-nadin-apli to the throne, who had participated in a conspiracy against Tukulti-Ninurta I which led to his murder.
Eriba-Adad, inscribed mSU-dIM or mSU-d10, was king of Assyria from c. 1390 BC to 1364 BC. His father had been the earlier king Aššur-bel-nišešu, an affiliation attested in brick inscriptions, king-lists and a tablet although a single king list gives his father as Aššur-rā’im-nišēšu, probably in error. He succeeded his nephew, Aššur-nādin-aḫḫe II, being succeeded himself by the rather more prominent king Aššur-uballiṭ I, who was his son. He was the 72nd on the Assyrian King List and ruled for 27 years.
Aššur-nērārī II, inscribed maš-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.
Aššūr-bēl-nīšēšu, inscribed mdaš-šur-EN-UN.MEŠ--šú, and meaning “(the god) Aššur (is) lord of his people,” was the ruler of Assyria c. 1417–1409 BC or 1407–1398 BC, 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.
Aššur-rā’im-nišēšu, inscribed mdaš-šur-ÁG-UN.MEŠ-šu, meaning “(the god) Aššur loves his people,” was ruler of Assyria, or išši’ak Aššur, “vice-regent of Aššur,” written in Sumerian: PA.TE.SI (=ÉNSI), c. 1408–1401 BC or c. 1398–1391 BC, the 70th to be listed on the Assyrian King List. He is best known for his reconstruction of the inner city wall of Aššur.
Aššur-šaddûni or -šaduni, inscribed maš-šur-KUR-ú-ni or [maš-šur-K]UR-u-ni and meaning “(the god) Aššur (is) our mountain,” was the ruler of Assyria for just "one complete month" during the 15th century BC, the 64th to appear on the Assyrian King List. He succeeded his father, Nur-ili, but was ousted in a coup by his uncle, Aššur-rabi I.
Erishum I or Erišu(m) Ic. 1974–1935 BC, son of Ilu-shuma, was the thirty-third ruler of Assyria to appear on the Assyrian King List. He reigned for forty years. One of two copies of the Assyrian King List which include him gives his reign length as only 30 years, but this contrasts with a complete list of his limmu, some 40, which are extant from tablets recovered at Karum Kanesh. He had titled himself both as, "Ashur is king, Erishum is vice-regent" and the, “Išši’ak Aššur”ki, at a time when Assur was controlled by an oligarchy of the patriarchs of the prominent families and subject to the “judgment of the city”, or dīn alim. According to Veenhof, Erishum I’s reign marks the period when the institution of the annually appointed limmu (eponym) was introduced. The Assyrian King List observes of his immediate predecessors, “in all six kings known from bricks, whose limmu have not been marked/found”.
Aššur-nārāri I, inscribed maš-šur-ERIM.GABA, "Aššur is my help," was an Old Assyrian king who ruled for 26 years during the mid-second millennium BC, c. 1547 to 1522 BC. He was the 60th king to be listed on the Assyrian Kinglist and expanded the titles adopted by Assyrian rulers to include muddiš, "restorer of," and bāni, "builder of," to the traditional epithets ensi, "governor," and iššiak, "vice-regent," of Aššur.
The Old Assyrian Empire (Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform: 𒆳𒀭𒊹𒆠 KUR AN-ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: mat aš-šur KI, "Country of the city of god Aššur"; also phonetically mat da-šur) 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.
Ushpia was according to the Assyrian King List (AKL) the 16th Assyrian monarch, ruling in Assyria's early period, though he is not attested in any known contemporary artefacts. The list places him as the second last within the section "kings who lived in tents”. According to the Cambridge Ancient History, the conclusion of this section, "marked the end of the nomadic period of the Assyrian people." Ushpia is alleged to have founded the temple for the god Aššur within the city-state of Aššur, according to the much later inscriptions of both of these Assyrian kings: Shulmanu-asharedu I and Aššur-ahu-iddin. Ushpia is succeeded on the AKL by Apiashal. Arthur Ungnad interpreted both Ushpia's and Kikkia's names as being that of the Hurrian language, but; Arno Poebel was not convinced by this interpretation and more recent research no longer holds Ungnad's thesis as tenable.
Aššūr-dugul, inscribed maš-šur-du-gul, “Look to Aššur!”, was the king of Assyria probably during the 18th century BC, a period of confusion in Assyrian history. Reigning for six years, he was the 44th ruler to be listed on the Assyrian Kinglist, and was designated by the list as a usurper succeeding the dynasty founded by Shamshi-Adad I.
Shu-Ninua or ŠÚ- or Kidin-Ninua, inscribed mŠÚ-URU.AB x ḪA, the 54th king to appear on the Assyrian Kinglist, was the ruler of Assyria, c. 1615 to 1602 BC, and was the son of his predecessor-but-one, succeeding Lullaya, a “son of nobody.”
Bazaya, Bāzāia or Bāzāiu, inscribed mba-za-a-a and of uncertain meaning, was the ruler of Assyria c. 1649 to 1622 BC, the 52nd listed on the Assyrian King List, succeeding Iptar-Sin, to whom he was supposedly a great-uncle. He reigned for twenty-eight years and has left no known inscriptions.
The Early Period refers to the history of Assyrian civilization of Mesopotamia between 2500 BCE and 2025 BCE. It is the first of the four periods into which the history of the Assyrian civilisation is traditionally divided. The other periods are the Old Assyrian Empire, the Middle Assyrian Empire and the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
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