Kurda was a small ancient Amorite city-state and a Middle Bronze petty kingdom located in the region of the Sinjar Plain in Northern Mesopotamia which eventually became subsumed into Assyria. [1] It is mentioned along with the fellow Amorite states of Andarig and Apum.
At its height the kingdom might have stretched from the Upper Khabur basin in what is today north-eastern Syria, to the steppes of Sinjar mountain, modern north-western Iraq. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] The capital city's location is debated; it was either located to south of Sinjar mountain, or along the Khabur river. [3]
Kurda emerged during the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) and is attested in the administrative texts of this era as a city state and geographical territory in Upper Mesopotamia corresponding to modern northern Iraq. [9] [10] [11]
The city-state of Kurda is again attested by the Akkadian king Naram Sin in 23rd century BCE in his military campaigns in the land of Subarians. [12] [13] Various Archives of Mari around 18th century BCE mention Kurda as an independent Kingdom, sometimes in alliance with Babylon and sometimes allied with Mari. [14] [15]
The city was the Amorite Numha tribe's center, [16] [17] it controlled a small area and included the nearby city of Kasapa. [18] The east Semitic deity Nergal was Kurda's chief god. [19] [20]
In the 18th century BC, Kurda was involved in a military dispute with the neighboring kingdom of Andarig, which ended in peace. [21] However, Kurda was later subdued by Andarig and its master, the king of Elam. [22] The kingdom tried switching its loyalty to Babylon but was stopped by the Elamites who were defeated by a Babylonian-Mariote alliance in 1764 BC, [22] giving Kurda the chance to form an alliance with the kingdom of Apum to face Andarig. [23] Kurda annexed the city of Ashihum, [24] then became a vassal of Babylon, [25] and ended its relation with Mari in response to the latter role in supporting Andarig. [26]
| King | Reigned |
|---|---|
| Simah-ilane | |
| Bunu-Estar | |
| Hammurabi | Middle 18th century BC |
| Ashtamar-Adad | 1760s BC |
In the Late Bronze, Kurda was within the Mitanni Empire. Following the Fall of the Mitanni Empire, the region was contested between the Hittites in the west and Assyrians in the east. In between was a buffer zone with the remnants of the Mitanni Empire. Kurda is mentioned in the Shattiwaza Treaty during the reign of Suppiluliuma I of Hatti.
Kurda is also mentioned in the Tell Fekheriye tablets of the Assyrian kings Šalmaneser I (1263–1234 BC) and Tukulti-Ninurta I (1233–1198 BC), as one of the conquered territories in the Mitannian Empire. [27]
The Levant is the area in Southwest Asia, south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Arabian Desert in the south, and Mesopotamia in the east. It stretches roughly 400 mi (640 km) north to south, from the Taurus Mountains to the Sinai desert and Hejaz, and east to west between the Mediterranean Sea and the Khabur river. The term is often used to refer to the following regions or modern states: the Hatay Province of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. The term sometimes include Cilicia, Cyprus and the Sinai Peninsula.
The Hurrians were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria, upper Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia.
Yamhad (Yamḫad) was an ancient Semitic-speaking kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo) in Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC and was ruled by the Yamhad dynasty, who counted on both military and diplomacy to expand their realm. From the beginning of its establishment, the kingdom withstood the aggressions of its neighbors Mari, Qatna and the Old Assyrian Empire, and was turned into the most powerful Syrian kingdom of its era through the actions of its king Yarim-Lim I. By the middle of the 18th century BC, most of Syria minus the south came under the authority of Yamhad, either as a direct possession or through vassalage, and for nearly a century and a half, Yamhad dominated northern, northwestern and eastern Syria, and had influence over small kingdoms in Mesopotamia at the borders of Elam. The kingdom was eventually destroyed by the Hittites, then annexed by Mitanni in the 16th century BC.
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.
Yahdunlim was the king of Mari probably in 1820—1796 BC. He was of Amorite origin, and became king after the death of his father Iagitlim. Yahdunlim built Mari up to become one of the major powers of the region. He led a successful campaign to the coast of the Mediterranean.
Arrapha or Arrapkha was an ancient city in what today is northeastern Iraq, thought to be located at city of Kirkuk.
Burna-Buriaš II was a Kassite king of Karduniaš (Babylon) in the Late Bronze Age, ca. 1359–1333 BC, where the Short and Middle chronologies have converged. The proverb "the time of checking the books is the shepherds' ordeal" was attributed to him in a letter to the later king Esarhaddon from his agent Mar-Issar.
Salatiwara was a Middle Bronze Age city in south-central Anatolia on a road connecting the kingdoms Waḫšušana and Burushattum. The history of the city is known primarily from the Anitta text.
The Civilization of Mesopotamia ranges from the earliest human occupation in the Paleolithic period up to Late antiquity. This history is pieced together from evidence retrieved from archaeological excavations and, after the introduction of writing in the late 4th millennium BC, an increasing amount of historical sources. While in the Paleolithic and early Neolithic periods only parts of Upper Mesopotamia were occupied, the southern alluvium was settled during the late Neolithic period. Mesopotamia has been home to many of the oldest major civilizations, entering history from the Early Bronze Age, for which reason it is often called a cradle of civilization.
The Suteans were a nomadic Semitic people who lived throughout the Levant, Canaan and Mesopotamia, specifically in the region of Suhum, during the Old Babylonian period. They were famous in Semitic epic poetry for being fierce nomadic warriors, and like the ʿApiru, traditionally worked as mercenaries. Unlike Amorites, the Suteans were not governed by a king. They may have been part of the Ahlamu. Hypotheses regarding their identity variously identify them as Arameans, proto-Arabs or a unique Semitic people.
The Ahlamu; or Aḫlamū, were a group or designation of Semitic semi-nomads. Their habitat was west of the Euphrates between the mouth of the Khabur and Palmyra.
Diniktum, inscribed Di-ni-ik-tumKI, was a still unlocated middle bronze-age town often thought to be located somewhere in the Diyala Governorate of Iraq.
Yarim-Lim I, also given as Yarimlim, was the second king of the ancient Amorite kingdom of Yamhad in modern-day Aleppo, Syria.
The Amorites were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Egypt from the 21st century BC to the late 17th century BC.
The Yamhad dynasty was an ancient Amorite royal family founded in c. 1810 BC by Sumu-Epuh of Yamhad who had his capital in the city of Aleppo. Started as a local dynasty, the family expanded its influence through the actions of its energetic ruler Yarim-Lim I who turned it into the most influential family in the Levant through both diplomatic and military tools. At its height the dynasty controlled most of northern Syria and the modern Turkish province of Hatay with a cadet branch ruling in the city of Alalakh.
Apum was an ancient Amorite kingdom located in the upper Khabur valley, modern northeastern Syria. It was involved in the political and military struggle that dominated the first half of the 18th century BC and led to the establishment of the Babylonian Empire. Apum was incorporated into Babylon in 1728 BC and disappeared from the records.
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.
The Sukkalmah or Epartid dynasty, was an early dynasty of West Asia in the ancient region of Elam, to the southeast of Babylonia. It corresponds to the third Paleo-Elamite period. The Sukkalmah dynasty followed the Shimashki dynasty. The title of Sukkalmah means "Grand Regent" and was used by some Elamite rulers. Numerous cuneiform documents and inscriptions remain from this period, particularly from the area of Susa, making the Sukkalmah period one of the best documented in Elamite history.
Abalgamash was a king of Marhashi circa 2370 BCE, somewhere on the Iranian plateau. He seems to have led the forces of Elam, Marhashi, Kupin, Zahara and Meluhha into a coalition against the Akkadian Empire, invading Khuzestan, which had been occupied by Sargon of Akkad. This led to a direct conflict with Rimush, Sargon's son and successor, who in turn invaded Elam, and victoriously confronted their armies somewhere between Awan and Susa.
Andarig or Andariq was a Middle Bronze Age kingdom in the Sinjar Plain region of northern Mesopotamia, located between the Habur and Tigris river. It is mentioned several times in the documents found in Mari. Andarig was one of the largest and most powerful kingdoms in the region. It was the most important holding of the Amorite Yamutbal tribe.
Written forms: iri kur-da. Normalized forms: Kurda
