List of kings of Mari

The city of Mari in modern Syria was ruled by several dynasties in the Bronze Age. The history of the city is divided into three kingdoms.

First kingdom

The Sumerian King List (SKL) records a dynasty of six kings from Mari enjoying hegemony between the dynasty of Adab and the dynasty of Kish. ^[1] The names of the Mariote kings were damaged on the early copies of the list, ^[2] and those kings were correlated with historical kings that belonged to the second kingdom. ^[3] However, an undamaged copy of the list that date to the Old Babylonian period was discovered in Shubat-Enlil, ^[2] and the names bears no resemblance to any of the historically attested monarchs of the second kingdom, ^[2] indicating that the compilers of the list had an older and probably a legendary dynasty in mind, that predate the second kingdom. ^[2]

#	Inscription	Ruler	Epithet	Succession	Approx. date of reign	Notes
Early Dynastic IIIa period (c.  2600 – c. 2500 BC)
First Mariote kingdom (c. 2900 – c. 2500 BC)
"Then Adab was defeated and the kingship was taken to Mari." [4] — SKL
1st		Anbu 𒀭𒁍			Uncertain, fl. c. 2550 BC [5] (30 or 90 years)	This name is also read as Ilshu [6] Said on the SKL to have held the title of, "King" of not just Mari; but, to have held the "Kingship" over all of Sumer Known from the SKL; very little otherwise
2nd		Anba 𒀭𒁀		Son of Anbu [4]	Uncertain, (7 or 17 years)	Historicity uncertain Known from the SKL; very little otherwise Said on the SKL to have held the title of, "King" of not just Mari; but, to have held the "Kingship" over all of Sumer
3rd		Bazi 𒁀𒍣	"the leatherworker" [4]		Uncertain, (30 years)	Historicity uncertain Known from the SKL; very little otherwise Said on the SKL to have held the title of, "King" of not just Mari; but, to have held the "Kingship" over all of Sumer
4th		Zizi 𒍣𒍣	"the fuller" [4]		Uncertain, (20 years)	Historicity uncertain Known from the SKL; very little otherwise Said on the SKL to have held the title of, "King" of not just Mari; but, to have held the "Kingship" over all of Sumer
5th		Limer 𒇷𒅎𒅕	"the 'gudug' priest" [note 1] [4]		Uncertain, (30 years)	Historicity uncertain Known from the SKL; very little otherwise Said on the SKL to have held the title of, "King" of not just Mari; but, to have held the "Kingship" over all of Sumer
6th		Sharrum-iter 𒈗𒄿𒌁			Uncertain, (7 or 9 years)	Historicity uncertain It has been suggested that only Sharrum-iter held the hegemony after Lugal-Anne-Mundu Said on the SKL to have held the title of, "King" of not just Mari; but, to have held the "Kingship" over all of Sumer
"6 kings; they ruled for 184 years. Then Mari was defeated and the kingship was taken to Kish." [4] — SKL

Second kingdom

The chronological order of the kings from the second kingdom era is highly uncertain; nevertheless, it is assumed that the letter of Enna-Dagan lists them in a chronological order. ^[8] Many of the kings were attested through their own votive objects discovered in the city, ^{[9] [10]} and the dates are highly speculative. ^[10]

Depiction	Ruler	Approx. date of reign	Notes
Early Dynastic IIIb period (c. 2500 – c. 2350 BC)
Second Mariote kingdom (c. 2500 – c. 2266 BC)
	Ikun-Mari 𒄣𒄿𒈠𒌷𒆠	Uncertain	Held the title of, "King" temp. of Ush [11] This name is inscribed on a jar in Mari [12]
	Ikun-Shamagan 𒄿𒆪𒀭𒊭𒈠𒃶	Uncertain, fl. c. 2500 BC	Held the title of, "King" temp. of Ur-Lumma [11] His name was inscribed on a votive statue offered by his official "Shibum" [13]
	Išhtup-Išar 𒅖𒁾𒄿𒊬	Uncertain, fl. c. 2423 BC	Held the title of, "King" temp. of Il [11] He was attested in Enna-Dagan's letter as conquering Emar and other Eblaite vassals [14]
	Ansud	Uncertain, fl. c. 2416 BC	His name is inscribed on a jar (as Hanusum) sent to Mari by Mesannepada of Ur [3] [2] The name was read by Pettinato as Anubu [15] [16]
	Saʿumu	Uncertain, fl. c. 2400 BC	temp. of Kun-Damu He was attested in Enna-Dagan's letter as conquering many lands [14]
	Iblul-Il 𒅁𒈜𒅋	Uncertain, reigned  c. 2380 BC (≥40 years)	Held the title of, "King" temp. of Igrish-Halam [11] He forced Ebla to pay tribute [14]
	Nizi	Uncertain, r. c. 2360 BC (3 years) [17]	Held the title of, "King" temp. of Enentarzi [11]
	Enna-Dagan	Uncertain, (3 years)	Held the title of, "King" temp. of Irkab-Damu [11] He wrote a letter to Irkab-Damu of Ebla to assert Mari's authority [18]
Proto-Imperial period (c. 2350 – c. 2266 BC)
	Hidar	Uncertain	Held the title of, "King" temp. of Enshakushanna [11] He is attested in the archives of Ebla, which was destroyed during his reign [19]
	Ishqi-Mari 𒅖𒄄𒈠𒌷	Uncertain, r. c. 2350 BC	temp. of Ur-Zababa [11] His name was previously read as Lamgi-Mari [20] Hypothetically the last king before the conquests of the Akkadian Empire [21]
	Ikun-Shamash 𒄿𒆪𒀭𒌓	Uncertain	Held the title of, "King" May have ruled before the reign of Ur-Nanshe [1] temp. of Lugal-zage-si (?) [11]
	Ikun-Ishar 𒄿𒆪𒊬	Uncertain, r. c. 2320 BC (8 years)	Held the title of, "King" temp. of Meskigal [11] He forced Ebla to pay tribute [14]

Third kingdom

The third kingdom was ruled by two dynasties: the Shakkanakkus and the Lim. For the Shakkanakkus, the lists are incomplete and after Hanun-Dagan who ruled at the end of the Ur era c. 2008 BC (c. 1920 BC Short chronology), they become full of lacunae. ^[22] Roughly 13 more Shakkanakkus succeeded Hanun-Dagan but only few are known, with the last known one reigning not too long before the reign of Yaggid-Lim who founded the Lim dynasty in c. 1830 BC, which was interrupted by Assyrian occupation in 1796–1776 BC. ^{[23] [24]}

Depiction or inscription	Ruler	Succession	Approx. date of reign	Notes
Akkadian period (c. 2266 – c. 2154 BC)
Third Mariote kingdom (c. 2266 – c. 1761 BC)
Shakkanakku dynasty (c. 2266 – c. 1830 BC)
	Ididish		r. c. 2266 – c. 2206 BC (60 years)	Held the title of, "Military Governor"
	Shu-Dagan	Son of Ididish [25]	r. c. 2206 – c. 2200 BC	Held the title of, "Military Governor"
	Ishma-Dagan 𒅖𒈣𒀭𒁕𒃶		r. c. 2199 – c. 2154 BC (45 years) [26] [27]	Held the title of, "Military Governor"
	Nûr-Mêr 𒉌𒉿𒅈𒈨𒅕	Son of Ishma-Dagan [26]	r. c. 2153 – c. 2148 BC (5 years)	Held the title of, "Military Governor"
Gutian period (c. 2154 – c. 2119 BC)
	Ishtup-Ilum 𒅖𒁾𒀭	Son of Ishma-Dagan [26]	r. c. 2147 – c. 2136 BC (11 years)	Held the title of, "Military Governor"
	Ishgum-Addu 𒅖𒄣𒀭𒅎		r. c. 2135 – c. 2127 BC (8 years) [26]	Held the title of, "Military Governor"
Ur III period (c. 2119 – c. 2004 BC)
	Apîl-kîn 𒀀𒉈𒄀	Son of Ishgum-Addu [26] [28]	r. c. 2126 – c. 2091 BC (35 years)	Was designated with the royal title Lugal in a votive inscription set by his daughter [29]
	Iddi-ilum 𒄿𒋾𒀭		r. c. 2090 – c. 2085 BC (5 years)	His name is also read as Iddi-Ilum; his name was inscribed on his votive statue [30]
	Ili-Ishar 𒀭𒄿𒊬		r. c. 2084 – c. 2072 BC (12 years)	His name is inscribed on a brick [31]
	Tura-Dagan 𒌅𒊏𒀭𒁕𒃶	Son of Apîl-kîn [32]	r. c. 2071 – c. 2051 BC (20 years)
	Puzur-Ishtar 𒆃𒊭𒁹𒁯	Son of Tura-Dagan [26]	r. c. 2050 – c. 2025 BC (25 years)	Used the royal title [33]
	Hitlal-Erra	Son of Puzur-Ishtar [34]	r. c. 2024 – c. 2017 BC (7 years)	Used the royal title [33]
	Hanun-Dagan	Son of Puzur-Ishtar [35]	r. c. 2016 – c. 2008 BC (8 years)	Used the royal title [33]
Isin-Larsa period (c. 2004 – c. 1796 BC)
	Isi-Dagan		r. c. 2000 BC	This name is inscribed on a seal [36]
	Ennin-Dagan	Son of Isi-Dagan [37]
	Itur-(...)			This name is damaged, a gap separate him from Ennin-Dagan [23]
	Amer-Nunu			This name is inscribed on a seal [38] [39]
	Tir-Dagan	Son of Itur-(...) [40]
	Dagan-(...)			This name is damaged and is the last attested Shakkanakku [41]
Lim dynasty (c. 1830 – c. 1796 BC)
	Yaggid-Lim		r. c. 1830 – c. 1820 BC	He may have ruled in Suprum rather than in Mari [42] [43]
	Yahdun-Lim	Son of Yaggid-Lim	r. c. 1820 – c. 1798 BC
	Sumu-Yamam		r. c. 1798 – c. 1796 BC
Old Assyrian period (c. 1796 – c. 1761 BC)
Dynasty of Shamshi-Adad (c. 1796 – c. 1776 BC)
	Yasmah-Adad	Son of Shamshi-Adad I [44]	r. c. 1796 – c. 1776 BC
	Ishar-Lim		r. c. 1776 BC	He was an Assyrian official who usurped the throne for a few months between Yasmah-Adad's escape and Zimri-Lim's arrival [45]
Lim restoration (c. 1776 – c. 1761 BC)
	Zimri-Lim 𒍣𒅎𒊑𒇷𒅎		r. c. 1776 – c. 1761 BC

Gallery

• 
  Statue of Iku-Shamagan, c. 2453 BC. Temple of Ninni-Zaza, Mari. ^{[46] [47]} National Museum of Damascus.
• 
  Ishtup-Ilum, Shakkanakku of Mari (c.2150 BC)
• 
  Puzur Ishtar, Shakkanakku of Mari. (c. 2050 BC)

References

Notes

1. Gudug was a rank in the hierarchy of the Mesopotamian temple workers, a guduj priest was not specialized to a certain deity cult, and served in many temples. ^[7]

Citations

1. Haldar 1971, p.  16.
2. Astour 2002, p.  58.
3. Liverani 2013, p.  117.
4. Cohen 2013, p.  148.
5. Hamblin 2006, p.  279.
6. Kramer 2010, p.  329.
7. Black et al. 2004, p.  112.
8. Frayne 2008, p.  293–298.
9. Frayne 2008, p.  293–298.
10. Hamblin 2006, p.  244.
11. Marchesi, Gianni (January 2015). Sallaberger, Walther; Schrakamp, Ingo (eds.). "Toward a Chronology of Early Dynastic Rulers in Mesopotamia". History and Philology (ARCANE 3; Turnhout): 139–156.
12. Frayne 2008, p.  315.
13. Cooper 1986, p. 87.
14. Liverani 2013, p.  119.
15. Astour 2002, p.  57.
16. Frayne 2008, p.  299.
17. Frayne 2008, p. 333.
18. Roux 1992, p. 142.
19. Frayne 2008, p.  339.
20. Heimpel 2003, p.  3.
21. Bretschneider, Van Vyve & Leuven 2009, p. 5.
22. Frayne 1990, p.  593.
23. Frayne 1990, p.  597.
24. Bertman 2005, p.  87.
25. Leick 2002, p.  152.
26. Oliva 2008, p.  86.
27. Leick 2002, p. 81.
28. Leick 2002, p. 18.
29. Michalowski 1995, p.  187.
30. Leick 2002, p.  76.
31. Leick 2002, p.  78.
32. Leick 2002, p. 168.
33. Oliva 2008, p.  91.
34. Oliva 2008, p.  92.
35. Leick 2002, p. 67.
36. Frayne 1990, p. 594.
37. Frayne 1990, p.  596.
38. Oliva 2008, p.  87.
39. Frayne 1990, p. 598.
40. Frayne 1990, p. 599.
41. Frayne 1990, p. 600.
42. Porter 2012, p.  31.
43. Feliu 2003, p.  86.
44. Tetlow 2004, p.  125.
45. Dalley 2002, p. 143.
46. Spycket, Agnès (1981). Handbuch der Orientalistik (in French). BRILL. pp. 87–89. ISBN   978-90-04-06248-1.
47. Parrot, André (1953). "Les fouilles de Mari Huitième campagne (automne 1952)" (PDF). Syria. 30 (3/4): 196–221. doi:10.3406/syria.1953.4901. ISSN   0039-7946. JSTOR   4196708.

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