Rapiqum (also Rapiku and Rapiqu), ra-bi-qa-wiKI, was a city of the ancient Near East. The city was located in the north of Mesopotamia, probably on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, in modern Iraq. It is firmly attested from early in the 2nd Millennium BC until early in the 1st Millennium BC.
A single damaged tablet from year six of Ur III empire ruler Shulgi mentions Rapiqum but since the city is otherwise completely unattested before the Old Babylonian period researchers consider it a possible anachronism.
"The teeming peoples, numerous as blades of grass, from the mighty waters of the Tigris and Euphrates, ...of the Tigris, that my lord has entrusted to me, ... citizens? of the land of Gutium, ... Mari? and Rapiqum, who have...are before me. Whatever you, my king, order me to do, I will do,"[1][2]
Rapiqum often interacted with the regional power Eshnunna. Ruler DIpiq-Adad II has a year name "Year Ipiq-Adad seized Rapiqum, the dwelling place of Nin-azu". A year name of later ruler Dadusha of Eshnunna reads "Year in which the daughter of the king was married in Rapiqum". In the ninth year of the rule of his son Ibal-pi-el II a year name reads "Year Rapiqum was destroyed".[3] That defeat was part of a war between forces led by Ishme-Dagan I of Isin, which included Eshnunna, and the empire of Mari under Zimri-Lim.[4]
The city is mentioned in several transaction records of the time and[5] the records of king Sin-Iddinam of Larsa,.[6] Larsa ruler Rim-Sin year name fourteen is "Year the armies of Uruk, Isin, Babylon, Sutum, Rapiqum, and of Irdanene the king of Uruk were smitten with weapons".[7] Rapiqum is mentioned in one tablet found at Chagar Bazar.[8]
After defeating Eshnunna Rapiqum was taken by Hammurapi in his 10th or 11th year of rule (around 1782 BC) with his 11th year name being "Year (Hammu-rabi) seized the city wall / city, the land and the territory of Rapiqum and Szalibi".[6][9] As Babylon was still fairly weak at that point the actual story is more complex. Rapiqum was actually captured by Shamshi-Adad I of Ekallatum, ruler of the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia and given to Hammurabi to rule. This is shown in a letter from the ambassador of Zimri-Lim to Babylon:
"... I said, “Ḫit, Ḫarbe, and Yabliya.” “You must not mention Ḫit!” he said. “ The situation is similar to what had happened when Samsi-Addu forced Rapiqum out of the king of Ešnunna’s control and gave it to me. Since then my garrison stayed there and must remain there even now. As Samsi-Addu’s garrison stayed there ever since then, Zimri-Lim’s garrison can stay also. Just as my garrison and his have stayed jointly there, these garrisons (of ours) should be merged as one. A peace accord between us must last forever."[10]
Rapiqum, being in a key border location between competing powers, is mentioned a number of times in the cuneiform letters found there from its early 2nd Millennium BC period.[11] Another letter, sent the ruler of Mari, with a possible location hint, would be:
"All of the nomads gathered, saying this, “Write to our lord so as to allow us to make a raid on the sheep of Išme-Dagan in Rapiqum and Yabliya. We want then to turn back toward the Bank of the Euphrates (i.e., Mari), (at which point) we will give many sheep to our lord. In this way, our lord would not keep on requesting sheep from us.” This is what all the nomads said as in one voice. ..."[10]
In Hammurabi's 42 year of reign he reports "Year in which Hammu-rabi the king lifted up like a mountain the top of the great city wall on the banks of the Tigris, called it Kar-Szamasz, and built the city wall of Rapiqum on the banks of the Euphrates".
In an inscription of the Middle Assyrian period ruler Tukulti-Ninurta I (c. 1200 BC) he claimed to have conquered "Mari (written Ma-a-ri), Hana and Rapiqu".[12]
Middle Assyrian ruler Tiglath-Pileser I (c. 1100 BC) wrote, on the Arameans, "I defeated them from the foot of Mt. Lebanon, Tadmar of Amurru, Anat of Suhi and as far as Rapiqu of Babylonia".[13]
Much later the Neo-Assyrian ruler Assur-nasir-pal II (883 to 859 BC) claimed he had made all the land "as far as Rapiku" submit at his feet, being unclear whether Rapiqum itself submitted.[14]
Briefly, from around 770 BC until sometime in the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III the Suhum region shook of control of the Neo-Assyrian empire and became an independent state with its own governors. It claimed to control territory including Rapiqu. Tiglath-Pileser III reports "At the beginning of my reign, in my first palû, in the fifth month after I sat in greatness on the throne of kingship, Ašsur, my lord, encouraged me and [I marched] against the Ḫamarānu, Luḫuʾatu, Ḫaṭallu, Rubbû, Rapiqu, ...".[15][16]
Location
Hammurabi's Babylonia.
A literary tablet from the Kassite period (and a later Assyrian version) records a man taking a dream journey. His path follows the Euphrates road from Sippar to Ki-i-la to Ha-bar-ar (Ha-am-ba-ri in the Assyrian version) to Ra-pi-qum to Id-da-an to Mari, then Emar.[17][18]
Text from Mari indicate that the road from Rapiqum to Eshnunna crosses the Tigris river at Ma-ki-sum. This is thought to be the same city as mentioned in the 32nd year name of Hamurapi "Year Hammu-rabi the king, the hero who gains victory for Marduk, defeated with his mighty weapons the entire army and soldiers of Esznunna, Subartu and Gutium and conquered the land of Mankisum and the land on the banks of the Tigris up to the border of the Subartu mountains" and the Dadusha of Eshnunna year name "Year in which Dadusza seized Mankisum".[19]
The region in the north between Mari and Eshnunna was called Suhum. When Eshnunna controlled that region its governor resided at Rapiqum. That governor was also an intendant at the newly build city of Haradum in the Suhum.[20]
The modern cities of Ramadi, Fallujah, and Hit have been suggested as the location for Rapiqu, mainly due to being on the Euphrates and in the right general location. There is as yet no archaeological or epigraphic support for this. In the case of Hit, since Rapiqu was associated with the ancient Mesopotamian "river ordeal" (River god of Rāpiqum) and Hit has also been linked to that.[21][22]
Hit would seem to be ruled out by an itinerary of Tukulti-Ninurta II (890–884 BC) who said, of his travels;
"Moving on from Dur-balati I pitched camp (and) spent the night in the city Rahimmu which is before the city Rapiqu — Rapiqu lies on the other bank of the Euphrates. Moving on from Rahimmu I pitched camp (and) spent the night in the area of Kabsitu which is upon the Euphrates. Moving on from the city Kabsitu I pitched camp (and) spent the night in the city Daiasetu. Moving on from Daiasetu(60) I pitched camp (and) spent the night before the city Idu, at the bitumen spring, where the stele of the great gods is erected — Idu lies on the other bank of the Euphrates."[23]
Its exact location was previously thought to be near Ramadi but recent excavations suggest Tell Anbar, near Fallujah.[24] Excavations in the area of Fallujah have revealed textual evidence of the city of Rapiqum. Currently thinking is that the most likely location is Tell Anbar (Tell Mirmiran), near Falluga.[25]
Anah or Ana, formerly also known as Anna, is an Iraqi town on the Euphrates approximately midway between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Persian Gulf. Anah lies from west to east on the right bank along a bend of the river just before it turns south towards Hīt.
Opis was an ancient Near East city near the Tigris, not far from modern Baghdad. The equivalence of Opis and Upi are now usually assumed but not yet proven. Early on it was thought that the ideogram for Upi might refer to Kesh or Akshak. Its location is not yet known with certainty though Tall al-Mujailāt has been proposed. That site has also been suggested as the location of the ancient city of Akshak.
Tiglath-Pileser I was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian period. According to Georges Roux, Tiglath-Pileser was "one of the two or three great Assyrian monarchs since the days of Shamshi-Adad I". He was known for his "wide-ranging military campaigns, his enthusiasm for building projects, and his interest in cuneiform tablet collections". Under him, Assyria became the leading power of the Ancient Near East, a position the kingdom largely maintained for the next five hundred years. He expanded Assyrian control into Anatolia and Syria, and to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. From his surviving inscriptions, he seems to have carefully cultivated a fear of himself in his subjects and in his enemies alike.
Aššur (; Sumerian: 𒀭𒊹𒆠 AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: Aš-šurKI, "City of God Aššur"; Syriac: ܐܫܘܪ Āšūr; Old Persian: 𐎠𐎰𐎢𐎼 Aθur, Persian: آشور Āšūr; Hebrew: אַשּׁוּר ʾAššūr, Arabic: اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Middle Assyrian Empire (1363–912 BC), and for a time, of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–609 BC). The remains of the city lie on the western bank of the Tigris River, north of the confluence with its tributary, the Little Zab, in what is now Iraq, more precisely in the al-Shirqat District of the Saladin Governorate.
Shamshi-Adad, ruled c. 1808–1776 BC, was an Amorite warlord and conqueror who had conquered lands across much of Syria, Anatolia, and Upper Mesopotamia. His capital was originally at Ekallatum and later moved to Šubat-Enlil.
Eshnunna was an ancient Sumerian city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in the Diyala Valley northwest of Sumer proper, the city nonetheless belonged securely within the Sumerian cultural milieu. It is sometimes, in archaeological papers, called Ashnunnak or Tuplias.
Tell Barri is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in north-eastern Syria in the Al-Hasakah Governorate. Its ancient name was Kahat as proven by a threshold found on the south-western slope of the mound. Tell Barri is situated along the Wadi Jaghjagh, a tributary of the Khabur River.
Tishpak (Tišpak) was a Mesopotamian god associated with the ancient city Eshnunna and its sphere of influence, located in the Diyala area of Iraq. He was primarily a war deity, but he was also associated with snakes, including the mythical mushussu and bashmu, and with kingship.
The history of the Assyrians encompasses nearly five millennia, covering the history of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Assyria, including its territory, culture and people, as well as the later history of the Assyrian people after the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 609 BC. For purposes of historiography, ancient Assyrian history is often divided by modern researchers, based on political events and gradual changes in language, into the Early Assyrian, Old Assyrian, Middle Assyrian, Neo-Assyrian and post-imperial periods., Sassanid era Asoristan from 240 AD until 637 AD and the post Islamic Conquest period until the present day.
Ekallatum (Akkadian: 𒌷𒂍𒃲𒈨𒌍, URUE2.GAL.MEŠ, Ekallātum, "the Palaces") was an ancient Amorite city-state and kingdom in upper Mesopotamia.
The Middle Assyrian Empire was the third stage of Assyrian history, covering the history of Assyria from the accession of Ashur-uballit I c. 1363 BC and the rise of Assyria as a territorial kingdom to the death of Ashur-dan II in 912 BC. The Middle Assyrian Empire was Assyria's first period of ascendancy as an empire. Though the empire experienced successive periods of expansion and decline, it remained the dominant power of northern Mesopotamia throughout the period. In terms of Assyrian history, the Middle Assyrian period was marked by important social, political and religious developments, including the rising prominence of both the Assyrian king and the Assyrian national deity Ashur.
Tell al-Rimah is an archaeological settlement mound, in Nineveh Province (Iraq) roughly 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Mosul and ancient Nineveh in the Sinjar region. It lies 15 kilometers south of the site of Tal Afar.
Haradum, modern Khirbit ed-Diniye, in Al Anbar Governorate Iraq, was an ancient Near East city on the middle Euphrates about 90 kilometers southeast of Mari. It was part of the ancient region of Suhum. The name of the town meant "the place where one stands watch". It was strategically placed on the border of four kingdoms, Eshnunna, Ekallatum, Mari and Babylon and is thought to have been first settled by Eshnunna. It is known that a toolboth was established on the river and a toll collected.
Adad-šuma-iddina, inscribed mdIM-MU-SUM-na, and dated to around ca. 1222–1217 BC, was the 31st king of the 3rd or Kassite dynasty of Babylon and the country contemporarily known as Karduniaš. He reigned for 6 years some time during the period following the conquest of Babylonia by the Assyrian king, Tukulti-Ninurta I, and has been identified as a vassal king by several historians, a position which is not directly supported by any contemporary evidence.
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.
Akkad was the capital of the Akkadian Empire, which was the dominant political force in Mesopotamia during a period of about 150 years in the last third of the 3rd millennium BC.
The timeline of ancient Assyria can be broken down into three main eras: the Old Assyrian period, Middle Assyrian Empire, and Neo-Assyrian Empire. Modern scholars typically also recognize an Early period preceding the Old Assyrian period and a post-imperial period succeeding the Neo-Assyrian period.
Ibal pi’el II was a king of the city kingdom of Eshnunna in ancient Mesopotamia. He reigned c. 1779–1765 BC).
Šimānum was an ancient Near East city-state whose location is not yet known. Its areal location is known to be in the northernmost part of Mesopotamia or the southernmost part of Anatolia, in the vicinity of the Tigris river, north of the Upper Zab river, and near the confluence of the Tigris and eastern Habur river. It is well documented during the time of the Ur III Empire in the late 3rd Millennium BC. It has been proposed that Šimānum was known, under different names, in other periods. If those proposals are correct the site was active from the Akkadian Empire period though the Old Babylonian period. Šimānum is also the name of an Old Babylonian month.
Ipiq-Adad II was a king of the city kingdom of Eshnunna in ancient Mesopotamia. He reigned c. 1862-1818 BC. He was the son of Ibal-pi-el ensi (Governor) of Eshnunna. Upon his ascent he used the title ensi but, later in his reign he shifted to describing himself as lugal (king). He was the first ruler of Eshnunna to use the term lugal since Shu-iliya. Inscriptions also refer to him as “king who enlarges Eshnunna”, “shepherd of the black headed people”, and “king of the universe”. He oversaw a great expansion of the state and laid the foundation for Eshnunna to become a regional power.
References
↑ J. J. A. van Dijk, "Textes divers du Musee de Baghdad III", Sumer 15, pp. 5-14, 1959
↑ Michalowski, Piotr, "Aradmu to Šulgi 6 (ArŠ6, 3.1.4, RCU 5)", The Correspondence of the Kings of Ur: An Epistolary History of an Ancient Mesopotamian Kingdom, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 341-343, 2011
↑ Henri Frankfort, Seton Lloyd, and Thorkild Jacobsen with a chapter by Günter Martiny, "The Gimilsin Temple and the Palace of the Rulers at Tell Asmar", Oriental Institute Publication 43, 1940
↑ Beitzel, Barry J., "Išme-Dagan’s Military Actions in the Jezirah: A Geographical Study", Iraq, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 29–42, 1984
↑ P. Meer, "A propos de l'expédition - de Dadusa a Qabra", Review of Assyriology and Eastern Archeology, 47, no. 1, p. 16-22, 1953
1 2 W. F. Leemans, "Foreign trade in the old Babylonian period as revealed by texts from Southern Mesopotamia",Brill Archive, 1960
↑ Van De Mieroop, Marc, "The Reign of Rim-Sin", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 47–69, 1993
↑ Gadd, C. J., "Tablets from Chagar Bazar and Tall Brak, 1937-38", Iraq, vol. 7, pp. 22–66, 1940
↑ William J. Hamblin, Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC: Holy Warriors at the Dawn of History (Routledge, 27 Sep. 2006), pg. xx.
1 2 Sasson, Jack M., "Kingship", From the Mari Archives: An Anthology of Old Babylonian Letters, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 21-118, 2015
↑ Heimpel, Wolfgang. Letters to the king of Mari: a new translation, with historical introduction, notes, and commentary. Eisenbrauns, 2003 ISBN978-1-57506-080-4
↑ Albright, W. F., "A Babylonian Geographical Treatise on Sargon of Akkad’s Empire", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 45, pp. 193–245, 1925
↑ Russell, H. F., "The Historical Geography of the Euphrates and Habur According to the Middle- and Neo-Assyrian Sources", Iraq, vol. 47, pp. 57–74, 1985
↑ Wiseman, D. J., "A New Stela of Aššur-Naṣir-Pal II", Iraq, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 24–44, 1952
↑ Dubovský, Peter, "Theocracy as Gods’ Governing the Events of History: An Investigation in the Suḫian Inscriptions of the Early 8th c. BCE", Theokratie: Exegetische und wirkungsgeschichtliche Ansätze, edited by Peter Juhás, Róbert Lapko and Reinhard Müller, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 1-32, 2022
↑ Lawson Younger, K., "Another Look at the Nomadic Tribal Arameans in the Inscriptions of Ninurta-kudurrī-uṣur of Suḫu", Marbeh Ḥokmah: Studies in the Bible and the Ancient Near East in Loving Memory of Victor Avigdor Hurowitz, edited by Shamir Yonah, Edward L. Greenstein, Mayer I. Gruber, Peter Machinist and Shalom M. Paul, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 605-632, 2015
↑ Oppenheim, A. Leo., "The Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near East. With a Translation of an Assyrian Dream-Book", Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 179–373, 1956
↑ Goetze, Albrecht, "The Syrian Town of Emar", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 147, pp. 22–27, 1957
↑ Goetze, Albrecht, "An Old Babylonian Itinerary", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 51–72, 1953
↑ Kepinski, Christine, "Organization of Harrâdum, Suhum, 18th–17th Centuries b.c., Iraqi Middle Euphrates", Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Würzburg 20–25 Jul, edited by Gernot Wilhelm, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 143-154, 2012
↑ Heimpel, Wolfgang, "The river ordeal in hit", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 90, no. 1, pp. 7–18, 1996
↑ Wasserman, Nathan, "The Modal Particle -man and the Irrealis Constructions ibašši, lū, and ašar", Most Probably, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 115-137, 2012
↑ Grayson, A. Kirk, "Tukultī-Ninurta II: A.0.100". Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC I (1114-859 BC), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 163-188, 1996
↑ Van Koppen, Frans, and Denis Lacambre, "Sippar and the Frontier between Ešnunna and Babylon. New Sources for the History of Ešnunna in the Old Babylonian Period", Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux, pp. 151-177, 2009
↑ Lacambre, D., 1997, La bataille de Hirîtum, MARI 8: 431-454. —, 2006, La région du Suhûm à l’époque des archives de Mari (XIXe-XVIIIe siècles av. J.-C.), 129-156 in: Chr. Kepinski, O. Lecomte and A. Tenu (eds.), Studia Euphratica. Le moyen Euphrate iraquien révélé par les fouilles préventives de Haditha (Travaux de la Maison René-Ginouvès 3, Paris)
Further reading
Charpin, D., "Hagalum, šakkanakkum de Râpiqum, et ses serviteurs", In (eds ), Munuscula Mesopotamica, Festschrift für Johannes Renger Alter Orient und Altes Testament 267 Müns- ter, pp 95–108, 1999
Joannes, F., "s. v. Rapiqu(m)", in Reallexikon der Assyriologie, 11, pp.243–246, 2007
Lacambre, D., "La date de la prise de Rāpiqum par Ešnunna et du début de la guerre avec Zimri-Lim", N.A.B.U., 30, pp.24–25, 1993
Rumaiydh, S. S., "Rapiqum. A Babylonian City of the Second Millennium BC", BaM 35, pp.19–25, 2004
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