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Shubria or Shupria was a kingdom in the southern Armenian highlands, known from Assyrian sources in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. It was located north of the upper Tigris River and to the southwest of Lake Van, extending eastwards to the frontiers of Urartu. It appears in the 1st millennium BC as an independent kingdom, succeeding the people earlier called Shubaru in Assyrian sources in the later centuries of the 2nd millennium BC. It was located between the powerful states of Assyria and Urartu and came into conflict with both. It was conquered by Assyria in 673–672 BC but likely regained its independence towards the end of the 7th century BC with the collapse of Assyrian power.
Some scholars have concluded from the Hurrian etymology of some Shubrian names that Shubria was mainly populated by Hurrians. Some have suggested that it was the last remnant of Hurrian civilization, or even constituted the original homeland of the Hurrians. However, other Shubrian names have been identified as Aramean by origin. Bradley J. Parker writes that the existing evidence indicates that Shubria had a heterogeneous population including Hurrians, Arameans, and likely also Urartians, Assyrians and others. According to some scholars, Shubria was inhabited, at least in part, by speakers of the Proto-Armenian language and played an important role in the formation of the later Armenian state and ethnic group.
The name Shubria is related to the older term Subartu(m) (Shubartu(m), Subir, Subar(u)), which had varying geographical and ethnic or cultural associations that transformed over time. [1] This term dates back to Sumerian times, when it appears to have been used to describe an area corresponding to Upper Mesopotamia and the southern Armenian highlands. [2] In Babylonian texts, Subartu and Subarians refers to Assyria and the Assyrians. After the destruction of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni by the Hittites in the third quarter of the 14th century BC, the term Shubaru was used in Assyrian sources to refer to the remnants of the Mitanni in the upper Tigris valley. [1] In Igor Diakonoff's view, the ending -ia in Shubria cannot be native Akkadian and probably indicates that the term was borrowed or reborrowed from Urartian. [3]
Shubria was located south of modern-day Muş, Turkey, north of the upper Tigris River and to the southwest of Lake Van, extending eastwards to the frontiers of Urartu. It was located near the northern frontier of the Assyrian Empire, across the Tigris from Tushhan and east of the land of Dirru. [4] Geographically, its core district corresponds to the later Armenian region of Sasun. [5] The capital of Shubria was called Ubbumu [6] (also spelled Uppumu). [4] This city may have been located at modern-day Lice, Turkey, with its name likely preserved in the name of the nearby hamlet of Fum. [7] Its other main city was Kullimeri, which may have been located at the mound known as Gre Migro in the Batman River valley. [8] The Urartians referred to Shubria as Qulmeri, after Kullimeri. [9] [10] Kullimeri may also be the origin of the biblical klmd (from a putative original *klmr), which is mentioned in Ezekiel 27:23 as one of the trading partners of Tyre and is normally read as Kilmad or Chilmad. In the view of some scholars, Qulmeri is the most likely candidate for the native name of Shubria. [9]
The lands of Arme and Urmiu [lower-alpha 1] (Urumu in Assyrian sources, land of the Urumeans) are mentioned in different Urartian inscriptions from the time of Sarduri II. Giorgi Melikishvili identifies Urmiu with Shubria—a name which does not appear in Urartian inscriptions—and places Arme further west. [3] Igor Diakonoff once considered it likely that Arme and Urmiu were the same land and referred to Shubria as Urme- or Arme-Shubria. [12] [lower-alpha 2] However, in a later version of his work, Diakonoff writes that "there is good reason to believe that [Urmiu] lay to the east of Šubria," while Urartian Arme may have simply meant "Aramaic-speaking country," indicating the area between Amid (modern Diyarbakır) and the upper Tigris where the Aramaic and Proto-Armenian linguistic zones met. [3]
After the destruction of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni by the Hittites in the third quarter of the 14th century BC, the term Shubaru was used to refer to the remnants of the Mitanni in the upper Tigris valley. The Middle Assyrian kings Adad-nirari I, Shalmaneser I, and Tukulti-Ninurta I claimed to have defeated the Shubaru/Subarians. [1] After the Hurrian king Shattuara of Mitanni-Khanigalbat was defeated by Adad-nirari I in the early 13th century BC, he appears to have become ruler of a reduced vassal state, Subartu. [16] The Subarian peoples continued to revolt against Assyrian rule; for example, the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser I (r. 1114–1076 BC) fought against the "unsubmissive Shubaru" early in his reign. [1]
In the 1st millennium BC, Shubria, the continuation of the earlier Subartu, [1] appears as an independent kingdom occupying a difficult geopolitical position: it was wedged between two great powers of Assyria and Urartu. The king of Shubria, Anhitti, is recorded as presenting tribute to King Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria (r. 883–859 BC); here, the older name Shubaru is used. [4] In 854 BC, Ashurnasirpal's successor Shalmaneser III captured Shubrian cities and forced Anhitti to submit and pay tribute. [17] Assyrian letters indicate that Shubria was under Urartian rule during the reign of Rusa I (r. 735–713 BC). It likely acquired its independence after the Urartians under Rusa were defeated by Assyria under Sargon II in 714 BC. [18]
From the late 8th century BC, Shubria successfully preserved its independence, disregarding the interests of Urartu and Assyria. The Shubrian king frequently received refugees and fugitives from Urartu and Assyria and refused to extradite them. This included commoners escaping military or labor obligations. During the reign of Esarhaddon of Assyria, high-ranking military and civil officials, as well as criminals, also found refuge in Shubria. [19] This practice of providing sanctuary to refugees and fugitives may have been rooted in religious tradition. [20] In 673–672 BC, Esarhaddon invaded and conquered Shubria. [19] This conquest is recorded in a letter from Esarhaddon to the god Ashur, which is partially preserved on two tablets. According to the letter, the Shubrian ruler Ik-Teshub [21] rejected Esarhaddon's demand to extradite Assyrian fugitives (possibly conspirators involved in the assassination of Esarhaddon's father Sennacherib), [4] after which the Assyrians besieged Uppumu. The Shubrian king tried to surrender, but Esarhaddon ignored his pleas and conquered the Shubrian cities, taking many captives. After this, Shubria was ruled as two Assyrian provinces: Kullimeri and Uppumu. [22] Esarhaddon rebuilt the Shubrian cities, giving them Assyrian names, and populated them with people resettled from elsewhere. [23] In 657 BC, the Urartians made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Shubria. [4] The Urartian general or governor Andaria was killed in a failed attack on the city of Kullimeri. [19] Assyrian control may have remained weak in Shubria, as the inhabitants of Kullimeri appear to have fought off this attack on their own, although they did send the head of the Urartian commander to the Assyrian king as a sign of their loyalty. [24]
According to Diakonoff, it is "quite probable" that Shubria was settled by speakers of Proto-Armenian—who he believes were known as the (eastern) Mushki and possibly also the Urumeans—from the time of Esarhaddon's conquest and deportations. [25] Shubria likely regained its independence towards the end of the 7th century BC, like other fringe territories of the Assyrian Empire. [26] Based on the Armenian legend about the first Armenian king Paroyr Skayordi, some scholars have hypothesized that an Armenian-populated kingdom emerged in or near Shubria, possibly ruled by a dynasty of Scythian origin, which allied with the Medes to defeat the Assyrian Empire c. 612 BC. [27] Suren Yeremian argues that the Armenian ruler of Shubria was recognized as king by the Median king Cyaxares after participating in the victory over the Assyrians. [14] Boris Piotrovsky, who identified Arme and Shubria with each other, [28] places this polity ruled by "Paroyr" "in the immediate vicinity of Arme, if it did not constitute it [Arme]" and also suggests that its ruler received Median recognition after participating in the victory over Assyria. [29] Diakonoff writes that Shubria "undoubtedly played a great role in the emergence of the later Armenian state and nation," although he considers the kingdom of Melid to be a better candidate for the nucleus of the Armenian people and kingdom. [30]
Some scholars have concluded from the Hurrian etymology of some Shubrian names that Shubria was mainly populated by Hurrians. Some have suggested that it was the last remnant of Hurrian civilization, or even constituted the original homeland of the Hurrians. However, other Shubrian names have been identified as Aramean by origin. Bradley J. Parker writes that the existing evidence indicates that Shubria had a heterogeneous population including Hurrians, Arameans, and likely also Urartians, Assyrians and others. [8] Karen Radner writes that Shubria "can certainly be described as [a] (linguistically and culturally) Hurrian" state. According to Radner, a letter from the king of Shubria to an Assyrian magnate from the time of Sargon II was composed in the Hurrian language. [31]
According to some scholars, Shubria was inhabited by speakers of the Proto-Armenian language [2] and formed the nucleus of Armenian statehood. [32] Diakonoff theorized that the Proto-Armenians migrated eastwards from Anatolia into the western part of the Armenian highlands in the second quarter of the 12th century BC. He identifies the Proto-Armenians with the Mushki and considers an identification with the Urumeans possible. He notes that while Shubria had a Hurrian ruling dynasty and apparently also a Hurrian population, its people were deported after Esarhaddon's conquest, and it is likely that the Proto-Armenians settled Shubria from that time. [33]
The Hurrian god Teshub was the main god of Shubria, as evidenced by the names of its kings. [34] The Tigris Grotto served as a natural religious site for Shubria. It may have been the most important shrine in the country. The Shubrians performed the religious rites common to the Hurrians: augury and scapegoat rituals. Shubrian scholars engaged in augury were present at the Assyrian royal court. The Shubrian king Ik-Teshub performed a scapegoat ritual in his attempt to surrender during Esarhaddon's invasion. Tamas Deszö argues that Shubria's policy of accepting refugees derived from religious tradition, suggesting that the Shubrians had a refuge sanctuary at Uppumu, as well as a temple to Teshub there. Karen Radner speculates that it was the Tigris Grotto that served as a refuge sanctuary. Since the Birkleyn cave system, known as the "Tigris source," was known to and considered sacred by the Assyrians, Radner suggests that it was likely known to the Shubrians as well. [20]
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.
Mitanni, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or Naharin in Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia with Indo-Aryan linguistic and political influences. Since no histories, royal annals or chronicles have yet been found in its excavated sites, knowledge about Mitanni is sparse compared to the other powers in the area, and dependent on what its neighbours commented in their texts.
Hurro-Urartian is an extinct language family of the Ancient Near East, comprising only two known languages: Hurrian and Urartian.
The Mushki were an Iron Age people of Anatolia who appear in sources from Assyria but not from the Hittites. Several authors have connected them with the Moschoi (Μόσχοι) of Greek sources and the Georgian tribe of the Meskhi. Josephus Flavius identified the Moschoi with the Biblical Meshech. Two different groups are called Muški in Assyrian sources, one from the 12th to the 9th centuries BC near the confluence of the Arsanias and the Euphrates and the other from the 8th to the 7th centuries BC in Cappadocia and Cilicia. Assyrian sources clearly identify the Western Mushki with the Phrygians, but later Greek sources then distinguish between the Phrygians and the Moschoi.
Mannaea was an ancient kingdom located in northwestern Iran, south of Lake Urmia, around the 10th to 7th centuries BC. It neighbored Assyria and Urartu, as well as other small buffer states between the two, such as Musasir and Zikirta.
Nairi was the Akkadian name for a region inhabited by a particular group of tribal principalities in the Armenian Highlands, approximately spanning the area between modern Diyarbakır and Lake Van and the region west of Lake Urmia. Nairi has sometimes been equated with Nihriya, known from Mesopotamian, Hittite, and Urartian sources. However, its co-occurrence with Nihriya within a single text may argue against this.
Muṣaṣir, in Urartian Ardini was an ancient city of Urartu, attested in Assyrian sources of the 9th and 8th centuries BC.
The name Armenia entered English via Latin, from Ancient Greek Ἀρμενία.
Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highlands. It extended from the eastern bank of the upper Euphrates River to the western shores of Lake Urmia and from the mountains of northern Iraq to the Lesser Caucasus Mountains. Its kings left behind cuneiform inscriptions in the Urartian language, a member of the Hurro-Urartian language family. Since its re-discovery in the 19th century, Urartu, which is commonly believed to have been at least partially Armenian-speaking, has played a significant role in Armenian nationalism.
Kumme was a Hurrian city, known from textual sources from both second and first millennium BCE. Its precise location is unknown, but it is mentioned in cuneiform texts from multiple other sites. It might have been located close to modern Zakho or Beytüşşebap. From the Old Babylonian period until Neo-Assyrian times it served as a religious center of transregional significance due to its association with the Hurrian weather god, Teshub. Its religious role is first mentioned in texts from Mari, and later recurs in Hurrian and Hittite sources. In the Neo-Assyrian period, it was apparently the center of a small independent buffer state on Assyrian borders. Its ultimate fate remains unknown, as from the reign of Sennacherib onward it is no longer mentioned in any texts.
The economy of Urartu refers to the principles of management of Urartu, the ancient state of Western Asia which existed from the thirteenth to the sixth century BC. It peaked around the eighth century BC but was destroyed with the fall of the state about a century later. The economy of Urartu was typical of ancient Oriental Despotism and was closely associated with that of neighboring Assyria.
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.
The Sargonid dynasty was the final ruling dynasty of Assyria, ruling as kings of Assyria during the Neo-Assyrian Empire for just over a century from the ascent of Sargon II in 722 BC to the fall of Assyria in 609 BC. Although Assyria would ultimately fall during their rule, the Sargonid dynasty ruled the country during the apex of its power and Sargon II's three immediate successors Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal are generally regarded as three of the greatest Assyrian monarchs. Though the dynasty encompasses seven Assyrian kings, two vassal kings in Babylonia and numerous princes and princesses, the term Sargonids is sometimes used solely for Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal.
Arda-Mulissu or Arda-Mulissi, also known as Urdu-Mullissi, Urad-Mullissu and Adad-Ennlil and known in Hebrew writings as Adrammelech, was an ancient Assyrian prince of the Sargonid dynasty, the son of Sennacherib, king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and the older brother of Sennacherib's successor Esarhaddon. Arda-Mulissu served as Sennacherib's crown prince and heir for ten years, from the time of the death of Sennacherib's first crown prince Ashur-nadin-shumi in 694 BC, but was for unknown reasons replaced as heir by Esarhaddon in 684 BC.
The Urumu were a tribe attested in cuneiform sources in the Bronze Age. They are often considered to be one of the ancestors of the Armenians being one of the tribes which were part of the Armenian Hayasa-Azzi confederation.
Paroyr Skayordi or Paroyr, son of Skayordi, was an Armenian king mentioned in the history of Movses Khorenatsi in the context of events of the 7th century BC. Khorenatsi describes him as a descendant of the Armenian patriarch Hayk who helped the Median king "Varbakes" defeat the Assyrian king "Sardanapalus" and received the crown of Armenia in return, becoming "the first to reign in Armenia." Different theories exist about the possible historical identity of Paroyr Skayordi, whose second name is sometimes interpreted as meaning "son of a Saka/Scythian" or "of Saka lineage." According to one view, he is identifiable with the Scythian king Partatua, who lived in the first half of the 7th century BC. Other scholars believe that he was the ruler of Arme-Shupria and allied with the Medes against Assyria around 612 BC. Others believe that he was the ruler of a Scythian land within the Etiuni confederation, which, according to one hypothesis, was the early polity of the Armenians.
Aranzaḫ, also known as Aranziḫ or Araššiḫ was a Hurrian deity who represented the river Tigris. He was believed to be one of the deities born as a result of Kumarbi biting off the genitals of Anu during a battle over kingship in heaven. He also appears in a myth focused on a hero named after him, Gurparanzaḫ, in which he acts as his ally. He is also attested in numerous Hurrian theophoric names. A handful of attestations of his name have been identified in Ugaritic and Mesopotamian texts as well. Additionally, it has been suggested that the Assyrian references to offerings made to the source of the Tigris in Shubria in the first millennium BCE were linked to earlier Hurrian worship of the Tigris as a deity.
Gilzan or the kingdom of Gilzan, also known as Gilzanu, was a late Bronze Age and early Iron Age kingdom in the ancient near east, lying between the ancient great powers of Assyria and Urartu. Not much is known about Gilzans history, Gilzan is primarily known from Assyrian and Urartian sources.
Имя Паруйра пытаются иногда связать с именем Партатуа и считают, что в этом сообщении Моисея Хоренского сохранилась народная армянская традиция с реминисценцией о некоей, быть может, скифской по происхождению, династии в одном из окраинных для Урарту и Ассирии, армянском по населению царств (например в Шубрии-Арме, совр. Сасуне, западнее озера Ван).[Some try to connect the name Paruyr with the name [of the Scythian king] Partatua and believe that in this message of Moses of Khoren a folk Armenian tradition has been preserved with a reminiscence of a certain, perhaps Scythian in origin, dynasty in one of the Armenian-population kingdoms in the borderlands of Urartu and Assyria, Armenian in population (for example, in Arme-Shubria, in modern Sasun, west of Lake Van).]