Yarim-Lim III

Last updated
Yarim-Lim III
Great King of Yamhad
Reignc. Middle 17th century BC – c. 1625 BC. Middle chronology
Predecessor Hammurabi II
Successor Hammurabi III

Yarim-Lim III (reigned c. Middle 17th century BC - c. 1625 BC - Middle chronology) was the king of Yamhad (Halab) succeeding Hammurabi II. [1]

Contents

Reign

Yarim-Lim ascended the throne at a time of internal disintegration for Yamhad, combined with foreign threats represented with the rise of the Hittites. He was either the son of Niqmi-Epuh or Irkabtum. [1]

First Years and Internal Affairs

Yarim-Lim fought and won against Qatna in his early years, [2] but Yamhad's weakness was clear. Ammitakum of Alalakh declared himself king but not as independent ruler, he acknowledged Yarim-Lim as his suzerain and appointed his son Hammurabi as his heir in the presence of Yarim-Lim, declaring him a servant to the great king of Yamhad. Yarim-Lim was a passive actor in naming the heir to Alalakh [3] [4]

War with the Hittites

The Hittite king Hattusili I exploited Alalakh's proclamation of sovereignty and the internal dissent it caused in Yamhad. He attacked Alalakh in the second year of his Syrian campaigns and conquered it, cutting Aleppo's route to the sea. Yarim-Lim did not send troops to aid Alalakh and the city was destroyed. [5] He (Hattusili) then attacked Urshu. Yarim-Lim and Carchemish sent aid to the city in vain, [6] and Hattusili destroyed it. [7]

The Hurrians supported by Yarim-Lim attacked Hattusili's newly acquired lands while he was campaigning against Arzawa. [8] He came back on his second campaign, this time fighting Aleppo directly.

In the sixth year of his Syrian campaigns, Hattusili headed toward Hassuwa (Khashshum). Yarim-Lim sent the Aleppan army under the leadership of General Zukrassi, the heavy-armed troops leader accompanied by General Zaludis, the commander of the Manda troops. The army consisted of about a hundred chariots and thousands of foot soldiers. [9] The battle took place near Atalur mountain (located north of Aleppo, not very far from the Amanus, it can be identified with the Kurd-Dagh Mountains). [10] Hattusili emerged victorious. Then he destroyed Hassuwa and moved on destroying Yamhad's other Hurrian allies such as Zippasna and Hahhum. [11] Hattusuli then crossed the Euphrates, comparing himself with Sargon of Akkad and returned to Hattusa. [12]

Death and succession

The date of Yarim-Lim's death is not known, but he died and was succeeded by Hammurabi III [13] his possible son or cousin, [14] before Hattusili's direct attack on the city of Aleppo which ended in his defeat. [15]

King Yarim-Lim III of Yamhad (Halab)
 Died: 1625 BC
Regnal titles
Preceded by Great King of Yamhad
– 1625 BC		Succeeded by

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yamhad</span> Semitic kingdom in Syria

Yamhad 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alalakh</span> Archaeological site in Reyhanlı, Hatay, Turkey

Alalakh is an ancient archaeological site approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Antakya in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze Age, c. 2000-1200 BC. The city contained palaces, temples, private houses and fortifications. The remains of Alalakh have formed an extensive mound covering around 22 hectares. In Late Bronze Age, Alalakh was the capital of the local kingdom of Mukiš.

Mursili I was a king of the Hittites c. 1620-1590 BC, as per the middle chronology, the most accepted chronology in our times,, and was likely a grandson of his predecessor, Hattusili I. His sister was Ḫarapšili and his wife was queen Kali.

Hattusili I was a king of the Hittite Old Kingdom. He reigned ca. 1650–1620 BCE, or ca. 1640–1610 BCE. Excavations in Zincirli Höyük, Southern Turkey, suggest that a complex there was destroyed in the mid to late 17th century BCE, possibly by Hattusili I in a military campaign, which could confirm the middle chronology dating for his reign. This destruction was recently radiocarbon-dated to sometime between 1632 and 1610 BCE. This event could have been part of Ḫattušili's campaign against Zalpa in order to disrupt an exchange network connected to Aleppo that previously linked the Euphrates, North Syria, and Central Anatolia. Aslihan K. Yener dates destruction of Level VII Palace at nearby Alalakh, located around 100 km southeast of Tilmen Höyük, in the second year of Hattusili's reign, 1628 BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuhašše</span>

Nuhašše, also Nuhašša, was a region in northwestern Syria that flourished in the 2nd millennium BC. It was a federacy ruled by different kings who collaborated and probably had a high king. Nuhašše changed hands between different powers in the region such as Egypt, Mitanni and the Hittites. It rebelled against the latter which led Šuppiluliuma I to attack and annex the region.

Yarim-Lim I, also given as Yarimlim, was the second king of the ancient Amorite kingdom of Yamhad in modern-day Aleppo, Syria.

Sumu-Epuh is the first attested king of Yamhad (Halab). He founded the Yamhad dynasty which controlled northern Syria throughout the 17th and 18th centuries BC.

Hammurabi I is the third attested king of Yamhad (Halab).

Irridu (Irrite) was a city in northwestern Mesopotamia, likely located between Harran and Carchemish. It flourished in the middle and late Bronze Age before being destroyed by Assyria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abba-El I</span> Great King of Yamhad

Abba-El I was the king of Yamhad (Halab), succeeding his father Hammurabi I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarim-Lim II</span> Great King of Yamhad

Yarim-Lim II was the king of Yamhad succeeding his father Abba-El I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niqmi-Epuh</span> Great King of Yamhad

Niqmi-Epuh, also given as Niqmepa was the king of Yamhad (Halab) succeeding his father Yarim-Lim II

Hammurabi II was an obscure king of Yamhad (Halab), probably reigning after Irkabtum.

Sarra-El also written Šarran was a prince of Yamhad who might have regained the throne after the assassination of the Hittite king Mursili I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abba-El II</span> King of Halab (Yamhad)

Abba-El II was the king of Halab who reigned after the withdrawal of the Hittites.

Hammurabi III was the king of Yamhad (Halab) succeeding Yarim-Lim III.

Urshu, Warsuwa or Urshum was a Hurrian-Amorite city-state in southern Turkey, probably located on the west bank of the Euphrates, and north of Carchemish.

Hassum was a Hurrian city-state, located in southern Turkey most probably on the Euphrates river north of Carchemish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarim-Lim of Alalakh</span> King of Alalakh

Yarim-Lim was a king of Alalakh and son of Hammurabi I of Yamhad. He was granted the city of Alalakh by his brother Abba-El I of Yamhad and started a cadet branch of the Yamhadite dynasty that lasted until the conquest of Alalakh by the Hittite king Hattusili I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yamhad dynasty</span> Ancient Amorite royal family

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.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 wilfred van soldt (1999). Akkadica, Volumes 111-120. p. 105.
  2. ↑ Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards (3 May 1973). The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 32. ISBN   9780521082303.
  3. ↑ Society for Old Testament Study, Clarendon P (1967). Archaeology and Old Testament study: jubilee volume of the Society for Old Testament Study, 1917-1967. p. 124.
  4. ↑ L. Kakosy (1976). Oikumene. p. 41. ISBN   9789630507608.
  5. ↑ Trudy Ring; Noelle Watson; Paul Schellinger (5 November 2013). Southern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places. p. 12. ISBN   9781134259588.
  6. ↑ William J. Hamblin (27 September 2006). Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. p. 289. ISBN   9781134520626.
  7. ↑ Trevor Bryce (2009). The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. p. 753. ISBN   9780415394857.
  8. ↑ Mario Liverani (4 December 2013). The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. p. 260. ISBN   9781134750849.
  9. ↑ Robert Drews (1993). The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 B.C. p. 106. ISBN   0691025916.
  10. ↑ Shigeo Yamada (January 2000). The Construction of the Assyrian Empire. p. 105. ISBN   9004117725.
  11. ↑ Trevor Bryce (1999). The Kingdom of the Hittites. p. 83. ISBN   9780199240104.
  12. ↑ Trevor Bryce (1999). The Kingdom of the Hittites. p. 84. ISBN   9780199240104.
  13. ↑ Erich Ebeling; Bruno Meissner; Ernst Weidner; Dietz Otto Edzard (1928). Reallexikon D Assyriologie. p. 261. ISBN   9783110071924.
  14. ↑ William C. Hayes; M. B. Rowton; Frank H. Stubbings (1950). Chronology, Volume 1, Part 6. p. 45.
  15. ↑ Trevor Bryce (6 March 2014). Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. p. 29. ISBN   9780191002922.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.