Gutian dynasty of Sumer

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Ancient Mesopotamia
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The Gutian dynasty came to power in Mesopotamia around 2150 BC, by destabilising Akkad at the end of the reign of king Melem (Ur-Utu) of Unug.

The Gutians were native to Gutium in the central Zagros Range. Almost nothing is known about their origins.

The first Gutian king was Inkishuc. The last Gutian king was Tirigan, who was preceded by 21 kings, reigning roughly a total of one century (estimates vary between 80 and 120 years, with 91 years often quoted as probable). The dynasty was succeeded by the 3rd dynasty of Ur.

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[edit] History

The Guti appear in Old Babylonian copies of inscriptions belonging to Lugal-Anne-Mundu of Adab as among the nations providing his empire tribute. These inscriptions locate them between Subartu in the north, and Marhashe and Elam in the south. They were a prominent nomadic tribe who lived in the Zagros mountains in the time of the Akkadian Empire. Sargon the Great also mentions them among his subject lands, listing them between Lullubi, Armanu and Akkad to the north, and Nikku and Der to the south. The epic Cuthaean Legend of Naram-Sin of a later millennium mentions Gutium among the lands around Mesopotamia raided by Annubanini of Lulubum during Naram-Sin's reign in Akkad[1].

The Gutians practiced hit-and-run tactics, and would be long gone by the time regular troops could arrive to deal with the situation. Their raids crippled the economy of Sumer. Travel became unsafe, as did work in the fields, resulting in famine.

The Sumerian king list indicates that king Melem of Unug was defeated by the barbarian Gutians, perhaps around 2250 BC. The Guti swept down, defeated the demoralized Akkadian army, took Agade, and destroyed it around 2215 BC. However, they did not supplant all of Akkad, as several independent city states remained alongside them, including Lagash, where a local dynasty still thrived and left numerous textual and archaeological remains.[2]

Agade was so thoroughly destroyed that its site is still not known. The Guti proved to be poor rulers. Under their crude rule, prosperity declined. They were too unaccustomed to the complexities of civilization to organize matters properly, particularly in connection with the canal network. This was allowed to sink into disrepair, with famine and death resulting. Thus, a short "dark age" swept over Mesopotamia.

Akkad bore the brunt of this as the center of the Empire, so that it was in Akkad that the Guti established their own center in place of the destroyed Agade. Some of the Sumerian cities in the south took advantage of the distance and purchased a certain amount of self-government by paying tribute to the new rulers.

Uruk thus got along under its 4th Dynasty, and Ur under its 2nd Dynasty. Even in the city of Akkad itself, a local dynasty was said to have ruled[3]. The best known Sumerian ruler of the Gutian period was the ensi of Lagash, Gudea. Under him, about 2150 BC, Lagash had a golden age.

After a few kings, the Gutian rulers became more cultured. The Guti lasted only about a century - at around 2120 BC, they were expelled from Mesopotamia by the rulers of Uruk and Ur, when Utu-hengal of Uruk defeated Gutian king Tirigan. Utu-hengal's victory revived the political and economic life of southern Sumer.

From this point on, the name "Guti" was used to signify any hostile people from east and northeast of Mesopotamia. Assyrian royal annals use the term Gutians to refer to Iranian populations of northeastern Mesopotamia otherwise known as Medes or Mannaeans; and as late as the reign of Cyrus the Great of Persia, the famous general Gubaru was described as the "governor of Gutium".

[edit] Weidner Chronicle

The Weidner Chronicle (ABC 19) provides the following account of the Gutian period:

"Naram-Sin destroyed the people of Babylon, so twice Marduk summoned the forces of Gutium against him. Marduk gave his kingship to the Gutian force. The Gutians were unhappy people unaware how to revere the gods, ignorant of the right cultic practices.
Utu-hengal, the fisherman, caught a fish at the edge of the sea for an offering. That fish should not be offered to another god until it had been offered to Marduk, but the Gutians took the boiled fish from his hand before it was offered, so by his august command, Marduk removed the Gutian force from the rule of his land and gave it to Utu-hengal."

[edit] List of the Gutian kings

The Gutian kings were, in order:

  1. Inkishuc
  2. Zarl-agab
  3. Shulme
  4. Silulumesh
  5. Inimabakesh
  6. Igecaush
  7. Yarl-agab
  8. Ibate
  9. Yarl-angab
  10. Kurum
  11. Apil-kin
  12. La-erabum
  13. Irarum
  14. Ibranum
  15. Hablum
  16. Puzur-Suen
  17. Yarlaganda
  18. Tirigan

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ [http://books.google.com/books?id=5P86eKIOJjgC&pg=PA709&lpg=PA709&dq=%22naram+sin%22+%22cuthaean+legend%22&source=web&ots=zT8hluhzkr&sig=Jp2lTfuVFGG27fyVMOiMjLOTP10 Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie By Erich Ebling, Bruno]
  2. ^ De Mieroop, Marc Van. (2004). A History of the Ancient Near East: ca. 3000-323 BC. (pp.67) Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
  3. ^ De Mieroop, Marc Van. (2004). A History of the Ancient Near East: ca. 3000-323 BC. (p.67) Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

[edit] See also

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutian_dynasty_of_Sumer"
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