Urshu
Urshu, Warsuwa[1] or Urshum was a Hurrian-Amorite[2][3] city-state in southern Turkey, probably located on the west bank of the Euphrates,[4] and north of Carchemish.[5]
History
[edit]Urshu was a commercial city governed by a Lord (EN). It was an ally of Ebla and appears in the tablets as Ursa'um.[6] Later it was mentioned in the inscriptions of Gudea (r. c.2144–2124 BC according to the Middle chronology) as the city where wood resins were procured.[7] An old Assyrian letter that dates to the 19th century BC mentions a temple of the god Ashur in Urshu.[8]
According to Archi (2011), Uršum (Uršaum) lay north of Hassum (Hassuwan/Haššum), and now has been "placed between Gaziantep and Birecik on the Euphrates, or at Gaziantep itself."[9]
In the beginning of the 18th century BC, Urshu allied with Yamhad against Yahdun-Lim of Mari.[10] Relations with Assyria were also strained, and men of Urshu were summoned by Yapah-Adad and his Habiru to attack the lands of Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria.[11] The texts of Mari mentions a conflict between Urshu and Carchemish: the tribes of Upra-peans and Ra-beans attacked Urshu through the land of Carchemish, which caused Urshu to attack a contingent of Carchemishean troops and civilians that advanced along the bank of the Euphrates.[12]
Later, Urshu became an economic rival to Yamhad[13] and entered an alliance with Qatna and Shamshi-Adad I to attack Sumu-Epuh of Yamhad (r. c.1810-1780 BC).[14] The death of Shamshi-Adad and the rise of Yarim-Lim I of Yamhad brought an end to this rivalry, as Yamhad was elevated into a Great Kingdom and imposed its direct authority over northern, western and eastern Syria,[15] bringing Urshu under its sphere of influence without annexing it.[16] The Tablets of Mari mention a few kings of Urshu who date to this era, including Shennam[17] and Atru-Sipti, who visited Mari in the 12th year of its king Zimri-Lim.[12]
Hittite conquest
[edit]They broke the battering ram. The king was angry and his face was grim "They constantly bring me bad news, may the storm-god carry you away in a flood!.. but not idle! Make a battering-ram in the Hurrian manner and let it be brought into place. Hew a great battering-ram from the mountains of Hassu and let it be brought into place".
The Hittite king Hattusili I attacked Urshu in his second year, laying siege to the city for six months. The Hittite king had 80 chariots[19] and conducted his operations from the city of Lawazantiya (located in modern Elbistan district) in the Taurus foothills of eastern Cilicia.[20]
Despite receiving aid from Yamhad and Carchemish, Urshu was burned and destroyed; its lands were plundered and the booty taken to the Hittite capital Hattusa.[21]
The history of Urshu after the conquest is ambiguous. In the 15th century BC it appears in the Tablets of Alalakh as "Uris" or "Uressi",[4] and is mentioned "Urussa" in the treaty between the Hittite Tudhaliya II and Sunassura II of Kizzuwatna as part of the latter's territory.[22] The city again became part of the Hittite empire and was last mentioned in records dated to the final periods of that empire.[22]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ I. M. Diakonoff (28 June 2013). Early Antiquity. p. 364. ISBN 9780226144672.
- ^ Noel Freedman; Allen C. Myers (31 December 2000). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. p. 619. ISBN 9789053565032.
- ^ Mogens Herman Hansen (2000). A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation, Volume 21. p. 60. ISBN 9788778761774.
- ^ a b Sidney Smith (1956). Anatolian Studies: Journal of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. Special number in honour and in memory of John Garstang, 5th May, 1876 - 12th September, 1956, Volume 6. p. 42.
- ^ I. E. S. Edwards; C. J. Gadd; N. G. L. Hammond; E. Sollberger (3 May 1973). The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 241. ISBN 9780521082303.
- ^ Gojko Barjamovic (2011). A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 200+201. ISBN 9788763536455.
- ^ Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards; C. J. Gadd; N. G. L. Hammond (31 October 1971). The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 559. ISBN 9780521077910.
- ^ Gwendolyn Leick (2 June 2009). The Babylonian World. p. 537. ISBN 9781134261284.
- ^ Archi, Alfonso (2011). "In Search of Armi". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 63. The American Schools of Oriental Research: 5–34. doi:10.5615/jcunestud.63.0005. ISSN 2325-6737. S2CID 163552750. p.29
- ^ Yuhong Wu (1994). A Political History of Eshnunna, Mari and Assyria During the Early Old Babylonian Period: From the End of Ur III to the Death of Šamši-Adad. p. 131.
- ^ Sidney Smith (1956). Anatolian Studies: Journal of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. Special number in honour and in memory of John Garstang, 5th May, 1876 - 12th September, 1956, Volume 6. p. 39.
- ^ a b Gojko Barjamovic (2011). A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 202. ISBN 9788763536455.
- ^ Beatrice Teissier (1996). Egyptian Iconography on Syro-Palestinian Cylinder Seals of the Middle Bronze Age. p. 1. ISBN 9783525538920.
- ^ J. R. Kupper. The Cambridge Ancient History Northern Mesopotamia and Syria. p. 19.
- ^ William J. Hamblin (27 September 2006). Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. p. 255. ISBN 9781134520626.
- ^ Trevor Bryce (March 2014). Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. p. 27. ISBN 9780199646678.
- ^ Horst Klengel (20 March 1992). Syria, 3000 to 300 B.C.: a handbook of political history. p. 75. ISBN 9783050018201.
- ^ Seton Lloyd (21 August 2007). Hittite Warrior. p. 44. ISBN 9781846030819.
- ^ Robert Drews (1993). The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 B.C. p. 106. ISBN 0691025916.
- ^ I. E. S. Edwards; C. J. Gadd; N. G. L. Hammond; E. Sollberger (3 May 1973). The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 245. ISBN 9780521082303.
- ^ Seton Lloyd (1999). Ancient Turkey: A Traveller's History. p. 39. ISBN 9780520220423.
- ^ a b Gojko Barjamovic (2011). A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 203. ISBN 9788763536455.