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Urshu

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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

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]

In the beginning of the 18th century BC, Urshu allied with Yamhad against Yahdun-Lim of Mari.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]

Later, Urshu became an economic rival to Yamhad[12] and entered an alliance with Qatna and Shamshi-Adad I to attack Sumu-Epuh of Yamhad (r. c.1810-1780 BC).[13] 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,[14] bringing Urshu under its sphere of influence without annexing it.[15] The Tablets of Mari mention a few kings of Urshu who date to this era, including Shennam[16] and Atru-Sipti, who visited Mari in the 12th year of its king Zimri-Lim.[11]

Hittite conquest

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".

—Hattusili I describing the difficulties during the siege of Urshu.[17]

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[18] and conducted his operations from the city of Lawazantiya (located in modern Elbistan district) in the Taurus foothills of eastern Cilicia.[19]

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.[20]

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.[21] The city again became part of the Hittite empire and was last mentioned in records dated to the final periods of that empire.[21]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ I. M. Diakonoff. Early Antiquity. p. 364.
  2. ^ Noel Freedman; Allen C. Myers. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. p. 619.
  3. ^ Mogens Herman Hansen. A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation, Volume 21. p. 60.
  4. ^ a b Sidney Smith. 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.
  5. ^ I. E. S. Edwards; C. J. Gadd; N. G. L. Hammond; E. Sollberger. The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 241.
  6. ^ Gojko Barjamovic. A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 200+201.
  7. ^ Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards; C. J. Gadd; N. G. L. Hammond. The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 559.
  8. ^ Gwendolyn Leick. The Babylonian World. p. 537.
  9. ^ Yuhong Wu. 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.
  10. ^ Sidney Smith. 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.
  11. ^ a b Gojko Barjamovic. A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 202.
  12. ^ Beatrice Teissier. Egyptian Iconography on Syro-Palestinian Cylinder Seals of the Middle Bronze Age. p. 1.
  13. ^ J. R. Kupper. The Cambridge Ancient History Northern Mesopotamia and Syria. p. 19.
  14. ^ William J. Hamblin. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. p. 255.
  15. ^ Trevor Bryce. Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. p. 27.
  16. ^ Horst Klengel. Syria, 3000 to 300 B.C.: a handbook of political history. p. 75.
  17. ^ Seton Lloyd. Hittite Warrior. p. 44.
  18. ^ Robert Drews. The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 B.C. p. 106.
  19. ^ I. E. S. Edwards; C. J. Gadd; N. G. L. Hammond; E. Sollberger. The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 245.
  20. ^ Seton Lloyd. Ancient Turkey: A Traveller's History. p. 39.
  21. ^ a b Gojko Barjamovic. A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 203.

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