Yahdunlim (or Yakhdunlim, Yahdun-Lim) was the king of Mari probably in 1820—1796 BC. He was of Amorite origin, and became king after the death of his father Iagitlim. Yahdunlim built Mari up to become one of the major powers of the region. He led a successful campaign to the coast of the Mediterranean.

Reign

Goddess of the vase, Mari, 18th century BC

Yahdun-Lim started his reign by subduing seven of his rebelling tribal leaders, and rebuilding the walls of Mari and Terqa in addition to building a new fort which he named Dur-Yahdun-Lim.[1]

Yahdun-Lim's kingdom was threatened by incursions from various nomad tribes, such as the Canaanites, but he was able to subjugate them and force them to pay tribute. After having established internal peace, he built a temple to the god Shamash.

He then expanded west and claimed to have reached the Mediterranean,[2][3] however he later had to face a rebellion by the Banu-Yamina nomads who were centered at Tuttul, and the rebels were supported by Yamhad's king Sumu-Epuh, whose interests were threatened by the recently established alliance between Yahdun-Lim and Eshnunna.[4][2] Yahdun-Lim defeated the Yamina but an open war with Yamhad was avoided.[5]

Shamshi-Adad I

Yahdun-Lim then became occupied by his rivalry with Shamshi-Adad I of Shubat-Enlil, the son of the late Ila-kabkabu.[6]

He received pleas for help from kings threatened by Shamshi-Adad's expansionist plans. But before Yahdunlim could move against Shamshi-Adad, he was assassinated in c. 1798 BC by his possible son Sumu-Yamam,[7][8] who himself got assassinated two years after ascending the throne.

But according to William J. Hamblin, Yahdun-Lim was killed in a battle with Shamshi-Adad ca 1796 BC. Shamshi-Adad then assigned his son Yasmah-Addu to the lordship of Mari.[9]

In the chaos that followed, Shamshi-Adad advanced and annexed Mari.[10] The war ended in a defeat for Mari.[6][11]

Zimrilim, Yakhdunlim's son and heir, was forced to flee to Aleppo, where he would remain as an exile until Shamshi-Adad's death.

Yahdul-Lim of Carchemish may also be sometimes referred to as Yahdun-Lim.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Frayne 1990, p. 603.
  2. 1 2 Frayne 1990, p. 606.
  3. ↑ Fowden 2013, p. 93.
  4. ↑ Bryce 2009, p. 451.
  5. ↑ Bryce 2014, p. 19.
  6. 1 2 Pitard 2001, p. 38.
  7. ↑ Launderville 2003, p. 271.
  8. ↑ Frayne 1990, p. 613.
  9. ↑ William J. Hamblin (12 April 2006). Warfare in Ancient Near East. Taylor & Francis. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-415-25588-2. Retrieved 4 October 2012. // Archived version
  10. ↑ Bryce 2014, p. 20.
  11. ↑ Van Der Meer 1955, p. 29.

Literature

  • Bryce, Trevor (2009). The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-15908-6.
  • Bryce, Trevor (2014). Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-100292-2.
  • Fowden, Garth (21 November 2013). Before and After Muhammad: The First Millennium Refocused. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-4816-4.
  • Frayne, Douglas (1990). Old Babylonian Period (2003–1595 BC). The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia Early Periods. Vol. 4. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-5873-7.
  • Launderville, Dale (2003). Piety and Politics: The Dynamics of Royal Authority in Homeric Greece, Biblical Israel, and Old Babylonian Mesopotamia. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8028-4505-4.
  • Pitard, Wayne T. (2001) [1998]. "Before Israel: Syria-Palestine in the Bronze Age". In Coogan, Michael David (ed.). The Oxford History of the Biblical World (revised ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513937-2.
  • Van Der Meer, Petrus (1955) [1947]. The Chronology of Ancient Western Asia and Egypt. Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui. Vol. 2 (2 ed.). Brill. OCLC 4727997.
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