In our previous episode we discussed the rise and fall of the first empire in history - The
Akkadian Empire. Its great rulers from Sargon to Naram-Sin broke the mold and set in motion
a way of running a state which would be emulated for thousands of years to come. From this
point forward, the Empire would be the prominent form of government. However before another
could rise in the region a dark age had to be overcome. After the fall of Akkad, the
Gutians had established their own dynasty and hegemony in the Euphrates river valley
which would set the stage for what was to come. Welcome to our video on the brief ‘Sumerian
renaissance’ and the eventual rise of Babylon. With the shattering of Akkadian supremacy
by the mid-22nd century BC, a period of fragmentation once again occurred. A series of kings from
the region of Gutium reigned for almost a century from the former Akkadian capital and
had relatively symbolic authority over the southern region of Sumer. While the period
was one of uncertainty for government and trade, the Sumerian south managed to gain
considerable economic advantage from the limited tribute exacted by the Gutian kings in Akkad.
Several great native Sumerian rulers reigned in this era, including Gudea, who ruled the
powerful city of Lagash from 2144 to 2124 BC. He seems to have been a peaceful and humble
ruler, using the title of ensi rather than the more grandiose lugal, despite his vast
power - seeing himself as a representative on earth of his city god Ningirsu, to which
he dedicated many honest prayers and statues. He was also a social reformer, cancelling
debt and allowing women to inherit and own family property if their husbands were to
perish. The man who would end the period was Utu-Hegal,
of the Fifth Uruk Dynasty. He formed a coalition of Sumer and faced the Gutian King Tirigan
in battle, luring him into a trap and defeating him after arresting two of the Gutian envoys.
Tirigan fled on his war chariot and attempted to escape, but was captured and executed by
Utu-Hegal, who now established a brief period of Uruk hegemony.
However, In 2112 BC, an ensi named Ur-Nammu overthrew the Uruk hegemony and established
the Third Dynasty of Ur. Five kings of this new nascent Empire ruled until 2004 BC and
consolidated their rule through efficient and extensive administrative talent, rather
than constant expansionism. The Third Dynasty established the first directly controlled
economy, while the traditionally independent city-states of Sumer and Akkad lost their
autonomy. For the first time, ensi were not native representatives of the larger empire,
but appointed governors under the rule of the kings at Ur. This was similar to the way
Ionian Greek cities were initially administered by the Persian appointed tyrants after their
conquest of Lydia - where governors were installed in Ephesus, Halicarnassus and other cities
in the region. In addition, the native Sumerian gods were
replaced by the deified kings of Ur. This loss of autonomy and the disruption of traditional
religious practices is likely to have engendered significant anger towards the Ur Kings and
it is hinted in the sources that many rebellions occurred, but were not documented by the ruling
dynasty. Despite this, the cities of Sumer experienced great prosperity during the Third
Ur Dynasty, with the construction of new canals promoting new trade routes throughout the
realm. Most long lasting of all Ur’s achievements
was the Ur Ziggurat, which survives to this day - 4,100 years later. Calculation of soil
richness and other estimates for the optimal production of goods were also taken, drastically
increasing economic efficiency in the centrally controlled system. All of this prosperity
benefitted the large cities, but also allowed other smaller centres to prosper and grow.
One of these newer cities was formerly a small and obscure town, but had grown to become
one of the economic provincial cores of the Third Ur Dynasty’s Empire - Babylon.
Like all empires, the Third Dynasty of Ur began to decline around the end of the 21st
century BC. Famine, drought and invasions by a new nomadic group, the Amorites, began
to take its toll, and the Empire ceased to exist in 2004 BC, when a series of conflicts
with their eastern neighbors came to its conclusion, with Elam as the victor, who then destroyed
Ur. Into this Mesopotamian vacuum of power came
ever more Amorite tribes, now with royal ambitions. These nomadic semi-pastoralists, whose name
literally means ‘people of the west’, supposedly originated in the highland regions
west of the middle-Euphrates. These Amorites were the very same people whom the Israelites
supposedly defeated in the Biblical texts. Their lifestyle before the migrations into
the river valleys consisted of seasonal migrations from semi-arid areas in the winter and wet
areas in the summer to tend their herds. Conflict between the settled civilisations
in Mesopotamia and the Amorites began as early as the reign of Akkadian King Shar-Kali-Sharri,
in whose reign a battle was fought with the nomads, as attested to by his twelfth year
name. Significant numbers of Amorites moving into the Tigris-Euphrates region, as mentioned
before, was a key factor in the decline and fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur - with their
initial mass settlement in the Mesopotamian region being dated to this period.
The Amorite invasions of the near east took place in several phases. During the first
they invaded and dominated Palestine. In the second they thrust north and invaded the Syrian
region - including Ebla, Mari, Yamhad, Qatna and Ekallatum. Finally, they invaded northern
and southern Mesopotamia, taking root and establishing dynasties in Isin, Larsa and
Babylon. Upon encountering the sophisticated and seemingly splendorous civilisation which
had developed in the Euphrates-Tigris region, they must have wanted to become a part of
it, and never left, melding so well into the local populations that after a few decades
they were indistinguishable from the natives. We know that this period was one of warfare
between the scattered near-eastern kingdoms, but we do not know details of most of these
realms. The most prominent known Amorite Kingdom in the north was eventually centred on the
ancient city of Mari. During the Third Ur Dynasty period, Mari was nominally a vassal
of the Ur Kings and enjoyed prosperity, but suffered a sharp decline after its fall - and
Mari itself was even abandoned. Near the end of the 19th century BC, a ruler
of Amorite Sim’alite descent named Yaggid-Lim conquered many cities in the region of Mari
on the middle-Euphrates. Carrying on the momentum, he took the old city itself as his capital
in 1830 BC and established the Third Mariote Kingdom under the so-called Lim Dynasty.
His son Yahdun-Lim inherited the throne and would begin Mari’s most prosperous century.
He introduced the Babylonian language and writing style as the administrative standard,
introduced the old Akkadian practice of year names, pursued military conquests against
neighboring states and nomadic tribes, constructed irrigation systems and constructed fortresses
to consolidate territorial gains. The dynamism of this new Amorite dynasty established Mari
as the dominant state on the middle Euphrates, however overextension would soon have dire
consequences. This period of fragmentation in ancient Mesopotamia
was one of constant warfare, and the Mari ruler attempted to expand towards the Habur
river, which brought him into conflict with the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia - under its
ruler Shamshi-Adad. After suffering some defeats to their new enemy, Yadhun-Lim was assassinated
in a palace coup, orchestrated by his son during 1795 BC, and then two years later Mari
itself was conquered. Shamshi-Adad was himself one of the great
rulers of the Amorite period. He also belonged to a family of Amorite tribal chiefs who had
long fought against the aforementioned Yaggid-Lim and the state of Eshnunna to the southeast.
At one point, during a time of weakness for the upcoming ruler, Shamshi-Adad had to flee
to the rising state of Babylon due to his home city of Ekallatum being threatened by
neighboring domains. However, after a few years of exile he returned to power in Ekallatum
and subjugated the old Assyrian region and Assur itself. He removed Assyrian King Erishum
from the throne and declared himself King of Assyria, and this region was then assigned
to his eldest son Ishmi-Dagan, with a capital at Ekallatum.
One of the key moments of Shamshi-Adad’s reign came when he managed to conquer the
internally squabbling Lim dynasty of Mari, where he proceeded to appoint his younger
son Yasmah-Addu as co-ruler in this region. Meanwhile, Shamshi-Adad himself constructed
an entirely new capital city named Shubat-Enlil. This established an almost triarchic system
of government, with his sons acting as both co-kings and practical governors of important
regions. We also know about the contrasting relationship
between Shamshi-Adad and his two sons in relation to their position. He favoured his elder son
Ishmi-Dagan, who was viewed as a competent and able administrator of his province, and
often left him to rule his region independently. Meanwhile, the younger son Yasmah-Addu was
viewed as immature, incompetent and in constant need of guidance from his father and brother.
On one occasion, he constructed many statues of the gods in Mari without taking into account
the recurring costs of the cattle needed for sacrifices. However, it is possible that these
strains could have been exacerbated or even caused by Shamshi-Addad’s constant requests
for the economic resources of Mari. From the provision of troops for his many military
endeavors, to the supplying of technical and administrative specialists for his many public
works projects, Mari’s subordinate status drained the city consistently.
Having conquered Mari, Shamshi-Adad now acquired a western border with the powerful kingdom
of Yamhad - with its capital at Aleppo. Worried about this potential threat, a marriage alliance
was forged between the Empire based at Shubat-Enlil and the Qatna, which was to the south of Yamhad.
In this period of his supremacy, it is speculated that one of the vassals of Shamshi-Adad may
have been the Amorite king of nascent Babylon - Hammurabi.
Despite the brief period of prosperity which his strangely administered empire enjoyed,
it was not to last. Turukku nomads from the Zagros mountains penetrated deep into northern
Mesopotamia and many regions in the Empire rebelled. On top of this, Shamshi-Adad’s
ally in the powerful kingdom of Eshnunna died, and was replaced by a hostile, ambitious king.
Meanwhile, Yamhad began to launch attacks from the west. As his reign progressed, more
authority was delegated to his sons and finally, in 1776 BC, Shamshi-Adad perished. The Mari
segment of his Empire collapsed almost immediately under the incompetent younger son, who was
expelled, being replaced by a supposed claimant of the Lim Dynasty - Zimri-Lim.
Meanwhile, Ishmi-Dagan retained control only of a dramatically reduced Assyrian region,
consisting of mainly Assur, Ekallatum and the immediate vicinity. Over the next few
decades, he would engage in a rivalry with Zimri-Lim. Unfortunately for Ishmi-Dagan,
he was cut off from the prosperous Sumerian and Anatolian trade routes by the expansionary
Lim Dynasty, and this made his influence weaken even further.
The continuous bouts of warfare between the rivals eventually drew in other powers from
the wider region, eager to gain from the conflict - such as Larsa, Babylon, Isin and others.
Eventually, this fragmentation of power caused a wider period of warfare to erupt in the
region, when the Eshnunna Kingdom began to rapidly expand to the north and west. It was
opposed by Zimri-Lim of Mari, Yamhad and Babylon and, over the subsequent years, its progress
was rolled back and the annexed cities were abandoned.
While its peripheral gains had been erased, Eshnunna was still too powerful to attack
directly. At this point, a new phase of the conflict began when Elam struck Eshnunna from
the east, tipping the balance of power. They besieged the capital city, initially supported
by Mari and Babylon. However, when the Elamites threatened to expand their power into these
regions as well, they turned against Elam and managed to defeat them. This victory ended
the period of region-wide warfare, but would also set the stage for the next hegemon to
ascend to prominence - Hammurabi of Babylon.
Our series on the history of the Mesopotamian civilizations will continue, so make sure
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