Apiasal

Apiašal was a king in the early days of the Assyrian Empire . His name has only been passed down from the Assyrian King List , according to which he succeeded his father Ušpia as the 17th king . As with his father, who is credited with building the first Aššur temple, research considers it likely that Apiašal was an actual historical person. Especially in comparison with the first twelve or so kings on the list, who are considered legendary.

The fact that the name Apiašal appears twice in the royal list gives rise to much speculation. First he appears as the last king in the first section of the 17 kings who lived in tents . Which also makes him one of the first nomadic leaders. Then his name is repeated in the second section of the 10 kings, the ancestors are again. The fact that Ušpia is named as his father in the second section means that there is little doubt that it is actually a repetition and not an identical name for two different kings. His name is also in the last position in the second section, which is due to the fact that, unlike the first section and the rest of the list, the order is reverse chronological, i.e. from the youngest to the oldest king. One explanation for the repetition is the assumption made by Arno Pöbel that Apiašal initially began his rule as a tent king, but in the course of which he was the first to settle in Aššur . Perhaps this arose as a necessity after the construction of the temple, from a role as deputy ( iššaku ) and priest of Aššur, which was becoming increasingly important compared to the tribal leadership . According to the self- image of the early Assyrian rulers, the deity was the actual king and the earthly ruler was only his administrator ( iššiakkum ).

Glassner considers the two names Apiašal ( Api-ašal ) and Azaraḫ ( Adar-aḫ ), according to the king's list, the predecessor and possibly the grandfather of Apiašal, to be Amoritic .

literature

• Arno Poebel : The Assyrian King List from Khorsabad . Journal of Near Eastern Studies , Vol. 1/3, 1942, pp. 253 ff.
• Albert Kirk Grayson : The Royal inscriptions of Mesopotamia. Assyrian periods. (RIMA) Volume I, University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1987.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Erich Ebeling , Bruno Meissner : Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Aräologie , Volume 6, Walter de Gruyter, 1980. ISBN 978-3-11-010051-8 . P. 103 f.
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2. ↑ ^{a b} Arno Poebel : The Assyrian King List from Khorsabad . Journal of Near Eastern Studies Vol. 1/3, 1942, p. 273
3. ↑ Klaas R. Veenhof : History of the Old Orient up to the time of Alexander the Great (= The Old Testament German / supplementary series , volume 11), Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2001, ISBN 3-525-51685-1 . P. 115
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4. ^ Jean-Jacques Glassner: Mesopotamian Chronicles (= Writings from the Ancient World , Edition 19), Society of Biblical Lit. 2004. ISBN 978-1-58983-090-5 . P. 72
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predecessor	Office	successor
Ušpia	Assyrian king around 22nd century BC Chr.	Ḫalê