Kirûm (princess)

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Kirûm (also Kirû ; * and † in the 18th century BC ) was the daughter of King Zimri-Lim of Mari , a city-state in Mesopotamia , and wife of his ally Haya-Sumû of Ilanṣurâ . Her fate is known through several letters in the palace archives of Mari . In it, she reports on her suffering in her husband's harem and the quarrel there with her sister Šimatum , which offers insights into the internals of a royal harem.

Life

It is believed that Kirûm was married to Haya-Sumû two years after her older sister at the earliest, as, unlike Šimatum, she was mentioned in his father's harem during the first two years of her father's reign. While nothing is known about the marriage of her sister, so that it cannot be dated with certainty, Kirûm's marriage took place within the framework of intensified diplomatic relations between Zimri-Lim and Haya-Sumû, which were supposed to be strengthened by this interdynastic marriage .

For the beginning of their connection, her letters report that she held a prominent position in her husband's court. After a while, however, it seems to have lost this position; this was possibly due to the fact that her older sister had given birth to a male heir to the throne before her and thus rose in the hierarchy. Now she reports in her letters, the chronological order of which is difficult to reconstruct, that Haya-Sumû did not seek her advice for political decisions, and suspects that her sister was influencing her husband. She also accuses Simatum of intercepting her letters to their father. Another letter shows that her sister had Haya-Sumû even threatening her with murder. Finally, she asked her father several times to take her back home, threatening suicide.

After probably seven years of marriage, she finally successfully requested a divorce from Haya-Sumû and was brought back home by her father. How the diplomatic relations between the two rulers were secured from then on is not clear.

See also

literature

  • Jean-Marie Durand: Trois études sur Mari. In: Mari. Annales de Recherches Interdisciplinaires. Volume 3, Éditions Recherche sur les Civilizations, Paris 1984, ISBN 2-86538-084-X , pp. 127–180.
  • Georges Dossin: Correspondance féminine (= Archives royales de Mari. Vol. 10). Geuthner, Paris 1978, ISBN 2-7053-0059-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ according to medium chronology
  2. ↑ a b Durand (1984), p. 163.
  3. ↑ cf. Archives Royales de Mari. Transcriptions and traductions. (ARMT) X, 113
  4. ↑ cf. Durand (1984), p. 167.
  5. ↑ ARMT A4425, M14305
  6. ↑ ARMT X, 35
  7. ↑ a b ARMT X, 32
  8. ↑ Durand (1984), p. 170 f.
personal data
SURNAME Kirûm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kirû
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Princess of Mari; Wife of Haya-Sumû of Ilanṣurâ
DATE OF BIRTH 18th century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH unsure: Mari
DATE OF DEATH 18th century BC Chr.
Place of death unsure: Mari