Upper sea

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A body of water in northern Assyria was called the upper sea . This can be seen in contrast to the "Lower Sea", the Persian Gulf . Above and below refer to cardinal points or the direction of flow of the Euphrates and Tigris , which specified these cardinal points. Basically, three bodies of water come into question as the "Upper Sea":

The name Upper Sea first appears in the inscriptions of Tukulti-Ninurta I in connection with the Nairi countries. Since this ruler never crossed the Euphrates , only Lake Van can be meant here. Even Ashur-bel-kala mentions the "Upper Sea" in a fragment that allows for no more precise localization. Most researchers are of the opinion that the Lake Van, otherwise also known as the Sea of ​​Nairi or Upper Sea of ​​Nairi , is meant here. Tiglat-Pileser I. seems to have used the name for both the Mediterranean Sea (mention of Hatti ) and Lake Van.

However, some Russian researchers would like to see the Black Sea in the Upper Sea. This interpretation is mainly related to the localization of Daiaeni , one of the Nairi tribes. These are mostly located in the area south of Lake Van or the upper Euphrates. Melikišvili and Diakonov want to equate Daeieni with Diaueḫe , a state or tribal union known only from Urartian inscriptions. The exact location of Diaueḫe is also controversial, but it was near Huša and Qulḫa , which are known from inscriptions from the time of Sarduri II . Qulḫa is sometimes equated with the ancient Colchis in the southeast corner of the Black Sea due to the similarity of the name . With this, Tiglat-Pileser I would have reached the Black Sea on the campaign against the Nairi tribes, a proposal that seems improbable simply because of the distance to be covered.

In the Yoncalı inscription , Tiglat-pileser I describes himself as the conqueror of Nairi from Tumme to Daiaeni , conqueror from Habhi to the great sea . Gregor Melik'išvili read the passage usually transcribed with hab-hi as quil-hi and equated it with Qulha of the Urartian sources and the Colchis of the Greeks. This was taken as evidence that the Black Sea was also known as the "Great Sea. This reading was hardly followed by other researchers.

In New Assyrian inscriptions ( Shalmaneser III , Sennacherib , Assurhaddon and Aššurbanipal ) the formula “Conqueror from the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea” appears.

Tiglat-Pileser III. was the first Assyrian ruler to reach the Mediterranean. In several inscriptions by Tiglat-Pileser III. the "Upper Sea of ​​Sunset" is mentioned. This term is also apparently used for both Lake Van and the Mediterranean Sea.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Annalen 12 (Weidner, Archive for Orient Research 6, 1930/31, 80–81)
  2. ↑ HF Russell, Shalmaneser's campaign to Urarṭu in 856 BC and the historical geography of Eastern Anatolia according to the Assyrian sources . Anatolian Studies 34, 1984, p. 193
  3. ↑ z. B. Н. В. Арутюнян, Корпус уратсқих қлинообразных надписеӣ. Ереван, Гитутюн 2001, 503
  4. ^ Kinnier Wilson, Iraq 24, 104
  5. ↑ HF Russell, Shalmaneser's campaign to Urarṭu in 856 BC and the historical geography of Eastern Anatolia according to the Assyrian sources. Anatolian Studies 34, 1984, pp. 171-201
  6. ↑ Grigorij A. Melikišvili, Diauechi. Vestnik drevnej istorii 4. Moskva 1950, 26-42
  7. ↑ HF Russell, Shalmaneser's campaign to Urarṭu in 856 BC and the historical geography of Eastern Anatolia according to the Assyrian sources. Anatolian Studies 34, 1984, 192

literature

  • Grigorij A. Melikišvili: Diauechi. In: Vestnik drevnej istorii. 4, 1950, ISSN  0321-0391 , pp. 26-42.
  • Grigorij A. Melikišvili: Nairi-Urartu. Tbilisi 1964, pp. 27-28.
  • Hugh F. Russell: Shalmaneser's Campaign to Urartu in 856 BC and the Historical Geography of Eastern Anatolia according to the Assyrian Sources. In: Anatolian Studies. 34, 1984, ISSN  0066-1546 , pp. 171-201.
  • Schrader : The names of the seas in the Assyrian inscriptions. In: Treatises of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. 1877, Philosophical-Historical Class. ZDB -ID 2263730-8 , pp. 169-195, online .
  • Maximilian Streck : The area of ​​today's landscapes Armenia, Kurdistan and Western Persia according to the Babylonian-Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions. In: Journal of Assyriology. 13, 1898, ZDB -ID 2509612-6 , pp. 57-110 online , 14, 1899, pp. 103-172 online , 15, 1900, pp. 257-382 online .