Pisiri

Pisiri was a neo-Hittite king of Karkemiš , who in Assyrian sources for the years 738 to 717 BC. Is occupied.

Pisiri in the line of kings of Karkemiš

It is difficult to identify the identity of King Pisiri, who is only documented in Assyrian cuneiform texts , in the royal succession of Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions , the local sources. None of the hieroglyphic Luwian royal names coincide with the cuneiform name Pisiri. One possibility would be to identify with a king known as the son of Sastura because his own name has not been recorded. Sastura was a vizier of King Kamani . It is not known if he himself became king before his son took the throne. Since the name of the son of Sastura is partially reconstructed as Astiru II, it is possible that Pisiri was not identical with the son of Sastura, but one of his successors, perhaps the immediate one. Some sculptures with defaced hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions are assigned to Pisiri in any case.

Pisiri as a tributary vassal of the Assyrians

In 738 BC The Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III led. Pisiri von Karkemiš as one of the western kings who owed him tribute. It seems that Karkemiš was independent from Assyria under Pisiri's predecessors and only under Pisiri's rule by Tiglath-Pileser III. came under the control of the Assyrian Empire .

Pisiri and the fall of Karkemiš

In 717 BC Pisiri, who until then had been a loyal vassal of the Assyrian Empire, secretly contacted Mita, king of the Muški , (presumably Midas , king of the Phrygians ). The exact message of the message is not known, let alone whether the conspiratorial activities were really aimed at forming an anti-Assyrian alliance, as claimed in Assyrian sources. When the Assyrian King Sargon II found out about this, he feared that Karkemiš and, in his wake, other Assyrian vassal states west of the Euphrates could slip out of Assyrian control and come under Phrygian suzerainty. In addition, an alliance was developing between Mita von Muški and Rusa I of Urartu , another dangerous enemy of the Assyrians, which would not only have resulted in a loss of control over the south-central Anatolian territories under Assyrian rule, but even in a loss of control in all of eastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia could mean. To prevent this and to set an example, Sargon II moved against Karkemiš. He besieged the capital of the same name, conquered and plundered it. King Pisiri, his family and the leading courtiers were deported to Assyria. Nothing is known about Pisiri's further fate, but it can be considered likely that he was executed. Karkemiš was converted into a province and came under direct Assyrian rule. The inhabitants of the neo-Hittite state were deported to Assyria, its cavalry, chariots and infantry were incorporated into the Assyrian army and Karkemiš was repopulated by Assyrian settlers.

Family tree House of Astiruwa

The succession of rulers is marked with bold numbers. The corresponding ranks and titles are shown in italics . Unclear relationships are shown with broken lines. More detailed information on such unclear relationships is explained under "Notes". People with an unclear or controversial classification in the family tree can appear several times, but are then indicated by a bold and italic question mark (?) Directly after the name. The person covered in this article is shown in BOLD CAPITALS .

Astiruwa King 1

Yariri Vizier Regent 2nd

Kamani King 3.

other sons: Malitispa, Astitarhunza, Tarnitispa, Isikaritispa, Sikara, Halpawari, Yahilatispa

Tuwarsai ? 1

Tuwarsai ? 1

Tuwarsai ? 1

Sastura 2 vizier king? 4th

Son of Sastura 3 king = Astiru II.? = Pisiri ? 5.

Pisiri 3 King 6.

Remarks:

¹ : For Tuwarsai, the exact position in the family tree is somewhat unclear. He could be both the son of Astiruwa and the son of Kamani, which in the latter case would make him a grandson of Astiruwa. However, there is also the possibility that Tuwarsai by no means belongs to the house of Astiruwa, but is the son of the regent Yariri.

² : The fact that the son of Sastura is the next undoubtedly documented king of Karkemiš after Kamani makes it likely that Sastura himself also belongs to the house of Astiruwa. The most likely explanations are that Sastura is an adopted son, son-in-law, or nephew of Kamani. All three possibilities would bring him into the dynastic line.

³ : The name of the son of Sastura is not recorded. Therefore, several possibilities of its identity are considered. One possibility is that the son of Sastura is identical to the Pisiri of the Assyrian sources. The other possibility is that the son of Sastura corresponds to an Astiru II, hypothetically reconstructed from a fragmentary inscription, which is then probably not identical with Pisiri. That would then mean that Pisiri is a successor to Astiru II, perhaps the immediate successor.

literature

• Trevor Bryce: The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History . Oxford University Press: Oxford, New York 2012. ISBN 978-0-19-921872-1
• Annick Payne: Iron Age Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions . Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta 2012, ISBN 978-1-58983-269-5
• Gwendolyn Leick: Who's Who in the Ancient Near East . Routledge, London 1999, 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-13231-2

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Trevor Bryce: The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History . Oxford, New York 2012, p. 98
2. ↑ Annick Payne: Iron Age Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions . Atlanta 2012, p. 80.
3. ^ Trevor Bryce: The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History . Oxford, New York 2012, pp. 97 f.
4. ^ Gwendolyn Leick: Who's Who in the Ancient Near East . London 1999, 2002, p. 129.
5. ^ Trevor Bryce: The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History . Oxford, New York 2012, p. 265 f.
6. ^ ^{A b} Trevor Bryce: The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History . Oxford, New York 2012, p. 280 f.
7. ^ Trevor Bryce: The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History . Oxford, New York 2012, pp. 94-98, 302.
8. ^ John David Hawkins (1979): Some Historical Problems of the Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions . In: Anatolian Studies 29, pp. 159, 162.
9. ^ John David Hawkins (1982): Kubaba at Karkamiš and Elsewhere . In: Anatolian Studies 31, p. 159.
10. ^ John David Hawkins: Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions: Inscriptions of the Iron Age, Volume 1 . Berlin 2000, p. 129.
11. ^ Elisabeth Rieken (2003): Hieroglyphs-Luwisch zí + ra / i-la-mi-i ("SCALPRUM.ARGENTUM") su-ha-pa-na-ti: a compound and a new Luwian-Latin isogloss . In: Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics 116 (1), p. 48 f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Sastura ? / Son of Sastura ?	King of Karkemiš 738–717 BC Chr.	-