Shamsu-ditana

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Babylon 1792-1595

Šamšu-ditāna was the son and successor of Ammi-ṣaduqa and ruled as the last king of the ancient Babylonian dynasty of Babylon from 1625 to 1595 BC. Chr.

Surname

The name Šamšu-ditāna (Shamschu ditana) is translated as "Sun (is a bison?) Ditanu". Other variations of the name are Sa-am-su-di-ta-na and Sa-am-si-di-ta-na.

Dating

After the reign of Šamšu-ditana, the historical records become very sparse, Landsberger spoke of a " dark age " between Šamšu-ditana and Gandaš or Adasi , which he claims to trace back to large-scale migrations in Babylonia and Assyria , a thesis that is not available today Finds more followers. Albright wants to put Samšu-ditana around 1630 and the conquest of Babylon around 1600. The middle chronology puts the fall of Babylon and the end of the reign of Samšu-ditana at 1595 BC. Chr. It is unclear which Kassite king took over afterwards, or whether the first sealand dynasty ruled Babylon for a short time ( Gulkišar ).

Reign

Šamšu-ditāna led a humble kingdom, as central and south Babylonia had been lost since Šamšu-iluna's 12th year of reign. As a result, important trading resources that were previously accessible via the southern swamps and the Persian Gulf were missing . The economic and social situation (salinity, shortage of goods, inflation, impoverishment, insecurity) had deteriorated. Šamšu-ditāna turned to an oracle , worried that the population would turn to the enemy. In the last third of the reign, the kingdom seems to have reduced to the immediate vicinity of the capital. Ultimately, the country was severely weakened internally due to population migration from southern and central Babylonia. Thus the Hittite invasion could Mursili I . nothing more can be opposed, and Babylon was sacked and destroyed.

Overall, there is no evidence of military activity during the reign of Šamšu-ditāna. Rather, the course of the year was determined by cultic events. Almost exclusively foundations of cult objects are mentioned here, which appeared remarkably often in the form of a self-image.

swell

The excavation situation in Babylon is bad, and the conquest by the Hittites resulted in looting and destruction of statues, so that there was no possibility of later copies. None of the self-portraits mentioned above have survived either.

The reign of 31 years is uncertain, as only 27 names of the years have survived, but 31 are listed in the Babylonian king list. Also, unlike other kings, there is no information on military activities or public work to be found.

Towards the end of the reign there are only documents from Babylon itself and no longer from Sippar , which provided most of the documents until the 19th year of the reign of Samšu-ditāna. This is seen as an indication of the reduction of the kingdom to the area around the capital. Most of these documents come from the art trade and only a few from excavations.

The eventual conquest of the city by the Hittites can be found in an old Babylonian chronicle. She reports: “At the time of Shamsu-ditana the Hittite went to Akkad ”. The Telipinu chronicle reports: “He went to Halab and destroyed it; brought prisoners from Halab and its property to Ḫattuša , but then he went to Babylon and destroyed it, defeated (?) the Hurrites and kept the prisoners from Babylon and its property in Ḫattuša "

literature

  • Dietz-Otto Edzard : History of Mesopotamia. From the Sumerians to Alexander the Great . 2nd, improved edition. CH Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-51664-5 , p. 121, 141, 144 .
  • Benno Landsberger : Assyrian King List and "Dark Age" (Continued) . In: Journal of Cuneiform Studies 8/2 . 1954, p. 47-73 .
  • Michael P. Streck (Ed.): Real Lexicon of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology. Eleventh volume Prince, Princess - Samug. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2006–2008, pp. 640–642

Individual evidence

  1. ^ WF Albright, New Light on the History of Western Asia in the Second Millennium BC Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research 77, 1940, 29
  2. ↑ Benno Landsberger, Assyrian King List and "Dark Ages". Journal of Cuneiform Studies 8/2, 1954, 64
  3. ↑ also 2 BoTU 20 II 10–20 (A), KUB 26, No. 74 I 8-11 (B)
  4. ↑ Benno Landsberger, Assyrian King List and "Dark Ages". Journal of Cuneiform Studies 8/2, 1954, 64
predecessor Office successor
Ammi-saduqa King of Babylonia
1625–1595 BC Chr. 		it follows the 3rd dynasty (Kassite dynasty
)
personal data
SURNAME Shamsu-ditana
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Samsu-ditana, Samsu-ditāna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Babylonia
DATE OF BIRTH 17th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 16th century BC Chr.