| Samsu-iluna 𒊓𒄠𒋢𒄿𒇻𒈾 | |
|---|---|
| King of Babylon King of Larsa | |
 Record of the sale of land in the reign of Samsu-Iluna | |
| Reign | 38 yrs 1749–1712 BC (MC) 1686-1648 BC (SC) |
| Predecessor | Hammurabi |
| Successor | Abī-ešuḫ |
| Born | 1793 BC |
| Died | 1712 BCmiddle chronology |
| Religion | Ancient Mesopotamian religion |
Samsu-iluna (Amorite:Samsu-iluna[1] orSamsu-ilūna,[2] "The Sun (is) our god") (c. 1749–1712 BC) was the seventh king of the foundingAmorite dynasty ofBabylon. His reign is estimated from 1749 BC to 1712 BC (middle chronology), or from 1686 to 1648 BC (short chronology). He was the son and successor ofHammurabi (r. 1792-1750 BC) by an unknown mother. His reign was marked by the violent uprisings of areas conquered by his father and the abandonment of several important cities primarily inSumer.[3]A number of letters sent by Samsu-iluna have been found of which 20 have been published. One is addressed toAbban the king ofAleppo. No received letters have been found due to the modern high water table at Babylon.[4]
When Hammurabi rose to power in the city of Babylon, he controlled a small region directly around that city, and was surrounded by vastly more powerful opponents on all sides. By the time he died, he had conqueredSumer,Eshnunna,Assyria andMari making himself master ofMesopotamia. He had also significantly weakened and humiliatedElam and theGutians.[3]: 49–50 [5]: 195–201
While defeated, however, these states were not destroyed; if Hammurabi had a plan for welding them to Babylon he did not live long enough to see it through. Within a few years after his death,Elam andAssyria had left from Babylon's orbit and revolutions had started in all the conquered territories. The task of dealing with these troubles—and others—fell to Samsu-iluna. Though he campaigned tirelessly and seems to have won frequently, the king proved unable to stop the empire's unwinding. Through it all, however, he did manage to keep the core of his kingdom intact, and this allowed the city of Babylon to cement its position in history.
In the 9th year of Samsu-iluna's reign a man calling himselfRim-sin (known in the literature as Rim-sin II, and thought to perhaps be a nephew of theRim-sin who opposedHammurabi)[6]: 48–49 raised a rebellion against Babylonian authority inLarsa which spread to include some 26 cities, among themUruk,Ur,Isin andKisurra in the south, andEshnunna.[5]: 243 [6]: 48–49 [7]: 115 in the north. There is a statue inscription of Samsu-iluna which describes some of this conflict.[8]
Samsu-iluna seems to have had the upper-hand militarily. Within a year he dealt the coalition a shattering blow which took the northern cities out of the fight.[Note 1] In the aftermath the king of Eshnunna,Iluni, was dragged to Babylon and executed bystrangulation.[5]: 243 Over the course of the next 4 years, Samsu-iluna's armies tangled with Rim-sin's forces up and down the borderlands between Babylon, Sumer and Elam. Eventually Samsu-iluna attacked Ur, pulled down its walls and put the city to the sack, he then did the same to Uruk, and Isin aswell.[6]: 48–49 [Note 2] Finally Larsa itself was defeated and Rim-sin II was killed, thus ending thestruggle.[5]: 243
A few years later, a pretender calling himselfIlum-ma-ili, and claiming descent from the last king of Isin, raised another pan-Sumerian revolt. Samsu-iluna marched an army to Sumer, and the two met in a battle which proved indecisive; a second battle sometime later wentIlum-ma-ili's way, and in its aftermath, he founded theFirst Dynasty of Sea-Land,[5]: 243 [Note 3] which would remain in control of Sumer for the next 300 years. Samsu-iluna seems to have taken a defensive approach after this; in the 18th year of his reign, he saw to the rebuilding of 6 fortresses in the vicinity ofNippur[9]: 380–382 which might have been intended to keep that city under Babylonian control. Ultimately, this proved fruitless; by the time of Samsu-iluna's death, Nippur recognizedIlum-ma-ili asking.[6]: 48–49
Apparently, Eshnunna had not reconciled itself to Babylonian control either, because in Samsu-iluna's 20th year it rebelledagain.[6]: 48–49 Samsu-iluna marched his army through the region and, presumably after some bloodshed, constructed the fortress ofDur-samsuiluna to keep them in line. This seems to have done the trick, as later documents see Samsu-iluna take a more conciliatory stance repairing infrastructure and restoringwaterways.[6]: 48–49
Both Assyria and Elam used the general chaos to re-assert their independence.Kuturnahunte I of Elam, seizing the opportunity left by Samsu-iluna's attack on Uruk, marched into the (now wall-less) city and plundered it. Among the items looted was a statue ofInanna which would not be returned until the reign ofAshurbanipal eleven centurieslater.[5]: 243 InAssyria, a native vice regent namedPuzur-Sin ejectedAsinum who had been a vassal king of his fellowAmorite Hammurabi. A native kingAshur-dugul seized the throne, and a period of civil war in Assyria ensued. Samsu-Iluna seems to have been powerless to intervene, and finally a king namedAdasi, restored a stable native dynasty in Assyria, removing any vestages of Amorite-Babylonian influence[10]: section 576apud [5]: 243
In the end, Samsu-iluna was left with a kingdom that was only fractionally larger than the one his father had started out with 50 years prior (but which did leave him mastery of theEuphrates up to and including the ruins of Mari and itsdependencies).[7]: 115 [Note 4] The status of Eshnunna is difficult to determine with any accuracy, and while it may have remained in Babylonian hands the city was exhausted and its political influence at an end.
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Samsu-iluna's campaigns might not have been solely responsible for the havoc wreaked upon Uruk and Ur, and his loss of Sumer might have been as much a calculated retreat as defeat.
Records in the cities of Ur and Uruk essentially stop after the 10th year of Samsu-iluna's reign. Their priests apparently continued writing, but from more northerlycities.[7]: 115 Larsa's records also end about this time. Records keep going in Nippur and Isin until Samsu-iluna's 29th year, and then cease there as well. These breaks are also observed in the archeological record, where evidence points to these cities being largely or completely abandoned for hundreds of years, until well into theKassite period.[3]: 49–50
Reasons for this are hard to come by. Certainly the constant warfare cannot have helped matters, but Samsu-iluna appears to have campaigned just as hard in the north, and that region was thriving during theperiod.[7]: 115 The rise of Babylon marks a definite end to Sumerian cultural dominance of Mesopotamia and a shift toAkkadian for government and popularwriting;[7]: 117 perhaps people who claimed cultural ties to the Sumerian past retrenched around the southerly cities which Iluna-ilu controlled. Several members of his dynasty took Sumerian names, and it appears they consciously strove to return to the region's Sumerianroots.[3]: 49–50 It is also possible that economic or environmental factors were involved; it is known that both Hammurabi and Rim-sin I had instituted policies which altered the economies of theregion.[7]: 115 These may have proven unsustainable in the long-term.
Though troubled, Samsu-iluna's reign was not entirely focused on war. He is known to have rebuilt the walls ofKish,Nippur andSippar forexample,[3]: 75 [9]: 374–377 and to have propagated the Marduk cult as had his father. He also apparently restored theE-babbar temple ofShamash (Also known asUtu) inLarsa,ziggurats atSippar,[9]: 374–376 and the ziggurat ofZababa andIshtar atKish.[9]: 382–385
Additionally, there is speculation[13]: 103 that Samsu-iluna instituted theStandard Babylonian calendar, possibly as a means of tying his empire more closely together.
Samsu-iluna had at least two attested children:
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| Preceded by | Kings of Babylon | Succeeded by |
