Šamaš-mudammiq, inscribed^mdŠamaš-^mumudammiq (^mdUTU-mu-SIG₅),^{[i 1]} meaning “Šamaš shows favor,”^[2] was the 4th king ofBabylon in a sequence designated as the Dynasty ofE and ruled during the latter part of the 10th century BC. He was contemporary with theAssyrian kingAdad-Nārāri II^{[i 2]} with whom he sparred.^{[i 3]}

Of unknown ancestry, the duration of his reign is equally uncertain. That he followedMār-bῑti-áḫḫē-idinna is indicated by the sequence on the AssyrianSynchronistic King List,^{[i 4]} but Assyrian contact was scanty and this may merely record those rulers who had interacted, omitting those who did not. His rule marks the resumption of contacts characterized as “battles, alliances, shifting of borders, and (later) diplomatic marriages that seem to have bound the two countries together.”^[3]

TheAnnals of Adad-Nārāri II record that the Assyrian king conducted a campaign against Babylonia during the last decade of the 10th century although the precise chronology is vague, perhaps between 908 and 902 BC. He claims to have defeated Šamaš-muddamiq who “set up a line of battle at the foot of Mount Yalman,” possibly southeasternJebel Hamrin, when he attempted to make a stand in the pass and “his chariots, and teams of horses, (Adad-Nārāri) took away from him.”^[4]

…he who brought about the defeat of Šamaš-mudammiq, king of Karduniaš, from Yalman to the river Turan (DUR.AN.MEŠ). From Lahiru to Ugar-sallu, to the border of Assyria…All the land of (the cultic city of)Dēr I conquered,Arrapha andLubdu, the fortresses ofKarduniaš, I added to Assyria.^[5]

The fortresses were on the middleEuphrates, less than 100 miles from Babylon.^[6]

• 10th-century BC kings of Babylon
• 9th-century BC kings of Babylon

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata