 Map of the Ancient Near East, which includesSubartu, the region where the Subarians lived in. | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Near East | |
| Languages | |
| Akkadian, Subarian |
TheSubarians were a hypothetical ancient people that inhabited the southwesternArmenian highlands and northernMesopotamia and was the main population of theKingdom of Subartu.[1] It is possible that as early as the second half of the 3rd millennium BC, the Subarians were assimilated by theHurrians, who mass settled the region during that time.[2]
The Subarians tribal union established a powerful central power in northernnorthern Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC and from there spread to easternAsia Minor, northernSyria, andArmenia. According to some historians, the Subarians are the oldest historical people of these lands. According to historian Sydney Smith, the Subarians were a people who descended from the mountains in the northern and northeastern parts ofAssyria.[1]
They waged long wars against theAkkadian Empire to maintain their independence.[1]
Regarding the power of Subartu, the Assyrian scholarEmil Forrer states that Subartu wasKing Hammurabi's great rival during his reign (1955-1913 BC). FromKing Shamshi-Adad I (1808–1776 BC), the political destiny of Naxasia was controlled by Subartu as the kingdom of that world. During the reign of Agum I (1731-1710 BC) a great attack by Subartu took place on theland of Hatti. Although this great attack took possession of all the cities up to the interior of the Hatti state, Khantilis I (1740-1700 BC) was able to repel it. Then this wave swept towardsEgypt, which fell victim to it and about 1700 BC. It remained under the rule of theHyksos kings from 1700 to 1580. The starting point of these latter is Subartu".[1]
The cause of the fall of the kingdom of Subartu was the continuous attacks of theAkkadian kings ofBabylon, to whom the Subartu finally yielded due to internal disunity, weakened and submitted to their domination. The Akkadian kings, oppressing the population of Subartu, subjugated them. The archaeologist Sydney Smith made his observations about these events that there is no evidence that the Subarians formed a united kingdom in ancient times, in spite of the great spread and occasional successes that they had in the wars against theSumerians. It is much more likely that as a mountain people, they lacked unity and central organization with each other, depriving themselves of any lasting significance.[1]
American archaeologist Leonard Wolley writes in his work "Carchemish": when the peaceful population of Mesopotamia lived in theNeolithic and when it was just beginning to get acquainted with copper, a new tribe arrived there who were warriors and had their own customs and high culture.[3][4] These new tribes were probably the Subarians. Having settled in Mesopotamia, they subjugated the local population and created a high civilisation, which was a loanword from theSumerian-Akkadian civilisation. The Subarians learned from the Sumerians the use of cuneiform inscriptions and for a long time used theAkkadian.[1]
| Subarian | |
|---|---|
| Subarean, Subaraean | |
| Native to | Subartu |
| Region | Near East |
| Ethnicity | Subarians |
| Extinct | 3rd-2nd millenium BC |
Hurro-Urartian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
The terms referring to the language used in Subartu are known as Subarean, Subaraean or Subarian.[5] To this day it is uncertain what the Akkadian and Sumerian terms for Subartu refer to and it is believed it could refer to Hurrian.[6]
It was generally believed early on by experts such asAdolf Leo Oppenheim andArthur Ungnad that Subarian referred to Hurrian.[7] The Hurrian language is described by the Sumerians and Babylonians as Subarian[8] and for some modern historians, it is considered an obsolete term similar to Mitannian.[9]
Early historians likeIgnace Gelb andEphraim Avigdor Speiser believes they were both independent of each other.[7] Ignace also mentioned there wasn't enough evidence about Subarian.[5] The evidence we have for the language are Subarian names and possibly some words that lateAssyrian syllabaries said were used in Subartu.[5] It has been suggested that the non-Sumerian and non-Semitic languages found in southernIraq that is called theProto-Euphratean language should be considered as Subarean and that the names of texts found from that age of ancient deities were later adopted by the Sumerians.[10] It was also believed at the time that the Subarian language concealed languages likeGutian andLullubian.[8]
There is also a belief that Subarian was one of theHurro-Urartian languages that was different from Hurrian as the Subarians established themselves earlier intoAnatolia.[11] This would be supported by the Subarian word for tree (sarme), which is similar to theUrartian word (sare) and the Hurrian word for garden (šahri).[12]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Other terms for the language are obsolete – Mitanni (based on the name of a country in Upper Mesopotamia); Subarian (based on the geographical term Subir, Subartu).