Mari
Euphrates Terqa Tuttul Royal Palace
Kings
Yaggid-Lim Yahdun-Lim Yasmah-Adad Zimri-Lim QueenShibtu
Archaeology
Investiture of Zimri-Lim Statue of Ebih-Il Statue of Iddi-Ilum

Yahdun-Lim (orYakhdunlim, Yahdunlim; fromAkkadiania-aḫ-du-un-li-im, inAmoriteYaʿdun-lîm^[1]) was the king ofMari probably in 1820—1796 BC. He was ofAmorite origin, and became king after the death of his fatherIaggid-Lim. Yahdunlim built Mari up to become one of the major powers of the region. He led a successful campaign to the coast of theMediterranean.

Yahdun-Lim started his reign by subduing seven of his rebelling tribal leaders, and rebuilding the walls of Mari and Terqa in addition to building a new fort which he named Dur-Yahdun-Lim.^[2]

Yahdun-Lim's kingdom was threatened by incursions from variousnomad tribes, such as theCanaanites, but he was able to subjugate them and force them to paytribute. After having established internal peace, he built a temple to thegodShamash.

He then expanded west and claimed to have reached theMediterranean,^[3][4] however he later had to face a rebellion by theYaminite nomads who were centered atTuttul, and the rebels were supported byYamhad's kingSumu-Epuh, whose interests were threatened by the recently established alliance between Yahdun-Lim andEshnunna.^[5][3] Yahdun-Lim defeated the Yaminites but an open war with Yamhad was avoided.^[6]

Yahdun-Lim then became occupied by his rivalry withShamshi-Adad I ofShubat-Enlil, the son of the lateIla-kabkabu.^[7]

He received pleas for help from kings threatened by Shamshi-Adad's expansionist plans. But before Yahdunlim could move against Shamshi-Adad, he was assassinated in c. 1798 BC by his possible sonSumu-Yamam,^[8][9] who himself got assassinated two years after ascending the throne.

But according to William J. Hamblin, Yahdun-Lim was killed in a battle with Shamshi-Adad ca 1796 BC. Shamshi-Adad then assigned his sonYasmah-Addu to the lordship of Mari.^[10]

In the chaos that followed, Shamshi-Adad advanced and annexed Mari.^[11] The war ended in a defeat for Mari.^[7][12]

Zimrilim, Yakhdunlim's son and heir, was forced to flee toAleppo, where he would remain as an exile until Shamshi-Adad's death.

Yahdul-Lim of Carchemish may also be sometimes referred to as Yahdun-Lim.

• Royal Palace of Mari

• Bryce, Trevor (2009).The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. Routledge.ISBN 978-1-134-15908-6.
• Bryce, Trevor (2014).Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-100292-2.
• Fowden, Garth (21 November 2013).Before and After Muhammad: The First Millennium Refocused. Princeton University Press.ISBN 978-1-4008-4816-4.
• Frayne, Douglas (1990).Old Babylonian Period (2003–1595 BC). The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia Early Periods. Vol. 4. University of Toronto Press.ISBN 978-0-8020-5873-7.
• Launderville, Dale (2003).Piety and Politics: The Dynamics of Royal Authority in Homeric Greece, Biblical Israel, and Old Babylonian Mesopotamia. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.ISBN 978-0-8028-4505-4.
• Pitard, Wayne T. (2001) [1998]. "Before Israel: Syria-Palestine in the Bronze Age". In Coogan, Michael David (ed.).The Oxford History of the Biblical World (revised ed.). Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-513937-2.
• Van Der Meer, Petrus (1955) [1947].The Chronology of Ancient Western Asia and Egypt. Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui. Vol. 2 (2 ed.). Brill.OCLC 4727997.

• Amorite kings
• Kings of Mari
• 19th-century BC monarchs

• CS1: long volume value
• CS1 German-language sources (de)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata