Shamshi-Adad II
| Shamshi-Adad II | |
|---|---|
| Issi'ak Assur | |
| King of Assur | |
| Reign | c. 1585–1580 BC[1] |
| Predecessor | Erishum III |
| Successor | Ishme-Dagan II |
| Issue | Ishme-Dagan II |
| Father | Erishum III |
Shamshi-Adad II or Šamši-Adad II, inscribed m(d)Šam-ši-dIM, was an Old Assyrian king who ruled in the mid-second millennium BC, c. 1585–1580 BC. His reign falls within the "dark age" period of Assyrian history from which written records are scarce.
Succession and contemporaries
[edit]There are no extant contemporary sources witnessing his reign. He was the son and successor of Erishum III and ruled for six years (6 MU.MEŠ) according to the Khorsabad[i 1] and the SDAS[i 2] copies of the Assyrian Kinglist, where he appears as the 57th name (the Nassouhi Kinglist[i 3] is poorly preserved in this part). He was succeeded by his son Ishme-Dagan II.[2]
The Synchronistic Kinglist[i 4] somewhat implausibly gives eight different early Kassite rulers as his contemporaries although only the first five and part of the sixth are legible. These are Agum IGI ašu, Kaštil[...]šu, Abirataš, Kaštilyašu, Tazzigurumaš, and Harba[...]. Brinkman argues that this is a stylistic device and points to the previous reign of Irišum III who is shown as contemporary to Ea-gâmil, the last king of the Sealand Dynasty and Gandaš, the first of the Kassite Dynasty, despite the Chronicle of Early Kings[i 5] recording that Ea-gâmil fled ahead of the army of Ulam-Buriaš, possibly the 12th Kassite king, at least a hundred years later.[3]
Inscriptions
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Bertman, Stephen (2003). Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 104. ISBN 978-0195183641.
- ^ Heather D. Baker (2008). "Šamši-Adad II". Reallexikon der Assyriologie: Prinz, Prinzessin - Samug, Bd. 11. Walter De Gruyter. pp. 635–636.
- ^ J. A. Brinkman (1968). A political history of post-Kassite Babylonia, 1158-722 B.C. (AnOr. 43). Pontificium Instititum Biblicum. p. 29.