Shamshi-Adad I

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Shamshi-Adad I

Shamshi-Adad I (fl. late 18th century BC (short chronology)) rose to prominence when he carved out a large kingdom in northern Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
, the Old Assyria

Assyria

Assyria was a political state centered on the Upper Tigris river, in Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times in history....
n Kingdom, although the Assyria was soon defeated by Hammurabi

Hammurabi

Hammurabi Hammurabi is known for the set of laws called Code of Hammurabi, one of the first written Civil code in recorded history. These laws were written on a stone tablet standing over six feet tall that was found in 1901....
of Babylon

Babylon

Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, sometimes considered an empire, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad....
and remained in the shadow of the Babylonian Empire throughout this period.

father Ila-kabkabu

Ila-kabkabu

Ila-kabkabu was a local king in Upper Mesopotamia during the late 19th century BC. His ancestors were probably Semitic nomads. He was at one point allied with the neighbouring king Iagitlim of Mari, Syria, but this alliance later fell apart and they came into open conflict....
ruled a kingdom on the borders of Mari

Mari, Syria

Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria....
and was an Amorite

Amorite

Amorite refers to a Semitic language people who occupied the country west of the Euphrates from the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. The term Amurru refers to them, as well as to their principal deity....
. Upon his father's death, the kingdom was inherited by another brother, leaving Shamshi-Adad to build his own from scratch.

He first conquered Shekhna and renamed the city Shubat-Enlil.

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Shamshi-Adad I (fl. late 18th century BC (short chronology)) rose to prominence when he carved out a large kingdom in northern Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Assyria

Hammurabi

Babylon

Rise to power

His father Ila-kabkabu

Ila-kabkabu

Mari, Syria

Amorite

Tell Leilan

Tell Leilan, Syria is the site of a city known as Shekhna in ancient times. It is situated in the Khabur river basin by the river Jarrah....
. He then seized the fortress Ekallatum

Ekallatum

Ekallatum was an ancient city of upper Mesopotamia. The exact location of it has not yet been identified, but it was located somewhere along the left bank of the Tigris, south of Assur....
on the left bank of the Tigris

Tigris

The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq....
. This was accomplished only on the second try: a first attempt failed, after which Shamshi-Adad fled to Babylon. Eventually he returned, and was successful. This conquest made it possible for him to control the city-state of Assur

Assur

Assur , was one of the capitals of ancient Assyria. The remains of the city are situated on the western bank of river Tigris, north of the confluence with the tributary Little Zab river, in modern day Iraq....
, which was a flourishing city that traded heavily with Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia or Asia Minor is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian plateau to the east and southeast....
. He put his first son, Ishme-Dagan I on the throne of Ekallatum and continued his expansion.

Campaign against Mari

The next target was the city Mari

Mari, Syria

Iakhdunlim

Iakhdunlim was king of Mari, Syria in Upper Mesopotamia during the 19th century BC. Of Amorite origin, he became king after the death of his father Iagitlim....
, was assassinated by his own servants, possibly on Shamshi-Adad's orders. Shamshi-Adad seized the opportunity and occupied Mari. The heir to the throne, Zimri-Lim, was forced to flee to Aleppo

Aleppo

Aleppo is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate; the Governorate extends around the city for over 16,000 km? and has a population of 4,393,000, making it the largest Governorate in Syria by population....
, ancient Yamkhad. Here he put his second son, Yasmah-Adad

Yasmah-Adad

Yasmah-Adad was the son of the Amorite king Shamshi-Adad I, put on throne of Mari, Syria by his father after a successful military attack. After Shamshi-Adad's death he managed to rule for only a short time before being ousted from power by Zimrilim....
on the throne, and then returned to Shubat-Enlil.

Reign

With the annexation of Mari, Shamshi-Adad was in control of a large empire, controlling the whole of Upper Mesopotamia. On inscriptions Shamshi-Adad boasts of erecting triumphal stelae

Stele

A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living ? inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab....
on the coast of the Mediterranean, but these probably represent short expeditions rather than any attempts at conquest. Shamshi-Adad also proclaimed himself as "king of all", the title used by Sargon of Akkad

Sargon of Akkad

Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great , was an Akkadian Empire emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC....
.

Naturally, Shamshi-Adad's rise to glory earned him the envy of neigbhouring kings and tribes, and throughout his reign, he and his sons faced several threats to their control. While Ishme-Dagan probably was a competent ruler, his brother Yasmah-Adad appears to have been a man of weak character; something the disappointed father was not above mentioning: Are you a child, not a man, have you no beard on your chin, he writes, and in another letter While here your brother is victorious, down there you lie about among the women.

Shamshi-Adad was a great organizer and he kept a firm controls on all matters of state, from high policy down to the appointing of officials and the dispatching of provisions. His campaigns were meticulously planned, and his army knew all the classic methods of siege

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by Battle of attrition and/or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit." A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a coup de main and refuses to surrender ....
craft, such as encircling rampart

Defensive wall

A defensive wall is a fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements....
s and battering ram

Battering ram

A battering ram is a siege engine originating in ancient history to break open fortification walls or doors.In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried by several people and propelled with force against an obstacle; the momentum of the ram would be sufficient to damage the target if the log were massive enough a...
s. Spies and propaganda were often used to win over rival cities.

Shamshi-Adad continued to strengthen his kingdom throughout his life, but upon his death it soon began to crumble. The empire lacked cohesion and was in a vulnerable geographical position. When the news of Shamshi-Adad's death spread, his old rivals at once set out to topple his sons from the throne. Yasmah-Adad was soon expelled from Mari by Zimri-Lim, and the rest of the empire was soon lost to Hammurabi

Hammurabi

Shamshi-Adad I

Rise to power

Campaign against Mari

Reign

See also

Further Reading