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Sukkalmah dynasty

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The Sukkalmah (c. 1900 – c. 1500 BC) or Epartid dynasty (named after the title sukkalmah used by many of the dynasty’s rulers; as well as, the eponymous founder Ebarat II/Eparti II),[1][2] was an early dynasty of West Asia in the ancient region of Elam, to the southeast of Babylonia. It corresponds to the third Paleo-Elamite period (dated to c. 1880 – c. 1450 BC). The Sukkalmah dynasty followed the Shimashki dynasty (c. 2200 – c. 1900 BC).[3][4] The title of Sukkalmah means "Grand Regent" and was used by some (but not all) Elamite rulers.[3] Numerous cuneiform documents and inscriptions remain from this period, particularly from the area of Susa, making the Sukkalmah period one of the best documented in Elamite history.[3]

Sukkalmah dynasty
Epartid dynasty
Dynasty
A map of the Near East detailing the geopolitical situation in the region during the Sukkalmah dynasty c. 1600 BC occupied by various contemporaneous civilizations such as those of the:
  Hattians
  Minoans
  Elamites
  Hyksos
  Egyptians
  Assyrians
  Babylonians
  Sumerians
  Eteocypriots
  Dilmunites
  Nubians
class=notpageimage|
A clickable map of Iran detailing cities that may have been occupied by the Elamites.
Parent familyShimashki dynasty
CountryElam
Foundedc. 1980 BC (c. 1980 BC)
Founder
  • Shilhaha (fl. c. 1980 – c. 1635 BC)
  • (Eparti II, fl. c. 1980 – c. 1830 BC)
Final rulerKutir-Nahhunte II (fl. c. 1710 – c. 1450 BC)
Final headSiwe-Palar-Khuppak (r. c. 1778 – c. 1745 BC)
Historic seatSusa
Titles
List
  • Sukkalmah
  • Sukkal
  • Sukkal of Susa
  • Sukkal of Elam and Shimashki and Susa
  • Sukkal and Ippir of Susa
  • King of Anshan and Susa
  • King of Simashki
  • Enlarger of the Empire
  • Governor of Elam
  • Prince of Elam
  • Governor of Susa
  • Shepherd of the people of Susa
  • Shepherd of Inshushinak
Connected familiesAwan dynasty
Dissolutionc. 1450 BC (c. 1450 BC)
The Elamites remained a major source of tension for the Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Kassites centuries after the Old Elamite empire reached its peak during the reign of Siwe-Palar-Khuppak.

History

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Etymology of the title "Sukkalmah"

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Sukkalmah was a Sumerian title first attested in the Pre-Sargonic texts from Girsu, where it seems to have had the meaning of "prime minister" or "grand vizier."[5] The title was well-attested under the powerful Ur III state, where it remained associated with Girsu and nearby Lagash. The Sukkalmahs of Lagash held effective control over the entire ma-da or buffer zone to the north and east of the Ur III core territory, and thus held authority over Susa.[6] The Sukkalmah Arad-Nanna held the title of shagina or military governor of Pashime on the southern coast of Iran, indicating that the influence of the Neo-Sumerian Sukkalmahs could extend quite deep into Elamite territory.[7] The later adoption of the title Sukkalmah by the Elamites probably reflects the considerable political influence that the Neo-Sumerian Sukkalmahs had on Susiana and Elam, and may have also been favored due to similarity between the Sumerian sukkal and the Elamite title sunkir or sukkir meaning "king".[8]

Isin-Larsa period (c. 2025 – c. 1894 BC)

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The founder of the dynasty was a ruler named Shilhaha, who described himself as "the chosen son of Ebarat", who may have been the same as King Ebarti mentioned as the 9th King of the Shimashki Dynasty.[4] Ebarat appears as the founder of the dynasty according to building inscriptions, but later kings rather seem to refer to Shilhaha in their filiation claims.[1]

The names of Ebarat and Shilhaha, the founding members of the Sukkalmah Dynasty, have been found on the Gunagi silver vessels, inscribed in the Linear Elamite script. The Gunagi vessels were discovered relatively recently, in 2004. French archaeologist François Desset identified repetitive sign sequences in the beginning of the Gunagi inscriptions, and guessed they were names of Kings, in a manner somewhat similar to Grotefend's decipherment of Old Persian cuneiform in 1802-1815.[9] Using the small set of letters identified in 1905-1912, the number of symbols in each sequence taken as syllables, and in one instance the repetition of a symbol, Desset was able to identify the only two contemporary historical rulers that matched these conditions: Shilhaha and Ebarat, the two earliest kings of the Sukkalmah Dynasty.[10] Another set of signs matched the well-known God of the period: Napirisha:[10][11]

Old Babylonian period (c. 1894 – c. 1595 BC)

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The dynasty was roughly contemporary with the Old Assyrian period, and the Old Babylonian period in Mesopotamia. During this time, Susa was under Elamite control, but Akkadian-speaking Mesopotamian states such as Larsa and Isin continually tried to retake the city. Notable Sukkalmah dynasty rulers in Elam during this time include Suruhduh/Siruk-tuh/Sirukdukh (c. 1850), who entered into various military coalitions to contain the power of the south Mesopotamian states. Siruk-tuh was the king of Elam when Hammurabi first ruled,[12] he and later kings of the Elamite dynasty were referred to as "great king" and "father" by kings in Syria and Mesopotamia and were the only kings that the Mesopotamian Kings considered to be higher in status than themselves.[13][14]

Siwe-Palar-Khuppak, who for some time was the most powerful person in the area, respectfully addressed as "Father" by Mesopotamian kings such as Zimrilim of Mari, Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria, and even Hammurabi of Babylon. During his reign alone, Elam interfered extensively with Mesopotamian politics, allowing messengers and envoys to travel far west to Emar and Qatna in Syria.[15] His messenger reached Emar and sent his three servants to King Amut-piʾel II of Qatna (1772-1762 BC), and the king of Qatna also sent two messengers to Elam.[16]Around 1760 BC, Hammurabi drove out the Elamites, overthrew Rim-Sin of Larsa, and established a Babylonian Empire in Mesopotamia. Thus, Siwe-Palar-Khuppak instead turned his army eastward conquering parts of Iran.

The Elamite rulers had become increasingly involved in Mesopotamian politics during the Sukkalmah dynasty. In fact, Rim-Sin of Larsa himself was of Elamite descent, notwithstanding his Akkadian name.[17] Kudur-Nahhunte, who plundered the temples of southern Mesopotamia. But Elamite influence in southern Mesopotamia did not last. Little is known about the later part of this dynasty, since sources again become sparse with the Kassite rule of Babylon (from c. 1595).

List of rulers

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The following list should not be considered complete:

# Depiction Name Succession Title Approx. dates Notes
Isin-Larsa period (c. 2025 – c. 1894 BC)
Shimashki dynasty (c. 2220 – c. 1792 BC)
9th   Ebarat II
𒂊𒁀𒊏𒀜
 
E-b-r-t 		Eponymous founder of the Epartid dynasty Sukkalmah
King of Anshan and Susa

King of Shimashki

Uncertain, m. c. 1973 BC to Matum-Niatum
8th   Tan-Ruhuratir II Son of Indattu II (?) King of Shimashki Uncertain, fl. c. 2028 – c. 1950 BC
  • temp. of:
10th   Indattu II
𒀭𒄿𒁕𒁺 		Son of Tan-Ruhurater I (?) King of Shimashki reigned c. 1945 – c. 1925 BC[18]
11th   Idattunapir Unclear succession King of Shimashki Uncertain, fl. c. 1928 – c. 1880 BC
12th   Idattutemti Unclear succession King of Shimashki Uncertain, fl. c. 1928 – c. 1792 BC

"Twelve kings of Shimashki."

— Susanian Dynastic List
Epartid dynasty (c. 1980 – c. 1830 BC)
2nd Shilhaha
𒂊𒁀𒊏𒀜
 
Shi-l-ha-ha 		Son of Ebarat III Sukkalmah

King of Anshan and Susa

Uncertain, fl. c. 1980 – c. 1635 BC
  • temp. of:
    • Ebarat II
    • Attakhushu
3rd Kuk-Nashur I Son of Shilhaha Sukkalmah
Sukkalmah dynasty (c. 1980 – c. 1450 BC)
4th Palar-Ishshan Unclear succession Sukkalmah Uncertain, fl. c. 1980 – c. 1545 BC
5th Kuk-Sanit Son of Palar-Ishshan (?)
6th Lankuku Father of Kuk-Kirwash Uncertain, fl. c. 1980 – c. 1520 BC
7th Kuk-Kirwash Nephew of Palar-Ishshan (?) Sukkalmah

Sukkal of Elam and Shimashki and Susa

8th Tem-Sanit Son of Kuk-Kirwash Uncertain, fl. c. 1928 – c. 1505 BC
9th Kuk-Nahhunte Son of Kuk-Kirwash
Old Babylonian period (c. 1894 – c. 1450 BC)
10th Attakhushu Son of Kuk-Nashur I (?) Sukkal and Ippir of Susa
Shepherd of the people of Susa

Shepherd of Inshushinak

Uncertain, d. c. 1894 BC
  • temp. of:
    • Ebarat II
    • Shilhaha
    • Gungunum
11th Tetep-Mada Son of Kuk-Nashur I (?) Shepherd of the people of Susa Uncertain, fl. c. 1894 – c. 1790 BC
  • temp. of:
    • Sumuabum
12th Shirukduh Descendant of Shilhaha (?) Sukkalmah Uncertain, fl. c. 1792 – c. 1763 BC
13th Shimut-Wartash I Son of Shirukduh Uncertain, fl. c. 1790 – c. 1763 BC
  • temp. of:
    • Shamshi-Adad I
14th Siwe-Palar-Khuppak Son of Shirukduh Sukkalmah
Sukkal of Susa

Prince of Elam

Uncertain, reigned c. 1778 – c. 1745 BC
15th Kuduzulush I Son of Shirukduh Sukkalmah

Sukkal of Susa

Uncertain, fl. c. 1765 – c. 1730 BC
  • temp. of:
    • Siwe-Palar-Khuppak
    • Hammurabi
    • Zimri-Lim
16th Kutir-Nahhunte I Son of Kuduzulush I Sukkalmah Uncertain, fl. c. 1730 – c. 1700 BC
17th Lila-Irtash Son of Kuduzulush I Uncertain, fl. c. 1710 – c. 1698 BC
18th Temti-Agun I Son of Kutir-Nahhunte I Sukkalmah

Sukkal of Susa

r. c. 1698 – c. 1690 BC[19]
19th Atta-Merra-Halki Son of Kuk-Nashur I (?) Sukkalmah Uncertain, fl. c. 1710 – c. 1570 BC
20th Tata II Brother of Atta-Merra-Halki Sukkal Uncertain, fl. c. 1710 – c. 1580 BC
21st Kutir-Shilhaha I Son of Temti-Agun I Sukkalmah

Sukkal

Uncertain, fl. c. 1650 – c. 1625 BC
22nd Kuk-Nashur II Son of Kuk-Nahhunte (?) Sukkalmah Uncertain, fl. c. 1790 – c. 1625 BC
  • temp. of:
    • Ammisaduqa
23rd Kuk-Nashur III Son of Kutir-Shilhaha I Sukkal of Elam

Sukkal of Susa

Uncertain, fl. c. 1646 – c. 1625 BC
  • temp. of:
    • Ammisaduqa
24th Temti-Raptash Son of Kutir-Shilhaha I Uncertain, fl. c. 1625 – c. 1605 BC
25th Shirtuh Son of Kuk-Nashur III King of Susa Uncertain, fl. c. 1605 – c. 1600 BC
26th Shimut-Wartash II Son of Kuk-Nashur III Uncertain, fl. c. 1605 – c. 1595 BC
27th Kuduzulush II Son of Shimut-Wartash II Sukkalmah

King of Susa

Uncertain, fl. c. 1605 – c. 1590 BC
28th Tan-Uli Descendant of Shilhaha (?) Sukkalmah

Sukkal

Uncertain, fl. c. 1690 – c. 1600 BC
29th Temti-Halki Son of Tan-Uli Sukkalmah

Sukkal of Elam and Simashki and Susa

Uncertain, fl. c. 1710 – c. 1650 BC
30th Kutik-Matlat Son of Tan-Uli Uncertain, fl. c. 1710 – c. 1500 BC
31st Kuk-Nashur IV Son of Tan-Uli Sukkalmah Uncertain, fl. c. 1710 – c. 1698 BC
32nd Kutir-Nahhunte II Son of Kuduzulush I (?) Uncertain, fl. c. 1710 – c. 1450 BC
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  •  
    The Susanian Dynastic List—a regnal list dated to c. 1800 – c. 1600 BC and provenanced at Susa. Its current location is the Louvre Museum, Sb 17729. It names twelve kings for Awan and another twelve for Shimashki. The eponymous ruler Eparti II is the 9th named king on this list.[20][21]
  •  
    Seal impression of King Ebarat (𒂊𒁀𒊏𒀜), founder of the Sukkalmah Dynasty, also called "Epartid Dynasty" after him. He uses the title of king (𒈗 Šàr, pronounced Shar) in the inscription. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 6225. King Ebarat appears enthroned. The inscription reads "Ebarat the King. Kuk Kalla, son of Kuk-Sharum, servant of Shilhaha"[22][23][24][25]
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    Sculpture of a lion as a fountain head, Susa, Sukkalmah period.
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    Sealed tablet with a serpent god, Susa circa 17th century BCE. Inscription: "Tan-Uli, sukkalmah, sukkal from Susa and Shimashki, son of the sister of Shilhaha".[26]
  •  
    Men with daggers, Sukkalmah dynasty, 1940-1600 BCE, Susa, Louvre Museum Sb 1394.
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    Sukkalmah Anshan cylinder, Louvre Museum, reference Sb 1515. Ruler enthroned, with his queen standing behind in a flouced garment, under overhanging vines.[27]
  •  
    Seal of Adaia attendant to Nin-Shubur, Sukkalmah dynasty, 1940-1600 BCE, Susa, Louvre Museum Sb 1418.
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    Cylinder seal mentioning Shilhaha, ca. 20th century B.C. Old Elamite
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    Cylinder seal, ca. 19th–18th century B.C. Elamite
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    Reception seal, Sukkalmah dynasty, 1940-1600 BCE, Susa, Louvre Museum Sb 1440

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b Stolper, Matthew (1984). Elam: Surveys of Political History and Archaeology. University of California Press. p. 26.
  2. ^ Bryce, Trevor (2009). The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the fall of the Persian Empire. Routledge. p. 221. ISBN 9781134159079.
  3. ^ a b c Sigfried J. de Laet; Ahmad Hasan Dani (1994). History of Humanity: From the third millennium to the seventh century B.C. UNESCO. p. 579. ISBN 978-92-3-102811-3.
  4. ^ a b Álvarez-Mon, Javier; Basello, Gian Pietro; Wicks, Yasmina (2018). The Elamite World. Routledge. p. 289. ISBN 9781317329831.
  5. ^ Potts (1999), p.160
  6. ^ Luca Peyronel in Álvarez-Mon, et al. (2018), p.217
  7. ^ P. Michalowski (2013). Garfinkle, Steven; Molina, Manuel (eds.). From the 21st Century BC to the 21st Century AD: Proceedings of the International Conference on Neo-Sumerian Studies Held in Madrid, 22-24 July 2010. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. pp. 169–205. ISBN 9781575068718.
  8. ^ Stolper (1984), p.24
  9. ^ Desset, François (2018). "Nine Linear Elamite Texts Inscribed on Silver "Gunagi" Vessels (X, Y, Z, F', H', I', J', K' and L'): New Data on Linear Elamite Writing and the History of the Sukkalmaḫ Dynasty". Iran. 56 (2): 140. doi:10.1080/05786967.2018.1471861. ISSN 0578-6967.
  10. ^ a b c d e Desset, François (2018). "Nine Linear Elamite Texts Inscribed on Silver "Gunagi" Vessels (X, Y, Z, F', H', I', J', K' and L'): New Data on Linear Elamite Writing and the History of the Sukkalmaḫ Dynasty". Iran. 56 (2): 105–143. doi:10.1080/05786967.2018.1471861. ISSN 0578-6967.
  11. ^ a b c d Desset, François (CNRS Archéorient of Lyon) (2020). "Breaking The Code. The decipherment of linear Elamite, a forgotten writing system of Ancient Iran (3rd millenium BC)". www.canal-u.tv.
  12. ^ De Graef, Katrien. 2018. "In Taberna Quando Sumus: On Taverns, Nadītum Women, and the Cagum in Old Babylonian Sippar." In Gender and Methodology in the Ancient near East: Approaches from Assyriology and beyond, edited by Stephanie Lynn Budin et al., 136. Barcino monographica orientalia 10. Barcelona: University of Barcelona.
  13. ^ Potts, Daniel T. 2012. "The Elamites." In The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History, edited by Touraj Daryaee and Tūraǧ Daryāyī, 43-44. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  14. ^ Charpin, Dominique. 2012a. "Ansi parle l' empereur' à propos de la correspondance des sukkal-mah." In Susa and Elam. Archaeological, Philological, Historical and Geographical Perspectives: Proceedings of the International Congress Held at Ghent University, December 14-17, 2009, edited by Katrien De Graef and Jan Tavernier, 352. Leiden: Brill.
  15. ^ Kenneth Anderson Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003, p. 321
  16. ^ Charpin, Dominique (2010). Writing, Law, and Kingship in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia. Translated by Todd, Jane Marie. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-10159-0. p. 124
  17. ^ Amanda H. Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East. Oxford University Press, 2022. 269. ISBN 9780190059040.
  18. ^ Leick 2001, p. 162.
  19. ^ Leick 2001, p. 163.
  20. ^ "Awan King List".
  21. ^ SCHEIL, V. (1931). "Dynasties Élamites d'Awan et de Simaš". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale. 28 (1): 1–46. ISSN 0373-6032. JSTOR 23283945.
  22. ^ The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1992. p. 114. ISBN 9780870996511.
  23. ^ "Site officiel du musée du Louvre". cartelfr.louvre.fr. 2000.
  24. ^ Potts, D. T. (1999). The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Cambridge University Press. p. 147. ISBN 9780521564960.
  25. ^ Harper, Prudence O. (1992). Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 114.
  26. ^ Harper, Prudence O. (1992). Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 117–118.
  27. ^ Harper, Prudence O. (1992). Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 115.

Bibliography

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Journals

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Language

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