Assur (the city has the same name as its chief god) lies about a hundred kilometres south of Mosul. The city is first mentioned as a frontier post of the empire of Akkad. By the time of the collapse of Ur III (c.1940 BC) the local leaders, including those in Assur, had become independent rulers. The Assyrians developed a trading network. Merchant colonies were established in Anatolia and northern Syria. The Assyrian outpost at Kanesh (=Kultepe) in central Anatolia was a particularly important centre for trade during this period.
Puzur-Ashur-I (r.c.1910-c.1900 BC) founded a dynasty that lasted for one and a half centuries. Ilushuma (r.c.1885-c.1846 BC) with his boast of ‘freeing the Akkadians and their children’ implies a southerly excursion. Erishum-I (r.c.1846-c.1807 BC) built a temple for the city’s god Ashur. Ikunum (r.c.1807-c.1800 BC) strengthened the city’s fortifications.
In c.1749 BC the Amorite Shamshi-Adad-I (r.c.1749-c.1716 BC) captured Assur and usurped Erisham II (r.c.1755-c.1749 BC). Shamshi-Adad installed his eldest son Ishme-Dagan-I (r.c.1716-c.1680 BC) at Ekallatum and his other son Yasmah-Adad (r.c.1726-c.1712 BC) at Mari. Shamshi-Adad installed himself at Shubat-Enlil in northeast Syria and consolidated Amorite rule over the whole area between the middle Euphrates and middle Tigris.
When Shamshi-Adad died, Zimri-Lim (r.c.1712-c.1697 BC) drove Yasmah-Adad out of Mari, and Ishme-Dagan lost control of all his father’s possessions except Ekallatum and Assur. Assyria now faced the rising power of Babylon in the south. Hammurabi (r.c.1728-c.1686 BC) eventually prevailed over Ishme-Dagan and Assyria was then ruled by vassal kings dependent on the Babylonians. After the Kassite conquest of Babylonia (c.1531 BC) the control of Assyria passed to the Mitannians, a Hurrian people that had occupied the whole of northern Mesopotamia.
Leave a Reply