Urshu

Urshu, Warsuwa^[1] or Urshum was a Hurrian-Amorite^[2][3] city-state in southern Turkey, probably located on the west bank of the Euphrates,^[4] and north of Carchemish.^[5]

History

Urshu was a commercial city governed by a Lord (EN). It was an ally of Ebla and appears in the tablets as Ursa'um.^[6] Later it was mentioned in the inscriptions of Gudea (r. c.2144–2124 BC according to the Middle chronology) as the city where wood resins were procured.^[7] An old Assyrian letter that dates to the 19th century BC mentions a temple of the god Ashur in Urshu.^[8]

In the beginning of the 18th century BC, Urshu allied with Yamhad against Yahdun-Lim of Mari.^[9] Relations with Assyria were also strained, and men of Urshu were summoned by Yapah-Adad and his Habiru to attack the lands of Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria.^[10] The texts of Mari mentions a conflict between Urshu and Carchemish: the tribes of Upra-peans and Ra-beans attacked Urshu through the land of Carchemish, which caused Urshu to attack a contingent of Carchemishean troops and civilians that advanced along the bank of the Euphrates.^[11]

Later, Urshu became an economic rival to Yamhad^[12] and entered an alliance with Qatna and Shamshi-Adad I to attack Sumu-Epuh of Yamhad (r. c.1810-1780 BC).^[13] The death of Shamshi-Adad and the rise of Yarim-Lim I of Yamhad brought an end to this rivalry, as Yamhad was elevated into a Great Kingdom and imposed its direct authority over northern, western and eastern Syria,^[14] bringing Urshu under its sphere of influence without annexing it.^[15] The Tablets of Mari mention a few kings of Urshu who date to this era, including Shennam^[16] and Atru-Sipti, who visited Mari in the 12th year of its king Zimri-Lim.^[11]

Hittite conquest

They broke the battering ram. The king was angry and his face was grim "They constantly bring me bad news, may the storm-god carry you away in a flood!.. but not idle! Make a battering-ram in the Hurrian manner and let it be brought into place. Hew a great battering-ram from the mountains of Hassu and let it be brought into place".

—Hattusili I describing the difficulties during the siege of Urshu.^[17]

The Hittite king Hattusili I attacked Urshu in his second year, laying siege to the city for six months. The Hittite king had 80 chariots^[18] and conducted his operations from the city of Lawazantiya (located in modern Elbistan district) in the Taurus foothills of eastern Cilicia.^[19]

Despite receiving aid from Yamhad and Carchemish, Urshu was burned and destroyed; its lands were plundered and the booty taken to the Hittite capital Hattusa.^[20]

The history of Urshu after the conquest is ambiguous. In the 15th century BC it appears in the Tablets of Alalakh as "Uris" or "Uressi",^[4] and is mentioned "Urussa" in the treaty between the Hittite Tudhaliya II and Sunassura II of Kizzuwatna as part of the latter's territory.^[21] The city again became part of the Hittite empire and was last mentioned in records dated to the final periods of that empire.^[21]

See also

• Hurrians
• Yamhad
• History of the Hittites

References

Citations

1. I. M. Diakonoff (28 June 2013). Early Antiquity. p. 364. ISBN 9780226144672.
2. Noel Freedman; Allen C. Myers (31 December 2000). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. p. 619. ISBN 9789053565032.
3. Mogens Herman Hansen (2000). A Comparative Study of Thirty City-state Cultures: An Investigation, Volume 21. p. 60. ISBN 9788778761774.
4. Sidney Smith (1956). Anatolian Studies: Journal of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. Special number in honour and in memory of John Garstang, 5th May, 1876 - 12th September, 1956, Volume 6. p. 42.
5. I. E. S. Edwards; C. J. Gadd; N. G. L. Hammond; E. Sollberger (3 May 1973). The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 241. ISBN 9780521082303.
6. Gojko Barjamovic (2011). A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 200+201. ISBN 9788763536455.
7. Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards; C. J. Gadd; N. G. L. Hammond (31 October 1971). The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 559. ISBN 9780521077910.
8. Gwendolyn Leick (2 June 2009). The Babylonian World. p. 537. ISBN 9781134261284.
9. Yuhong Wu (1994). A Political History of Eshnunna, Mari and Assyria During the Early Old Babylonian Period: From the End of Ur III to the Death of Šamši-Adad. p. 131.
10. Sidney Smith (1956). Anatolian Studies: Journal of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. Special number in honour and in memory of John Garstang, 5th May, 1876 - 12th September, 1956, Volume 6. p. 39.
11. Gojko Barjamovic (2011). A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 202. ISBN 9788763536455.
12. Beatrice Teissier (1996). Egyptian Iconography on Syro-Palestinian Cylinder Seals of the Middle Bronze Age. p. 1. ISBN 9783525538920.
13. J. R. Kupper. The Cambridge Ancient History Northern Mesopotamia and Syria. p. 19.
14. William J. Hamblin (27 September 2006). Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. p. 255. ISBN 9781134520626.
15. Trevor Bryce (March 2014). Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. p. 27. ISBN 9780199646678.
16. Horst Klengel (20 March 1992). Syria, 3000 to 300 B.C.: a handbook of political history. p. 75. ISBN 9783050018201.
17. Seton Lloyd (21 August 2007). Hittite Warrior. p. 44. ISBN 9781846030819.
18. Robert Drews (1993). The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 B.C. p. 106. ISBN 0691025916.
19. I. E. S. Edwards; C. J. Gadd; N. G. L. Hammond; E. Sollberger (3 May 1973). The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 245. ISBN 9780521082303.
20. Seton Lloyd (1999). Ancient Turkey: A Traveller's History. p. 39. ISBN 9780520220423.
21. Gojko Barjamovic (2011). A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period. p. 203. ISBN 9788763536455.