History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 4 (of 12)Maspero, G. (Gaston)
History
History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 4 (of 12)
Maspero, G. (Gaston)
Civilization, Ancient; Egypt -- History -- To 640 A.D.; History, Ancient; Middle East -- History
Simtishilkhak, one of the successors of Kudur-nakhunta, had
conceded the principality of Yamutbal as a fief to Kudur-mabug, one
of his sons. Kudur-mabug appears to have been a conqueror of no mean
ability, for he claims, in his inscriptions, the possession of the whole
of Syria.**
* The submission of Babylon is evident from the title Adda
Martu, "sovereign of the West," assumed by several of the
Elamite princes (of. p. 65 of the present work): in order to
extend his authority beyond the Euphrates, it was necessary
for the King of Elam to be first of all master of Babylon.
In the early days of Assyriology it was supposed that this
period of Elamite supremacy coincided with the Median
dynasty of Berosus.
** His preamble contains the titles _adda Martu,_ "prince of
Syria;" _adda lamutbal_, "prince of Yamutbal." The word
_adda_ seems properly to mean "lather," and the literal
translation of the full title would probably be "father of
Syria," "_father_ of Yamutbal," whence the secondary
meanings "master, lord, prince," which have been
provisionally accepted by most Assyriologists. Tiele, and
Winckler after him, have suggested that Martu is here
equivalent to Yamutbal, and that it was merely used to
indicate the western part of Elam; Winckler afterwards
rejected this hypothesis, and has come round to the general
opinion.
He obtained a victory over Siniddinam, and having dethroned him, placed
the administration of the kingdom in the hands of his own son Eimsin.
This prince, who was at first a feudatory, afterwards associated in the
government with his father, and finally sole monarch after the
latter's death, married a princess of Chaldaean blood, and by this means
legitimatized his usurpation in the eyes of his subjects. His domain,
which lay on both sides of the Tigris and of the Euphrates, comprised,
besides the principality of Yamutbal, all the towns dependent on Sumer
and Accad--Uru, Larsa, Uruk, and Nippur, He acquitted himself as a good
sovereign in the sight of gods and men: he repaired the brickwork in the
temple of Nannar at Uru; he embellished the temple of Shamash at Larsa,
and caused two statues of copper to be cast in honour of the god; he
also rebuilt Lagash and Grirsu. The city of Uruk had been left a heap of
ruins after the withdrawal of Kudur-nakhunta: he set about the work of
restoration, constructed a sanctuary to Papsukal, raised the ziggurat of
Nana, and consecrated to the goddess an entire set of temple furniture
to replace that carried off by the Elamites. He won the adhesion of the
priests by piously augmenting their revenues, and throughout his reign
displayed remarkable energy. Documents exist which attribute to him the
reduction of Durilu, on the borders of Elam and the Chaldaean states;
others contain discreet allusions to a perverse enemy who disturbed
his peace in the north, and whom he successfully repulsed. He drove
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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