Middle East Kingdoms

Razama of the Yamutbal

The city of Razama was the (second) capital of the territory of the Amorite Yamutbal people. The Yamutbal lived in the narrow belt of marginal dry farming between the ridges of the Hilly Arc (the sequence of long, narrow ridges that trace the southern margin of the eastern Anatolian highlands and the south-western margins of the Persian highlands in the form of an arc, separated from the Anatolian highlands by the Northern Plains and from the Persian highlands by rolling hill country, through which the Tigris winds its way), and the steppes to its south. To the west they were neighboured by the Mariote province of Qattunan, while in the east the narrow belt of territory was cut off by Qattara and Karana.

Their most important city during the Zimri-Lim of Mari period was nearby Andarig of what was Upper Yamutbal, in reference to the Yamutbal-related state of Larsa to the south, which had been founded in the late twenty-first century BC. Razama was probably also the second station on the trading route from Ashur to Kanesh. The city is sometimes called 'Southern Razama' to differentiate it from the northern one, Razama of the land of Yussun.

c.1809 - 1776 BC

Northern Mesopotamia is conquered by Shamshi-Adad and is incorporated into the kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia. Upon the death of Shamshi-Adad, the kingdom collapses and the previous order is re-established, with new rulers emerging in many of the smaller cities.

from c.1776? BC

Sharrum-kima-kalima / Sharriya

King of the Yamutbal. Ally of Hatnu-rabi of Qattara.

c.1760s? BC

The Yamutbal cede the city of Sadduwatum, the first station on the trading route from Ashur to Kanesh, to Ekallatum, suggesting that although the city's inhabitants are Yamutbal, the city itself is so close to Ekallatum as to naturally fall under its control.

c.1766 BC

Eshnunnan troops take part in the siege of Razama by Atamrum of Andarig, but Ibalpiel II hurries to assist Razama, collecting troops and a battering ram from his governor in Qattunan on the way. The Razamans manage to repel Atamrum before he arrives, so he returns home.

Sharriya is possibly defeated by Aqba-Hammu of Karana following a siege (a second one?).

c.1762 BC

Karana's control over the city ends when Hammurabi of Babylon conquers much of the region.