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Near East Kingdoms

Ancient Eastern Near East

 

Awan / Avan (City State) (Elam)

FeatureThe city states of Sumer formed one of the first great civilisations in human history (see feature link). This Near Eastern civilisation emerged a little way ahead of that of Africa's ancient Egypt, and up to a millennium before that of the Indus Valley culture.

FeatureSouthern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and the western edge of Iran) was subjected to permanent settlement during the Pottery Neolithic and, by the late fourth millennium BC, Sumer was divided into approximately a dozen city states, by which time other regions were emerging as population centres in their own right. Elam was located to the east of Sumer, with its own selection of city states at its core (and see feature link).

This region was located on an alluvial plan below the Zagros mountains, and its remoteness meant that it took some time for it to assimilate Sumer's groundbreaking social, agricultural, and administrative inventions. Access to Sumer was in the Zagros foothills, circling the marshes, but this meant difficulties in communication, and a feeling in Sumer of there being comparative barbarians on their eastern flank. One of Elam's oldest city state kingdoms, Awan (or Avan), arose around 2600 BC, but little is known of its origins.

Culturally, Elamite states achieved less than their more advanced neighbours, and imported much of what they needed, including writing from Sumer and architecture from the later city and empire of Babylon. Elamite records are also extremely sparse in recording local events, and large areas of its history are almost totally unknown except through Sumerian records.

The founding of a dynasty of Awanite rulers ends the hazy 'Proto-Elamite' period, although precise details of their rule are extremely fragmentary. Awan was one of Elam's four major cities, one which was located to the immediate north-west of Susa.

Its first three named kings are mentioned on the Sumerian king list, in the fourth set of post-diluvian entries, but they are also counted as forming a dynasty of Elam as if the region were a single kingdom, which at this time it was not. The first foreign rulers in Sumer, they briefly held dominance there, having gained the kingship from Lagash or more probably Umma (although these cities are missing from the list, and the dating is misaligned). The Awan king lists records the names of twelve kings.

FeatureAccording to the king list, a total of three kings of Awan ruled Sumer for 356 years, once (forming one dynasty) in Awan. This is the fourth set of entries on the list comprising kings 40-42, but the text was destroyed in this section. Here, List 1 is primarily used, backed up by List 2 (see Sumer for details and the feature link for more).

The Awan king list was written on a cuneiform tablet which was found by archaeologists in Susa and is now in the Louvre in Paris. This mentions several kings who ruled areas of Elam in the last third of the third millennium BC. It covers the rulers of Awan and the rulers of Simashki. It was written in the second quarter of the second millennium BC, in Babylonian cuneiform.

Elamites of Din Sharri being deported by Ashurbanipal

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City, Gwendolyn Leick (Penguin Books, 2001), from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character, Samuel Noah Kramer ('List 1' of Sumerian rulers, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1963), from Historical Atlas of the Ancient World, 4,000,000 to 500 BC, John Heywood (Barnes & Noble, 2000), from The Ancient Near East, c.3000-330 BC, Amélie Kuhrt (Routledge, 2000, Vol I & II), from Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East, Michael Road (Facts on File, 2000), from Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Enrico Ascalone (Dictionaries of Civilizations 1, University of California Press, 2007), from The Archaeology of Mesopotamia, S Lloyd (Revised Ed, London, 1984), from Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History, J N Postgate (Routledge, 1994), from History of the Ancient Near East c.3000-323 BC, Marc van der Mieroop (Blackwell Publishing, 2004, 2007), from Mesopotamia, Chris Scarre (Ed, Past Worlds - The Times Atlas of Archaeology, Guild Publishing, London 1989), from The Archaeology of Elam, D T Potts (Cambridge University Press, 1999), from The Elamite World, Javier Álvarez-Mon, Gian Pietro Basello, & Yasmina Wick (Eds, Routledge, 2018), and from External Links: Some Thoughts in Neo-Elamite Chronology, Jan Tavernier (PDF), and the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, and Early Kings of Kish, Albrecht Goetze (Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol 15, No 3, 1961, pp 105-111 and available to read via University of Chicago Press Journals), and Awan King List (Livius).)

c.2550/2450 BC

FeatureAlthough the calculated dating is typically misaligned, the Sumerian king list (various versions are available - see feature link) states that: 'After kingship was brought to ["First Dynasty"] Ur... four kings ruled for a total of 177 years before Ur was defeated in battle and its kingship carried off to Awan'.

c.2560s? BC

The name Û-húb of Kish comes from a vase which is excavated at Nippur, but this can be matched favourably to the name Enna-ill (or En-na-il - both are valid here). This king claims to be responsible for having smashed Elam (or at least Awan), following which he dedicates the inscribed vase to Inanna at Nippur.

fl c.2550 BC

(Name Unknown)

Ruled for ? years, holding dominance in Sumer.

(Name Unknown)

Ruled for ? years, holding dominance in Sumer.

fl c.2400s BC

(Name Unknown)

Ruled for ?/36 years, holding dominance in Sumer.

c.2450 BC

The Sumerian king list of the 'Post-Diluvian' period states here that: 'After kingship was brought to Awan... [the text here has been destroyed]... All told, three kings ruled for a total of 356 years [or perhaps fifty-to-seventy years] before Awan was defeated in battle and its kingship carried off to Kish [or probably Lagash instead]'.

More accurately it would seem that it is the Lagash of Eannatum which temporarily defeats Awan, apparently using terror as a matter of policy. This king should in theory be next in line to receive the (high) kingship but his city has been omitted entirely from the king list.

Awan is (again?) defeated and the Sumerian kingship passes to Kish. It could be possible that the following three kings are the same as the three unnamed kings who had dominated Sumer. Their dates are much closer to fitting in with those in which the kings of Awan could have seized power from Lagash or Umma and ruled for about forty years.

fl c.2450 BC

Peli

First name on the Awan king list (AKL), but entry uncertain.

Some lists place three kings of Ebla after Peli as Awan kings. However, the names seem to be Syrian ones: Igrish-Halam, Irkab-Damu, and Ar-Ennum.

c.2450 BC

Eannatum of Lagash extends his power to parts of Elam and the Persian Gulf, and the succeeding rulers of Lagash engage in contests against Elam for the next century or so.

c.2430 BC

Enshakushanna of Uruk throws the Elamites out of Awan.

Tata / Taar / Tari / Tari-ip

Second name on the AKL.

Ukku-Takhesh / Ukkutahieš

Third name on the AKL.

Khishur / Hishur / Hišur

Fourth name on the AKL.

Shushun-Tarana / Šušuntarana

Fifth name on the AKL.

Napil-Khush / Na-?-pilhuš

Sixth name on the AKL.

Kikku-Sive-Temti / Kikkutanteimti

Seventh name on the AKL.

fl c.2350/2325 BC

Lukh-Ishshan / Luhhiššan

Son of Khishep-Ratep. Eighth name on the AKL.

c.2350 BC

Elam is reputedly conquered by Alusarsid of Akkad. At the same time a kingdom or confederation known as Marhashi is emerging to the east, on the Iranian plateau which is becoming increasingly important to Elamite power and Elamite trading outside of Sumer.

c.2300 BC

Marhashi appears to become a dominant force to the east of Elam, but it is conquered by Sargon 'the Great' of Akkad after he has destroyed Urua (URUxA) and rampaged through Elamite lands. An inscription hails Sargon as 'king of the totality, slayer of Elam and Barahshum [Marhashi]'.

Elam appears to remain tributary to Akkad for the subsequent century, so it seems likely that Marhashi does too. Two inscriptions mention what would appear to be consecutive rulers of Awan, and therefore dominant rulers in Elam, while another probably places Akkad's governor in Susa: 'Sanamshimut, ensi (governor) of Elam', and 'Luhishan, son of Hishibrashini, lugal (king) of Elam'.

Of those, Luhishan would appear to match Lukh-Ishshan / Luhhiššan (above). His father, Hishibrashini, matches Khishep-Ratep / Hishep-rashini, listed on the AKL after his son. It would seem to be safe to swap around these two names, with Khishep-Ratep ruling in the mid-to-late 2300s BC.

fl c.2300 BC

Khishep-Ratep / Hishep-rashini

Father. Ninth on AKL. Vassal of Akkad? Revolted. Killed?

Eshpum

Not on the list. Vassal of Akkad?

Ilishmani

Vassal of Akkad?

fl late 2200s

Epirmupi / Epir-mupi

Vassal of Akkad. Appointed by Naram-Sin or his son.

c.2300 - 2280 BC

Khelu / Helu / Heilu

Tenth name on the AKL. Vassal of Akkad?

c.2278 - 2270 BC

After an attempted rebellion, Elam is re-conquered by Rimush of Akkad, and genuine Elamite history can be traced from this point. The state of Marhashi is now a cohesive entity, bordering Anshan to the east.

The Akkadian presence in Elam is maintained in Susa though the official language of bureaucracy, while local rulers carry Sumerian titles which reveal full Akkadian dependence - often ensi (governor) of Susa or shagina (general) of Elam, or both.

c.2280 - 2250 BC

Khita / Hita / Hita-Idaddu-napir

Eleventh name on the AKL. Vassal of Akkad?

fl ? - c.2230 BC

Shimpishuk

Brother? Vassal of Akkad?

c.2240? BC

Both Marhashi and Kutik-Inshushinnak (below) declare independence from Akkad - although perhaps not immediately as it seems that Elam is re-conquered for a time. When they do succeed though, they eventually throw off Akkadian language influences.

Before that, Susa's rulers do retain some autonomy. Naram-Sin of Akkad concludes a treaty with an unnamed ruler or high official there, and the document is written in Elamite, not Akkadian. It specifies no submission to Akkad but does confirm that Akkad's enemies are Susa's enemies.

The treaty could be a reaction to building events in the region which result in Kutik-Inshushinnak's take-over. He also conquers Susa and Anshan, forming a centralised and unified kingdom which is entirely outside Akkad's control. He still seems to retain Susa's Akkadian titles alongside his claim of kingship of Awan.

fl c.2230 - 2210 BC

Kutik / Puzur-Inshushinnak

Son. Last on the AKL. Governor & general of Susa. King of Awan.

c.2210 BC

Marhashi overruns Elam for a time, and unites eastern efforts in fighting against the Akkadian empire. A battle is fought between the two states near Akshak, at the confluence of the Diyala and Tigris rivers. The Akkadian name for the following year suggests that Shar-kali-sharri of Agade claims the victory.

One of the daughters of the ruler of Marhashi is married either to Shar-kali-sharri of Agade or his son, perhaps as a consequence of the battle, and as a sign of renewed ties of peace.

c.2193 BC

Elam is overthrown by the Gutians as they sweep through southern Mesopotamia from the Zagros highlands, also destroying the Akkadian empire as they go. The Gutians largely concentrate across upper southern Mesopotamia.

They govern the southernmost cities from a distance and seemingly exercise little direct control over Elamite lands. There, the Simashki kings eventually come to power across Elam in the wake of this period of instability.

 
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