Near East Kingdoms

Marhashi (Barashe / Marhaši / Warashe) (State) (Western Iran)

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The 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.

Southern 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. Elam was located to the east of this, 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. For a good deal of its early independent history it was generally a land of city states. Rarely was it formed into a single state, and then only really from the sixteenth century BC onwards, but sometimes it could be dominated by a single city or state.

With its obscure beginnings, the state of Marhashi (or Marhaci) is more correctly shown as Marhaši. It can also be translated as Barashe, Warashe (or Warahshe), the latter version most notably in older twentieth century works. The Akkadians recorded the name as Paraḫšum (Parahshum) and Baraḫšum (Barahshum), both of which are generally taken to relate to the same state.

This was a very poorly-attested but clearly important state - or more probably a confederation - which lay immediately to the east of Elam. The nearest major Elamite city to its west was Anshan. Its eastern borders are unknown, and even its precise location cannot satisfactorily be confirmed although it is also recorded as having been south of Gutium, which was in the central Zagros mountain range.

The archaeological type site for the Jiroft culture has been put forward as the polity's potential capital city. This was Konar Sandal, a thriving third millennium BC location. If this is to be accepted as the Marhashi capital then the equally vibrant cities of Shahdad and Tepe Yahya were also Marhashi cities.

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(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information 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 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 History of the Ancient Near East c.3000-323 BC, Marc van der Mieroop (Blackwell Publishing, 2004, 2007), 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 Excavations at Konar Sandal in the Region of Jiroft in the Halil Basin: First Preliminary Report (2002-2008), Y Madjidzadeh & H Pittman (Iran 46, pp 69-103, 2008), from Jiroft: The Earliest Oriental Civilization, Yousef Madjidzadeh (Tehran, 2003), and from External Links: Some Thoughts in Neo-Elamite Chronology, Jan Tavernier (PDF), and Ancient History, Anthony Michael Love (via Sarissa.org), and Pre-Sargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC), Douglas R Frayne (The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia series, University of Toronto Press, 2008, with an overview available via JSTOR), and Konar Sandal archaeological site (Tehran Times).)

c.2600 BC

The Indus Valley city of Mohenjo-Daro is built and is laid out almost identically to Harappa. It even grows in time to house a larger population than its twin as the civilisation reaches its height.

Tepe Yahya was an early centre for the production and distribution of steatite (soapstone), a material which is used in making vessels, seals, and other objects

Trading links exist of perhaps a millennium in duration between it and the small Iranian plateau cities - such as Tepe Yahya - and the Oxus civilisation, and especially with the cities of Elam. However, no Indus pottery has been found at Tepe Yahya, with the possibility that it becomes bypassed by more effective trading centres. It does though become a likely part of the forming Marhashi state.

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.

c.2500 - 2225 BC

At Konar Sandal's southern site the dense urban network and first 'citadel' are abandoned sometime between the twenty-fifth and late twenty-third centuries BC. This is somewhat early to coincide with a general climate and economic downturn in the general area.

Proto-Elamite inscriptions from the site at Jiroft (possible capital of Marhashi) have fairly recently been found at the Konar-Sandal subsection of the site, dating to somewhere between 3000-2500 BC

However, it could just about coincide with attacks by Eannatum of Lagash and/or Sargon 'the Great' of Akkad, and it certainly coincides with the rise of a Marhashi state which may want to re-imagine it as the state capital. Curiously this is about the same time as the eastern city of Shahr-e Sokhta suffers a decline.

Konar Sandal's citadel is later rebuilt but the urban core may shift further to the north (the 'North Mound'). A lack of archaeological data has so far prevented a fuller picture being built up here in relation to settlement patterns.

c.2350 BC

Lugalannemundu of Adab extends Sumer's control to include territory from the Persian Gulf right up to the Mediterranean, bordering the Taurus mountains in the north, and the Zagros mountains in the east. Having subjected the Gutians, he confronts the king of the Marhashi state or confederation and leaves an inscription to record the event.

The Jiroft culture type site of Konar Sandal consists of two mounds which are located a few kilometres apart from each other, Konar Sandal A (north) and Konar Sandal B (south)

fl c.2340s BC

'King of Warahshe' (Marhashi), but the name is Semitic.

Modern opinion (including Frayne) considers the inscription to be an early second millennium BC invention or contortion of events, one which is unlikely to originate in the 'Early Dynastic' period.

The name Migir-Enlil is Semitic in origin, a group which is contemporaneously numerous in Canaan and northern and central Mesopotamia, but which is entirely unknown in Elam, let alone farther east.

Instead it may mean 'favourite of [the god] Enlil', as used by Shamash-shumi-ukin, son of Esarhaddon of Assyria and ruler of Babylon in the middle of the seventh century BC.

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.

The modern archaeological site of Tell Musiyan on the Deh Luran (or Dehloran) plain shown here in Khuzestan province, offers perhaps the best - and certainly most highly-favoured - option for identification as Urua

An inscription hails Sargon as 'king of the totality, slayer of Elam [which is dominated by Awan] and Barahshum [Marhashi]'.  It also mentions Awan's minor allies, such as Zina, ishakku (prince) of Huhunuri and Hidarida, ishakku of Gunilaha (location unknown), along with several minor cities such as Saliamu, Karne, Heni, and Bunban (all of which cannot be matched by archaeology to any surviving city mounds).

Elam appears to remain tributary to Akkad for the subsequent century - with a governor at Susa. It seems likely that Marhashi does too, but it is far from regionally cowed or fully submissive.

fl c.2300? BC

'General' of Parahsum (Marhashi).

c.2300 - 2100 BC

The spheres of influence of the Marhashi state and the BMAC along the Oxus seemingly have grown considerably. This eventually affects in depth the geopolitical interactions of the eastern Iranian plateau. A silver vessel of unknown provenience, but stylistically ascribed to the court art of the Oxus, speaks of an armed conflict between these two regional powers.

The River Oxus - also known over the course of many centuries as the Amu Darya - was used as a demarcation border throughout history - it was also a hub of activity in prehistoric times, providing a home to the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, or Oxus civilisation

This vessel documents a clash between the Oxus polity and the expansionism of an early Marhashi state, with the latter now becoming powerful enough to represent a threat both to its north-eastern neighbours as well as to Akkad in the west. Marhashi prisoners become propaganda representations on court art for Akkad and the Oxus polity.

A clash or clashes may take place not far from Shahdad for control of the local north-south trade routes along which important copper outcrops could be mined, clashes in which warriors from Marhashi are defeated.

It seems that the Simashki rulers may end up seeking alliances with the Oxus polity in order to aid their own resistance to Marhashi dominance. That policy is maintained by their successors, the Eparti kings.

c.2278 BC

It is Abalgamash who is responsible for leading the forces of Elam, Marhashi, Kupin, Zahara, and Meluhha, (a settlement of the Indus Valley civilisation) in a coalition against the Akkadian empire. This force invades the western reaches of Elam (no doubt involving Susa) to free it of late Sargon-period occupation and await retribution from his successor, Rimush.

Sargon 'the Great', the warrior king of apparently humble origins, unified Sumer for (perhaps) the first time in recorded history through a series of campaigns and the defeat of the current holder of Sumer's equivalent of a high kingship

fl c.2278 BC

King of Warakshe (Marhashi). Contemporary with Rimush.

Abalgamash is defeated in battle by Rimush. It is stated that 'Zahara and Elam arrayed themselves for battle in the midst of Barahshum, but Rimush was victorious. Emahsini, king of Elam (Abalgamash's successor and potentially his senior general), was captured...' Shar-GA-PI from Zahara is captured between Awan and Susa by the River Qablitum, mounds of corpses are heaped up in the city.

fl c.2275 BC

Possible king of Warakshe, or of Elamite lands.

fl c.2270 BC

Former general. King of Warakshe. Hurrian name.

c.2270 BC

Both Abalgamash and Sidga'u (Si-it-ga-ù), described as GÌR.NÍTA of Barahshum, have Hurrian names according to Potts (1999) and his reference to Zadok (1993). This is at the very beginning of the establishment of a notable Hurrian presence in history. The title of GÌR.NÍTA is taken to mean vassal of the king, in this case his former position as a general for Emahsini.

Elamite cities on the plain to the east of Sumer benefited from direct contact, but cities with more easterly locations also swiftly caught up, connected into a network of trading routes which stretched east to the Indus and north to Hissar and the BMAC (click or tap on map to view at an intermediate size)

The unlikely implication which is taken from this is that the location for the entirety of Marhashi should be moved north to accommodate this one name instead of taking the more obvious path of attributing his presence here to migration and integration.

Together with Awan in Elam, Sidga'u rebels against the overlordship of the Akkadian empire. Rimush re-conquers both states. Subsequently he tears 'the roots of Marhashi from the land of Elam'.

This act would appear to suggest a removal in Elam of Marhashi controls or influences, and a detachment of Marhashi from Elam itself. Genuine Elamite history can be traced from this very same point.

fl c.2250s? BC

King of Marhashi. Contemporary with Naram-Sin.

c.2240? BC

Marhashi declares independence from Akkad along with the city state of Awan in Elam, although perhaps may not immediately achieve such a claim as it seems both are for a time re-conquered by Naram-Sin. Hupšumkipi is named as being Marhashi's representative.

Cuneiform tablets rarely survive intact, so this Akkadian example which translates a hymn to the goddess Ishtar from Sumerian is especially valuable

c.2210 BC

Marhashi overruns Elam for a time, and unites eastern efforts in fighting against the Akkadian empire (Sabum is also counted as an opponent). 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.2200 BC

An indigenous Bronze Age culture has emerged in Central Asia between modern Turkmenistan and down towards the Oxus (otherwise known as the Amu Darya), the somewhat nebulous region called Transoxiana. It is known as the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, or Oxus Civilisation (in Bactria and Margiana).

It trades and interacts to some extent with Elam and the Indus Valley civilisation, with Marhashi no doubt forming an important link in the network of trading cities which lies between these two extreme ends.

Ancient Merv, the capital of Persian and Greek Merv/Margiana, was eventually abandoned just like its even more ancient forebear shown here, Gonur Tepe (Gonordepe), which was a major city of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex until the River Murghab changed its course to leave it high and dry (click or tap on image to view full sized)

c.2070s? BC

Hashibatal is a contemporary of Shulgi of Ur, although any more precise dating is unavailable. He is placed first in this order to allow Shulgi to attempt to preserve (or improve) relations with Libanukshabash, perhaps as a newly-ascendant king of Marhashi.

fl c.2070s? BC

King of Marhashi. Contemporary with Shulgi of Ur.

fl c.2060s BC

King of Marhashi. Removed from power?

c.2068 BC

In his twenty-sixth year, Shulgi of Ur attempts to forge an alliance between himself and Libanukshabash, perhaps to renew forty year-old ties of peace, but perhaps also to ward off a decline in relations. He gives his daughter, Nialimmidashu, in marriage to the king.

c.2052 BC

During his long reign, Shulgi of Ur extends his father's empire to include all of the Assyrian city states and their at-present non-Assyrian neighbours such as the Lullubi.

The mysterious four thousand year-old lost city which was discovered on the site of Kunara, near Sulaimani city in Iraqi Kurdistan is thought to be a city of the Lullubi, an equally mysterious people of northern Mesopotamia

He also re-conquers Susa (and Urua) from Elam and its Simashki rulers, and may be responsible for finishing off rebuilding work at Nippur. His governor of Marhashi - displaying the fact that Marhashi has been subjugated - is Arbimazbi, for whom expenditures are allowed for his messenger and that of his son.

fl c.2052 BC

Ensi (governor) of Marhashi for Shulgi of Ur.

c.2048 - 2046 BC

Year 46 (circa 2048 BC) of the reign of Shulgi of Ur is named the year 'Shulgi, the mighty man, king of Ur, king of the four quarters, destroyed Kimash [Simashki], Hu'urti, and their lands in a single day'. Ambassadors from Marhashi are received at Puzrish-Dagan, being named as Shushalla and Shurushkin.

This conquest carries such weight that two years later the year name is 'Harshi [Marhashi], Kimash, and U'urti and their lands were destroyed in a single day' - not a repeat destruction but the continued recognition of a major event.

The Zagros mountains in the vicinity of the modern city of Istfahan and the ancient city state of Simashki offer a wide variety of living environments

fl c.2042 BC

Ensi (governor) of Marhashi for Shulgi of Ur.

The former king, Libanukshabash, is recorded as an ensi (governor) of Elam circa 2042 BC, and again around 2040 BC in Year 6 of Amar-Sin of Ur.

fl c.2030s? BC

Immediate successor to Libanukshabash?

c.2030s? BC

Libanukshabash's successor causes Amar-Sin of Ur to launch a campaign against him and also against Huhnuri in Elam (possibly one and the same campaign). The outcome is unknown but, probably not coincidentally, this is the last mention of Marhashi as a major opponent.

c.2030 BC

The seventh year of the reign of Shu-Sin of Ur is named as the year 'Shu-sin, the king of Ur, king of the four quarters, destroyed the land of Zabshali'.

He also dedicates a statue of himself for the god Enlil, with it being made from gold which has been taken as booty from the lands of the Su people, and the lands of Zabshali, Shigrish, Iabulmat, Alumiddatum, Karta, Shatilu, Bulma, and Nushushmar (and possibly other equally vague and little-known Elamite territories, but the dedication is cut short).

The ruins of the once-vast city of Ur were excavated in 1922 by Sir Leonard Woolley, which is when the 'Royal Tombs' were discovered (External Link: Creative Commons Licence 4.0 International)

c.2004 BC

With the collapse of Sumerian civilisation, record-keeping becomes fragmentary for a period of approximately two centuries. Elam under the Simashki kings serves to fill the power vacuum in the east but records from that state are fragmentary at the best of times.

By the time Mesopotamia has restored a level of cohesiveness, Marhashi has become a smaller player in its affairs even though it clearly survives under the control of Kindattu of Simashki.

c.1764 BC

A major invasion of Babylon by a coalition army of Elamites, Assyrians, Gutians, and Eshnunnians is defeated and crushed, and Hammurabi retaliates against Elam.

The year name for the following year (Hammurabi's thirtieth on the throne) is: 'Year Hammurabi the king, the mighty, the beloved of Marduk, drove away with the supreme power of the great gods the army of Elam who had gathered from the border of Marhashi, Subartu, Gutium, Tupliash (Eshnunna), and Malgium who had come up in multitudes, and having defeated them in one campaign, he (Hammurabi) secured the foundations of Sumer and Akkad'.

Babylon began life as a modest town which had been seized from Kazallu, but was quickly fortified by the building of a city wall in the nineteenth century BC

Possibly not coincidentally, this is the last genuine mention in history of the state of Marhashi. It is still named as a border of the territory of Kiddin-Khutran III of the Igehalkid dynasty in late thirteenth century BC Elam, but this is due to the Kassite use of outdated terminology which it copies from older Akkadian terms.