Urshu

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Urshu, Warsuwa

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 (

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

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

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

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

References

Citations

  1. ISBN 9780226144672
    .
  2. ISBN 9789053565032
    .
  3. ISBN 9788778761774
    .
  4. ^ a b 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. ISBN 9780521082303
    .
  6. ISBN 9788763536455
    .
  7. ISBN 9780521077910
    .
  8. 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. ^
    ISBN 9788763536455
    .
  12. ISBN 9783525538920
    .
  13. ^ J. R. Kupper. The Cambridge Ancient History Northern Mesopotamia and Syria. p. 19.
  14. ISBN 9781134520626
    .
  15. ISBN 9780199646678
    .
  16. ISBN 9783050018201
    .
  17. ISBN 9781846030819
    .
  18. ISBN 0691025916
    .
  19. ISBN 9780521082303
    .
  20. ISBN 9780520220423
    .
  21. ^
    ISBN 9788763536455
    .

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