Erishum I

Erishum I
Išši’ak Aššur
Line-drawing of a seal of Erishum I from Kültepe. The seated figure is believed to be the god Ashur, with Erishum being the figure furthest to the left being led towards him.[1]
King of Assur
Reignc. 1974–1935 BC[2]
PredecessorIlu-shuma
SuccessorIkunum
Born20th century BCE
Died19th century BCE
FatherIlu-shuma

Erishum I or Erišu(m) I (inscribed me-ri-šu, or mAPIN-ìš in later texts but always with an initial i in his own seal, inscriptions, and those of his immediate successors,[3]: 40  “he has desired,”[4]) c. 1974–1935 BCE (middle chronology),[nb 1] son of Ilu-shuma, was the thirty-third ruler of Assyria to appear on the Assyrian King List. He reigned for forty years.[i 1] One of two copies of the Assyrian King List[i 2] which include him gives his reign length as only 30 years,[5] but this contrasts with a complete list of his limmu, some 40, which are extant from tablets[i 3] recovered at Karum Kanesh.[3]: 3–5  He had titled himself both as, "Ashur is king, Erishum is vice-regent"[nb 2] and the, “Išši’ak Aššur”ki (“steward of Assur”), at a time when Assur was controlled by an oligarchy of the patriarchs of the prominent families and subject to the “judgment of the city”, or dīn alim. According to Veenhof, Erishum I’s reign marks the period when the institution of the annually appointed limmu (eponym) was introduced. The Assyrian King List observes of his immediate predecessors, “in all six kings known from bricks, whose limmu have not been marked/found”.[6]

  1. ^ Eppihimer, Melissa (2013). "Representing Ashur: The Old Assyrian Rulers' Seals and Their Ur III Prototype". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 72 (1): 43. doi:10.1086/669098. JSTOR 10.1086/669098. S2CID 162825616.
  2. ^ Chen, Fei (2020). "Appendix I: A List of Assyrian Kings". Study on the Synchronistic King List from Ashur. Leiden: BRILL. ISBN 978-9004430914.
  3. ^ a b K. R. Veenhof (2003). The Old Assyrian List of Year Eponyms from Karum Kanish and its Chronological Implications. Turkish Historical Society. pp. 40, 3–10.
  4. ^ E. Frahm (1998). K. Radner (ed.). The Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Volume 1, Part II: A. The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project. p. 404.
  5. ^ I. J. Gelb (1954). "Two Assyrian King Lists". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. VIII (4): 213.
  6. ^ Klaas R. Veenhof, Jesper Eidem (2008). Mesopotamia: the Old Assyrian period. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. pp. 29.


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