Atarshumki I (also ''Bar-Guš'', Atarsumki, Attar-sumkī) was the King of

Bit Agusi Bit Agusi or Bit Agushi (also written Bet Agus) was an ancient Aramaean Syro-Hittite state, established by Gusi of Yakhan at the beginning of the 9th century BC. It had included the cities of Arpad, Nampigi (Nampigu) and later on Aleppo Arpad wa ...

in ancient Syria; he was the son of Arames (Hadram, Hadrame; ''Assyrian'': Adramu, Arame). The capital of Bit Agusi at that time was Arpad.

Reign

His father Hadram ruled from the city of Arne (

Tell Aran Tell Aran (; also spelled, Tell Arn; ancient Arne, Kurdish: ''Girê Aran'') is a Kurdish-majority town in northern Syria, administratively part of the al-Safira District of the Aleppo Governorate, located southeast of Aleppo close to Sabkhat al ...

), which is the largest archaeological mound in the

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

region of Syria. Arne was first inhabited by the

Arameans The Arameans, or Aramaeans (; ; , ), were a tribal Semitic people in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of Aram, originally covered c ...

, and served as the first royal capital of the Aramaean kingdom of

. In 849 BC, Hadram joined an uprising against Assyria participating in an alliance with Sangara, the king of Carchemish, and other local rulers. But this was unsuccessful. After Arne's sacking by the Assyrian king

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations o ...

, Arpad became the capital. "Arame son of Gûzi" is also mentioned in the

Kurkh Monoliths The Kurkh Monoliths are two Assyrian stelae of and 879 BC that contain a description of the reigns of Ashurnasirpal II and his son Shalmaneser III. The Monoliths were discovered in 1861 by a British archaeologist John George Taylor, who was ...

. Like his father, Atarshumki was rebellious against the Assyrian supremacy. At that time, Assyria was ruled by

Shamshi-Adad V Shamshi-Adad V () was the King of Assyria from 824 to 811 BC. He was named after the god Adad, who is also known as Hadad. Family Shamshi-Adad was a son and successor of King Shalmaneser III, the husband of Queen Shammuramat (by some identified ...

and then by

Adad-nirari III Adad-nīrārī III (also Adad-nārārī, meaning "Adad (the storm god) is my help") was a King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. Family Adad-nīrārī was a son and successor of king Shamshi-Adad V, and was apparently quite young at the time of hi ...

. Atarshumki tried to build a coalition with his neighbors against the Assyrians; finally, in 796, Adad-nirari III launched a military campaign in the area, and subjugated it.

The territorial conflict between Hamath and Arpad

The Antakya stele ( de) is believed to belong to the later years of Adad-Nirari III. This is when the prominent official

Shamshi-ilu Shamshi-ilu (Šamši-ilu) was an influential court dignitary and commander in chief ( turtanu) of the Assyrian army who rose in high prominence. He was active during the reigns of Assyrian kings Adad-nirari III (810–782 BC), Shalmaneser IV (782 ...

, who is involved with the inscription, became active. Based on this, the inscription is believed to date in the 780s BC.

"The Antakya inscription describes the interference of the Assyrian King in a territorial conflict between Atarsumki, king of Arpad, and
Zakkur Zakkur (or ''Zakir'') was the ancient king of Hamath and Luhuti (also known as Nuhašše) in Syria. He ruled around 785 BC. Most of the information about him comes from his basalt stele, known as the Stele of Zakkur. History Irhuleni and his son ...
, king of
Hamath Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one of ...
... At that time, both kings were vassals of Adad-nirari III ... the settlement was established in favour of the previously hostile king of Arpad ... The reason for preferring Arpad is clear: it had broken up the lines of the
Syro-Hittite The states called Neo-Hittite, Syro-Hittite (in older literature), or Luwian-Aramean (in modern scholarly works) were Luwian and Aramean regional polities of the Iron Age, situated in southeastern parts of modern Turkey and northwestern parts of m ...
coalition, and opened before Adad-nirari III the way to the south, to Damascus."Gershon Galil
CONFLICTS BETWEEN ASSYRIAN VASSALS. (PDF)
SAAB 6 (1992), p. 55-63

Death

Following his death, he may have been succeeded by "Matti'el, son of Attarsamak", known from the Sefire stelas.

Notes

Sources

*German Wikipedia

Bibliography

* A. K. Grayson, In: ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' Vol. 3, 1, Cambridge 1982, p.272 * John David Hawkins, In: ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' Vol. 3, 1, Cambridge 1982, pp 400–408 * Nili Wazana: ''Water division in border agreements.'' In: ''State Archives of Assyria Bulletin'' 10, 1996, 55-66
PDF

External links

The Antakya stela (2024).
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719022723/https://www.livius.org/as-at/assyria/treaty.html , date=2013-07-19 A boundary marker between Ataršumki of Arpad and Zakkur of Hamath Syro-Hittite kings Ancient Syria History of Aleppo 8th-century BC Aramean kings