Abdi-Ashirta (
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
: 𒀵𒀀𒅆𒅕𒋫 ''Warad-Ašîrta''
RAD2-A-ši-ir-ta fl. 14th century BC) was the ruler of
Amurru Amurru may refer to:
* Amurru kingdom, roughly current day western Syria and northern Lebanon
* Amorite, ancient Syrian people
* Amurru (god)
Amurru, also known under the Sumerian name Martu, was a Mesopotamian god who served as the divine perso ...
who was in conflict with King
Rib-Hadda
Rib-Hadda (also rendered Rib-Addi, Rib-Addu, Rib-Adda) was king of Byblos during the mid fourteenth century BCE. He is the author of some sixty of the Amarna letters all to Akhenaten. His name is Akkadian in form and may invoke the Northwest Semi ...
of
Byblos
Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...
.
While some contend that Amurru was a new kingdom in southern Syria subject to nominal Egyptian control, new research suggests that during Abdi-Ashirta's lifetime, Amurru was a "decentralized land" that consisted of several independent polities. Consequently, though Abdi-Ashirta had influence among these polities, he did not directly rule them. Rib-Hadda complained bitterly to Pharaoh
Akhenaten
Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth D ...
— in the
Amarna letters (EA) — of Abdi-Ashirta's attempts to alter the political landscape at the former's expense. Abdi-Ashirta's death is mentioned in EA 101 by Rib-Hadda in a letter to Akhenaten.
[Moran, p.174] Unfortunately for Rib-Hadda, Abdi-Ashirta was succeeded by his equally capable son
Aziru
Aziru was the Canaanite ruler of Amurru, modern Lebanon, in the 14th century BC. He was the son of Abdi-Ashirta, the previous Egyptian vassal of Amurru and a direct contemporary of Akhenaten.
The dealings of Aziru are well-known from the Amarn ...
, who would later capture, exile and likely kill Rib-Hadda. Aziru subsequently defected to the
Hittites
The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-centra ...
, which caused Egypt to lose control over her northern border province of Amurru which Aziru controlled.
References
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
Amarna letters writers
Canaanite people
14th-century BC rulers
14th-century BC Near Eastern people
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