Yahdunlim (or ''Yakhdunlim, Yahdun-Lim'') was the king of Mari probably in 1820—1796 BC. He was of

Amorite The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the Levant who also occupied lar ...

origin, and became king after the death of his father

Iagitlim Iagitlim was king of Mari, Syria during the 19th century BC. He was probably of Amorite origin. Little is known about his reign except that he came into conflict with his neighbour Ila-kabkabu of Terqa after the two had first been allies. Iagitl ...

. Yahdunlim built Mari up to become one of the major powers of the region. He led a successful campaign to the coast of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

Reign

Goddess of the vase, Mari,18th century BCE

Yahdun-Lim started his reign by subduing seven of his rebelling tribal leaders, and rebuilding the walls of Mari and Terqa in addition to building a new fort which he named Dur-Yahdun-Lim. Yahdun-Lim's kingdom was threatened by incursions from various

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...

tribes, such as the

Canaanites {{Cat main, Canaan See also: * :Ancient Israel and Judah Ancient Levant Hebrew Bible nations Ancient Lebanon 0050 Ancient Syria Wikipedia categories named after regions 0050 Phoenicia Amarna Age civilizations ...

, but he was able to subjugate them and force them to pay

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conq ...

. After having established internal peace, he built a temple to the

god In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

Shamash Utu (dUD " Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god ...

. He then expanded west and claimed to have reached the

, however he later had to face a rebellion by the ''Banu-Yamina'' nomads who were centered at

Tuttul The Bronze Age town of Tuttul is identified with the archaeological site of Tell Bi'a in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria. Tell Bi'a is located near the modern city of Raqqa and the confluence of the rivers Balikh and Euphrates. History During ...

, and the rebels were supported by

Yamhad Yamhad was an ancient Semitic people, Semitic kingdom centered on Aleppo, Ḥalab (Aleppo), Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC, and was ruled by the Yamhad dynasty, Yamhadite dynasty kings, who counted on both military ...

's king

Sumu-Epuh Sumu-Epuh (reigned Middle chronology) is the first attested king of Yamhad (Halab). He founded the Yamhad dynasty which controlled northern Syria throughout the 17th and 18th centuries BC. Reign Although Sumu-Epuh's early life or the way he asc ...

, whose interests were threatened by the recently established alliance between Yahdun-Lim and

Eshnunna Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in the ...

. Yahdun-Lim defeated the Yamina but an open war with Yamhad was avoided.

Shamshi-Adad I

Yahdun-Lim then became occupied by his rivalry with

Shamshi-Adad I Shamshi-Adad ( akk, Šamši-Adad; Amorite: ''Shamshi-Addu''), ruled 1808–1776 BC, was an Amorite warlord and conqueror who had conquered lands across much of Syria, Anatolia, and Upper Mesopotamia.Some of the Mari letters addressed to Shamsi ...

Shubat-Enlil Tell Leilan is an archaeological site situated near the Wadi Jarrah in the Khabur River basin in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. The site has been occupied since the 5th millennium BC. During the late third millennium, the site was ...

, the son of the late Ila-kabkabu. He received pleas for help from kings threatened by Shamshi-Adad's expansionist plans. But before Yahdunlim could move against Shamshi-Adad, he was assassinated in c. 1798 BC by his possible son Sumu-Yamam, who himself got assassinated two years after ascending the throne. But according to William J. Hamblin, Yahdun-Lim was killed in a battle with Shamshi-Adad ca 1796 BC. Shamshi-Adad then assigned his son Yasmah-Addu to the lordship of Mari. /
Archived version
/ref> In the chaos that followed, Shamshi-Adad Shamshi-Adad advanced and annexed Mari. The war ended in a defeat for Mari. Zimrilim, Yakhdunlim's son and heir, was forced to flee to

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, where he would remain as an exile until Shamshi-Adad's death.

Yahdul-Lim Yahdul-Lim was a king of Carchemish proposed to have reigned between 1764 and 1745 BCE. During this period, the information about Carchemish mostly comes from the archives of Mari, Syria. Son of Aplahanda, he succeeded his brother Yatar-Ami Yata ...

of Carchemish may also be sometimes referred to as Yahdun-Lim.

Notes

Literature

* * * * * * {{cite book, title=The Chronology of Ancient Western Asia and Egypt, first=Petrus, last=Van Der Meer, edition=2, publisher=Brill, series=Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui, volume=2, orig-year=1947, year=1955, oclc=4727997 Amorite kings Kings of Mari 19th-century BC rulers 19th-century BC people