Irkabtum (reigned c. Middle 17th century BC -

Middle chronology The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...

) was the king of

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 ...

(

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

) succeeding his father

Niqmi-Epuh Niqmi-Epuh, also given as Niqmepa (reigned - Middle chronology ) was the king of Yamhad (Halab) succeeding his father Yarim-Lim II Reign Little of Aleppo has been excavated by archaeologists, knowledge about Niqmi-Epuh comes from tablets discov ...

Reign

Irkabtum is referred to in an old Hittite letter fragment, but he is known primarily through the

Alalakh Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze A ...

tablets. He engaged in the selling and buying of cities and villages with his vassal king Ammitakum of Alalakh in order to adjust the shared borders between them, and he campaigned in the region of Nashtarbi east of the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

river, against the Hurrian princes who rebelled against Yamhad. The campaign was an important one in that it was used to date legal cases. Irkabtum is known to have concluded a peace treaty with Semuma the king of the

Habiru Habiru (sometimes written as Hapiru, and more accurately as ʿApiru, meaning "dusty, dirty"; Sumerian: 𒊓𒄤, ''sagaz''; Akkadian: 𒄩𒁉𒊒, ''ḫabiru'' or ''ʿaperu'') is a term used in 2nd-millennium BCE texts throughout the Fertile C ...

on behalf of his vassal kingdom Alalakh, indicating the importance and danger of those autonomous warriors in the region.

Death and succession

Irkabtum could be the father of

Yarim-Lim III Yarim-Lim III (reigned c. Middle 17th century BC - c. 1625 BC - Middle chronology) was the king of Yamhad (Halab) succeeding Hammurabi II. Reign Yarim-Lim ascended the throne at a time of internal disintegration for Yamhad, combined with foreign ...

. He died and was succeeded by

Hammurabi II Hammurabi II (reigned Middle 17th century BC - Middle chronology) was an obscure king of Yamhad (Halab), probably reigning after Irkabtum. Identity Hammurabi II was confused with Hammurabi III, the king of Yamhad who was mentioned as the son of th ...

whose filiation is unknown.

References

Citations

{{reflist, 2 17th-century BC rulers Kings of Yamhad People from Aleppo Amorite kings Yamhad dynasty 17th-century BC people