Shamshi-Adad IV, inscribed ^md''šam-ši-''^dIM, was the king of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

, 1054/3–1050 BC, the 91st to be listed on the ''Assyrian Kinglist''.''Khorsabad Kinglist'', tablet IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, DS 32-54), iv 1–4.''SDAS Kinglist'', tablet IM 60484, iii 33–36. He was a son of

Tiglath-Pileser I Tiglath-Pileser I (; from the Hebraic form of , "my trust is in the son of Ešarra") was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian period (1114–1076 BC). According to Georges Roux, Tiglath-Pileser was "one of the two or three great Assyri ...

(1114–1076 BC), the third to have taken the throne, after his brothers Asharid-apal-Ekur and Ashur-bel-kala, and he usurped the kingship from the latter’s son, the short-reigning Eriba-Adad II (1055–1054 BC). It is quite probable that he was fairly elderly when he seized the throne.

Biography

The Assyrian kinglist recalls that he "came up from Karduniaš (i.e.

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

). He ousted Eriba-Adad, son of Aššur-bêl-kala, seized the throne and ruled for 4 years". The king of

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

was Adad-apla-iddina, who had been installed more than a decade earlier by Shamshi-Adad brother, Ashur-bel-kala. The extent to which he was instrumental in the succession is uncertain but it seems that Shamshi-Adad may have earlier sought refuge in exile in the south. The ''Synchronistic Kinglist''''Synchronistic Kinglist'', Ass 14616c (KAV 216), iii 3. gives Ea-, presumed to be Ea-mukin-zeri (c. 1008 BC), as his Babylonian contemporary, an unlikely pairing as he was likely to have been concurrent with the latter kings of the 2nd dynasty of Isin during its dying throes. The political events of his reign are obscure and his fragmentary inscriptions are limited to commemorating renovation work carried out on the

Ištar Inanna is the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and As ...

temple at

Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...

and the ''bīt nāmeru'' ("gate-tower") at Assur. He would be succeeded by his son, Ashurnasirpal I.

Biography

Inscriptions

References

Further reading