Sumu-Epuh (reigned

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 ...

) is the first attested 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 = ...

). He founded the

Yamhad dynasty The Yamhad dynasty was an ancient Amorite royal family founded in c. 1810 BC by Sumu-Epuh of Yamhad who had his capital in the city of Aleppo. Started as a local dynasty, the family expanded its influence through the actions of its energetic rul ...

which controlled northern Syria throughout the 17th and 18th centuries BC.

Reign

Although Sumu-Epuh's early life or the way he ascended the throne is not known, he is considered the first king of Yamhad, and his realm included

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 Ag ...

and

Tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

. Sumu-Epuh entered the historical records when he was mentioned by

Yahdun-Lim Yahdunlim (or ''Yakhdunlim, Yahdun-Lim'') was the king of Mari probably in 1820—1796 BC. He was of Amorite origin, and became king after the death of his father Iagitlim. Yahdunlim built Mari up to become one of the major powers of the regio ...

of Mari, as one of the leaders who fought against him. Yahdun-Lim was an ambitious ruler who campaigned in the north claiming to have reached 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 Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

, in spite of having a dynastic alliance with Yamhad to oppose

Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...

. Those campaigns caused Sumu-Epuh to support the Yaminite tribes 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 ...

against the Mariote king, who emerged victorious but was soon killed by his own son. Yahdun-Lim's death was followed by

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-Ad ...

of Assyria's conquest of Mari.

War Against Assyria

Sumu-Epuh aided by Khashshum attacked a kingdom in Zalmakum (a marshy region between the

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

and lower Balikh). Khashshum later shifted alliance and joined Shamshi-Adad, who surrounded Yamhad by alliances with the city of Urshu and king

Aplahanda Aplahanda was a king of Carchemish proposed to have reigned between 1786 and 1766 BCE. He was first known from a cylinder seal translated by Rene Dussaud in 1929. The seal was found at the base of the mound of Ugarit before excavations began. ...

of Charchemish in the north, and by conquering Mari in the east (after the death of Yahdun-Lim) in c. 1796 BC, and installing his son

Yasmah-Adad Yasmah-Adad (Yasmah-Addu, Yasmakh-Adad, Ismah-Adad, Iasmakh-Adad) was the younger son of the Amorite king of Upper Mesopotamia, Shamshi-Adad I. He was put on throne of Mari by his father after a successful military attack following the assassinati ...

on its throne. Shamshi-Adad then concluded an alliance with Yamhad's rival to south

Qatna Qatna (modern: ar, تل المشرفة, Tell al-Mishrifeh) (also Tell Misrife or Tell Mishrifeh) was an ancient city located in Homs Governorate, Syria. Its remains constitute a tell situated about northeast of Homs near the village of al ...

, by marrying his son Yashmah-Adad to princess Beltum, the daughter of

Ishi-Addu Išḫi-Addu or Ishi-Addu was king of Qatna in the first half of the 18th century BC. He is known for his correspondences with Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria who was his closest ally. Qatna was at its height during Išḫi-Addu's reign, which was, howev ...

, king of Qatna. Sumu-Epuh welcomed

Zimri-Lim __NOTOC__ Zimri-Lim (Akkadian: ''Zi-im-ri Li-im'') was king of Mari c. 1775–1761 BCE. Zimri-Lim was the son or grandson of Iakhdunlim, but was forced to flee to Yamhad when his father was assassinated by his own servants during a coup. He ha ...

the heir of Mari who fled to Yamhad, in hope that he might be useful some day since in the eyes of the people of Mari, Zimri-Lim was the legitimate king. Shamshi-Adad's coalition attacked Aleppo but failed to take the city. Sumu-Epuh allied himself with the tribes of the Suteans and the

Turukkaeans The Turukkaeans were a Bronze and Iron Age people of Mesopotamia and the Zagros Mountains, in South West Asia. Their endonym has sometimes been reconstructed as Tukri. History Middle Bronze Turukku was regarded by the Old Assyrian Empire as ...

, who attacked the Assyrian king from the east and the south. Sumu-Epuh also conquered the Assyrian fortress Dur-Shamshi-Adad and renamed it Dur-Sumu-Epuh.

Death and legacy

Sumu-Epuh apparently was killed in c. 1780 BC during his fight with Shamshi-Adad, His successor was

Yarim-Lim I Yarim-Lim I, also given as Yarimlim, (reigned ) was the second king of the ancient Amorite kingdom of Yamhad in modern-day Aleppo, Syria. Family Parentage Yarim-Lim was the son and successor of the first king Sumu-Epuh and his queen Sumunna-Abi. ...

, his son by his queen Sumunna-Abi. The dynasty of Sumu-Epuh continued to hold power in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

until c. 1344 BC.

References

Citations

{{reflist 19th-century BC births 18th-century BC deaths 19th-century BC rulers 18th-century BC rulers 19th-century BC people 18th-century BC people Kings of Yamhad People from Aleppo Amorite kings Yamhad dynasty Monarchs killed in action