"Turtanu" or "Turtan" (

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-syllabic ...

: 𒌉𒋫𒉡 ''tur-ta-nu''; he, תַּרְתָּן ''tartān''; el, Θαρθαν; la, Tharthan; arc, ܬܵܪܬܵܢ ''tartan'') is an

word/title meaning 'commander in chief' or 'prime minister'. In Assyria, the Turtanu ranked next to the king. The Assyrian king would assign the individual who was turtanu to go to battle for him, thus giving great power and influence to the turtanu. The office seems to have been duplicated, and there was a ''tartanu imni'' or 'tartan of the right', as well as a ''tartanu shumeli'' or 'tartan of the left'. In later times the title became territorial; we read of a tartan of 'Kummuh' (

Commagene Commagene ( grc-gre, Κομμαγηνή) was an ancient Greco-Iranian kingdom ruled by a Hellenized branch of the Iranian Orontid dynasty that had ruled over Armenia. The kingdom was located in and around the ancient city of Samosata, which s ...

). The title is also applied to the commanders of foreign armies; thus Sargon speaks of the ''Tartan Musurai'', or 'Egyptian Tartan'.Assyrian Deeds
C. H. W. Johns et al, Deighton, Bell and Company, 1901, Page 68. (Scanned book, University of Tronto Library website) The Tartan of 720 BC was probably called Ashur-iska-danin; in 694 BC, Abdai, and in 686 BC Bel-emurani, held the title. It does not seem to have been in use among the closely related

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c ...

ns.

Tartan in Bible

There are two references to Tartans in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in , and

Sargon II Sargon II ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is gener ...

, the king of Assyria, sends a Tartan who takes

Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...

during the reign of King

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...

at the time of the prophet

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

Examples

Dayyan-Assur Dayyan-Assur was commander-in-chief, or Tartan (turtānu), of the Assyrian army during the reign of Shalmaneser III (859 - 824 BC). According to the Black Obelisk, he personally led some of the military campaigns outside Assyria, which is rather u ...

was ''turtanu'' under the reign of

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Ashurnasirpal II in 859 BC to his own death in 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaig ...

(859-824BC). Dayyan-Assur led campaigns in lieu of Shalmaneser III who gave him power over the Assyrian army. These campaigns took the Assyrian army and influence into the Zagros, where encounters with future opponents the Medes and Manneans. Another example of a turtanu was

Shamshi-ilu Shamshi-ilu (Šamši-ilu) was an influential court dignitary and commander in chief (turtanu) of the Assyrian army who rose in high prominence. He was active during the reigns of Assyrian kings Adad-nirari III (810–782 BC), Shalmaneser IV (782� ...

. He was the Assyrian military commander under

Adad-Nirari III Adad-nirari III (also Adad-narari) was a King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. Note that this assumes that the longer version of the Assyrian Eponym List, which has an additional eponym for Adad-nirari III, is the correct one. For the shorter eponym ...

(811-783BC) and later

Shalmaneser IV Shalmaneser IV ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "Salmānu is foremost") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 783 BC to his death in 773 BC. Shalmaneser was the son and successor of his predecessor, Adad-nirari III, and ruled during a pe ...

(783-773) as well as others. He appears to have been of Bit-Adini descent, a province annexed by Assyria some time before. He led a campaign against the

Argishti I of Urartu Argishti I (), was the sixth known king of Urartu, reigning from 786 BC to 764 BC. He founded the citadel of Erebuni in 782 BC, which is the present capital of Armenia, Yerevan. Alternate transliterations of the name include ''Argishtis'', ''Ar ...

Influence

The position of ''turtanu'' led to a decline of centralized power in Assyria. Shamshi-ilu for example, who was ''turtanu'' during four kings reigns, and was one of if not the most powerful individual in Assyria at the time (8th century BC), began to lead out his own campaigns without the sanction of the king. Shamshi-ilu was based out of Kar-Shalmaneser and began campaigning for his own kingdom west of the Euphrates.Van De Mierroop (2007) p.244 These campaigns led to greater power held by Shamshi-ilu and a fragmentary Assyria.

References

Military history of the Assyrian Empire Military ranks Hebrew Bible content Ancient history of Turkey History of Assyria {{Hebrew-Bible-stub

Tartan in Bible

Examples

Influence

See also

References