Yahdun-Lim (or ''Yakhdunlim, Yahdunlim''; from Akkadian ''ia-aḫ-du-un-li-im'', in

Amorite The Amorites () were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Egypt from the 21st century BC ...

''Yaʿdun-lîm'') was the king of Mari probably in 1820—1796 BC. He was of

origin, and became king after the death of his father Iaggid-Lim. 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

Reign

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 Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

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 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 lands which the state con ...

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

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

Shamash Shamash (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ''šamaš''), also known as Utu (Sumerian language, Sumerian: dutu "Sun") was the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian Solar deity, sun god. He was believed to see everything that happened in t ...

. He then expanded west and claimed to have reached the

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

Tuttul Tuttul (Akkadian language, Akkadian: tu-ut-tu-ulki, Ugaritic: 𐎚𐎚𐎍 – ) was an ancient Near East city. Tuttul is identified with the archaeological site of Tell Bi'a (also Tall Bi'a) in Raqqa Governorate, Syria. Tell Bi'a is located near t ...

, and the rebels were supported by

Yamhad Yamhad (Yamḫad) was an ancient Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo) in Syria (region), Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC and was ruled by the Yamhad dynasty, who counted on both mi ...

'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 a ...

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

Eshnunna Eshnunna (also Esnunak) (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. Althou ...

. Yahdun-Lim defeated the Yaminites 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 (; Amorite: ''Shamshi-Addu''), ruled 1813–1776 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-Adad by his son ca ...

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 The Amorite name Ila-kabkabu appears twice in the Assyrian King List: * Ila-kabkabu () appears within the Assyrian King List among the “kings whose fathers are known” (alongside both: Ila-kabkabu's father and predecessor, Yazkur-el; 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 Yasmah-Adad (Yasmah-Addu, Yasmakh-Adad, Ismah-Adad, Iasmakh-Adad; from Akkadian ''Ia-aš-ma-aḫ- dIM'', in Amorite ''Yaśmaʿ-haddu'') was the younger son of the Amorite king of Upper Mesopotamia, Shamshi-Adad I. He was put on throne of Mari ...

to the lordship of Mari. /
Archived version
/ref> In the chaos that followed, Shamshi-Adad advanced and annexed Mari. The war ended in a defeat for Mari.

Zimrilim __NOTOC__ Zimri-Lim was in the Middle Bronze Age the king of Mari (c. 1767–1752 BCE; low chronology). Background Family Zimri-Lim ( Akkadian: ''Zi-im-ri Li-im'') was the son or grandson of king Yahdun-Lim of Mari. Exile The assassination o ...

, Yakhdunlim's son and heir, was forced to flee to

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, 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. Li ...

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

Notes

Literature

* * * * * * * {{Rulers of Mari Amorite kings Kings of Mari 19th-century BC monarchs