Abba-El II (reigned middle 16th 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
Halab
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 ...
(formerly Yamhad) who reigned after the withdrawal of the
Hittites
The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...
.
Reign
Abba-El is known through his Royal Seal used by his descendant
Niqmepa, king of
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 Age ...
as a dynastic seal.
In the seal he is described as the mighty king, servant of
Hadad
Hadad (), Haddad, Adad ( Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm- and rain-god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions.
He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. From ...
, beloved of Hadad, devotee of Hadad, which were the titles that the old kings of Yamhad used. While the seal mentions the name of Abba-El II, the king depicted in it could be
Abba-El I.
According to prof.
Trevor Bryce
Trevor Robert Bryce (; born 1940) is an Australian Hittitologist specializing in ancient and classical Near-eastern history. He is semi-retired and lives in Brisbane.
His book, ''The Kingdom of the Hittites'', is popular among English-speaki ...
, Aleppo was restored by Abba-El's father Sarra-Ee;
however, other Historians such as Michael C. Astour consider Abba-El II to be the king who restored the kingdom.
Aleppo recovered from the Hittite invasion and expanded its territory to some of its former lands including Alalakh,
Niya and
Ama'u.
Succession
Abba-El's immediate successor was his probable son
Ilim-Ilimma I,
the father of
Idrimi
Idrimi (meaning "It is my help") was the king of Alalakh c. 1490–1465 BC, or around 1450 BC. He is known, mainly, from an inscription on his statue found at Alalakh by Leonard Woolley in 1939.Longman III, Tremper, (1991)Fictional Akkadian Aut ...
who continued the dynasty of Yamhad in Alalakh after Aleppo fell to the
Mitannians in ca. 1525 BC.
References
Citations
Sources
*
{{refend
16th-century BC monarchs
Kings of Yamhad
Amorite kings