Ammittamru I (known in some sources as Amishtammru I or Amistammru I, ''Ammîstamri'') was a king of the ancient
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n city of
Ugarit
Ugarit (; , ''ủgrt'' /ʾUgarītu/) was an ancient port city in northern Syria about 10 kilometers north of modern Latakia. At its height it ruled an area roughly equivalent to the modern Latakia Governorate. It was discovered by accident in 19 ...
who ruled c. 1350 BC.
Reign
Relations with Mitanni
Prior to the Great Syrian Wars by
Suppiluliuma I of Hatti, most of northern Syria west of the Euphrates was controlled by
Tushratta
Tushratta ( Akkadian: and ) was a king of Mitanni, 1358–1335 BCE, at the end of the reign of Amenhotep III and throughout the first half the reign of Akhenaten. He was the son of Shuttarna II. Tushratta stated that he was the grandson of A ...
of
Mitanni
Mitanni (–1260 BC), earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, ; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or in Ancient Egypt, Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian language, Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria (region), Syria an ...
. During the wars, the Syrian states rebelled against Hittite control. Ugarit was among the states providing less resistance. After the war, the Syrian states became vassals of Hatti.
Relations with Egypt
In Amarna Letter EA 45, Ammittamru I writes to the King of Egypt seeking support. The king of Egypt is variously thought to be the late reign of
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III ( , ; "Amun is satisfied"), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great and Hellenization, Hellenized as Amenophis III, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty. According to d ...
Akhenaten
Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...
.[ However, it might also date to the time of Tutankhamen if the Hittites were attacking the Mitanni Empire in northern Syria. If Mitanni was breaking up under the threat of the Hittites, a city-state may try to gain overlordship from Egypt.
The damaged letter includes emphatic promises of allegiance to Egypt, as the occasion is said to be the repeated threats from a king of a land whose name is broken off, possibly the land of the Hittites, due to their long struggle with the Egyptians.][ Another good example for such letters that show submission to Egypt is KTU 2.23 = RS 16.078+.15-24 sent to a contemporary ]pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
that says:
Relations with Hatti
As Tushratta of Mitanni lost his control of the land west of the Euphrates, and Suppiluliuma I tried to gain control, the Syrian city-states mobilized a resistance and sought the support of Egypt.
Succession
After his death, he was succeeded by his son, Niqmaddu II.
References
Ugaritic kings
14th-century BC people
{{Phoenicia-stub