Aplahanda was a king of

Carchemish Carchemish ( or ), also spelled Karkemish (), was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during its history the city was independent, but it was also part of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo-Assyrian ...

proposed to have reigned between 1786 and 1766 BCE, during the Middle Bronze IIA.

Attestations

He was first known from a

cylinder seal A cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch (2 to 3 cm) in width, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally ...

translated by Rene Dussaud in 1929. The seal was found at the base of the mound 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 ...

before excavations began. At least 6 seals naming Aplahanda have been published. They are skilfully produced, and show mostly Babylonian influence, although some Syrian and Egyptian motifs are also present. He is also found mentioned in the Mari tablets, reigning at the same time as

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 ...

and

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

, by whom he is addressed as a ''brother''. His name was suggested to be

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 ...

by I. J. Gelb and the hypothesis of a Semitic origin was supported by Wilfred G. Lambert. At Acemhöyük (Anatolia), the Sarıkaya Palace yielded two bullea mentions Aplahanda.Manning SW, Griggs CB, Lorentzen B, Barjamovic G, Ramsey CB, Kromer B, Wild EM. Integrated Tree-Ring-Radiocarbon High-Resolution Timeframe to Resolve Earlier Second Millennium BCE Mesopotamian Chronology. PLoS One. 2016 Jul 13;11(7):e0157144. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157144. PMID 27409585; PMCID: PMC4943651.

Reign

He was allied with

Shamshi-Adad Shamshi-Adad may refer to: * Shamshi-Adad I, (fl. late 18th century BC (short chronology) was an ancient Near East king. * Shamshi-Adad II, an Old Assyrian king who ruled in the mid-second millennium, ca. 1585-1580 BC (short chronology). * Shamsh ...

(1809/1808-1776/1775 BC) in a war against

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 ...

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 ...

(

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 ...

) that was unsuccessful. He was contemporary with king Hammurabi of Babylon (1792-1750 BC).

Death

He is known to have died in 1766 based on a letter of Ishtaran-Nasir. Aplahanda was succeeded by his son, Yatar-Ami, who ruled for only two years. His daughter called Matrunna is also known; she had a non-Semitic, possibly

Hurrian The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurro-Urartian language, Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria (region) ...

name. His other son was

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 ...

References

{{end box 18th-century BC monarchs Kings of Carchemish