Ashur-dain-aplu ( Akkadian: , meaning " Ashur is the heir's judge") was an ancient

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n prince of the

Adaside dynasty The king of Assyria ( Akkadian: , later ) was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, which was founded in the late 21st century BC and fell in the late 7th century BC. For much of its early history, Assyria was little more than ...

and palace official with the title . He is explicitly identified in a letter as the "son of Shalmaneser", a name only used by Assyrian kings. Though a precise date of the documents that mention him has not been established, the Shalmaneser referenced is either

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations o ...

(859–824 BC) or, more probably,

Shalmaneser V Shalmaneser V (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "Salmānu is foremost"; Biblical Hebrew: ) was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 727 BC to his deposition and death in 722 BC. Though Shalmaneser V's brief reign is poorly known from conte ...

(727–722 BC). If he was the son of Shalmaneser V, Ashur-dain-aplu survived the political turmoil in the aftermath of the deposition and death of his father and the rise of his successor,

Sargon II Sargon II (, 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 generally believed to have be ...

(722–705 BC), to the throne, and continued to retain a prominent political position thereafter, possibly as late as the reign of

Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (, also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669 BC. The third king of the S ...

(681–669 BC).

Sources and history

Ashur-dain-aplu is identified in a currently undated letter found at

Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...

, now designated as SAA 16, no. 99, l. 9′, written to an unspecified

n king. The letter deals with the restoration of ordinance in the palace and mentions Kabtî, servant and scribe to "Ashur-dain-aplu, son of Shalmaneser". The name Shalmaneser was a regnal name, only ever used by Assyrian kings, and the Shalmaneser who was Ashur-dain-aplu's father is either

(859–824 BC) or

(727–722 BC). Another preserved letter, SAA 16, no. 98, is also attributed to Kabtî, who describes himself as "the scribe whom the king, my lord, installed in the house of the '". The title literally translates to "the one who is in the front of the palace", taken as meaning some sort of palace overseer involved in the administration of the royal palace. Kabtî's letter discusses the dissolution of the palace ordinance, possibly the same incident which is mentioned as having been resolved in the other letter. Since the Kabtî mentioned in both letters is probably the same person, it can be inferred that the referenced was Ashur-dain-aplu. It is not known which king these letters were sent to. The Assyriologists Mikko Luukko and Greta Van Buylaere suggested in 2002 that the king in question was probably either

(681–669 BC) or

Shamshi-Adad V Shamshi-Adad V () was the King of Assyria from 824 to 811 BC. He was named after the god Adad, who is also known as Hadad. Family Shamshi-Adad was a son and successor of King Shalmaneser III, the husband of Queen Shammuramat (by some identified ...

(824–811 BC). Although Shalmaneser III, Shamshi-Adad V's father and immediate predecessor, did have a son, Ashur-danin-pal (rendered as Ashur-dain-aplu in Akkadian), it is unlikely that they are the same person. Ashur-danin-pal rebelled against Shalmaneser III and continued to war against Shamshi-Adad V, which fits poorly with the letters since Kabtî, Ashur-dain-aplu's servant, clearly is in support of the king. Official correspondence of this kind is also more rare in the time of Shamshi-Adad V and Shalmaneser III, compared to in the time of Esarhaddon and his immediate predecessors. Nineveh, where both letters were found, was not made the Assyrian capital until the reign of

Sennacherib Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...

(705–681 BC), Esarhaddon's father and immediate predecessor. Shalmaneser V was overthrown by

(722–705 BC), who then usurped the throne. As Shalmaneser V's son, Ashur-dain-aplu through some means survived the turmoil and chaos at the end of his father's reign and even managed to continue his political career, holding the position of possibly as late as during the reign of Esarhaddon, Sargon II's grandson.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Cite book, last=Tallqvist, first=Knut Leonard, url=https://www.atour.com/education/pdf/Knut-L-Tallquist-AssyrianPersonalNames.pdf, title=Assyrian Personal Names, publisher=August Pries, year=1914, location=Leipzig Ancient Assyrians 9th-century BC people 8th-century BC people