Bit-Amukani (in the Aramaic Assur Ostracon ʾwkn; Assyrian ''^mA-muk-ka-nu''; Babylonian ''^diBit U-ka-a-ni, ^diU-ka-nu; lit. House of Amukani)'' was a tribe, proto-state founded by Chaldeans in southern

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

which stretched from southeast of Nippur to the area of

Uruk Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...

. It is considered to have been one of the most powerful

Chaldea Chaldea () refers to a region probably located in the marshy land of southern Mesopotamia. It is mentioned, with varying meaning, in Neo-Assyrian cuneiform, the Hebrew Bible, and in classical Greek texts. The Hebrew Bible uses the term (''Ka� ...

n tribes, next to Bīt-Iakin and Bīt-Dakkūri. As early as 732 BCE, it was ruled by prince Ukinzer (also known as Mukin-zeri or

Nabu-mukin-zeri Nabû-mukin-zēri, inscribed mdAG-DU-NUMUN, also known as Mukin-zēri,''Kinglist A'', BM 33332, iv 7. was the king of Babylon 731–729 BC. The Ptolemaic Canon gives his name as Χινζηρος. His reign was brought to its eventual end by the c ...

) who became a king of

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

in 732 BCE instead of Nabu-shum-ukin II whom he superseded. Later, Tiglath-pileser III devastated Bit-Amukani for the second time and defeated Mukin-zeri.

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 ...

(856-824) inscriptions note that two Chaldean leaders (Mušallim-Marduk of Bīt-Amukāni and Adīnu of Bīt-Dakkūri) carried silver, gold, tin, bronze, elephant tusks, elephant skins, ebony and sissoowood (or meskannu wood) as a tribute to the King of

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 ...

. Though unconfirmed, the economy of Bīt-Amūkāni probably relied on producing dates. Tiglath-pileser III described his genocide of Bit-Amukani with the words: "the land Bit-Amukani I threshed as with a threshing instrument. I took all of its people (and) its property to Assyria." Although Tiglath-pileser III's writings testify about conflict with Bīt-Amūkāni, Bīt-Amūkāni never went extinct but actually remained important through later Babylonian history.

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 ...

's inscriptions note that Bit-Amukani consisted of 39 walled cities and 350 villages. Its capital was Sapia (Assyrian ''Sapīya'' or ''Šapīya'').

List of Bīt-Amūkāni leaders

References

{{reflist Chaldea Ancient peoples of the Near East