Erishum I or Erišu(m) I (inscribed ^m''e-ri-šu'', or ^mAPIN''-ìš'' in later texts but always with an initial ''i'' in his own seal, inscriptions, and those of his immediate successors, “he has desired,”) 1974–1935 BCE (

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 ...

),Some historians quote ca. 1939–1900 BCE (''after'' Amélie Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East, C. 3000-330 BCE, Volume 1, Routledge, 1996, p. 82). son of Ilu-shuma, was the thirty-third ruler 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 ...

to appear on the

Assyrian King List The king of Assyria (Akkadian language, 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 ...

. He reigned for forty years.Khorsabad kinglist. One of two copies of the Assyrian King ListSDAS Kinglist: sup>m''E-ri-š''''u'' DUMU ^mDINGIR''-šum-ma'', 'šá li-ma-ni''? ''-šu-ni'' 10+ 30 MU.MEŠ LUGAL''-ta'' DÙ''-uš''. which include him gives his reign length as only 30 years, but this contrasts with a complete list of his limmu, some 40, which are extant from tabletsKEL A (kt 92/k 193), a
CDLI
. recovered at Karum Kanesh. He had titled himself both as, " Ashur is king, Erishum is vice-regent"^d''a-šùr'' LUGAL ''i-ri-šu-um'' PA. and the, “Išši’ak Aššur”^ki (“steward of Assur”), at a time when

Assur Aššur (; AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; ''Āšūr''; ''Aθur'', ''Āšūr''; ', ), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian city-state (2025–1364 BC), the Midd ...

was controlled by an

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. Members of this group, called oligarchs, generally hold usually hard, but sometimes soft power through nobility, fame, wealth, or education; or t ...

of the patriarchs of the prominent families and subject to the “judgment of the city”, or ''dīn alim''. According to Veenhof, Erishum I’s reign marks the period when the institution of the annually appointed ''

limmu : In the history of Assyria, Limmu was an Assyrian eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic'' ...

'' (''eponym'') was introduced. The Assyrian King List observes of his immediate predecessors, “in all six kings known from bricks, whose limmu have not been marked/found”.

Biography

Trade and legal legacy

As Assur's merchant family firms vigorously pursued commercial expansion, Erišum I had established distant trading outposts in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

referred to as ''karums''. Karums were established along trade routes into Anatolia and included: Kanesh, Ankuwa,

Hattusa Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittites, Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey (originally Boğazköy) within the great ...

, and eighteen other locations that have yet to be identified, some of which had been designated as “warbatums” (satellites of and subordinate to the karums') The markets traded in: tin (inscribed AN.NA, Akkadian: ''annukum''),

textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. Originating from the Persian word for the gem, ''lāžward'', lapis lazuli is ...

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

antimony Antimony is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Sb () and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient t ...

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

, and

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

, in exchange for

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. Around 23,000 tablets have been found at Kanesh spanning a period of 129 years from the thirtieth year of Erishum I’s reign through to that of Puzur-Ashur II or possibly Naram-Sin with the earliest from level II including copies of his inscriptions. These were discovered in 1948 with three other similar though fragmentary lists and two copies of an inscription of Erishum I detailing the regulations concerning the administration of justice in Assur, including the possibility of plaintiffs to obtain a ''rābiṣum'' (''attorney'') to represent them: Following the example set by Erishum I's father ( Ilu-shuma), he had proclaimed tax exemptions, or as Michael Hudson has interpreted, "Erishum I proclaimed a ''remission of debts'' payable in silver, gold, copper, tin, barley, wool, down to chaff." This appears in an inscription on one side of a large broken block of alabaster,BM 115689, Ass. 16850. apparently described as a ''ṭuppu''. The shallow depression on its top has led some to identify it as a door socket.

Construction works

His numerous contemporary inscriptions commemorate his building of the temple for Assur, called “Wild Bull” with its courtyard and two beer vats and the accompanying curses to those who would use them for their intended purposes. Erishum I’s other civic constructions included the temple of

Ishtar Inanna is the List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and fertility. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akk ...

and that of Adad. He had exercised

eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

to clear an area from the Sheep Gate to the People’s Gate to make way for an enlargement of the city wall, so that he could boast that “I made a wall higher than the wall my father had constructed.” His efforts had been recalled by the later kings Šamši-Adad I, in his rebuilding dedication, and Šulmanu-ašared I, who noted that 159 years had passed between Erishum I’s work and that of Shamsh-Adad I, and a further 580 years until his own when a fire had gutted it.

Limmu during Erishum I's reign

The following is a list of the annually-elected ''

'' from the first full year of Erishum I's reign until the year of his death c. 1935 BC (

): 1974 BC Šu-Ištar, son of Abila
1973 BC Šukutum, son of Išuhum
1972 BC Iddin-ilum, son of Kurub-Ištar
1971 BC Šu-Anim, son of Isalia
1970 BC Anah-ili, son of Kiki
1969 BC Suitaya, son of Ir'ibum
1968 BC Daya, son of Išuhum
1967 BC Ili-ellat
1966 BC Šamaš-t.ab
1965 BC Agusa
1964 BC Idnaya, son of Šudaya
1963 BC Quqadum, son of Buzu
1962 BC Puzur-Ištar, son of Bedaki
1961 BC Laqip, son of Bab-idi
1960 BC Šu-Laban, son of Kurub-Ištar
1959 BC Šu-Belum, son of Išuhum
1958 BC Nab-Suen, son of Šu-Ištar
1957 BC Hadaya, son of Elali
1956 BC Ennum-Aššur, son of Begaya
1955 BC Ikunum, son of Šudaya
1954 BC Is.mid-ili, son of Idida
1953 BC Buzutaya, son of Išuhum
1952 BC Šu-Ištar, son of Amaya
1951 BC Iddin-Aššur, son of the priest
1950 BC Puzur-Aššur, the

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

maker
1949 BC Quqadum, son of Buzu
1948 BC Ibni-Adad, son of Susaya
1947 BC Irišum, son of Adad-rabi
1946 BC Minanum, son of Begaya
1945 BC Iddin-Suen, son of Šalim-ahum
1944 BC Puzur-Aššur, son of Idnaya
1943 BC Šuli, son of Uphakum
1942 BC Laqip, son of Zukua
1941 BC Puzur-Ištar, son of Erisua
1940 BC Aguwa, son of Adad-rabi
1939 BC Šu-Suen, son of S.illia
1938 BC Ennum-Aššur, son of Begaya
1937 BC Enna-Suen, son of Pussanum
1936 BC Ennanum, son of Uphakum
1935 BC Buzi, son of Adad-rabi

Inscriptions

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erishum 01 20th-century BC Assyrian kings