Išḫi-Addu or Ishi-Addu was king of

Qatna Qatna (modern: , Tell al-Mishrifeh; also Tell Misrife or Tell Mishrifeh) was an ancient city located in Homs Governorate, Syria. Its remains constitute a tell situated about northeast of Homs near the village of al-Mishrifeh. The city was an ...

in the first half of the 18th century BC. He is known for his correspondences with

Shamshi-Adad I Shamshi-Adad (; Amorite: ''Shamshi-Addu''), ruled 1813–1776 BC, was an Amorite warlord and conqueror who had conquered lands across much of Syria, Anatolia, and Upper Mesopotamia.Some of the Mari letters addressed to Shamsi-Adad by his son ca ...

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 ...

who was his closest ally. Qatna was at its height during Išḫi-Addu's reign, which was, however, plagued with revolts in the southern parts of the kingdom and with constant war with

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 ...

, Qatna's northern neighbour.

Reign

When his reign began is uncertain; he succeeded Amut-piʾel I, who is most probably his father. Išḫi-Addu is mainly known from his correspondences with Mari for a period of six years between c. 1783–1778 BC. Qatna was at its apex during the reign of Išḫi-Addu. In the South, he was the overlord of Hazor. In the West, he influenced the many kingdoms of Amurru which controlled the central

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

ine coast between

Byblos Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, Lebanese Arabic, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited ...

and

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 ...

acknowledged his authority. Išḫi-Addu was a close ally of

of Assyria who conquered Mari and installed his son Yasmah-Adad on its throne. The alliance between Qatna and Assyria was concluded shortly after Yasmah-Adad installation; it was cemented by the c. 1782 BC marriage of Dam-Ḫuraṣi, Išḫi-Addu's daughter, to Yasmah-Adad. The dowry of Qatna's princess was huge and Išhi-Addu demanded his vassals to contribute; a tablet discovered in Hazor contains orders from Qatna for the providing of large quantities of commodities such as textiles, objects made of precious metals and weapons. Since early in their history, Qatna and

shared a hostile relation; the situation worsened during Išḫi-Addu's reign and evolved into border warfare. Qatna occupied the city of

Parga Parga (, , ) is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the Preveza (regional unit), regional unit of Preveza in Epirus (region), Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on ...

in the region of

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

th for a while before

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 ...

of Yamhad retook it. In the south, Išḫi-Addu faced a general rebellion; after petitions by Qatna, Shamshi-Adad sent an army to help Išḫi-Addu dealing with the rebellion. Shamshi-Adad planned to send an army of 20,000 soldiers and for his son Yasmah-Adad to lend them leadership, but these plans could not be realized. Instead, a much more modest army was sent under command from generals who were put in the service of Išḫi-Addu in c. 1781 BC. The Assyrian troops avoided engaging Yamhad and did not participate in its war with Qatna while Išḫi-Addu took up residence in Qadeš to oversee the suppression of the rebellion, which apparently was supported by Yamhad. A fortress near lake Qattinah was named after the king "Dur-Išḫi-Addu". The archive of Mari contains many letters from Išḫi-Addu to Shamshi-Adad and his sons; in one of them, the king of Qatna tried to persuade Yasmah-Adad to join him in conquering three cities, telling his son in law that a big booty awaits them. There was also an incident where Yasmah-Adad detained messengers from Qatna causing Shamshi-Adad to write a sharp letter to his son ordering him to release the messengers. After four years in the service of Qatna, Shamshi-Adad ordered his troops back and it might be connected to a peace treaty between Assyria and Yarim-Lim I, son of Sumu-Epuh; Išḫi-Addu, who in the past declared that "even if Shamshi-Adad would conclude peace with Sumu-epuh, I will never make peace with Sumu-epuh, as long as I live!", was delivered a heavy blow. The sources of Mari are silent on how the king dealt with the situation that resulted from Shamshi-Adad's peace with Yamhad, and by the time they resumed mentioning Qatna in c. 1772 BC, Išḫi-Addu was dead and succeeded by his son

Amut-piʾel II Amut-piʾel II was a king of Qatna in the 18th century BC, during the Middle Bronze IIA. Family He was the son of king Ishi-Addu, and his own son and crown prince was named Jaḫad-Abum but it is not known if this heir succeeded due to lack of ...

Personality

Judging by his letters, the king had a great ability to whine whenever he felt insulted; shortly after Shamshi-Adad's death, tension between Išḫi-Addu and the Assyrian king's eldest son

Ishme-Dagan I Ishme-Dagan I () was a monarch of Ekallatum and Assur during the Old Assyrian period. The much later Assyrian King List (AKL) credits Ishme-Dagan I with a reign of forty years; however, it is now known from a limmu-list of eponyms unearthed at K ...

occurred. The king of Assyria asked for two horses from Qatna, and it seems that Išḫi-Addu asked for something in return, but Ishme-Dagan sent a small amount of the horses' real value and seems to not have met Išḫi-Addu's request causing the latter to write an angry message, which was apparently intercepted in Mari by Yasmah-Adad who had interest in keeping his brother and father in law at peace. His letters concerning his daughter also reveal a man capable of compassion; he wrote Yasmah-Adad: "''I am placing in your lap my flesh and my future. Your maid I have given you, may God prove her attractive to you. I am placing in your lap my flesh and my future, for this throne ('house') has now become yours and Mari's has now become mine''".

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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend 18th-century BC monarchs Amorite kings Qatna