Puzur-Inshushinak (

Linear Elamite Linear Elamite was a writing system used in Elam during the Bronze Age between , and known mainly from a few extant monumental inscriptions. It was used contemporaneously with Elamite cuneiform and records the Elamite language. The French archae ...

''Puzur Sušinak''; Akkadian: , ''puzur₃-^dinšušinak'', also , ''puzur₄-^dinšušinak'' "

Inshushinak Inshushinak (also Šušinak, Šušun; Linear Elamite: ''Insušinak'', Cuneiform: '' dInšušinak'') was the tutelary god of the city of Susa in Elam. His name has a Sumerian etymology, and can be translated as "lord of Susa". He was associat ...

(is) protection"; ), also sometimes thought to read Kutik-Inshushinak in

Elamite Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Scythic, Median, Amardian, Anshanian and Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was recorded in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite i ...

, was a king of

Elam Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...

, and the last from the

Awan dynasty The Awan dynasty was the first dynasty of Elam of which very little of anything is known today—appearing at the dawn of recorded history. The dynasty corresponds to the early part of the Old Elamite period, first Paleo-Elamite period (dated to ...

according to the

Susa Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...

kinglist. He mentions his father's name as Šimpi-išhuk, which, being an Elamite name, suggests that Puzur-Inshuhinak himself was Elamite.

Early life

Under the

Akkadian Empire The Akkadian Empire () was the first known empire, succeeding the long-lived city-states of Sumer. Centered on the city of Akkad (city), Akkad ( or ) and its surrounding region, the empire united Akkadian language, Akkadian and Sumerian languag ...

(c. 2334-2154 BC), Elam had been a vassal since the time of Sargon. His father was Shinpi-khish-khuk, the crown prince, and most likely a brother of

Khita Khita, sometimes Hita in Elamite ( ''hi-ta-a''; ), was governor of Elam and the 11th king of the Awan Dynasty of Elam, around 2250 BC. He was most likely the grandfather of the famous Elamite ruler Kutik-Inshushinak, who succeeded him on the thr ...

. Kutik-Inshushinak's first position was as governor of Susa, which he may have held from a young age. Around 2150/2110 BC his father died, and he became crown prince in his stead.

Reign

Kutik-Inshushinak accordingly campaigned in the

Zagros mountains The Zagros Mountains are a mountain range in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. The mountain range has a total length of . The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of s ...

on their behalf. He was greatly successful as his conquests seem to have gone beyond the initial mission.

Akkadian period

In the inscription of the "Table au Lion", he appears as "Puzur-Inshushin(ak) Ensi (Governor) of

Shakkanakku Shakkanakku ( Sumerian: , GIR.NITA or ''šagina'', , ''Shakkanakku''), was an Akkadian-language title designating a military governor. Mari was ruled by a dynasty of hereditary Shakkanakkus which was originally set by the Akkadian Empire and gai ...

(Military Governor) of the country of

" ( , a title used by his predecessors

Eshpum Eshpum ( ''esh18-pum'', formerly read Geba; died 2255 BC) was an Akkadian Governor of Elam around 2269–2255 BC. Reign In the Akkadian Empire he was a vassal of king Manishtushu. While Eshpum was in charge of Elam, another Governor of Manistus ...

Epirmupi Epirmupi ( ''E-pir-mu-pil'', previously read E-nam-mu-de; died 2154 BC) was a ruler of Elam around 2199–2154 BC. His name is purely Akkadian, and he was in charge of Elam at the time of Rimush and Manishtushu, or early in the reign of Naram-S ...

and

Ili-ishmani Ili-ishmani ( '' i3-li2-isz-ma-ni''; ) was a ruler of Elam around 2150 BC. His name is purely Akkadian, and he was in charge of Elam at the time of Naram-Sin and/or Shar-Kali-Sharri, and probably their vassal. His title of "Military Governor" (' ...

as governors of the Akkadian Empire for the territory of Elam.Translation into French in In another inscription, he calls himself the "Mighty King of Elam", suggesting an accession to independence from the weakening

. Under King

Shar-Kali-Sharri Shar-Kali-Sharri (, ''Dingir, DShar-ka-li-Sharri''; died 2193 BC) reigned c. 2218–2193 BC (middle chronology) as the ruler of Akkadian Empire, Akkad. In the early days of cuneiform scholarship the name was transcribed as "Shar-Gani-sharri". In ...

, the

weakened, allowing Elam to claim independence. He conquered

Anshan Anshan ( zh, s=鞍山, p=Ānshān, l=saddle mountain) is an inland prefecture-level city in central-southeast Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, about south of the provincial capital Shenyang. As of the 2020 census, it was Liaoning' ...

and managed to unite most of Elam into one kingdom. Early on his inscriptions were in Akkadian but over time they came to be also in

. He built extensively on the citadel at Susa, and encouraged the use of the

script to write the

Elamite language Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Scythic, Median, Amardian, Anshanian and Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was recorded in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite i ...

. This may be seen as a reaction against Sargon's attempt to force the use of Akkadian. Most inscriptions in Linear Elamite date from the reign of Kutik-Inshushinak.

Ur III period

At the beginning of Ur III period, inscriptions of

Ur-Nammu Ur-Nammu (or Ur-Namma, Ur-Engur, Ur-Gur, Sumerian language, Sumerian: ; died 2094 BC) founded the Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, following several centuries of Akkadian Empire, Akkadian and Gutian period, Gutian rule. Thou ...

(r. 2112-2094 BC) refer to Puzur-Inshushinak. He conquered numerous cities in central Mesopotamia, including

Eshnunna Eshnunna (also Esnunak) (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Althou ...

and Akkad, and probably

Akshak Akshak ( Sumerian: , akšak) (pre-Sargonic - u4kúsu.KI, Ur III - akúsu.KI, Phonetic - ak-su-wa-ak) was a city of ancient Sumer, situated on the northern boundary of Akkad, sometimes identified with Babylonian Upi (Greek Opis). It is known, ba ...

. His conquests probably encroached considerably on Gutian territory, gravely weakening them, and making them unable to withstand the Neo-Sumerian revolt of

Utu-hengal Utu-hengal (, ; died 2112 BC), also written Utu-heg̃al, Utu-heĝal, and sometimes transcribed as Utu-hegal, Utu-hejal, Utu-Khengal, was one of the first native kings of Sumer after two hundred years of Akkadian and Gutian rule, and was at the ...

. It is now known that his reign in Elam overlapped with that of

of Ur-III, although the previous lengthy estimates of the duration of the intervening Gutian dynasty and rule of

of Uruk had not allowed for that synchronism. Ur-Nammu, who styled himself "King of Sumer and Akkad" is probably the one who, early in his reign, reconquered the northern territories that had been occupied by Puzur-Inshushinak, before going on to conquer

Death

His achievements were not long-lasting, for after his death the linear script fell into disuse, and Susa was overrun by the

Third dynasty of Ur The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Sumerian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 22nd and 21st centuries BC ( middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by ...

under

and his son

Shulgi Shulgi ( dšul-gi,(died c. 2046 BC) formerly read as Dungi) of Ur was the second king of the Third Dynasty of Ur. He reigned for 48 years, from (Middle Chronology). His accomplishments include the completion of construction of the Great ...

. Ur had held control over

after the demise of Puzur-Inshushinak, and they built numerous buildings and temples there. This control was continued by Shulgi as shown by his numerous dedications in the city-state. He also engaged in marital alliances, by marrying his daughters to rulers of eastern territories, such as

, Marhashi and Bashime. Concomitantly, Elam fell under control of the Shimashki dynasty (also Elamite of origin).

Attestations

Statue of Puzur-Inshushinak

The bottom part of a statue, probably representing Puzur-Inshushinak himself, is visible in the Louvre Museum, Sb 55. The statue lists the numerous victories of Puzur-Inshushinak over neighbouring territories, and particularly mentions the submission of the king of Shimashki who "kissed his feet". Fragment de statue, SB 55 (1095).jpg, Right side Fragment de statue, SB 55 (1096).jpg, Feet with sandals File:Inscriptions of the statue of Puzur-Inshushinak (left side).jpg, Inscriptions of the statue of Puzur-Inshushinak (left side)

Inscriptions

A possible mention of Puzur-Inshushinak appears in one of Puzer-Mama's inscriptions, but this is considered doubtful by Walter Sommerfeld and Piotr Steinkeller. File:Dedication by Puzu-Inshushinak in the Akkadian Language Louvre Museum Sb 160 (24421024595).jpg, Dedication by Puzu-Inshunishak in the Akkadian language. Louvre Museum, reference Sb 160. File:Bilingual Linear Elamite Akkadian inscription of king Kutik-Inshushinak Table of the Lion Louvre Museum Sb 17.jpg, Bilingual

- Akkadian inscription of king Puzur-Inshushinak " Ensi of

". Table of the Lion, Louvre Museum Sb 17. File:Bilingual Linear Elamite Akkadian inscription of king Kutik-Inshushinak Table of the Lion Louvre Museum Sb 17 (Linear Elamite detail).jpg,

inscription of king Kutik-Inshushinak, "Table du Lion", Louvre Museum Sb 17. File:Door socket with inscription Kutik-Inshushinak Ensi of Susa.jpg, Door socket with inscription "Puzur-Inshushinak Ensi of Susa" () File:Statue_of_the_Goddess_Narundi.jpg, Statue of goddess

Narundi Narundi ( dingir, dna-ru-ti) or Narunde was an Elamite religion, Elamite goddess worshiped in Susa. She is attested there roughly between 2250 BCE and 1800 BCE. Multiple inscriptions mention her, and it assumed she was a popular deity at the time. ...

dedicated by Puzur-Inshushinak, with inscriptions in Linear Elamite and in Akkadian,

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

File:Puzur-Inshushinak, Governor of Susa, on the statue of the Goddess Narundi.jpg, "Puzur-Inshushinak, Governor of Susa", on the statue of the Goddess Narundi File:Perforated stone Louvre Museum Sb6 Sb177 Black and white.jpg, Perforated stone, with Linear Elamite text. Louvre Museum Sb6 Sb177 File:Puzur-Inshushinak on the Awan Kings List.jpg, Puzur-Inshushinak on the Awan Kings List. History History 4Y1A6592 Louvre (24420942315).jpg, A God putting a foundation nail in the ground, protected by a Lama goddess, in front of a roaring lion. Coiled snake on top. Inscriptions in

and Akkadian. Time of Puzur-Inshushinak, circa 2100 BC,

. Cone elamite lineaire Sb17830.jpg, Clay cone with Linear Elamite text. Louvre Museum Sb 17830. Reign of Puzur-Inshushinak.

References

{{Early Rulers of Mesopotamia 22nd-century BC monarchs 21st-century BC monarchs Awan dynasty 3rd-millennium BC births 21st-century BC deaths