Manishtushu (Man-ištušu) (, ''Ma-an-ish-tu-su''; died 2255 BC) was the third (or possibly second) king of 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 ...

, reigning 15 years c. 2270 BC until his death c. 2255 BC. His name means "Who is with him?". He was the son of

Sargon the Great Sargon of Akkad (; ; died 2279 BC), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC.The date of the reign of Sargon is highly unc ...

, the founder of the Akkadian Empire, and he was succeeded by his son, Naram-Sin who also deified him posthumously. A cylinder seal, of unknown provenance, clearly from the reign of Naram-Sin or later, refers to the deified Manishtushu i.e. "(For) the divine Man-istusu: Taribu, the wife of Lugal-ezen, had (this seal) fashioned". Texts from the later

Ur III period 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 ...

show offerings to the deified Manishtushu (spelled ᵈMa-iš-ti₂-su or ᵈMa-an-iš-ti₂-su). The same texts mention a town of ᵈMa-an-iš-ti₂-su where there was a temple of Manishtushu. This temple was known in the Sargonic period as Ma-an-iš-t -s^ki.

Biography

Manishtushu was the third king of the

according to Old Babylonian tradition though listed as the 2nd, after Sargon, in the Ur III recension of the Sumerian King List. He was the son of

Sargon of Akkad Sargon of Akkad (; ; died 2279 BC), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC.The date of the reign of Sargon is highly unc ...

, brother of

Enheduanna Enheduanna ( , also transliteration, transliterated as , , or variants; ) was the (high) priestess of the moon god Sin (mythology), Nanna (Sīn) in the Sumerian city-state of Ur in the reign of her father, Sargon of Akkad ( BCE). She was likely ...

Rimush Rimush (or Rimuš, ''Ri-mu-uš''; died 2270 BC) was the second king of the Akkadian Empire. He was the son of Sargon of Akkad. He was succeeded by his brother Manishtushu, and was an uncle of Naram-Sin of Akkad. Naram-Sin posthumously deified Sa ...

, and Shu-Enlil, and the father of Naram-Sin. Only one year name is known. An unprovenanced tablet at the

Iraq Museum The Iraq Museum () is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq. The Iraq Museum contains precious relics from the Mesopotamian, Abbasid, and Persian civilizations. It was loo ...

from the Umma region on epigraphic grounds reads "In the year that Dūr-Maništusu was established". From this it is also known that a "fortress of Manishtusu" was built though the location is unknown. He became king c. 2270 BC after the death of his brother

. Manishtushu, freed of the rebellions of his brother's reign, led campaigns to distant lands. According to a passage from one of his inscriptions, he led a fleet down the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

where 32 kings allied to fight him. Manishtushu was victorious and consequently looted their cities and silver mines, along with other expeditions to kingdoms along the Persian Gulf. He also sailed a fleet up the

Tigris River The Tigris ( ; see below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, before merging ...

that eventually traded with 37 other nations, conquered the city of

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' ...

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 rebuilt the destroyed temple of

Inanna 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 ...

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 ...

c. 2260 BC. In

and Pashime, in the coastal area of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, Manishtushu had governors installed for the Akkadian Empire:

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 ...

was in charge of Elam, while

Ilshu-rabi Ilshu-rabi, also Ilšu-rabi ( ''Il-shu-rabi''; died 2255 BC) was a ruler of Pashime around 2269–2255 BC. He was a vassal of the Akkadian Empire ruler Manishtushu. While Ilshu-rabi was in charge of Pashime, another Governor of Manistushu named ...

was in charge of Pashime. BM 91018 Macehead in the name of Manishtushu

An ellipsoidal axehead (copper or bronze) from the region of Elam (provenance is uncertain as it is in a private collection) reads "(For) Maništušu, king of Kiš, Māšum, the charioteer, his servant". This form of axehead is known from other examples and from Akkadian Empire iconography.
Molina, Manuel, "An axehead from Iran dedicated to Maništušu", ISIMU 25, pp. 163-176, 2022 A marble mace head found at

Sippar Sippar (Sumerian language, Sumerian: , Zimbir) (also Sippir or Sippara) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its ''Tell (archaeology), tell'' is located at the site of modern Tell ...

(BM 91018) reads "Man-istusu, king of the world, dedicated (this mace) to the goddess Belat-Aia". An alabaster mace head found at

Isin Isin (, modern Arabic language, Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq which was the location of the Ancient Near East city of Isin, occupied from the late 4th millennium Uruk period up until at ...

(IB 1878 - Iraqi Museum number unknown), in the shrine of

Ninurta Ninurta (: , possible meaning "Lord fBarley"), also known as Ninĝirsu (: , meaning "Lord fGirsu"), is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with farming, healing, hunting, law, scribes, and war who was f ...

of the Gula temple, reads "Man-istusu, king of the world, dedicated (this mace) to the goddess Ninisina.". Some inscriptions of the underlings of Manishtushu are known. A votive statue found at Susa reads "Man-istusu, king of the world: Espum, his servant, dedicated (this statue) to the goddess Narunte." and a copper spear point found at Assur (VA 8300) read "Man-istusu, king of the world: Azuzu, his servant, dedicated (this spear) to the god Be'al-SI.SL". Eshpum votive statue

Around 2255 BC, Manishtushu died, possibly assassinated by members of his own court, and was succeeded by his son Naram-Sin. This supposed manner of his death is based on an Old Babylonian period extispicy omen text which reads "if the heart is like the testicle(s) of a sheep, it is an omen of Manishtushu, whom his palace killed". He held the title "King of

Kish Kish may refer to: Businesses and organisations * KISH, a radio station in Guam * Kish Air, an Iranian airline * Korean International School in Hanoi, Vietnam People * Kish (surname), including a list of people with the name * Kish, a former ...

" in some of his inscriptions. The Manishtushu "standard inscription" is known from at least eight exemplars, statue fragments found at Nippur (CBS 19925), Sippar (BM 56630 and BM 56631), Susa (SB 51 and SB 15566), and Khafajah (KH II 162) as well as Old Babylonian tablet copies of Manishtushu inscriptions found at Nippur (CBS 13972 and NI 3200) and Ur (U 7725): Manishtushu Lugal Kish

An inscribed door socket was found at an unexcavated mound on the Adaim river near where it meets the Tigris river, Khara'ib Ghdairife. It read "Manistusu, king of Kis, builder of the temple of the goddess Ninhursaga in HA.A KI. Whoever removes this tablet, may Ninhursaga and Samas uproot his seed and destroy his progeny."

Cruciform Monument of Manishtushu

In the early days of ancient Near Eastern archaeology a cross shaped (from above) monument of Manishtushu (BM 91022), inscribed in twelve columns, was discovered in 1881 by

Hormuzd Rassam Hormuzd Rassam (; ; 182616 September 1910) was an Assyriologist and author. He is known for making a number of important archaeological discoveries from 1877 to 1882, including the clay tablets that contained the ''Epic of Gilgamesh,'' the world ...

at Sippar. The monument mainly deals with the refurbishment of the Ebabbar temple in Sippar. It was assumed to be a legitimate

Old Babylonian period The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to , and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty of Babyloni ...

copy of an Old Akkadian period monument. Later research showed that it was actually an Old Babylonian forgery. More recently, scholarship has dated the forging of the cruciform monument even later, to the Neo-Babylonian period.Finkel, Irving, and Alexandra Fletcher, "Thinking outside the box: The case of the Sun-God Tablet and the Cruciform Monument", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 375.1, pp. 215-248, 2016 Several Late Babylonian copies of the cruciform monument have also been found.

Manishtushu Obelisk

The diorite obelisk, damaged at the top and bottom, was found at the site of Susa in Elam in 1897 by

Jacques de Morgan Jean-Jacques de Morgan (3 June 1857 – 14 June 1924) was a French mining engineer, geologist, and archaeologist. He was the director of antiquities in Egypt during the 19th century, and excavated in Memphis and Dahshur, providing many dra ...

. The origin of the monument, considered a

kudurru A kudurru was a type of stone document used as a boundary stone and as a record of land grants to vassals by the Kassites and later dynasties in ancient Babylonia between the 16th and 7th centuries BC. The original kudurru would typically be stor ...

i.e. a land grant, is unknown though generally thought to be from Sippar based on locations mentioned in it and the fact that most texts carried back to Susa by the Elamites came from the Ebabbar temple of the god Shamash in Sippar. It is currently held in the

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 ...

(SB 20). It records the purchase by Manishtushu of eight parcels of land totaling 3430 hectares. The kudurru is 144 centimeters in height (including a small plaster base added to the bottom to stabilize it). It has four inscribed sides (A-50 centimeters wide, B-45 centimeters wide, C-52 centimeters wide, and D-39 centimeters wide) which include a total of 76 columns of text with some lines at the top lost.I. J. Gelb, P. Steinkeller, and R. M. Whiting Jr, "OIP 104. Earliest Land Tenure Systems in the Near East: Ancient Kudurrus", Oriental Institute Publications 104 Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 1989, 1991 ISBN 978-0-91-898656-
TextPlates
/ref> The text is written in

Akkadian language Akkadian ( ; )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218–280 was an East Semitic language that is attested ...

but with Sumerian orthography. This is the first written use of the talent measurement "3 talents 33 minas silver (as) the price of a field". A sample passage: A number of locations and personal names are mentioned on the long text of the obelisk. The fields being procured are noted as being around four cities, Dur-Sin, Girtab, Marda, and

, with only the location of Dur-Sin unknown in modern times. All lie in the general area 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 ...

Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...

, and Kish near the ancient course of the Euphrates river. One of the personal names mentioned on the obelisk is "(Son of) Ilshu-rabi, Governor of Pashime". It has been suggested that this refers to

, a vassal of Manishtushu and governor of Pashime. This is based on the discovery of a stele at Tell Abu Sheeja reading "For the God Shuda, Ilsu-rabi of Pashime, the soldier, brought in this statue. May the one who erases the name (on this inscription) not find an heir; may he not acquire a name (for himself)". File:P1050576 Louvre Oblélisque de Manishtusu rwk.JPG, Manishtushu Obelisk, Louvre Museum File:P1050578 Louvre Obélisque de Manishtusu détail rwk.JPG, Detail of inscription on the obelisk File:Ilshu-rabi (name).jpg, The name "Ilshu-rabi" on the stele.

Miscellaneous fragments

Various bits and pieces of the statues and monuments of Manishtushu have been found. They are identified by contemporary inscriptions, by added later inscriptions (mostly in the Elamite language where the name was rendered Ma-an-iš-du-uz-z) and, somewhat more controversial, on stylistic and iconographic bases. An example is the combination of fragment SB 49 (stool) and SB 50 (legs), held at the Louvre Museum, sometimes referred to as the "throne of Manishtushu". It was found at Susa and carried an Elamite language inscription by ruler

Shutruk-Nahhunte Shutruk-Nakhunte (sometimes Nahhunte) was king of Elam from about 1184 to 1155 BC (middle chronology), and the second king of the Shutrukid Dynasty. Elam amassed an empire that included most of Mesopotamia and western Iran. Under his command ...

(c. 1184 to 1155 BC) who carried it away from Eshnunna after a raid.Amiet, P., "Les Statues de Manishtusu, Roi d'Agadé", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 97–109, 1972 Another exemplar, found at Susa and inscribed a millennium later by Shutruk-Nakhunte is the statue composed of fragments fragments SB 47 (body) + SB 9099 (hands) said by Shutruk-Nakhunte to be of Manishtushu.

Biography

Cruciform Monument of Manishtushu

Manishtushu Obelisk

Miscellaneous fragments

See also

References

Further reading