Marhashi

Marhaši ( Sumerian: ''Mar-ḫa-ši ^Ki'' , ''Marhashi'', ''Marhasi'', ''Parhasi'', ''Barhasi''; in earlier sources Waraḫše) was an important ancient Near East polity situated in the region near Elam. It is generally assumed, though not certain, that the Paraḫšum/Baraḫšum ( ''pa2-ra-ah-shum2-ki'') of the Akkadian Empire period referred to Marhaši. This equivalence has been challenged. It is known from 3rd millennium BC and early 2nd millennium BC Mesopotamian sources. Its precise location has not been identified but the
current thinking places it on the eastern side of the Iranian plateau.

The language of Marhaši is considered to be different from that of Simaški, and only minimally Elamite-related. Marhaši is known to have been the source of a number
exotic trade goods for Mesopotamia including the "bear of Marhaši". Other trade goods were lapis lazuli and carnelian. One lexical list includes a mention of "Carnelian which is speckled with yellow, Marḫaši Carnelian is its name".

History

Assuming the equivalence between Paraḫšum/Baraḫšum and Marhaši is correct,
Marhaši was mentioned by two Akkadian Empire rulers. The empire's founder Sargon the Great took the title "conqueror of Elam and Parahsum". In inscriptions
celebrating his military victories in the east are mentioned "Ulu gene alof Parahsum", "Dagu, brother of the kin of Parahsum", "Sidga'u, general of Parahsum",
and "Kundupum, judge of Parahsum".Douglas R. Frayne, The Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2334–2113), University of Toronto Press, 1993, After a rebellion the second ruler of Akkad, Rimush, reported
defeating king Abalgamash of Paraḫšum and capturing his general Sidgau saying
"Zahara and Elam had assembled in Paraḫšum for battle, but he (Rimus) was victorious (over them) and struck down 16,212 men (and) took 4,216 captives". In the aftermath
he "he conquered the cities of Elam, destroyed their walls, and tore out the foundations of Paraḫšum rom the land of Elam. The battle took place "in etwen (the cities of) wn and usa by the idle Ri er. The booty of this victory included
"Diorite, dusu-stone and (various) stones which I took ... as booty of Paraḫšum". A
number of bowls and vases were found in Nippur inscribed that they
were booty from Paraḫšum, dedicated to the god Enlil. Akkadian empire ruler Naram-Sin took as a title "commander of all the land of Elam, as far as Paraḫšum, and the land of bartum as far as the Cedar Forest".

King Shulgi of the Ur-III dynasty gave his daughter Liwwir-mittašu, in marriage to king of Marhaši in his 18th year "Year Liwwir-mittašu the king's daughter was elevated to the ladyship in Marhaši".Ebeling, E. and Meissner, B., "Reallexikon der Assyriologie (RIA-2), Berlin, 1938 One of the
generals (šagina) of Shulgi's successor Amar-Sin, a Habruša, is attested as
leading "troops from Marhaši" in Amar-Sin's 5th regnal year. The final Ur III ruler, Ibbi-Sin,
in a text reports fashioning for the god Nanna "an image of a Meluhhan speckled "dog" that had been brought to him as tribute from Marhasi. He edicated (it) for [hs (own) life. The name of that speckled "dog" (is): "May he catch (the enemy)". In one Ur III text a "Libanašgubi, messenger of Libanukšabaš, governor of Marhaši" is listed.Dahl, Jacob L., "Receipts: The Primary Documents", Ur III Texts in the Schøyen Collection, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 95-161, 2020 Another text notes that a royal gift was brought by one Banana a "man of Marhashi".

Hammurabi of Babylonia's 30th year name was

On a fragment from a statue of Kurigalzu II found at Susa, thought to be part
of the booty from the Elamite raid of Mesopotamia under ruler Kidin-Hutran (c. 1224 BC), was found the inscription "Kurigalzu, the king of the universe, who has struck Susa and Elam as far as the border of ar��aši". The mention of Marhaši is an anachronism, typical in Kassite inscriptions, cribbed from Akkadian Empire texts.

The name Marḫaši may appear in a damaged tablet where it designates an area to the north and east conquered by Neo-Babylonian Empire ruler Nebuchadrezzar II (605–562 BC) though that restoration is uncertain.

In literary tradition

In the purely literary Sumerian text The Cursing of Akkad, composed during the
later Ur III period and which blamed the fall of civilization on the Akkadian Empire,
it lists are one of the benefits of having the blessing of Inanna
"That even Marhaši would be reentered on the (tribute) rolls".

In the much later Sumerian literary composition Great Revolt against Naram-Sin one of the many kings who revolted against him was a Hubshumkibi of Marhaši.

In the Sumerian royal hymn for Ishbi-Erra (c. 2017— 1986 BC) ruler of the city-state Isin in the Isin-Larsa period it states "From Basime on the sea-coast (...) to the border of; from Urua, the bolt of Elam (...) to the border of Marhaäi" as
being the territory of Šimaški ruler Kindattu, where Urua - Marhasi defines
an east–west axis and Bašime (Pashime, Pašime) - Zabsali defines a south to north axis. Pašime is now know to be at the site of Tell Abu Sheeja.

In a much later Old Babylonian period Sumerian literary composition the Early Dynastic
period Lugal-Anne-Mundu of Adab mentions Marhaši among the seven provinces of his empire, between the names of Elam and Gutium: "the Cedar Mountains, Elam, Marḫaši, Gutium, Subartu, Amurru, Sutium, or the Eanna Mountain". The composition also states that he confronted Migir-Enlil, the governor (ensi) of Marhashi, who had led a coalition of 13 rebel chiefs against him.

In the fragmentary early 2nd millennium BC Sumerian myth text Enki and the World Order, the god Enki rebuilds the world after a catastrophe. It includes the phrase "He cleansed and purified the land of Dilmun. He placed Ninsikila in charge of it. He gave ...... for the fish spawn, ate its ...... fish, bestowed palms on the cultivated land, ate its dates. ...... Elam and Marhaci ....... ...... to devour ....... The king endowed with strength by Enlil destroyed their houses, demolished (?) their walls. He brought their silver and lapis-lazuli, their treasure, to Enlil, king of all the lands, in Nibru"

Location

Early on Marhaši was speculated to be east of the Diyala river and in the mountains northwest or north of Elam. This was based on an inscription of a little known early Old Babylonian period ruler of Der, Ilum-muttabbil,
who claimed defeating the armies of Anshan, Elam, and Simaski, in
alliance with Marhaši.

In modern times the consensus has shifted to a location on the eastern side of the
Iranian plateau (holding Susa and Anshan), acting as an intermediate between
Mesopotamia and Meluhha further to the east.Steinkeller, Piotr, "The Question of Marḫaši: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of Iran in the Third Millennium B.C." Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 72, no. 2, pp. 237-265, 1982

Rulers of Marhaši

The main rulers known from inscriptions are:

# Abalgamash ( revolted against Rimush, king of Akkad)
# Hupšumkipi (contemporary with Naram-Sin of Akkad)
# Hashibatal (contemporary with Shulgi king of Ur)
# Arwilukpi (contemporary with Amar-Sin king of Ur)
# Libanu-ugšabaš (contemporary with Amar-Sin king of Ur)

Artifacts

File:Abalgamash Lugal Paraahshum-ki.jpg, "Abalgamash, King of Marhashi" ( ''Abalgamash Lugal Paraahshum-ki'') on one of the Rimush inscriptions (Louvre Museum, AO 5476)
File:Prisoner of the Akkadian Empire period possibly Warka ancient Uruk LOUVRE AO 5683.jpg, Prisoner of the Akkadian Empire, nude, fettered, drawn by nose ring, with pointed beard and vertical braid. Fragment of a vase possibly from Warka, ancient Uruk. Louvre museum.
File:Jiroft_culture_vase.jpg, The area of Jiroft and the Jiroft culture may correspond to the ancient country of Marhashi.

Some scholars link it with the Jiroft culture. One proposal is to identify the kingdom of Marhaši with Ancient Margiana on the basis of the Akkadian textual and archaeological evidence.
rancfort H.-P., Tremblay X., "Marhaši et la civilisation de l'Oxus", Iranica Antiqua, vol. XLV, pp. 51–224, 2010 doi: 10.2143/IA.45.0.2047119.

See also

*Cities of the ancient Near East
*Jiroft culture
*Meluhha
*Aratta
*Hamazi

References

{{Reflist

Further reading

ertrand Lafont, "The Toponym Ligri^ki", Cuneiform Digital Library Bulletin, 2002

lmstead, A. T., "The Babylonian Empire", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 35.2, pp. 65-100,1919
*Potts, D. T., "Total prestation in Marhashi-Ur relations", Iranica Antiqua 37, pp. 343-357, 2002
*Steinkeller, Piotr, "Marḫaši", RLA 7, pp. 381–382, 1989
*Steinkeller, Piotr, "New Light on Marhaši and Its Contacts with Makkan and Babylonia", Journal of Magan Studies 1, pp. 1–17, 2006
*Steinkeller, Piotr, "New Light on Marhaši and Its Contacts with Makkan and Babylonia", in Aux marges de l’archéologie : Hommage à Serge Cleuziou. Travaux de la Maison René-Ginouvès 16, edited by J. Giraud, and G. Gernez, Paris: Èd De Boccard, pp. 261–74, 2012
*Steinkeller, P., "Marhaši and Beyond: The Jiroft Civilization in a Historical Perspective", in B. Cerasetti, C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky and B. Genito (eds), ‘My Life is Like a Summer Rose’. Marizio Tosi e l’archaeologia come modo di vivere. Papers in Honour of Maurizio Tosi for His 70th Birthday (BAR International Series 2690), pp. 691–707, 2014

Chen, Yanli, and Yuhong Wu., "The Names of the Leaders and Diplomats of Marḫaši and Related Men in the Ur III Dynasty", Cuneiform Digital Library Journal 2017 (1), 2017
*Zadok, Ran, "Issues in the Historical Geography and the Ethno-Linguistic Character of the Zagros and Adjacent Regions", A Question of Identity: Social, Political, and Historical Aspects of Identity Dynamics in Jewish and Other Contexts, edited by Dikla Rivlin Katz, Noah Hacham, Geoffrey Herman and Lilach Sagiv, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, pp. 71-110, 2019

Elam
Former kingdoms