Sangara or Sangar was a king of

Carchemish Carchemish ( or ), also spelled Karkemish (), was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during its history the city was independent, but it was also part of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo-Assyrian ...

. He belonged to the House of Suhi of Carchemish, and ruled from 870 to 848 BC. Until recently, he was known only from

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 ...

n sources, but in 2015 he was also identified in Hieroglyphic Luwian by the Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition at Karkemish.

History

Sangara likely accessed the throne of Carchemish only a short time after king Katuwa known from

Hieroglyphic Luwian Luwian (), sometimes known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient language, or group of languages, within the Anatolian languages, Anatolian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. The ethnonym Luwian comes from ''Luwiya ...

sources. Prior to a discovery of new evidence in 2015, he was only mentioned in texts of the Assyrian kings

Ashurnasirpal II Ashur-nasir-pal II (transliteration: ''Aššur-nāṣir-apli'', meaning " Ashur is guardian of the heir") was the third king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 883 to 859 BC. Ashurnasirpal II succeeded his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II. His son and s ...

and

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations o ...

. First, Sangara was a tributary of Ashurnasirpal II. In 870 BC (alternative dating: 882 BC) the Assyrian king crossed the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

and first turned against Carchemish. Facing the Assyrian army Sangara capitulated quickly and paid a rich tribute because Carchemish was one of the wealthiest

Syro-Hittite states The states called Neo-Hittite, Syro-Hittite (in older literature), or Luwian-Aramean (in modern scholarly works) were Luwian and Aramean regional polities of the Iron Age, situated in southeastern parts of modern Turkey and northwestern parts of ...

of that time. He also had to send his chariotry, cavalry and infantry to support the Assyrian army. In return Sangara and Carchemish were spared by the Assyrians.

Rebellion against Assyria

In 858 BC Sangara participated in an anti-Assyrian coalition against Shalmaneser III which was formed by Aḫuni of Bit Adini, Hayyanu of Sam'al, Šuppiluliuma of

Pattin Pattin (also known as Pattina, Patina, Unqu and Unqi), was an ancient Luwian Syro-Hittite states, Syro-Hittite state at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. It was known to the Assyrians as Unqi and Aramaeans as Unqu. It was located at the no ...

and himself. They attacked the Assyrian army on the territory of Sam'al but were repelled. The uprising of Carchemish continued until Shalmaneser III destroyed the fortified city of Sazabu on the territory of Carchemish in 857 BC. Sangara capitulated and paid rich tribute. In 853 BC, Sangara paid tribute to the Assyrians again. In 849 BC, Sangara tried uprising again, this time forming an alliance with Hadram of

Bit Agusi Bit Agusi or Bit Agushi (also written Bet Agus) was an ancient Aramaean Syro-Hittite state, established by Gusi of Yakhan at the beginning of the 9th century BC. It had included the cities of Arpad, Nampigi (Nampigu) and later on Aleppo Arpad wa ...

. Shalmaneser III invaded the state of Carchemish, destroying and burning several cities in Sangara's dominion. Sangara capitulated but not for long. In 848 BC, Hadram and he uprose again Shalmaneser III reacted by capturing and destroying 97 of Sangara's cities. For the period after 848 BC nothing more is known about Sangara but it is likely stayed on his throne as a faithful vassal of the Assyrian king as his ally Hadram of Bit Agusi did.Trevor Bryce: ''The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History''. Oxford, New York 2012, p. 234 f.

Literature

* Trevor Bryce: ''The World of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History''. Oxford University Press: Oxford, New York 2012.

References

{{end box Syro-Hittite kings of Carchemish 9th-century BC monarchs