Sumu-Epuh (reigned

Middle chronology The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...

) is the first attested king of

Yamhad Yamhad was an ancient Semitic kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo), Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC, and was ruled by the Yamhadite dynasty kings, who counted on both military and diplomacy to expand their realm. ...

( Halab). He founded the

Yamhad dynasty The Yamhad dynasty was an ancient Amorite royal family founded in c. 1810 BC by Sumu-Epuh of Yamhad who had his capital in the city of Aleppo. Started as a local dynasty, the family expanded its influence through the actions of its energetic rul ...

which controlled northern Syria throughout the 17th and 18th centuries BC.

Reign

Although Sumu-Epuh's early life or the way he ascended the throne is not known, he is considered the first king of Yamhad, and his realm included

Alalakh Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze Ag ...

and

Tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th&n ...

. Sumu-Epuh entered the historical records when he was mentioned by Yahdun-Lim of Mari, as one of the leaders who fought against him. Yahdun-Lim was an ambitious ruler who campaigned in the north claiming to have reached the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

, in spite of having a dynastic alliance with Yamhad to oppose

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the As ...

. Those campaigns caused Sumu-Epuh to support the Yaminite tribes centered at Tuttul against the Mariote king, who emerged victorious but was soon killed by his own son. Yahdun-Lim's death was followed by Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria's conquest of Mari.

War Against Assyria

Sumu-Epuh aided by

Khashshum Hassum (also given as Khashshum, Ḫaššum, Hassu, Hassuwa or Hazuwan) was a Hurrian city-state, located in southern Turkey most probably on the Euphrates river north of Carchemish. History Early Bronze The city was a vassal to Ebla, it was ment ...

attacked a kingdom in Zalmakum (a marshy region between the Euphrates and lower Balikh). Khashshum later shifted alliance and joined Shamshi-Adad, who surrounded Yamhad by alliances with the city of

Urshu Urshu, Warsuwa or Urshum was a Hurrian-Amorite city-state in southern Turkey, probably located on the west bank of the Euphrates, and north of Carchemish. History Urshu was a commercial city governed by a Lord ( EN). It was an ally of Ebla and ap ...

and king Aplahanda of

Charchemish Carchemish (Turkish: ''Karkamış''; or ), also spelled Karkemish ( hit, ; Hieroglyphic Luwian: , /; Akkadian: ; Egyptian: ; Hebrew: ) was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during its h ...

in the north, and by conquering Mari in the east (after the death of Yahdun-Lim) in c. 1796 BC, and installing his son Yasmah-Adad on its throne. Shamshi-Adad then concluded an alliance with Yamhad's rival to south Qatna, by marrying his son Yashmah-Adad to princess Beltum, the daughter of Ishi-Addu, king of Qatna. Sumu-Epuh welcomed

Zimri-Lim __NOTOC__ Zimri-Lim (Akkadian: ''Zi-im-ri Li-im'') was king of Mari c. 1775–1761 BCE. Zimri-Lim was the son or grandson of Iakhdunlim, but was forced to flee to Yamhad when his father was assassinated by his own servants during a coup. He ha ...

the heir of Mari who fled to Yamhad, in hope that he might be useful some day since in the eyes of the people of Mari, Zimri-Lim was the legitimate king. Shamshi-Adad's coalition attacked Aleppo but failed to take the city. Sumu-Epuh allied himself with the tribes of the

Suteans The Suteans (Akkadian: ''Sutī’ū'', possibly from Amorite: ''Šetī’u'') were a Semitic people who lived throughout the Levant, Canaan and Mesopotamia during the Old Babylonian period. Unlike Amorites, they were not governed by a king. They w ...

and the

Turukkaeans The Turukkaeans were a Bronze and Iron Age people of Mesopotamia and the Zagros Mountains, in South West Asia. Their endonym has sometimes been reconstructed as Tukri. History Middle Bronze Turukku was regarded by the Old Assyrian Empire as a ...

, who attacked the Assyrian king from the east and the south. Sumu-Epuh also conquered the Assyrian fortress Dur-Shamshi-Adad and renamed it Dur-Sumu-Epuh.

Death and legacy

Sumu-Epuh apparently was killed in c. 1780 BC during his fight with Shamshi-Adad, His successor was

Yarim-Lim I Yarim-Lim I, also given as Yarimlim, (reigned ) was the second king of the ancient Amorite kingdom of Yamhad in modern-day Aleppo, Syria. Family Parentage Yarim-Lim was the son and successor of the first king Sumu-Epuh and his queen Sumunna- ...

, his son by his queen Sumunna-Abi. The dynasty of Sumu-Epuh continued to hold power in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximation, approximate historical geography, historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology an ...

until c. 1344 BC.

References

Citations

{{reflist 19th-century BC births 18th-century BC deaths 19th-century BC rulers 18th-century BC rulers 19th-century BC people 18th-century BC people Kings of Yamhad People from Aleppo Amorite kings Yamhad dynasty Monarchs killed in action