Hassum

Hassum (also given as Khashshum, Ḫaššum, Hassu, Hassuwa or Hazuwan) was a Hurrian city-state,[1] located in southern Turkey most probably on the Euphrates river north of Carchemish.[2]

History

Early Bronze

The city was a vassal to Ebla, it was mentioned in the Tablets of Ebla as Hazuwan, and was governed by its own king.[3] It came under the influence of Mari for a short period of time in the 24th century BC,[4] before Irkab-Damu of Ebla regained influence over the area,[5] the city survived the Akkadians conquests in 2240 BC and flourished as a trade center in the first half of the 2nd millennia BC.[6]

Middle Bronze

In the beginning of 18th century BC, Hassum allied with Yamhad against Yahdun-Lim of Mari,[7] it later helped Yamhad against a kingdom in Zalmakum (a marshy region between the Euphrates and lower Balikh),[8], but then shifted alliance to Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria after he annexed Mari. The city sent him 1,000 troops to attack Sumu-Epuh of Yamhad.[9][10] Later, Yarim-Lim I of Yamhad brought Hassum under his hegemony and the city remained subjugated to Yamhad until the Hittite conquest.[11]

Hittite Conquest

In the course of his war against Yamhad, Hattusili I of the Hittites, having destroyed Alalakh and Urshu, headed toward Hassum in his sixth year (around 1644 BC, middle chronology). Yarim-Lim III of Yamhad sent his army under General Zukrassi, leader of the heavy-armed troops, accompanied by General Zaludis the commander of the Manda troops. They united with the army of Hashshum,[12] then the battle of Atalur mountain ensued (Atalur is located north of Aleppo not very far from the Amanus, it can be identified with the Kurd-Dagh Mountains).[13][14] Hattusili destroyed his enemies and moved on to burn and loot Hassum. The citizens rallied their forces three times against the Hittites,[15] but Hattusili sacked the city and seized the statues of the god Teshub, his wife Hebat and a pair of silver bulls that were the bulls of Teshub,[16] and carried them to Hattusa,[17] where they were kept in the temple of Arinna.[18] The king of Hassum was captured and humiliated, he was harnessed to one of the wagons used to transport the loot of his city and taken to the Hittite capital.[19]

Late Bronze

A century later, Hittite king Telipinu (fl. c. 1500 BC) mentions Hassum as his chief enemy and his destruction of the city.[2][20][21]

See also

References

Citations
  1. Roland de Vaux (1978). The early history of Israel, Volume 2. p. 65. ISBN 9780232512427.
  2. Trevor Bryce (10 September 2009). The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. p. 295. ISBN 9781134159086.
  3. Pelio Fronzaroli (1984). Lingua di Ebla e la linguistica semitica. p. 237.
  4. Mario Liverani (4 December 2013). The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. p. 202. ISBN 9781134750917.
  5. Horst Klengel (20 March 1992). Syria, 3000 to 300 B.C.: a handbook of political history. p. 28. ISBN 9783050018201.
  6. E. J. Peltenburg (2007). Euphrates River Valley Settlement: The Carchemish Sector in the Third Millennium Bc. p. 157. ISBN 9781842172728.
  7. Yuhong Wu (1994). A Political History of Eshnunna, Mari and Assyria During the Early Old Babylonian Period: From the End of Ur III to the Death of Šamši-Adad. p. 131.
  8. Sidney Smith (1956). Anatolian Studies: Journal of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara. Special number in honour and in memory of John Garstang, 5th May, 1876 - 12th September, 1956, Volume 6. p. 38.
  9. J. R. Kupper. The Cambridge Ancient History Northern Mesopotamia and Syria. p. 19.
  10. Jack M. Sasson (1969). The Military Establishments at Mari. p. 44.
  11. Gordon Douglas Young (1981). Ugarit in Retrospect: Fifty Years of Ugarit and Ugaritic. p. 7. ISBN 9780931464072.
  12. Robert Drews (1993). The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 B.C. p. 106. ISBN 0691025916.
  13. Shigeo Yamada (January 2000). The Construction of the Assyrian Empire. p. 105. ISBN 9004117725.
  14. Michael C. Astour (1967). Hellenosemitica: an ethnic and cultural study in west Semitic impact on Mycenaean Greece. p. 388.
  15. Trevor Bryce (21 August 2007). Hittite Warrior. p. 43. ISBN 9781846030819.
  16. Roland de Vaux (1978). The early history of Israel, Volume 2. p. 66. ISBN 9780232512427.
  17. J. R. Kupper. The Cambridge Ancient History Northern Mesopotamia and Syria. p. 38.
  18. William J. Hamblin (27 September 2006). Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. p. 287. ISBN 9781134520626.
  19. Trevor Bryce (1999). The Kingdom of the Hittites. p. 83. ISBN 9780199240104.
  20. Harry A. Hoffner; Gary M. Beckman; Richard Henry Beal; John Gregory McMahon (January 2003). Hittite Studies in Honor of Harry A. Hoffner Jr. p. 10. ISBN 9781575060798.
  21. Albrecht Götze (1980). Kizzuwatna and the problem of Hittite geography. p. 72. ISBN 9780404603229.

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