Shamshi-Adad IV
| Shamshi-Adad IV | |
|---|---|
| King of Assyria | |
| King of theMiddle Assyrian Empire | |
| Reign | 1054–1050 BC |
| Predecessor | Eriba-Adad II |
| Successor | Ashurnasirpal I |
| Issue | Ashurnasirpal I |
| Father | Tiglath-Pileser I |
Šamši-Adad IV,inscribedmdšam-ši-dIM,was the king ofAssyria,1054/3–1050 BC, the 91st to be listed on theAssyrian Kinglist.[i 1][i 2]He was a son ofTukultī-apil-Ešarra I(1114–1076 BC), the third to have taken the throne, after his brothersAšarēd-apil-EkurandAshur-bel-kala,and he usurped the kingship from the latter’s son, the short-reigningErība-Adad II(1055–1054 BC). It is quite probable that he was fairly elderly when he seized the throne.
Biography
[edit]The Assyrian kinglist recalls that he “came up fromKarduniaš(i.e.Babylonia). He ousted Erība-Adad, son of Aššur-bêl-kala, seized the throne and ruled for 4 years.” The king ofBabylonwasAdad-apla-iddina,who had been installed more than a decade earlier by Šamši-Adad’s brother, Ashur-bel-kala. The extent to which he was instrumental in the succession is uncertain but it seems that Šamši-Adad may have earlier sought refuge in exile in the south.[1]
TheSynchronistic Kinglist[i 3]gives Ea-, presumed to beEa-mukin-zēri(c. 1008 BC), as his Babylonian contemporary,[2]an unlikely pairing as he was likely to have been concurrent with the latter kings of the 2nd dynasty ofIsinduring its dying throes. The political events of his reign are obscure and his fragmentary inscriptions are limited to commemorating renovation work carried out on theIštartemple atNinevehand thebīt nāmeru,“gate-tower,” atAššur.[3]
He would be succeeded by his son,Aššur-naṣir-apli I.
Inscriptions
[edit]References
[edit]- ^J. A. Brinkman (1968).A Political History of Post-Kassite Babylonia, 1158–722 BC.Pontificium Institutum Biblicum. pp. 143–144.
- ^Heather D. Baker (2008). "Šamši-Adad IV".Reallexikon der Assyriologie: Prinz, Prinzessin - Samug, Bd. 11.Walter De Gruyter. p. 636.
- ^D. J. Wiseman (1975). "XXXI: Assyria & Babylonia 1200–1000 BC". In I. E. S. Edwards; C. J. Gadd; N. G. L. Hammond; S. Solberger (eds.).The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume II, Part 2, History of the Middle East and the Aegean Region, 1380–1000 BC.Cambridge University Press. p. 469.
Further reading
[edit]- Albert Kirk Grayson (1991).Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC I (1114–859 BC).University of Toronto Press.