Amurru: From Warlords to Royalty

Amurru was always a troublesome place. It sat on the border of the Bronze Age empires of the Hittites, New Kingdom Egypt, and Mitanni, as well as sharing a border with the wealthy minor kingdom of Ugarit. Amurru began as an inconsequential backwater filled with 'apiru brigands and refugees to a significant kingdom in Bronze Age Syria. It began under Abdi-Ashirta - an 'apiru warlord - and continued under his capable son Aziru - also an 'apiru warlord - but by the time of the 13th century the Amurrite kings were the in-laws of the Great King of the Hittites. Amurru left no historical documents of it's own but using the letters, treaties, and other texts of it's neighbors we can trace the history of this curious kingdom from it's origins until our sources trail off in the Bronze Age collapse. We don't know what happened to this kingdom. It fell apart some time in the 11th century, but it's final years remain a mystery. It was the site of the famous battle between Ramses III and the Sea Peoples but there is no mention of a kingdom of Amurru. As for the rest of it's history it's filled with drama, intrigue, and a whole cast of interesting characters. Let's dig in...

#amurru #ancienthistory #archaeology #syria #bronzeage #hittites #ugarit

Some Sources:

Itamar Singer, "A Concise History of Amurru," in Amurru Akkadian: A Linguistic Study. Volume 2. Edited Shlomo Izre'el. Leiden: Brill, 1991:135-195.

Itamar Singer, "Maḫḫaza, King of Amurru," in The Calm Before the Storm: Selected Writings of Itamar Singer on the Late Bronze Age in Anatolia and the Levant. Atlanta: SBL, 2011: 287-294.

Itamar Singer, "The “Land of Amurru” and the “Lands of Amurru” in the Šaušgamuwa Treaty," Iraq 53 (1991): 69-74.

Elena Devecchi, "Aziru, Servant of Three Masters?" Altorientalische Forschungen 39 (2012)

William Moran trans. The Amarna Letters. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press: 2002.

Gary Beckman ed. Hittite Diplomatic Texts, Second edition. Atlanta: SBL, 1999.

Trevor Bryce, Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Music: Epidemic Sound

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