by Eckart Frahm
Trombley, F.R. and Watt, J.W. 2000. The Chronicle of Pseudo‐Joshua the Stylite, Translated Texts for Historians 32, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Tvedtnes, J.A. 1981. “The Origin of the Name ‘Syria’,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 40, 139–40.
Van Rompay, L. 1994. “Some Preliminary Remarks on the Origins of Classical Syriac as a Standard Language,” in: G. Goldenberg and Sh. Raz (eds.), Semitic and Cushitic Studies, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 70–89.
Van Rompay, L. 2000. “Past and Present Perceptions of Syriac Literary Tradition,” Hugoye 3, 71–103.
Walker, J.T. 2006. The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq, Berkley: University of California Press.
Walker, J.T. 2006–7. “The Legacy of Mesopotamia in Late Antique Iraq: The Christian Martyr Shrine at Melqi (Neo‐Assyrian Milqia),” ARAM 18–19, 483–508.
Weltecke, D. 2010. “Michael the Syrian and Syriac Orthodox Identity,” in: ter Haar Romeny (ed.), 115–25.
Wilmshurst, D. 2000. The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 582, Louvain: Peeters.
Wright, W. and McLean, N. 1898. The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphili, 265–339, Bishop of Caesarea, London: Cambridge University Press.
Wüstenfeld, F. 1866–73. Jacūt’s geographisches Wörterbuch, Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus.
Yonan, G. 1978. Assyrer heute. Kultur, Sprache, Nationalbewegung der aramäisch sprechenden Christen im Nahen Osten. Verfolgung und Exil, Hamburg: Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker.
Further Reading
For a general introduction to the Syriac heritage, one can now consult the recently published encyclopedic dictionary that appeared as GEDSH. Here one will find entries, with bibliography, for most of the authors and literary works associated with the classical Syriac tradition as well as broader, more conceptual entries. Macuch 1976 is an indispensable supplement for authors and literature belonging to the later period.
The standard discussions of the use of the term “Assyrian” within the Syriac context are Fiey 1965; de Mauroy 1976; Heinrichs 1993; De Kelaita 1994; Salvesen 1998: 157–8; Odisho 1988; 2001: 3–18; Joseph 2000: 1–32; Becker 2008; Coakley, “Assyrians,” in GEDSH, 45. Becker 2015 is an essential publication on this topic, but it appeared after this essay had been submitted. In addition, Coakley 1992 (on the Anglican Mission in Urmia) and Murre‐van den Berg 1999 (on the development of Literary Urmia Aramaic) provide essential background information.
Notes
1 For readers less familiar with the field of Syriac studies, a brief Appendix follows this essay that lays out the various churches that belong to the Syriac heritage.
2 Other terms are occasionally used as well. The Syriac Orthodox scholar Jacob of Edessa (d. 708), for instance, refers to the Syriac literary tradition as “(Meso‐)potamian (nahrāyā), i.e., Edessene (ʾurhāyā), or more specifically so to say, Syriac (suryāyā)” (Phillips 1869: 11*.1–2 [Syriac text], 9 [English translation]). See Van Rompay 2000: 78.
3 The ideology behind ʾārāmāyā and suryāyā was elaborated upon by the Syriac Orthodox patriarch and historian Michael the Great (d. 1199) in an appendix to his world chronicle dedicated to the topic of “the kingdoms that have come about in ancient times from our people (ʾumthā), the Arameans (ʾārāmāyē), i.e., sons of Aram, (who) were called Syrians (suryāyē), i.e., sons of Syria” (ed. Chabot 1899–1910: 3.442–7 [French translation]; 4.748–51 [Syriac text]). See Weltecke 2010.
4 There has been a good deal of confusion in the secondary literature concerning the biography and identity of Bar ʿAli, for which see now Butts in GEDSH, 53–4 and, with more detail, Butts 2009.
5 In contrast, Protestant missionaries in Urmia did not use the name Assyrian (Murre‐van den Berg 1999: 37).
6 This connection may well have been based in the Biblical text since the Persian king is called the “king of Assyria” in Ezra 6:22.
7 It should be noted that Becker (2008) has questioned this “folkloric continuity between the Neo‐Assyrians and the late Sasanian period” (409) preferring to see the Syriac History of Qardagh as a deliberate “Assyrianizing” in which “Syriac‐speaking Christians in Mesopotamia employed the Assyria they found in the Bible as well as in Greek sources translated into Syriac as a model for understanding themselves and their place in the world” (398).
8 For earlier usages in the West, see Fiey 1965: 146–8; Heinrichs 1993: 107–8.
9 The Armenian language does not distinguish between Assyrian and Syrian/Syriac, using the adjective asori for both.
10 Southgate accepted this claim, arguing that Syriac Orthodox Christians from the Mardin area were “undoubtedly descendants of the Assyrians and not of the Jews” (Missionary Register 1843: 129). He thus set up an (implicit) contrast with arguments by A. Grant (1841), who claimed that the Church of the East Christians were one of the ten “lost tribes” of Israel (see also Kawerau 1958: 158 n. 290; Heinrichs 1993: 110 n. 20).
11 I would like to thank J.F. Coakley for suggesting this.
12 For possible 16th‐ to 18th‐century precursors to this construction of identity, see Murre‐van den Berg 2004. See also ter Haar Romeny 2010.
13 The development of ʾasurāyā is not directly related to the likely etymological connection between Assyria and Syria, which has generated a good deal of secondary literature; see, e.g., Nöldeke 1871a; 1871b; Fiey 1965: 142–6; Tvedtnes 1981; Frye 1992; Heinrichs 1993: 102–8; Joseph 1997; Odisho 2001: 13–14; Parpola 2004: 16–21. To the traditional discussion, one can add a relatively new datum from the Phoenician‐Luwian bilingual from Çineköy (editio princeps in Tekoǧlu and Lemaire 2000), in which Phoenician ʾšr “Assyria” is paralleled by a Luwian form beginning with a sibilant and no vowel (see Lanfranchi 2005; Rollinger 2006a; 2006b).
14 The other branch, the Ancient Church of the East, may have shunned the term “Assyrian” to avoid a nationalistic‐sounding name in Iraq (Brock and Coakley, in GEDSH, 100).
15 This is not to be confused with the periodical of the same name that was later published in Tbilisi.
16 I would like to thank Sargon Donabed (Roger Williams University) for kindly providing the Syriac text of the poem. The English translation is mine and departs in places from previous translations.
17 It should be noted that Fāʾiq also promoted an Aramean identity.
18 The Arabic text was originally published in al‐Majalla al‐baṭriyarkīya 1981, 386–9. An English translation, along with the Arabic, is available on the Syriac Orthodox Resources website at http://sor.cua.edu/Personage/PZakka1/19811129Name.html (accessed 15 May 2012).
List of Assyrian Kings
Eckart Frahm
The list below gives the names and (if known) the regnal years and dates of the Assyrian kings, preceded by a number that indicates their position within the so‐called Assyrian King List (AKL), a Neo‐Assyrian chronographic text attested on clay tablets from Ashur, Dur‐Šarrukin, and Nineveh. Concerning the period following the reign of Aššur‐dan I (ruler no. 83), the AKL is largely reliable, and the dates given for the kings from Tiglath‐pileser I (no. 87) onwards can be determined with complete accuracy, thanks to a reference in an entry of the Neo‐Assyrian Eponym Chronicle to the solar eclipse of 763 BCE. For the preceding period, however, calendrical problems (see below note 5), and the fact that the data in the AKL from Aššur‐dan I backwards are occasionally contradictory or incomplete, or show some discrepancies with other records, have thus far prevented a consensus on the exact dates of the Assyrian kings who ruled during this time.
The list below begins with rulers from the Old Assyrian period. Earlier (but presumably not independent) rulers of Ashur, attested in a variety of sources, include Ititi and Ilaba‐andul, both apparently to be dated to the (late) Sargonic period or its immediate aftermath (23rd or 22nd century BCE), and a governor by the name of Zarriqum, who was active during the reign of the Ur III monarch Amar‐Suen (2044–2
036 BCE). A brief discussion of these leaders is found in Chapter 2.
271 Sulili/Sulê (= Ṣilulu?)
28 Kikkiya
29 Akiya
30 Puzur‐Aššur I
31 Šalim‐aḫum
32 Ilušuma
33 Erišum I (40) ca. 1974–19352
34 Ikunum (14) ca. 1934–1921
35 Šarru‐kin (Sargon I) (40) ca. 1920–1881
36 Puzur‐Aššur II (8) ca. 1880–1873
37 Naram‐Sin (44/54?) ca. 1872–1829?
38 Erišum II (20?) ca. 1828?–1809
39 Šamši‐Adad I (33) ca. 1808–1776
40 Išme‐Dagan I (40) ca. 1776–1737
40a Mut‐Aškur3
40b Rimuš
40c Asinum(?)
40d Puzur‐Sîn (= no. 51?)
41 Aššur‐dugul (6)
42 Aššur‐apla‐idi4
43 Naṣir‐Sîn
44 Sîn‐namir
45 Ipqi‐Ištar
46 Adad‐ṣalulu
47 Adasi
48 Bel‐bani (10)
49 Libaya (17)
50 Šarma‐Adad I (12)
51 IB‐TAR‐Sîn (= no. 40d?) (12)
52 Bazaya (28)
53 Lullaya (6)
54 Kidin‐Ninua (14)
55 Šarma‐Adad II (3)
56 Erišum III (13)
57 Šamši‐Adad II (6)
58 Išme‐Dagan II (16)
59 Šamši‐Adad III (16)
60 Aššur‐nirari I (26)
61 Puzur‐Aššur III (14/24) (first quarter of the 15th century)
62 Enlil‐naṣir I (13)
63 Nur‐ili (12)
64 Aššur‐šadûni (one month)
65 Aššur‐rabi I
66 Aššur‐nadin‐aḫḫe I
67 Enlil‐naṣir II (6) ca. 1420–14155
68 Aššur‐nirari II (7) ca. 1414–1408
69 Aššur‐bel‐nišešu (9) ca. 1407–1399
70 Aššur‐rem‐nišešu (8) ca. 1398–1391
71 Aššur‐nadin‐aḫḫe II (10) ca. 1390–1381
72 Eriba‐Adad I (27) ca. 1380–1354
73 Aššur‐uballiṭ I (36) ca. 1353–1318
74 Enlil‐nirari (10) ca. 1317–1308
75 Arik‐den‐ili (12) ca. 1307–1296
76 Adad‐nirari I (32) ca. 1295–1264
77 Shalmaneser I (30) ca. 1263–1234
78 Tukulti‐Ninurta I (37) ca. 1233–1197
79 Aššur‐nadin‐apli (4) ca. 1196–1193
80 Aššur‐nirari III (6) ca. 1192–1187
81 Enlil‐kudurri‐uṣur ca. 1186–1182
82 Ninurta‐apil‐Ekur (13) ca. 1181–1169
83 Aššur‐dan I (36/46) ca. 1168–1133
84 Ninurta‐tukulti‐Aššur (?) ca. 1133?
85 Mutakkil‐Nusku (?) ca. 1133?
86 Ašsur‐reša‐iši I (18) ca. 1132–1115
87 Tiglath‐pileser I (39) 1114–1076
88 Ašared‐apil‐Ekur (2) 1075–1074
89 Aššur‐bel‐kala (18) 1073–1056
90 Eriba‐Adad II (2) 1055–1054
91 Šamši‐Adad IV (4) 1053–1050
92 Aššurnaṣirpal I (19) 1049–1031
93 Shalmaneser II (12) 1030–1019
94 Aššur‐nirari IV (6) 1018–1013
95 Aššur‐rabi II (41) 1012–972
96 Ašsur‐reša‐iši II (5) 971–967
97 Tiglath‐pileser II (32) 966–935
98 Aššur‐dan II (23) 934–912
99 Adad‐nirari II (21) 911–891
100 Tukulti‐Ninurta II (7) 890–884
101 Aššurnaṣirpal II (25) 883–859
102 Shalmaneser III (35) 858–824
103 Šamši‐Adad V (13) 823–811
104 Adad‐nirari III (28) 810–783
105 Shalmaneser IV (10) 782–773
106 Aššur‐dan III (18) 772–755
107 Aššur‐nirari V (10) 754–745
108 Tiglath‐pileser III (18) 744–727
109 Shalmaneser V (5) 726–7226
110 Sargon II (17) 721–705
111 Sennacherib (24) 704–681
112 Esarhaddon (12) 680–669
113 Assurbanipal (38?) 668–631?7
114 Aššur‐etel‐ilani (4?) 630?–627?
115 Sîn–šumu‐lišir 627?
116 Sîn‐šarru‐iškun (15?) 626?–612
117 Aššur‐uballiṭ II (3) 611–609
Notes
1 The first twenty‐six individuals mentioned in the Assyrian King List are said to have “lived in tents” or to have been “ancestors.” Most of them cannot have been rulers of Ashur. Note, however, that the name of one of the “ancestors,” Aminu, who was allegedly the father of Sulili, is known from two seal inscriptions owned by servants of his. Where exactly he reigned remains unclear. Ušpia, the penultimate king of the section on “tent dwellers,” is said in later Assyrian royal inscriptions to have been the first builder of the Assur temple in Ashur (see Chapter 18).
2 The dates given for Erišum I and the other kings of the Old Assyrian period are those used by Veenhof in Chapter 3 of this volume. For slightly different dates, see G. Barjamovic, T.K. Hertel, and M.T. Larsen, Ups and Downs at Kanesh: Chronology, History and Society in the Old Assyrian Period, PIHANS 120, Leiden: NINO 2012. A full discussion of the complex reasons behind the discrepancies cannot be provided here.
3 For a discussion of how to reconstruct Assyrian chronology and history during the period from the reign of Mut‐Aškur (40a) to that of Kidin‐Ninua (54), see Chapter 5 of this volume.
4 According to the AKL, rulers nos. 42–47 held their office during the reign of Aššur‐dugul, and each apparently for no more than one year.
5 It is feasible that the dates for rulers 67–83 have to be raised by ten years (so that Enlil‐naṣir II, for example, would have ruled from 1430 to 1425). The uncertainty is due to the fact that it remains unclear whether Aššur‐dan I (ruler no. 83) ruled for thirty‐six or forty‐six years. An additional problem is caused by the use of a lunar calendar in Middle Assyrian times. Despite their awareness of this practice, most scholars have hitherto assumed that in Middle Assyrian times regnal years were counted according to a solar calendar, and the dates provided above are based on this supposition as well. However, since there is no evidence for intercalation in Middle Assyrian documents from before the 11th century, and due to a number of other reasons, it may be more likely, as recently argued in unpublished studies by Yigal Bloch and Joshua Jeffers, that the regnal years of the Middle Assyrian kings preceding Aššur‐bel‐kala (no. 89) were all lunar years ca. 11 days shorter than the solar year with its 365.24 days. If so, the dates of rulers 67–86 would have to be modified, with increasing deviations towards the early Middle Assyrian period – for each period of ca. 33.5 years, one year would have to be subtracted from the absolute chronology.
6 The available copies of the AKL come to an end with Shalmaneser V. The numerals preceding the names of the Assyrian kings from Sargon II onwards continue the numbering system used up to this point.
7 The exact date of Assurbanipal’s last regnal year and the chronology of the years 631–625 remain contested issues. For some bibliographical references related to the debate, see notes 21 and 22 in Chapter 8.
Index
Compiled with assistance from Jonathan Belz, Jacob Neis, Benjamin Scruton, and Sergio Tang.
The index lists all personal names, divine names, toponyms, and gentilics found in this book, with the exception of modern authors and without taking into account the maps and the “List of Assyrian Kings” at the end of the volume.
Abarnian
Abarsal
Abbasid(s)
Abdi‐Milquti
Abiḫ, Mount
Abi‐ili, son of Katiri
Abiyate
Abraham
Ab‐šalim
Abu Hafur
Abuli
Acemhöyük
Achaeme
nid(s)
Adab
Adabal
Adad
Adad‐apla‐iddina
Adad‐guppi
Adad‐nirari I
Adad‐nirari II
Adad‐nirari III
Adad‐ṣalulu
Adad‐šuma‐iddina
Adad‐šuma‐uṣur (Babylonian king)
Adad‐šumu‐uṣur (Assyrian scholar)
Adam
Adapa
Adasi
Adbeel, see also Idibi’ilu (Adbeel)
Adda‐ḫati
Addikritušu (Antikritos)
Adia
Adiabene
Admetos
Adrammelech
Adummatu (Duma, Dūmat al‐Gˇandal)
Aegean Sea
Afghanistan
Agua
Ahab
Ahaz
Aḫazum
Ahiqar
Aḫiyawa
Aḫlamu, see also Aram, Aram(a)eans
Aḫšeri
Aḫundari
Aḫuni
Aḫu‐waqar
Akbaru
Akestor
Akiya
Akkad, Akkadians, Akkadian state
Akkadian (language)
Akkû
Akkulanu
Alaḫzina
Alašiya
Alborz Mountains
Alemanns
Alexander the Great
Alexandria
Ali‐aḫum
Alilat
Al‐Jileh
Al‐Kosh
al‐Laǧā
al‐Mina’
Alše
Alzu
Amanus, Mount
Amarna
Amar‐Suen
Amasakku
Amathus
Amaya
Amazon(s)
Ambaris
Amenhotep IV
Aminum
Amkuwa (Alişar)
Ammon
Amon
Amorite(s), Amurru(m)
Amos
Amur‐Ištar
Amurru(m) see Amorite(s), Amurru(m)
Amyntas
Anatolia, Anatolian
Anchiale
Andia
Andrae, Walter
Anitta
Anšan, Anzan
Anšar, AN.ŠÁR
Antikritos see Addikritušu (Antikritos)
