Kummuh
Encyclopedia
Neo-Hittite
The states that are called Neo-Hittite, or more recently Syro-Hittite, were Luwian, Aramaic and Phoenician-speaking political entities of the Iron Age northern Syria and southern Anatolia that arose following the collapse of the Hittite Empire around 1180 BC and lasted until roughly 700 BC...
kingdom located on the west bank of the Upper Euphrates within the easternly loop of the river between Malatya and Carchemish. Assyrian sources refer both to the land and its capital city with the same name. The city is identified with the classical period Samosata
Samosata
Samosata was an ancient city on the right bank of the Euphrates whose ruins existed at the modern city of Samsat, Adıyaman Province, Turkey until the site was flooded by the newly-constructed Atatürk Dam....
, modern day Samsat Höyük which has now been flooded under the waters of a newly-built dam. Urartian sources refer to it as Qumaha. The name is also attested in at least one local royal inscription dating to the 8th century BCE. Other places that are mentioned in historical sources to be within Kummuh are lands of Kištan and Halpi, and cities of Wita, Halpa, Parala, Sukiti and Sarita(?). Other neighboring kingdoms were Melid to the north, Gurgum to the west and Carchemish
Carchemish
Carchemish or Kargamış was an important ancient city of the Mitanni, Hittite and Neo Assyrian Empires, now on the frontier between Turkey and Syria. It was the location of an important battle between the Babylonians and Egyptians, mentioned in the Bible...
to the south. They were facing Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
and later Urartu
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
to the east.
Several indigenous rock inscriptions were found in the region, all written in Hieroglyphic Luwian
Hieroglyphic Luwian
Hieroglyphic Luwian is a variant of the Luwian language, recorded in official and royal seals and a small number of monumental inscriptions. It is written in a hieroglyphic script known as Anatolian hieroglyphs...
, attesting to the continuity of Hittite
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
traditions. In his annals Assyrian king Sargon II
Sargon II
Sargon II was an Assyrian king. Sargon II became co-regent with Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, and became the sole ruler of the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BC after the death of Shalmaneser V. It is not clear whether he was the son of Tiglath-Pileser III or a usurper unrelated to the royal family...
referred to the Kummuh ruler as Hittite, and names of several Kummuh rulers are identical to famous Hittite kings of the 2nd millennium: Hattušili(?), Šuppiluliuma, Muwattalli (in Assyrian sources Qatazilu, Ušpilulume, Muttallu).
History
References to a city of Kummaha are encountered in Hittite archives of HattušaHattusa
Hattusa was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. It was located near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of the Kızıl River ....
from Middle Hittite Period (15th century BCE) onwards, which might be identical to the later city of Kummuh.
Most of the information about Kummuh comes from Assyrian sources. In a fragmentary context attributed to the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (13th century BCE), the land of Kummuhi is mentioned bordering the land of the Mt. Kassiyari. Afterwards nothing is known until the 9th century BCE. From the beginning of 9th until mid-8th centuries Kummuh seemingly remained in peaceful alliance with Assyria by paying tributes.
In 866 BCE, Kummuh king Qatazilu paid tribute to Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II in the city of Huzirina (modern day Sultantepe
Sultantepe
The ancient temple-complex, perhaps of Huzirina, now represented by the tell of Sultantepe, is a Late Assyrian archeological site at the edge of the Neo-Assyrian empire, now in Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey...
).
In 858 BCE, Assyrian king Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III was king of Assyria , and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II....
reported in his Kurkh Monolith
Kurkh Monolith
The Kurkh Monolith is an Assyrian document that contains a description of the Battle of Qarqar at the end. Today it stands in the British Museum but it was originally found at the Kurdish village of Kurkh , near the town of Bismil in the province of Diyarbakır, Turkey...
that Qatazilu submitted to him peacefully after the Assyrian king crossed Euprates on a campaign to the west. A similar report is mentioned for another campaign in 857.
In 853 BCE, a new king in Kummuh, Kundašpi, is reported by Shalmaneser III as being among the northern Syrian kings who submitted to him in the city of Pitru.
In 805 BCE, as reported on the Pazarcık Stele
Pazarcık Stele
The Pazarcık Stele is an Assyrian document which functioned as a boundary stone erected by the Assyrian kings to demarcate the border between their client kingdoms of Kummuh and Gurgum...
, Kummuh king Ušpilulume (Šuppiluliuma) asked for the assistance of the Assyrian king Adad-nirari III
Adad-nirari III
Adad-nirari III was King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. He was the son and successor of Shamshi-Adad V, and was apparently quite young at the time of his accession, because for the first five years of his reign his mother Shammuramat acted as regent, which may have given rise to the legend of...
against the a coalition of eight kings led by Ataršumki of Arpad
Arpad (Syria)
Arpad was an ancient Aramaean city located in north-western Syria, north of Aleppo. In 743 BC, the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III led a military expedition to Syria, defeating there the Uraratian army. But the city of Arpad, which had formed an alliance with Urartu, did not surrender easily...
. Adad-nirari apparently travelled with his mother Šammuramat
Shammuramat
Shammuramat or Sammur-amat was Queen of Assyria 811 BC–808 BC. The widow of King Shamshi-Adad V reigned for three years on the throne of Assyria...
, defeated the alliance, and established the border between Kummuh and Gurgum at Pazarcık
Pazarcık
Pazarcik is a town of Kahramanmaraş Province in Turkey. These are called an "ilce" in the Turkish language. They are simply towns in the province "il". Pazarcik is 25 km away from Marash the capital of the province Kahraman Maras...
.
In 773 BCE, the same boundary was re-established by Assyrian general (turtanu) Šamši-ilu
Shamshi-ilu
Shamshi-ilu was an influential court dignitary and commander in chief of the Assyrian army who rose in high prominence-Origins:Shamshi-ilu was probably not born in Assyria though he was from noble linage of the Bit-Adini tribe and was more than likely educated at the Assyrian court...
acting on behalf of Assyrian king Shalmaneser IV
Shalmaneser IV
Shalmaneser IV was king of Assyria . He succeeded his father Adad-nirari III, and was succeeded by his brother Ashur-dan III. Very little information about his reign has survived....
.
Around 750 BCE Kummuh was attacked by the Urartian king Sarduri II
Sarduri II
Sarduri II was the King of Urartu . The Urartian Kingdom was at its peak during his reign. He succeeded his father Argishti I to the throne....
who captured the cities of Wita and Halpi, and made the Kummuh king Kuštašpi pay a tribute.
In 743, BCE Kuštašpi was among the Urartu-Arpad alliance against Tiglath-pileser III
Tiglath-Pileser III
Tiglath-Pileser III was a prominent king of Assyria in the eighth century BC and is widely regarded as the founder of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Tiglath-Pileser III seized the Assyrian throne during a civil war and killed the royal family...
of Assyria. The alliance was defeated but Tiglath-pieleser III pardoned Kuštašpi along with the kings of Melid and Gurgum. Kuštašpi appears as a tributary of Tiglath-pileser III in 738 and 732.
In 712 BCE, after the Kingdom of Melid was dismembered by the Assyrian king Sargon II
Sargon II
Sargon II was an Assyrian king. Sargon II became co-regent with Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, and became the sole ruler of the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BC after the death of Shalmaneser V. It is not clear whether he was the son of Tiglath-Pileser III or a usurper unrelated to the royal family...
city of Melid itself was given to Kummuh king Muttallu.
In 708 BCE, Sargon II accused Muttallu for alliance with Urartu and sent his army. According to the annals, Muttallu escaped but the royal family and the population was deported to Babylonia, and settlers from Bit-Yakin (in Babylonia) were brought to Kummuh. Thereafter the region became a province of Assyria and was under the jurisdiction of the turtanu of the left, whose seat of power was apparently the city of Kummuh.
After the Assyrian empire collapsed, name of the city of Kimuhu, which is most certainly Kummuh, appears in a conflict between Egyptians and Babylonians in 607–606 BCE. The Babylonian king Nabopolassar
Nabopolassar
Nabopolassar was the king of the Babylonia and played a key role in the demise of the Assyrian Empire following the death of the last powerful Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal...
reported the capture of the city upon which the Egyptian army under the command of Necho II
Necho II
Necho II was a king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt .Necho II is most likely the pharaoh mentioned in several books of the Bible . The Book of Kings states that Necho met King Josiah of the Kingdom of Judah at Megiddo and killed him...
laid siege to it and captured after four months.
Kummuh later gave its name to the classical Commagene.
Kings of Kummuh
| Kings | Assyrian contemporary |
|---|---|
| Qatazilu (Hattušili?) | Assurnasirpal II (884-859 BCE) Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III was king of Assyria , and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II.... (859-824 BCE) |
| Kundašpi | Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III was king of Assyria , and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II.... (859-824 BCE) |
| Ušpilulume (Šuppiluliuma) | Adad-nirari III Adad-nirari III Adad-nirari III was King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. He was the son and successor of Shamshi-Adad V, and was apparently quite young at the time of his accession, because for the first five years of his reign his mother Shammuramat acted as regent, which may have given rise to the legend of... (811-783 BCE) Shalmaneser IV Shalmaneser IV Shalmaneser IV was king of Assyria . He succeeded his father Adad-nirari III, and was succeeded by his brother Ashur-dan III. Very little information about his reign has survived.... (783-773 BCE) |
| Hattušili? | ? Ashur-Dan III Ashur-dan III Ashur-dan III was King of Assyria from 773 to 755 BC.Ashur-dan III was the son of Adad-nirari III, and succeeded his brother Shalmaneser IV in 773 BC. Ashur-dan's reign was a difficult age for the Assyrian monarchy. The rulership was severely limited by the influence of court dignitaries,... (773-755 BCE) ? Ashur-nirari V Ashur-nirari V Ashur-nirari V was King of Assyria from 755 to 745 BC. He was succeeded by Tiglath-Pileser III.Ashur-nirari V was a son of Adad-nirari III, and succeeded his brother, Ashur-dan III. He inherited a difficult situation from his predecessor... (755-745 BCE) |
| Kuštašpi | ? Ashur-nirari V Ashur-nirari V Ashur-nirari V was King of Assyria from 755 to 745 BC. He was succeeded by Tiglath-Pileser III.Ashur-nirari V was a son of Adad-nirari III, and succeeded his brother, Ashur-dan III. He inherited a difficult situation from his predecessor... (755-745 BCE) Tiglat-pileser III Tiglat-pileser III Tiglath-Pileser III was a prominent king of Assyria in the eighth century BC and is widely regarded as the founder of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Tiglath-Pileser III seized the Assyrian throne during a civil war and killed the royal family... (745-727 BCE) |
| Mutallu (Muwattalli) | Sargon II Sargon II Sargon II was an Assyrian king. Sargon II became co-regent with Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, and became the sole ruler of the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BC after the death of Shalmaneser V. It is not clear whether he was the son of Tiglath-Pileser III or a usurper unrelated to the royal family... (722-705 BCE) |