Amorites

Ancient Semitic-speaking people from the Levant

"Amorite" redirects here. For the language, see Amorite language.

Cuneiform clay tablets from the Amorite Kingdom of Mari, 1st half of the 2nd millennium BC.

The Amorites (/ˈæməˌraɪts/)[a] were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Egypt from the 21st century BC to the late 17th century BC.

The Amorites established several prominent city-states in various locations, such as Isin, Kurda, Larsa, Mari, and Ebla, and later founded Babylon and the Old Babylonian Empire. They also founded the Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the fragmented era of the Second Intermediate Period in the Nile Delta, which was characterized by rulers bearing Amorite names such as Yakbim Sekhaenre, and were likely part of the later Hyksos.[2][3]

The term Amurru in Akkadian and Sumerian texts refers to the Amorites, their principal deity, and an Amorite kingdom. The Amorites are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as inhabitants of Canaan both before and after the conquest of the land under Joshua.[4]

## History

[edit]

Various Amorite states (Yamhad, Qatna, Mari, Andarig, Babylon and Eshnunna) and Assyria c. 1764 BC

### Third millennium BC

[edit]

It is thought that terms like mar.tu were used to represent what we now call the Amorites:

In two Sumerian literary compositions written long afterward in the Old Babylonian period, Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta and Lugalbanda and the Anzu Bird, the Early Dynastic ruler of Uruk Enmerkar (listed in the Sumerian King List) mentions "the land of the mar.tu". It is not known to what extent these reflect historical facts.[5]

Fifteenth dynasty of Egypt of the Hyksos, of whom the Amorites were part.

There are also sparse mentions about Amorites (often as MAR-DUki) in tablets from the East Semitic-speaking kingdom of Ebla, dating from 2500 BC to the destruction of the city in c. 2250 BC.[6] From the perspective of the Eblaites, the Amorites were a rural group living in the narrow basin of the middle and upper Euphrates in northern Syria.[7] The Eblaites used the term MAR.TU in an early time for a state and people east to Ebla (around Emar and Tuttul), which means the name Amurru for the west is later than the name for the state or the people.[8]

For the Akkadian emperors of central Mesopotamia, mar.tu was one of the "Four Quarters" surrounding Akkad, along with Subartu (north), Sumer (south), and Elam (east).[8] Naram-Sin of Akkad records in a royal inscription defeating a coalition of Sumerian cities and Amorites near Jebel Bishri in northern Syria c. 2240 BC.[9] His successor, Shar-Kali-Sharri, recorded in one of his year names "In the year in which Szarkaliszarri was victorious over Amurru in the [Jebel Bishri]".[10]

Artifacts from Amorite Kingdom of Mari, first half of 2nd millennium BC

By the time of the last days of the Third Dynasty of Ur, the immigrating Amorites had become such a force that kings such as Shu-Sin were obliged to construct a 270-kilometre (170 mi) wall from the Tigris to the Euphrates to hold them off.[11][12] The Amorites are depicted in contemporary records as nomadic tribes under chiefs, who forced themselves into lands they needed to graze their herds. Some of the Akkadian literature of this era speaks disparagingly of the Amorites and implies that the Akkadian- and Sumerian-speakers of Mesopotamia viewed their nomadic and primitive way of life with disgust and contempt. In the Sumerian myth "Marriage of Martu", written early in the 2nd millennium BC, a goddess considering marriage to the god of the Amorites is warned:

> Now listen, their hands are destructive and their features are those of monkeys; (An Amorite) is one who eats what (the Moon-god) Nanna forbids and does not show reverence. They never stop roaming about ..., they are an abomination to the gods' dwellings. Their ideas are confused; they cause only disturbance. (The Amorite) is clothed in sack-leather ... , lives in a tent, exposed to wind and rain, and cannot properly recite prayers. He lives in the mountains and ignores the places of gods, digs up truffles in the foothills, does not know how to bend the knee (in prayer), and eats raw flesh. He has no house during his life, and when he dies he will not be carried to a burial-place. My girlfriend, why would you marry Martu?[13]

As the centralized structure of the Third Dynasty of Ur slowly collapsed, the city-states of the south such as Isin, Larsa and Eshnunna, began to reassert their former independence, and the areas in southern Mesopotamia with Amorites were no exception.[14] Elsewhere, the armies of Elam were attacking and weakening the empire, making it vulnerable. Ur was eventually occupied by the Elamites. They remained until they were rejected by the Isin ruler Ishbi-Erra, which marked the beginning of the Isin-Larsa period.[15]

### 2nd millennium BC

[edit]

One of the Ramesses III prisoner tiles, which is speculated by some scholars to represent an Amorite man.[16]

After the decline of Ur III, Amorite rulers gained power in a number of Mesopotamian city-states beginning in the Isin-Larsa period and peaking in the Old Babylonian period. In the north, the Amorite ruler of Ekallatum, Shamshi-Adad I conquered Assur and formed the large, though short-lived Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia.[17] In the south, Babylon became the major power under the Amorite ruler Sumu-la-El and his successors, including the notable Hammurabi. Higher up the Euphrates, to the northwest, the Amorite kingdom of Mari arose, later to be destroyed by Hammurabi. Babylon itself would later be sacked by the Hittites, with its empire assumed by the Kassites. West of Mari, Yamhad ruled from its capital Halab, today's Aleppo, until it was destroyed by the Hittites in 16th century BC. The city of Ebla, under the control of Yamhad in this period, also had Amorite rulership.[18]

There is thought to have been an Amorite presence in Egypt from the 19th century BC. The Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt, centred in the Nile Delta, had rulers bearing Amorite names such as Yakbim. Furthermore, increasing evidence suggests that the succeeding Hyksos of Egypt were an amalgam of peoples from Syria of which the Amorites were also part.[2] Based on temple architecture, Manfred Bietak argues for strong parallels between the religious practices of the Hyksos at Avaris with those of the area around Byblos, Ugarit, Alalakh and Tell Brak and defines the "spiritual home" of the Hyksos as "in northernmost Syria and northern Mesopotamia", areas typically associated with Amorites at the time.[3]

In 1650 BC, the Hyksos established the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt and ruled most of Lower and Middle Egypt contemporaneously with the Sixteenth and Seventeenth dynasties of Thebes during the chaotic Second Intermediate Period.[19]

### Fall

[edit]

In the 16th century BC, the Amorite era ended in Mesopotamia with the decline and fall of Babylon and other Amorite-ruled cities. The Kassites occupied Babylon and reconstituted it under the Kassite dynasty under the name of Karduniaš around 1595 BC. In far southern Mesopotamia, the native First Sealand dynasty had reigned over the Mesopotamian Marshes region until the Kassites brought the region under their control. In northern Mesopotamia, the power vacuum left by the Amorites brought the rise of the Mitanni (Ḫanigalbat) c. 1600 BC.

From the 15th century BC onward, the term Amurru is usually applied to the region extending north of Canaan as far as Kadesh on the Orontes River in northern Syria.[20]

After the mid-2nd millennium BC, Syrian Amorites came under the domination of first the Hittites and, from the 14th century BC, the Middle Assyrian Empire. They then appear to have been displaced or absorbed by other semi-nomadic West Semitic-speaking peoples, known collectively as the Ahlamu during the Late Bronze Age collapse. The Arameans rose to be the prominent group amongst the Ahlamu.[20] From c. 1200 BC onward, the Amorites disappeared from the pages of history, but the name reappeared in the Hebrew Bible.[21]

## Language

[edit]

Main article: Amorite language

The language was first attested in the 21st–20th centuries BC and was found to be closely related to the Canaanite, Aramaic and Sam'alian languages.[22] In the 18th century BC at Mari Amorite scribes wrote in an Eshnunna dialect of the East Semitic Akkadian language. Since the texts contain Northwest Semitic forms, words and constructions, the Amorite language is thought to be a Northwest Semitic language. The main sources for the extremely limited extant knowledge of the Amorite language are the proper names and loanwords, not Akkadian in style, that are preserved in such texts.[23][15][24] Amorite proper names were found throughout Mesopotamia in the Old Babylonian period, as well as places as far afield as Alalakh in Turkey and modern day Bahrain (Dilmun).[25] They are also found in Egyptian records.[26]

Ugaritic is also a Northwest Semitic language and is possibly an Amorite dialect.[27]

## Religion

[edit]

A bilingual list of the names of ten Amorite deities alongside Akkadian counterparts from the Old Babylonian period was translated in 2022. These deities are as follows:[28]: 118–119

* Dagan, who is identified with Enlil. Dagan was the supreme god in many cities in the Euphrates region of Upper Mesopotamia, especially at sites such as Mari, Tuttul, and Terqa. Babylonian texts refer to the chief god of the Amorites as Amurru (dmar.tu, read as "ilu Amurru"), corresponding to their name for the ethnic group. They also identify his consort as the goddess Ašratum.[29]
* Kamiš, an otherwise poorly attested deity largely known from Akkadian and Amorite theophoric names. He was significant at Ebla, where a month was named after him. The bilingual identifies him with the god Ea though other god lists identify him with Nergal.
* Ašratum, whose name is cognate with Asherah and is identified with Belet-ili.
* Yaraḫum, the moon god, who is named Yarikh at Ugarit. He is identified with the god Sīn.
* Rašapum, equated with Nergal and also known from Ebla.
* A god with an incompletely reconstructed name (possibly /ʔārum/) who is identified with Išum.
* Ḫalamu, identified with Šubula, a deity in the netherworld god's circle.
* Ḫanatum, who is here identified with Ištar.
* Pidray, previously known only from the Late Bronze Age Ugaritic texts and later. In the bilingual list she is identified with Nanaya.
* Aštiulḫālti, who is identified with Ištaran, the tutelary deity of the city of Der.

This list is not thought to represent a full Amorite pantheon, as it does not include important members such as the sun and weather deities.[28]: 139

## Biblical Amorites

[edit]

Destruction of the Army of the Amorites by Gustave Doré.

The term Amorites is used in the Bible to refers to certain highlanders who inhabited the land of Canaan, described in Genesis as descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham (Gen. 10:16). This aligns with Akkadian and Babylonian traditions that equate Syro-Palestine with the "land of the Amorites".[30] They are described as a powerful people of great stature "like the height of the cedars" (Amos 2:9) who had occupied the land east and west of the Jordan. The height and strength mentioned in Amos 2:9 has led some Christian scholars, including Orville J. Nave, who wrote the Nave's Topical Bible, to refer to the Amorites as "giants".[31] In Deuteronomy, the Amorite king Og is described as the last "of the remnant of the Rephaim" (Deut 3:11). The terms Amorite and Canaanite seem to be used more or less interchangeably, but sometimes Amorite refers to a specific tribe living in Canaan.[32]

The Biblical Amorites seem to have originally occupied the region stretching from the heights west of the Dead Sea (Gen. 14:7) to Hebron (Gen. 13:8; Deut. 3:8; 4:46–48), embracing "all Gilead and all Bashan" (Deut. 3:10), with the Jordan Valley on the east of the river (Deut. 4:49), the land of the "two kings of the Amorites", Sihon and Og (Deut. 31:4 and Joshua 2:10; 9:10). Sihon and Og were independent kings whose people were displaced from their land in battle with the Israelites (Numbers 21:21–35)—though in the case of the war led by Og/Bashan it appears none of them survived, and the land became part of Israel (Numbers 21:35). The Amorites seem to have been linked to the Jerusalem region, and the Jebusites may have been a subgroup of them (Ezek. 16:3). The southern slopes of the mountains of Judea are called the "mount of the Amorites" (Deut. 1:7, 19, 20).

The Book of Joshua states the five kings of the Amorites were first defeated with great slaughter by Joshua (Josh. 10:5). Then, more Amorite kings were defeated at the waters of Merom by Joshua (Josh. 11:8). It is mentioned that in the days of Samuel, there was peace between them and the Israelites (1 Sam. 7:14). The Gibeonites were said to be their descendants, being an offshoot of the Amorites who made a covenant with the Hebrews (2 Samuel 21:2). When Saul later broke that vow and killed some of the Gibeonites, God is said to have sent a famine to Israel (2 Samuel 21:1).

In 2017, Philippe Bohstrom of Haaretz observed similarities between the Amorites and modern-day Jews, since both may have originated from a single spot, spread around their regions and managed to stay distantly connected kinshipwise. He believes possibly either that Abraham was among the Amorites who migrated to Land of Israel, around the same time of the destruction of the Sumerian capital Ur by Elamites in 1750 BCE, or suggests continuity between "the bible’s [sic] portrait of Israel’s tribal organization and mobile herding background" and that of the Amorites. Nonetheless, the Biblical writers only applied the Amorite ethnonym to Canaanite nations existing pre-Israelite conquest. According to biblical scholar Daniel E. Fleming, reasons for Biblical appearances include a polemical desire to use the stereotypes present in the Sumerian myth Marriage of Martu and explaining the acquisition of current territory, caveating both that the lack of evidence of Biblical writers having access to contemporaneous texts describing the historical past of Amorites may result in only historical interest from their use of the ethnonym.[33]

## Origin

[edit]

Terracotta of a couple, probably Inanna and Dumuzi, Girsu, Amorite period, 2000–1600 BC. Louvre Museum AO 16676.

There are a wide range of views regarding the Amorite homeland.[34] One extreme is the view that kur mar.tu/māt amurrim covered the whole area between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Peninsula included. The most common view is that the "homeland" of the Amorites was a limited area in central Syria identified with the mountainous region of Jebel Bishri.[35][36] The Amorites are regarded as one of the ancient Semitic-speaking peoples.[37][38][39]

Ancient DNA analysis on 28 human remains dating to the Middle and Late Bronze Age from ancient Alalakh, an Amorite city with a Hurrian minority, found that the inhabitants of Alalakh were a mixture of Copper age Levantines and Mesopotamians, and were genetically similar to contemporaneous Levantines.[40]

The view that Amorites were fierce and tall nomads led to an anachronistic theory among some racialist writers in the 19th century that they were a tribe of "Aryan" warriors, who at one point dominated the Israelites. This belief, which originated with Felix von Luschan, fit models of Indo-European migrations posited during his time, but Luschan later abandoned that theory.[41] Houston Stewart Chamberlain claims that King David and Jesus were both Aryans of Amorite extraction. The argument was repeated by the Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg.[42]

## Amorite states

[edit]

In the Levant:

* Amurru kingdom
* Ebla's Third Dynasty
* Emar
* Mukish
* Shaddai
* Qatna
* Ugarit
* Yamhad
* Zahiran

In Mesopotamia:

* Andarig
* Apum
* First Babylonian Dynasty
* Ekallatum
* Mari's Lim Dynasty
* Ṭābetu
* Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia

In Egypt:

* Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt
* Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt?

|
|

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Sumerian: 𒈥𒌅[1], romanized: MAR.TU; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝, romanized: Amurrūm or Akkadian: 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎, romanized: Tidnum; Hebrew: אֱמֹרִי, romanized: ʾĔmōrī; Koinē Greek: Ἀμορραῖοι

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Frankfort, H. (1939). Cylinder seals: a Documentary Essay on the Art and Religion of the Ancient Near East. MacMillan and Co., Pl. XXVIII e+i
2. ^ a b Burke, Aaron A. (2019). "Amorites in the Eastern Nile Delta: The Identity of Asiatics at Avaris during the Early Middle Kingdom". In Bietak, Manfred; Prell, Silvia (eds.). The Enigma of the Hyksos. Harrassowitz. pp. 67–91\. ISBN 978-3-447-11332-8.
3. ^ a b Bietak, Manfred (2019). "The Spiritual Roots of the Hyksos Elite: An Analysis of Their Sacred Architecture, Part I". In Bietak, Manfred; Prell, Silvia (eds.). The Enigma of the Hyksos. Harrassowitz. pp. 47–67\. ISBN 978-3-447-11332-8.
4. ^ van Seters, John, "The Terms 'Amorite' and 'Hittite' in the Old Testament", Vetus Testamentum, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 64–81, 1972
5. ^ Katz, Dina, "Ups and Downs in the Career of Enmerkar, King of Uruk", Fortune and Misfortune in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 60th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Warsaw, 21–25 July 2014, edited by Olga Drewnowska and Malgorzata Sandowicz, University Park, US: Penn State University Press, pp. 201–210, 2017
6. ^ Archi, Alfonso, "Mardu in the Ebla Texts", Orientalia, vol. 54, no. 1/2, pp. 7–13, 1985
7. ^ Giorgio Bucellati, "Ebla and the Amorites", Eblaitica 3, pp. 83–104, 1992
8. ^ a b Streck, Michael P., Das amurritische Onomastikon der altbabylonischen Zeit. Band 1: Die Amurriter, die onomastische Forschung, Orthographie und Phonologie, Nominalmorphologie, Ugarit-Verlag, 2000, p. 26
9. ^ Westenholz, Joan Goodnick, "Chapter 6. Naram-Sin and the Lord of Apišal", Legends of the Kings of Akkade: The Texts, University Park, US: Penn State University Press, pp. 173–188, 1997
10. ^ F. Thureau-Dangin, Recueil des tablettes chaldéennes, Paris, 1903
11. ^ Lieberman, Stephen J., "An Ur III Text from Drēhem Recording 'Booty from the Land of Mardu.'", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 22, no. 3/4, pp. 53–62, 1968
12. ^ Buccellati, G., "The Amorites of the Ur III Period", Naples: Istituto Orientale di Napoli. Pubblicazioni del Semionario di Semitistica, Richerche 1, 1966
13. ^ Gary Beckman, "Foreigners in the Ancient Near East", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 133, no. 2, pp. 203–216, 2013
14. ^ [1] Clemens Reichel, "Political Change and Cultural Continuity in Eshnunna from the Ur III to the Old Babylonian Period", Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, 1996
15. ^ a b Michalowski, Piotr, "Chapter 5. The Amorites in Ur III Times", The Correspondence of the Kings of Ur: An Epistolary History of an Ancient Mesopotamian Kingdom, University Park, US: Penn State University Press, pp. 82–121, 2011 ISBN 978-1-57506-194-8
16. ^ L. E. R. (1908). "Egyptian Portraiture of the XX Dynasty". Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin. 6 (36): 48. JSTOR 4423408.
17. ^ Wygnańska, Zuzanna, "Burial in the Time of the Amorites. The Middle Bronze Age Burial Customs From a Mesopotamian Perspective", Ägypten Und Levante / Egypt and the Levant, vol. 29, pp. 381–422, 2019
18. ^ Matthiae, Paolo, "New Discoveries at Ebla: The Excavation of the Western Palace and the Royal Necropolis of the Amorite Period", The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 18–32, 1984
19. ^ Ryholt, K. S. B.; Bülow-Jacobsen, Adam (1997). The Political Situation in Egypt During the Second Intermediate Period, C. 1800–1550 B.C. Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 978-87-7289-421-8.
20. ^ a b Lawson Younger, K., "The Late Bronze Age / Iron Age Transition and the Origins of the Arameans", Ugarit at Seventy-Five, edited by K. Lawson Younger Jr., University Park, US: Penn State University Press, pp. 131–174, 2007
21. ^ John Van Seters, "The Terms 'Amorite' and 'Hittite' in the Old Testament", VT 22, pp. 68–71, 1972
22. ^ Woodard, Roger D. (2008). The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia. Cambridge University Press. p. 5\. ISBN 978-1-139-46934-0.
23. ^ Gelb, I. J., "An Old Babylonian List of Amorites", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 88, no. 1, pp. 39–46, 1968
24. ^ [2] Ignace J. Gelb, "Computer-aided Analysis of Amorite", Assyriological Studies 21, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980
25. ^ Knudsen, Ebbe Egede, "An Analysis of Amorite: A Review Article", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 34, no. 1/2, pp. 1–18, 1982
26. ^ Burke, Aaron (2013). "Introduction to the Levant During the Middle Bronze Age". In Steiner, Margreet L.; Killebrew, Ann E. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000–332 BCE. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-166255-3.
27. ^ Pardee, Dennis. "Ugaritic", in The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia (2008) (pp. 5–6). Roger D. Woodard, editor. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-68498-9 (262 pages).
28. ^ a b George, Andrew; Krebernik, Manfred (2022). "Two Remarkable Vocabularies: Amorite-Akkadian Bilinguals!". Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale. 116 (1): 113–66\. doi:10.3917/assy.116.0113. S2CID 255918382.
29. ^ Paul-Alain Beaulieu, The God Amurru as Emblem of Ethnic and Cultural Identity in "Ethnicity in Ancient Mesopotamia" (W. van Soldt, R. Kalvelagen, and D. Katz, eds.) Papers Read at the 48th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Leiden, July 1–4, 2002 (PIHANS 102; Nederlands Instituut voor her Nabije Oosten, 2005) 31–46
30. ^ Barton, George A. (1906). "Palestine before the Coming of Israel". The Biblical World. 28 (6): 360–373\. doi:10.1086/473832. JSTOR 3140778.
31. ^ Nave's Topical Bible: Amorites, Nave, Orville J., Retrieved:2013-03-14
32. ^ Levin, Yigal (8 October 2013). "Who Was Living in the Land When Abraham Arrived?". TheTorah.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024.
33. ^ Bohstrom, Philippe (6 February 2017). "Peoples of the Bible: The Legend of the Amorites". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024.
34. ^ Alfred Haldar, Who Were the Amorites (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1971), p. 7
35. ^ Minna Lönnqvist, Markus Törmä, Kenneth Lönnqvist and Milton Nunez, Jebel Bishri in Focus: Remote sensing, archaeological surveying, mapping and GIS studies of Jebel Bishri in central Syria by the Finnish project SYGIS. BAR International Series 2230, Oxford: Archaeopress, 2011 ISBN 978-1-4073-0792-3
36. ^ Zarins, Juris, "Early Pastoral Nomadism and the Settlement of Lower Mesopotamia", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 280, pp. 31–65, 1990
37. ^ Who Were the Amorites?, by Alfred Haldar, 1971, Brill Archive
38. ^ Semitic Studies, Volume 1, by Alan Kaye, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1991, p. 867 ISBN 978-3-447-03168-4
39. ^ The Semitic Languages, by Stefan Weninger, Walter de Gruyter, 23 Dec 2011, p. 361 ISBN 978-3-11-025158-6
40. ^ Skourtanioti, Eirini; Erdal, Yilmaz S.; Frangipane, Marcella; Balossi Restelli, Francesca; Yener, K. Aslıhan; Pinnock, Frances; Matthiae, Paolo; Özbal, Rana; Schoop, Ulf-Dietrich; Guliyev, Farhad; Akhundov, Tufan (28 May 2020). "Genomic History of Neolithic to Bronze Age Anatolia, Northern Levant, and Southern Caucasus". Cell. 181 (5): 1158–1175.e28. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.044. hdl:20.500.12154/1254. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 32470401. S2CID 219105572.
41. ^ "Are the Jews a Race?" by Sigmund Feist in "Jews and Race: Writings on Identity and Difference, 1880–1940", edited by Mitchell Bryan Hart, UPNE, 2011, p. 88
42. ^ [3] Hans Jonas, "Chamberlain and the Jews", New York Review of Books, 5 June 1981

## Further reading

[edit]

* Albright, W. F., "The Amorite Form of the Name Ḫammurabi", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 140–41, 1922
* Bailey, Lloyd R, "Israelite 'Ēl Šadday and Amorite Bêl Šadê", Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 87, no. 4, pp. 434–38, 1968
* Burke, S., "Entanglement, the Amorite koine, and the Amorite Cultures in the Levant", Aram Society for the Syro-Mesopotamian Studies 26, pp. 357–373, 2014
* Burke, Aaron A., "Amorites and Canaanites: Memory, Tradition, and Legacy in Ancient Israel and Judah", The Ancient Israelite World. Routledge, pp. 523–536, 2022 ISBN 978-0-367-81569-1
* George, Andrew, and Manfred Krebernik, "Two Remarkable Vocabularies: Amorite-Akkadian Bilinguals!", Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 116.1, pp. 113–166, 2022
* Højlund, Flemming, "The Formation Of The Dilmun State And The Amorite Tribes", Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, vol. 19, pp. 45–59, 1989
* Homsher, R. and Cradic, M., "The Amorite Problem: Resolving a Historical Dilemma", Levant 49, pp. 259–283, 2018
* [4] Howard, J. Caleb, "Amorite Names through Time and Space", Journal of Semitic Studies, 2023
* Streck, Michael P., Das amurritische Onomastikon der altbabylonischen Zeit. Band 1: Die Amurriter, die onomastische Forschung, Orthographie und Phonologie, Nominalmorphologie, Ugarit-Verlag, 2000
* Torczyner, H. Tur-Sinai, "The Amorite and the Amurrû of the Inscriptions", The Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 249–258, 1949
* Vidal, Jordi, "Prestige Weapons in an Amorite Context", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 247–52, 2011
* Wallis, Louis, "Amorite Influence in the Religion of the Bible", The Biblical World, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 216–23, 1915
* Wasserman, Nathan, and Yigal Bloch, "The Amorites: A Political History of Mesopotamia in the Early Second Millennium BCE", The Amorites, Brill, 2023 ISBN 978-90-04-54658-5
* Zeynivand, Mohsen, "A Cylinder Seal With An Amorite Name From Tepe Musiyan, Deh Luran Plain", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 71, pp. 77–83, 2019

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amorites.

* Cryptic lost Canaanite language decoded on 'Rosetta Stone'-like tablets – LiveScience – Tom Metcalfe – 30 January 2023
* Two 3,800-year-old Cuneiform Tablets Found in Iraq Give First Glimpse of Hebrew Precursor – Haaretz – Jan 20, 2023
* Amorites in the Jewish Encyclopedia

* v
* t
* e

Timeline of Mesopotamia

|  | Northwestern Mesopotamia | Northern Mesopotamia | Southern Mesopotamia

|
|
|

c. 3500–2350 BCE  | Late Chalcolithic 4-5 / Early Jezirah 1-3  | Uruk period / Jemdet Nasr period / Early Dynastic period
c. 2350–2200 BCE  | Akkadian Empire
c. 2200–2100 BCE  | Gutians
c. 2100–2000 BCE  | Third Dynasty of Ur
c. 2000–1800 BCE  | Mari and other Amorite city-states | Old Assyrian period | Isin/Larsa and other Amorite city-states
c. 1800–1600 BCE  | Old Hittite Kingdom | Old Babylonian Empire (Southern Akkadians)
c. 1600–1400 BCE  | Mitanni (Hurrians)  | Karduniaš (Kassites)
c. 1400–1200 BCE  | Hittite Empire |  | Middle Assyria
c. 1200–1150 BCE  | Bronze Age Collapse ("Sea Peoples")  | Arameans
c. 1150–911 BCE  | Phoenicia | Neo-Hittite
city-states | Aram-
Damascus | Arameans | Middle Babylonia | Chal-
de-
ans
911–729 BCE  | Neo-Assyrian Empire
729–609 BCE  |  |
626–539 BCE  | Neo-Babylonian Empire (Chaldeans)
539–331 BCE  | Achaemenid Empire
336–301 BCE  | Macedonian Empire (Ancient Greeks and Macedonians)
311–129 BCE  | Seleucid Empire
129–63 BCE  | Seleucid Empire | Parthian Empire
63 BCE–224 CE  | Ancient Rome \- Byzantine Empire (Syria)
224–mid 700s CE  | Sassanid Empire

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Ancient Mesopotamia

Geography|

| Modern|

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|

Ancient|

* Fertile Crescent
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|

History|

* Early Dynastic
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Iraq topics

History

| Chronology|

* Ubaid period
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|

638–1958|

* Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia
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Republic|

* 1958–1968
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Geography

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Kings of Isin-Larsa

Isin
1953-1730 BCE (ST)|

* Ishbi-Erra
* Shu-Ilishu
* Iddin-Dagan
* Ishme-Dagan
* Lipit-Ishtar
* Ur-Ninurta
* Bur-Suen
* Lipit-Enlil
* Erra-imitti
* Enlil-bani
* Zambiya
* Iter-pisha
* Ur-du-kuga
* Suen-magir
* Damiq-ilishu

Larsa
1940-1674 BCE (ST)|

* Naplanum
* Emisum
* Samium
* Zabaia
* Gungunum
* Abisare
* Sumuel
* Nur-Adad
* Sin-Iddinam
* Sin-Eribam
* Sin-Iqisham
* Silli-Adad
* Warad-Sin
* Rim-Sîn I
* (Hammurabi)
* (Samsu-iluna)
* Rim-Sîn II

* v
* t
* e

Rulers of the ancient Near East

|  | Territories/
dates
[1][2][3][4][5] | Egypt | Canaan | Ebla | Mari | Kish/
Assur | Akshak/
Akkad | Uruk | Adab | Umma
| Lagash | Ur | Elam

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

4000–3200 BCE  | Naqada I
Naqada II
| Egypt–Mesopotamia relations | Pre-Dynastic period (4000–2900 BCE)  | Susa I

Uruk period
(4000–3100 BCE)

(Anu Ziggurat, 4000 BCE)

(Anonymous "King-priests")  | Susa II

(Uruk influence or control)
3200–3100 BCE  | Proto-Dynastic period
(Naqada III)
Early or legendary kings:
Upper Egypt
Finger Snail Fish Pen-Abu Animal Stork Canide Bull Scorpion I Shendjw Iry-Hor Ka Scorpion II Narmer / Menes | Lower Egypt
Hedju Hor Ny-Hor Hsekiu Khayu Tiu Thesh Neheb Wazner Nat-Hor Mekh Double Falcon Wash
3100–2900 BCE  | Early Dynastic Period
First Dynasty of EgyptNarmer Palette
Narmer Menes Neithhotep♀ (regent) Hor-Aha Djer Djet Merneith♀ (regent) Den Anedjib Semerkhet Qa'a Sneferka Horus Bird | Canaanites | Jemdet Nasr period
(3100–2900 BCE)  | Proto-Elamite
period
(Susa III)
(3100–2700 BCE)
2900 BCE  | Second Dynasty of Egypt

Hotepsekhemwy Nebra/Raneb Nynetjer Ba Nubnefer Horus Sa Weneg-Nebty Wadjenes Senedj Seth-Peribsen Sekhemib-Perenmaat Neferkara I Neferkasokar Hudjefa I Khasekhemwy
| Early Dynastic Period I (2900–2700 BCE)
First Eblaite
Kingdom
| First kingdom of Mari
| Kish I dynasty
Jushur, Kullassina-bel
Nangishlishma,
En-tarah-ana
Babum, Puannum, Kalibum
2800 BCE

| Kalumum Zuqaqip Atab
Mashda Arwium Etana
Balih En-me-nuna
Melem-Kish Barsal-nuna | Uruk I dynasty
Meshkiangasher
Enmerkar ("conqueror of Aratta")
2700 BCE  | Early Dynastic Period II (2700–2600 BCE)
|  | Zamug, Tizqar, Ilku
Iltasadum | Lugalbanda
Dumuzid, the Fisherman
Enmebaragesi ("made the land of Elam submit")[6]
Aga of Kish | Gilgamesh | Old Elamite period
(2700–1500 BCE)

Indo-Mesopotamia relations
2600 BCE  | Third Dynasty of Egypt

Djoser

(First Egyptian pyramids)
Sekhemkhet Sanakht Nebka Khaba Qahedjet Huni | Early Dynastic Period III (2600–2340 BCE)
Sagisu
Abur-lim
Agur-lim
Ibbi-Damu
Baba-Damu |  | Kish II dynasty
(5 kings)
Uhub
Mesilim | Ur-Nungal
Udulkalama
Labashum | Lagash
En-hegal
Lugal-
shaengur | Ur
A-Imdugud
Ur-Pabilsag
Meskalamdug
(Queen Puabi)
Akalamdug
Enun-dara-anna
Mesh-he
Melem-ana
Lugal-kitun | Adab
Nin-kisalsi
Me-durba
Lugal-dalu |
2575 BCE  | Old Kingdom of Egypt
Fourth Dynasty of Egypt
Snefru Khufu

Djedefre Khafre Bikheris Menkaure Shepseskaf Thamphthis | Ur I dynasty
Mesannepada
"King of Ur and Kish", victorious over Uruk
2500 BCE  | Phoenicia (2500–539 BCE)  | Second kingdom of Mari

Ikun-Shamash
Iku-Shamagan

Ansud
Sa'umu
Ishtup-Ishar
Ikun-Mari
Iblul-Il
Nizi
Enna-Dagan | Kish III dynasty
Ku-Baba♀ | Akshak dynasty
Unzi
Undalulu | Uruk II dynasty
Ensha-
kushanna | Mug-si | Umma I dynasty

Pabilgagaltuku | Lagash I dynasty

Ur-Nanshe

Akurgal | A'annepada
Meskiagnun
Elulu
Balulu | Awan dynasty
Peli
Tata
Ukkutahesh
Hishur
2450 BCE  | Fifth Dynasty of Egypt

Userkaf Sahure Neferirkare Kakai Neferefre Shepseskare Nyuserre Ini Menkauhor Kaiu Djedkare Isesi Unas | Enar-Damu
Ishar-Malik | Ush
Enakalle
Elamite invasions
(3 kings)[6] | Shushun-Tarana
Napi-Ilhush
2425 BCE  | Kun-Damu | Eannatum
(King of Lagash, Sumer, Akkad, conqueror of Elam)
2400 BCE  | Adub-Damu
Igrish-Halam
Irkab-Damu | Kish IV dynasty
Puzur-Suen
Ur-Zababa | Urur | Lugal-kinishe-dudu
Lugal-kisalsi | E-iginimpa'e
Meskigal | Ur-Lumma

Gishakidu
(Queen Bara-irnun)  | Enannatum
Entemena
Enannatum II
Enentarzi | Ur II dynasty
Nanni
Mesh-ki-ang-Nanna II | Kikku-Siwe-Temti
2380 BCE  | Sixth Dynasty of Egypt
Teti Userkare Pepi I Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Pepi II Merenre Nemtyemsaf II Netjerkare Siptah
| Adab dynasty
Lugal-Anne-Mundu
"King of the four quarters of the world"
2370 BCE  | Isar-Damu | Enna-Dagan
Ikun-Ishar
Ishqi-Mari | Invasion by Mari
Anbu, Anba, Bazi, Zizi of Mari, Limer, Sharrum-iter[6] | Ukush | Lugalanda
Urukagina | Luh-ishan
2350 BCE  |  | Puzur-Nirah
Ishu-Il
Shu-Sin | Uruk III dynasty
Lugal-zage-si
(Governor of Umma, King of all Sumer)
2340 BCE  |  | Akkadian Period (2340–2150 BCE)
Akkadian Empire

Sargon of Akkad Rimush Manishtushu | Akkadian Governors:
Eshpum
Ilshu-rabi
Epirmupi
Ili-ishmani
2250 BCE  | Naram-Sin | Lugal-ushumgal
(vassal of the Akkadians)
2200 BCE  | First Intermediate Period
Seventh Dynasty of Egypt
Eighth Dynasty of Egypt
Menkare Neferkare II Neferkare Neby Djedkare Shemai Neferkare Khendu Merenhor Neferkamin Nikare Neferkare Tereru Neferkahor Neferkare Pepiseneb Neferkamin Anu Qakare Ibi Neferkaure Neferkauhor Neferirkare | Second Eblaite
Kingdom | Third kingdom of Mari
(Shakkanakku
dynasty)

Ididish
Shu-Dagan
Ishma-Dagan
(vassals of the Akkadians)  |
Shar-Kali-Sharri
Igigi, Imi, Nanum, Ilulu (3 years)
Dudu
Shu-turul | Uruk IV dynasty
Ur-nigin
Ur-gigir |  | Lagash II dynasty
Puzer-Mama
Ur-Ningirsu I
Pirig-me
Lu-Baba
Lu-gula
Ka-ku
| Hishep-ratep
Helu
Khita
Puzur-Inshushinak
2150 BCE  | Ninth Dynasty of Egypt
Meryibre Khety Neferkare VII Nebkaure Khety Setut | Ur III period (2150–2000 BCE)
Nûr-Mêr
Ishtup-Ilum

Ishgum-Addu
Apil-kin | Gutian dynasty
(21 kings)

La-erabum
Si'um | Kuda (Uruk)
Puzur-ili
Ur-Utu |  | Umma II dynasty
Lugalannatum
(vassal of the Gutians)  | Ur-Baba
Gudea
Ur-Ningirsu
Ur-gar
Nam-mahani

Tirigan
2125 BCE  | Tenth Dynasty of Egypt
Meryhathor Neferkare VIII Wahkare Khety Merikare

| Uruk V dynasty
Utu-hengal
2100 BCE  | (Vassals of UR III)  | Iddi-ilum
Ili-Ishar
Tura-Dagan
Puzur-Ishtar
(vassals of Ur III)[7] | Ur III dynasty
"Kings of Ur, Sumer and Akkad"
Ur-Nammu Shulgi Amar-Sin Shu-Sin
2025–1763 BCE  | Amorite invasions | Ibbi-Sin | Elamite invasions
Kindattu (Shimashki Dynasty)
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt
Mentuhotep I Intef I Intef II Intef III Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep III Mentuhotep IV
Third Eblaite
Kingdom
(Amorites)
Ibbit-Lim

Immeya Indilimma | (Amorite Shakkanakkus)
Hitial-Erra
Hanun-Dagan
(...)

Lim Dynasty
of Mari
(Amorites)
Yaggid-Lim Yahdun-Lim Yasmah-Adad Zimri-Lim (Queen Shibtu)  | Old Assyria
Puzur-Ashur I
Shalim-ahum
Ilu-shuma
Erishum I
Ikunum
Sargon I
Puzur-Ashur II
Naram-Sin
Erishum II | Isin-Larsa period
(Amorites)
Dynasty of Isin: Ishbi-Erra Shu-Ilishu Iddin-Dagan Ishme-Dagan Lipit-Ishtar Ur-Ninurta Bur-Suen Lipit-Enlil Erra-imitti Enlil-bani Zambiya Iter-pisha Ur-du-kuga Suen-magir Damiq-ilishu
Dynasty of Larsa: Naplanum Emisum Samium Zabaia Gungunum Abisare Sumuel Nur-Adad Sin-Iddinam Sin-Eribam Sin-Iqisham Silli-Adad Warad-Sin Rim-Sin I (...) Rim-Sin II
Uruk VI dynasty: Alila-hadum Sumu-binasa Naram-Sin of Uruk Sîn-kāšid Sîn-iribam Sîn-gāmil Ilum-gamil An-am Irdanene Rîm-Anum Nabi-ilišu  | Sukkalmah dynasty

Siwe-Palar-Khuppak
Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt
Amenemhat I Senusret I Amenemhat II Senusret II Senusret III Amenemhat III Amenemhat IV Sobekneferu♀
1800–1595 BCE  | Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Fourteenth Dynasty of Egypt | Abraham
(Biblical)
Kings of Byblos
Kings of Tyre
Kings of Sidon | Yamhad
(Yamhad dynasty)
(Amorites)  | Old Assyria

(Shamshi-Adad dynasty
1808–1736 BCE)
(Amorites)
Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi

(Non-dynastic usurpers
1735–1701 BCE)
Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi

(Adaside dynasty
1700–722 BCE)
Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II

| First Babylonian dynasty
("Old Babylonian Period")
(Amorites)
Sumu-abum Sumu-la-El Sabium Apil-Sin Sin-Muballit Hammurabi Samsu-iluna Abi-Eshuh Ammi-Ditana Ammi-Saduqa Samsu-Ditana

Early Kassite rulers |

Second Babylonian dynasty
("Sealand Dynasty")
Ilum-ma-ili Itti-ili-nibi Damqi-ilishu
Ishkibal Shushushi Gulkishar
mDIŠ+U-EN Peshgaldaramesh Ayadaragalama
Akurduana Melamkurkurra Ea-gamil

Second Intermediate Period
Sixteenth
Dynasty of Egypt
Abydos
Dynasty
Seventeenth
Dynasty of Egypt

| Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt
("Hyksos")
Pharaoh Ahmose I slaying a Hyksos
Semqen 'Aper-'Anati Sakir-Har Khyan Apepi Khamudi | Mitanni
(1600–1260 BCE)
Kirta Shuttarna I Baratarna
1531–1155 BCE  | TutankhamunNew Kingdom of Egypt
Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Ahmose I Amenhotep I | Third Babylonian dynasty (Kassites)
Agum-Kakrime Burnaburiash I Kashtiliash III Ulamburiash Agum III Karaindash Kadashman-Harbe I Kurigalzu I Kadashman-Enlil I Burna-Buriash II Kara-hardash Nazi-Bugash Kurigalzu II Nazi-Maruttash Kadashman-Turgu Kadashman-Enlil II Kudur-Enlil Shagarakti-Shuriash Kashtiliash IV Enlil-nadin-shumi Kadashman-Harbe II Adad-shuma-iddina Adad-shuma-usur Meli-Shipak II Marduk-apla-iddina I Zababa-shuma-iddin Enlil-nadin-ahi | Middle Elamite period

(1500–1100 BCE)
Kidinuid dynasty
Igehalkid dynasty
Untash-Napirisha

Thutmose I Thutmose II Hatshepsut♀ Thutmose III
Amenhotep II Thutmose IV Amenhotep III Akhenaten Smenkhkare Neferneferuaten♀ Tutankhamun Ay Horemheb | Hittite Empire (1450–1180 BCE)
Suppiluliuma I Mursili II Muwatalli II Mursili III Hattusili III Tudhaliya IV Suppiluliuma II

Ugarit (vassal of Hittites)
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
Ramesses I Seti I Ramesses II Merneptah Amenmesses Seti II Siptah Tausret♀ | Elamite Empire
Shutrukid dynasty
Shutruk-Nakhunte
1155–1025 BCE  | Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt

Setnakhte Ramesses III Ramesses IV Ramesses V Ramesses VI Ramesses VII Ramesses VIII Ramesses IX Ramesses X Ramesses XI

Third Intermediate Period

Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt
Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon the Elder Siamun Psusennes II

| Phoenicia
Kings of Byblos
Kings of Tyre
Kings of Sidon

Kingdom of Israel
Saul
Ish-bosheth
David
Solomon | Syro-Hittite states
Carchemish
Tabal | Middle Assyria
Eriba-Adad I Ashur-uballit I Enlil-nirari Arik-den-ili Adad-nirari I Shalmaneser I Tukulti-Ninurta I Ashur-nadin-apli Ashur-nirari III Enlil-kudurri-usur Ninurta-apal-Ekur Ashur-dan I Ninurta-tukulti-Ashur Mutakkil-Nusku Ashur-resh-ishi I Tiglath-Pileser I Asharid-apal-Ekur Ashur-bel-kala Eriba-Adad II Shamshi-Adad IV Ashurnasirpal I Shalmaneser II Ashur-nirari IV Ashur-rabi II Ashur-resh-ishi II Tiglath-Pileser II Ashur-dan II | Fourth Babylonian dynasty ("Second Dynasty of Isin")
Marduk-kabit-ahheshu Itti-Marduk-balatu Ninurta-nadin-shumi Nebuchadnezzar I Enlil-nadin-apli Marduk-nadin-ahhe Marduk-shapik-zeri Adad-apla-iddina Marduk-ahhe-eriba Marduk-zer-X Nabu-shum-libur | Neo-Elamite period (1100–540 BCE)
1025–934 BCE  | Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Babylonian dynasties ("Period of Chaos")
Simbar-shipak Ea-mukin-zeri Kashshu-nadin-ahi Eulmash-shakin-shumi Ninurta-kudurri-usur I Shirikti-shuqamuna Mar-biti-apla-usur Nabû-mukin-apli
911–745 BCE  | Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt
Shoshenq I Osorkon I Shoshenq II Takelot I Osorkon II Shoshenq III Shoshenq IV Pami Shoshenq V Pedubast II Osorkon IV

Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt
Harsiese A Takelot II Pedubast I Shoshenq VI Osorkon III Takelot III Rudamun Menkheperre Ini

Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt
Tefnakht Bakenranef

| Kingdom of Samaria

Kingdom of Judah | Neo-Assyrian Empire
Adad-nirari II Tukulti-Ninurta II Ashurnasirpal II Shalmaneser III Shamshi-Adad V Shammuramat♀ (regent) Adad-nirari III Shalmaneser IV Ashur-Dan III Ashur-nirari V | Eight Babylonian Dynasty
Ninurta-kudurri-usur II Mar-biti-ahhe-iddina Shamash-mudammiq Nabu-shuma-ukin I Nabu-apla-iddina Marduk-zakir-shumi I Marduk-balassu-iqbi Baba-aha-iddina (five kings) Ninurta-apla-X Marduk-bel-zeri Marduk-apla-usur Eriba-Marduk Nabu-shuma-ishkun Nabonassar Nabu-nadin-zeri Nabu-shuma-ukin II Nabu-mukin-zeri
| Humban-Tahrid dynasty

Urtak
Teumman
Ummanigash
Tammaritu I
Indabibi
Humban-haltash III
745–609 BCE  | Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt
Taharqa("Black Pharaohs")
Piye Shebitku Shabaka Taharqa Tanutamun | Neo-Assyrian Empire

(Sargonid dynasty)
Tiglath-Pileser† Shalmaneser† Marduk-apla-iddina II Sargon† Sennacherib† Marduk-zakir-shumi II Marduk-apla-iddina II Bel-ibni Ashur-nadin-shumi† Nergal-ushezib Mushezib-Marduk Esarhaddon† Ashurbanipal Ashur-etil-ilani Sinsharishkun Sin-shumu-lishir Ashur-uballit II

Assyrian conquest of Egypt | Assyrian conquest of Elam
626–539 BCE  | Late Period
Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt
Necho I Psamtik I Necho II Psamtik II Wahibre Ahmose II Psamtik III | Neo-Babylonian Empire
Nabopolassar Nebuchadnezzar II Amel-Marduk Neriglissar Labashi-Marduk Nabonidus | Median Empire
Deioces Phraortes Madyes Cyaxares Astyages
539–331 BCE  | Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt
(First Achaemenid conquest of Egypt)  | Kings of Byblos
Kings of Tyre
Kings of Sidon | Achaemenid Empire
Cyrus Cambyses Darius I Xerxes Artaxerxes I Darius II Artaxerxes II Artaxerxes III Artaxerxes IV Darius III
Twenty-eighth Dynasty of Egypt
Twenty-ninth Dynasty of Egypt
Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt
Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt
331–141 BCE  | Argead dynasty and Ptolemaic Egypt
Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy Ceraunus Ptolemy II Philadelphus Arsinoe II♀ Ptolemy III Euergetes Berenice II Euergetis♀ Ptolemy IV Philopator Arsinoe III Philopator♀ Ptolemy V Epiphanes Cleopatra I Syra♀ Ptolemy VI Philometor Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator Cleopatra II Philometor Soteira♀ Ptolemy VIII Physcon Cleopatra III♀ Ptolemy IX Lathyros Cleopatra IV♀ Ptolemy X Alexander Berenice III♀ Ptolemy XI Alexander Ptolemy XII Auletes Cleopatra V♀ Cleopatra VI Tryphaena♀ Berenice IV Epiphanea♀ Ptolemy XIII Ptolemy XIV Cleopatra VII Philopator♀ Ptolemy XV Caesarion Arsinoe IV♀ | Hellenistic Period
Seleukos I Nikator Tetradrachm from BabylonArgead dynasty: Alexander III Philip III Alexander IV
Antigonid dynasty: Antigonus I
Seleucid Empire: Seleucus I Antiochus I Antiochus II Seleucus II Seleucus III Antiochus III Seleucus IV Antiochus IV Antiochus V Demetrius I Alexander III Demetrius II Antiochus VI Dionysus Diodotus Tryphon Antiochus VII Sidetes
141–30 BCE  | Kingdom of Judea
Simon Thassi John Hyrcanus Aristobulus I Alexander Jannaeus Salome Alexandra♀ Hyrcanus II Aristobulus II Antigonus II Mattathias | Alexander II Zabinas Seleucus V Philometor Antiochus VIII Grypus Antiochus IX Cyzicenus Seleucus VI Epiphanes Antiochus X Eusebes Antiochus XI Epiphanes Demetrius III Eucaerus Philip I Philadelphus Antiochus XII Dionysus Antiochus XIII Asiaticus Philip II Philoromaeus | Parthian Empire
Mithridates I Phraates Hyspaosines Artabanus Mithridates II Gotarzes Mithridates III Orodes I Sinatruces Phraates III Mithridates IV Orodes II Phraates IV Tiridates II Musa Phraates V Orodes III Vonones I Artabanus II Tiridates III Artabanus II Vardanes I Gotarzes II Meherdates Vonones II Vologases I Vardanes II Pacorus II Vologases II Artabanus III Osroes I
30 BCE–116 CE  | Roman Empire
(Roman conquest of Egypt)
Province of Egypt | Judaea | Syria
116–117 CE  | Province of Mesopotamia under Trajan | Parthamaspates of Parthia
117–224 CE  | Syria Palaestina | Province of Mesopotamia | Sinatruces II Mithridates V Vologases IV Osroes II Vologases V Vologases VI Artabanus IV
224–270 CE  | Sasanian Empire
Province of Asoristan
Coin of Ardashir I, Hamadan mint.Ardashir I Shapur I Hormizd I Bahram I Bahram II Bahram III Narseh Hormizd II Adur Narseh Shapur II Ardashir II Shapur III Bahram IV Yazdegerd I Shapur IV Khosrow Bahram V Yazdegerd II Hormizd III Peroz I Balash Kavad I Jamasp Kavad I Khosrow I Hormizd IV Khosrow II Bahram VI Chobin Vistahm
270–273 CE  | Palmyrene Empire
Vaballathus Zenobia♀ Antiochus
273–395 CE  | Roman Empire
Province of Egypt | Syria Palaestina | Syria | Province of Mesopotamia
395–618 CE  | Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Egypt | Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda | Byzantine Syria | Byzantine Mesopotamia
618–628 CE  | (Sasanian conquest of Egypt)
Province of Egypt
Shahrbaraz Shahralanyozan Shahrbaraz | Sasanian Empire
Province of Asoristan
Khosrow II Kavad II
628–641 CE  | Byzantine Empire | Ardashir III Shahrbaraz Khosrow III Boran♀ Shapur-i Shahrvaraz Azarmidokht♀ Farrukh Hormizd Hormizd VI Khosrow IV Boran Yazdegerd III Peroz III Narsieh
Byzantine Egypt | Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda | Byzantine Syria | Byzantine Mesopotamia
639–651 CE  | Muslim conquest of Egypt | Muslim conquest of the Levant | Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia and Persia
Chronology of the Neolithic period |  Rulers of ancient Central Asia

1. ^ Rulers with names in italics are considered fictional.
2. ^ Hallo, William W.; Simpson, William Kelly (1971). The Ancient Near East: A History. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 48–49\. ISBN 978-0-15-502755-8.
3. ^ "Rulers of Mesopotamia". CDLI:wiki. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative.
4. ^ Thomas, Ariane; Potts, Timothy, eds. (2020). Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum. p. 14\. ISBN 978-1-60606-649-2.
5. ^ Roux, Georges (1992). Ancient Iraq. London: Penguin Books Limited. pp. 532–534 (Chronological Tables). ISBN 978-0-14-193825-7.
6. ^ a b c Per the Sumerian King List.
7. ^ Unger, Merrill F. (2014). Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus: A Study in Archaeological Illumination of Bible History. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock. p. 5\. ISBN 978-1-62564-606-4.

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