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Simurrum (: Si-mu-ur-ri-im) was an important city state of the Mesopotamian area from around 2000 BCE to 1500 BCE, during the period of the Akkadian Empire down to Ur III. The Simurrum Kingdom disappears from records after the Old Babylonian period. It has been proposed that in Old Babylonian times its name was Zabban, a notable cult center of Adad.[1]George, A., "The Sanctuary of Adad at Zabban? A Fragment of a Temple List in Three Sub-columns", BiOr. 65, pp. 714–717, 2008Weidner, Ernst, "Simurrum Und Zaban", Archiv Für Orientforschung, vol. 15, pp. 75–80, 1945 It was neighbor and sometimes ally with the Lullubi.Meissner, Bruno, "Simurru", Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, vol. 22, no. 1-6, pp. 69-70, 1919 Zabban is noted as a cult center of Adad into the Neo-Babylonian period.[2]Schwemer, Daniel, "The Storm-Gods of the Ancient Near East: Summary, Synthesis, Recent Studies Part I", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 7.2, pp. 121-168, 2007
Several Kings (Lugal, pronounced Šàr, " Shar", in Akkadian) of Simurrum are known, such as Iddin-Sin and his son Zabazuna.Seidl, U., Das Relief, in A. Shaffer and N. Wasserman, Iddi(n)-Sin, King of Simurrum: A New Rock Relief Inscription and a Reverential Seal, ZA 93, 39-52, 2003 Various inscriptions suggest that they were contemporary with king Ishbi-Erra (). Another king, mentioned in The Great Revolt against Narām-Sîn, was mPu-ut-ti-ma-da-al.J. G. Westenholz, "Legends of the Kings of Akkade", Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1997
Several inscriptions suggest that Simurrum was quite powerful, and shed some light on the conflicts around the Zagros area, another such example being the Anubanini rock relief of the nearby Lullubi Kingdom. Four inscriptions and a relief (now in the Israel Museum) of the Simurrum have been identified at Bitwata near Ranya in Iraq, and one from Sarpol-e Zahab in Iran.Fouadi, A. H. A., Inscriptions and Reliefs from Bitwata.", Sumer, vol. 34, no. 1-2, pp. 122–29, 1978
One unknown year during the reign of the Akkadian Empire king Naram-Sin was recorded as "the Year when Naram-Sin was victorious against Simurrum in Kirasheniwe and took prisoner Baba the governor of Simurrum, and Dubul the ensi (ruler) of Arame".Cohen, Mark E., "A New Naram-Sin Date Formula.", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 227–32, 1986 Arame is known to be associated with Eshnunna. An Old Babylonian letter also associates Simurrum with Eshnunna. This suggests Simurrum was in the area of that city.Finkelstein, J. J., "Subartu and Subarians in Old Babylonian Sources", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1–7, 1955
After Akkadian Empire fell to the Gutians, the and the Simurrums rebelled against the Gutian ruler Erridupizir, according to the latter's inscriptions:
At one point, Simurrum may have become a vassal of the [[Gutians]].
For a time, Simurrum was in alliance with Ur and a diplomat from Simurrum, Kirib-ulme, is recorded as active during Amar-Sin (c. 2046–2037 BC) years 8 and 9 into Shu-Sin (c. 2037–2028 BC) years 1 and 2.Sharlach, T. M., "Diplomacy and the rituals of politics at the Ur III court", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 57, pp. 17–29, 2005 During the rule of Su-Sin in the waning years of the Ur III Empire an administrator assigned to build the Mardu Wall reported "When I sent for word (to the area) between the two mountains it was brought to my attention that the Mardu were camped in the mountains. Simurrum had come to their aid. (Therefore) I proceeded to (the area) "between" the mountain range(s) of Ebih in order to do battle".
Military struggles continues up to the time of the final ruler of Ur III, Ibbi-Sin (c. 2028–2004 BC) with his third year name reporting destroying Simurrum.Jacobsen, Thorkild., "The Reign of Ibbī-Suen.". Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 7, no. 2, 1953 Simurrum seems to have become independent after the collapse of Ur III.
In order to make peace with a fellow ruler Turukki leader Zaziya (Ur III period) handed over a ruler of Simurrum:
Akkadian Period, Early Bronze IVA
Ur III Period - Early Bronze IVB - Province
Kingdom - Middle Bronze I - Independent
It has been proposed that the city was on the Diyala River (which begins as the Sirwan River in Iran).Frayne, D.R., "On the location of Simurrum" in Crossing Boundaries and Linking Horizons: Studies in Honor of Michael C. Astour, pp. 243-269, 1997Frayne, D.R., "Simurrum", in Reallexikon Der Assyriologie 12/7–8, pp. 508–11, 2011
An early Assyriologist suggested Simurrum was near "Tell 'Ali" which is not far from mouth of the Lower Zab on its left bank and is on the direct line from Assur to Arrapha (Kirkuk), which it is west of, saying "The region south of Tell 'Ali has never been examined by archaeologists, but seems to contain numerous ruined towns and canals".[6]Albright, W. F., "Notes on the Topography of Ancient Mesopotamia", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 46, pp. 220–30, 1926 Twenty five cuneiform tablets from the Middle Assyrian period were found at the site.Ismail, Bahijah Kh., and J. Nicholas Postgate, "A Middle Assyrian Flock-Master's Archive from Tell Ali", Iraq, vol. 70, pp. 147–78, 2008Ismail, Bahijah Kh., "Informationen iiber Tontafeln aus Tell-Ali", in H. Klengel (ed.), Gesellschaft und Kultu im alten Vorderasien, Schriften zur Geschichte und Kultur des alten Orients 15, Berlin, 1982
The site of Qala Shirwana, a large mound tall with an additional citadel at the top in the southern basin of the Diyala river, on its west bank, near the modern town of Kalar, has been suggested as the site of Simurrum.[7]Casana, Jesse, and Claudia Glatz, "The land behind the land behind Baghdad: archaeological landscapes of the upper Diyala (Sirwan) river valley", Iraq, vol. 79, pp. 47–69, 2017 The upper mound has an area of 5.5 hectares. While the site is completely built over now, early satellite photographs indicate that there was a 100 hectare lower town. Second millennium BC pottery is often found during construction.[8]Glatz, Claudia, and Jesse Casana, "Of highland-lowland borderlands: Local societies and foreign power in the Zagros-Mesopotamian interface", Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 44, pp. 127-147, 2016
Altun Kupri, on the Little Zab river, has also been suggested.Meek, Theophile James, "The Akkadian and Cappadocian Texts from Nuzi", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 48, 1932, pp. 2–5, 1932
A complication is that when a city-state captured large numbers of soldiers etc. they were sometimes placed in rural settlements named after their origin, a practice that continued into Neo-Babylonian times. There were settlements near Girsu/Lagash named Lullubu(na) and Šimurrum for example.Steinkeller, Piotr, "Corvée labor in Ur III times", From the 21st Century BC to the 21st Century AD 10 (2013), pp. 327-424, 2018
The second Ur III ruler, Sulgi (c. 2094–2046 BC) reports defeating/destroying Karaḫar in his year names S24 "Year: Karahar was destroyed", S31 "Year: Karaḫar was defeated for the second time", and in S45 "Year: Šulgi, the strong man, the king of Ur, the king of the four-quarters, smashed the heads of Urbilum, Simurrum, Lullubum and Karahar in a single campaign".Al-Mutawalli, Nawala, Sallaberger, Walther and Shalkham, Ali Ubeid, "The Cuneiform Documents from the Iraqi Excavation at Drehem", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 107, no. 2, pp. 151-217, 2017[9]Hallo, William W., "Simurrum and the Hurrian frontier", Revue hittite et asianique 36.1, pp. 71-83, 1978[10]Lafont, Bertrand, "The Army of the Kings of Ur: The Textual Evidence", Cuneiform Digital Library Journal 2009 (5), 2009 Two ensis (governors) of Karaḫar under the Ur III empire are known, Ea-rabi and Arad-Nanna.Owen, David I., "Transliterations, Translations, and Brief Comments", The Nesbit Tablets, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 13-110, 2016 During the reign the fourth ruler of the Ur III dynasty Shu-Sin (c. 2037–2028 BC) it is known that the military governor of the nearby city of Pashime was a Arad-Nanna though it is not known if that was the same person.[11]Pitts, Audrey, "The Cult of the Deified King in Ur III Mesopotamia", Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, 2015 Also in the Ur III period a Arad-Nanna was a ruler of Hamazi.[12]Khwshnaw, Ardalan, "A New Light on the Hamazi Kingdom", Twejer Journal 5.3, pp. 1315-1340, 2022 Also during the reign of Shu-Sin, a Ir-Nanna is recorded as being "... military governor of Usar-Garsana, general of Basime, governor of Sabum and the land of Gutebum, general of Dimat-Enlila, governor of Al-Sü-Sîn, general of Urbillum, governor of Ham(a)zi and Karahar, general of NI.HI, general of Simaski and the land of Karda ...", showing those polities were in the same area.
A Tiš-atal (also Tish-atal/Tehes-atal/Diš-atal/Ankiš-atal) is recorded as ruling Karaḫar toward the end of the Ur III empire.Collon, Dominique, "The life and times of teḫeš-atal", Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 84.2, pp. 129-136, 1990Lambert, W. G., "Near Eastern Seals in the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art, University of Durham", Iraq, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 1–45, 1979 A Tish-atal also ruled Urkesh in that period but is not known if it was the same person.Dalley, Stephanie, "Old Babylonian Tablets from Nineveh; And Possible Pieces of Early Gilgamesh Epic", Iraq, vol. 63, pp. 155–67, 2001
A lapis lazuli seal of Zardamu, king of Karaḫar from the Ur III period, reads "dZardamu, sun-god of his land; beloved of the god Nergal, his (personal) deity; Annunïtum (is) his mother ... mighty king, king of Karaḫar, and king of the four quarters, spouse of the goddess Estar". Note that this identifies him as being deified and is in the style of major rulers such as Naram-Sin of Akkad.Sollberger, Edmond, "Two New Seal-Inscriptions", Anatolian Studies 30, pp. 63-65, 1980Steinkeller, Piotr, "The Divine Rulers of Akkade and Ur: Toward a Definition of the Deification of Kings in Babylonia", History, Texts and Art in Early Babylonia: Three Essays, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 107-157, 2017 The seals iconography shows Zardamu with "double-axe, a multiple mace, and treading on an enemy before Ištar, who offers him the same regalia".Suter, Claudia E., "Ur III Kings in Images: A Reappraisal", in Your Praise is sweet: a memorial Volume for Jeremy Black from students, colleagues, and friends, edited by Heather D. Baker, London: British Institute for the Study of Iraq, pp. 319–49, 2010
A carnelian cylinder seal appeared on the antiquities market reading "Keleš-atal, king of Karaḫar: Balalatum (is your) wife."[13]Földi, Zsombor J., "Gleanings from the Antiquities Market: A Contribution to the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions", Cuneiform Digital Library Bulletin 2013.3, 2013
In the Old Babylonian period texts linked Karaḫar administratively with Me-Turan which lies in the area thought to hold Karaḫar.Guichard, M., "Guerre et diplomatie: lettres d’Iluni roi d’Ešnunna d’une collection privée", Semitica 58, pp. 17–59, 2016
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