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Suteans

( 2nd Millennium Bc )

History

Bronze Age

Middle Bronze Age
Late Bronze Age

Amarna letters

Iron Age

Language
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Amarna Language Sutean Suteans

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The Suteans (Akkadian: Sutī’ū, possibly from Amorite language: Š^etī’uDiakonoff, I.M. “Father Adam.” In: Hans Hirsch and Hermann Hunger (eds.). Vorträge gehalten auf der 28. Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale in Wien, 6.-10. Juli 1981. Archiv für Orientforschung, Beiheft 19. Horn: Berger 1982, 19 of 16-24.) were a nomadic Semitic people"Letters to the King of Mari: A New Translation, with Historical Introduction, Notes, and Commentary" p.26. Quote: "A closer look at Sutean names shows a small percentage of non-Akkadian and non-Amorite names that nevertheless belong to a Semitic language, presumably Sutean." who lived throughout the Levant, Canaan, and Mesopotamia, specifically in the region of Suhum, during the Old Babylonian period. They were famous in Semitic epic poetry for being fierce nomadic warriors, and like the ʿApiru, traditionally worked as mercenaries.

Baruch Margalit (2011). 9783110863482, Walter de Gruyter. . ISBN 9783110863482

Mark S. Smith (2014). 9780802867926, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. . ISBN 9780802867926

The Suteans spoke the Sutean language, an unattested language proposed to be related to either Aramaic or Arabic.

(2025). 9781575060804, Eisenbrauns. ISBN 9781575060804

They may have been part of the Ahlamu.

History

Bronze Age

Middle Bronze Age

One of the earliest instances of Suteans comes from a report of a Sutean attack on Qatna and Tadmor (Palmyra) at the time of Shamshi-Adad I's reign (c. 1808–1776 BC). They frequently attacked Mari's domains as a reprisal against what they saw as unjust Mariote hegemony over their territories in Suhum.

With the death of Shamshi-Adad, the Sutean leader, Hammi-Talu, seems to have rendered services for Mari during the reign of Zimri-Lim (c. 1775–1761). Then they inhabited the vicinity of Terqa (modern-day Tell Ashara, Syria). The Suteans were also utilized as couriers by Hammurabi during the Old Babylonian Empire. Following the Fall of Mari, the region was controlled by the Kingdom of Hana.

Late Bronze Age

Amarna letters

Around 1350 BCE, the Suteans are mentioned in 8 of 382 Amarna letters. Amarna Letter EA195 mentions the Suteans and is entitled "Waiting for the Pharaoh's words", from Biryawaza of Damascus-( Damascus) to pharaoh: " I am indeed, together with my troops and chariots, together with my brothers, my ʿApiru and my Suteans, at the disposition of the archers, wheresoever the king, my lord, shall order (me to go)."EA 195 ( EA for el Amarna), lines 24-32. From Moran, William L. The Amarna Letters. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, ) This usage is somewhat atypical of the use of ʿApiru and external mercenary forces in the Amarna documents since this letter quotes them and the Suteans as necessary and beneficial to Biryawaza's efforts.

They are listed in documents from the Middle Assyrian Empire (1395-1075 BC) as being extant in the Amorites city of Emar, in what is now northeast Syria.

Iron Age

During the Iron Age (c. 1150-950 BC), some Suteans settled in southern Mesopotamia along with Chaldean, Arameans and Arab tribes.

(2008). 9781405137393, John Wiley & Sons. . ISBN 9781405137393

George Roux (1992). 9780140125238 . ISBN 9780140125238

They reportedly occupied the region of Yadburu bordering Elam and the Persian Gulf, and many served as auxiliaries for Elamite king Humban-nikash.

(2019). 9789004398535, Brill. . ISBN 9789004398535

During the Assyrian conquest of Babylonia and Bit-Yakin, the Suteans are mentioned as allies of the Aramaeans in an inscription of Sargon II:

The Suteans, his allies who took his side and came to his aid, I slaughtered along with the Maršānū like sheep

In 613 BCE, Nabopolassar led an expedition against the inhabitants of Suhum who rebelled against Babylon.

(2025). 9781134159086, Routledge. ISBN 9781134159086

, pp. 666-668

Language

The Sutean language has not been attested in any written texts, but appears to have been Semitic. This is known through individual names and tribal onomastics, most of which appear to be Akkadian and Amorite, while a small percentage appear to be neither but still belonging to a Semitic language.Heimpel, Wolfgang (2003). Letters to the King of Mari: A New Translation, with Historical Introduction, Notes, and Commentary. p. 26 "A closer look at Sutean names shows a small percentage of non-Akkadian and non-Amorite names that nevertheless belong to a Semitic language, presumably Sutean." Such onomastics include the name of a tribe, "Almutu", and the Sutean warrior featured in 13th century BC Ugaritic texts, "Yatpan". Wolfgang Heimpel hypothesizes Suteans may have spoken a language close to the later Aramaic or even Arabic.

According to Igor Diakonoff Suteans and the biblical name Seth ( "placed, appointed") derive from the same root as Šīt and Šiite/Shiite.Diakonoff, I.M. “Father Adam.” In: Hans Hirsch and Hermann Hunger (eds.). Vorträge gehalten auf der 28. Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale in Wien, 6.-10. Juli 1981. Archiv für Orientforschung, Beiheft 19. Horn: Berger 1982, 19 of 16-24.

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