Zakkur

Zakkur (or Zakir) was the ancient king of Hamath and Luhuti (also known as Nuhašše) in Syria. He ruled around 785 BC. Most of the information about him comes from his basalt stele, known as the Stele of Zakkur.

Stele of Zakkur at the Louvre

History

Irhuleni and his son Uratami were Kings of Hamath prior to Zakkur. Irhuleni led a coalition against the Assyrian expansion under Shalmaneser III. Their coalition succeeded in 853 BC in the Battle of Qarqar. Later Irhuleni maintained good relations with Assyria.[1]

Not so much is known about the background of Zakkur. He is first mentioned in Assyrian sources probably in 785 BC, in the last years of Adad-nirari III.[2] Adad-nirari ordered his commander Shamshi-ilu to mediate the border dispute between Zakkur and Atarshumki I of Arpad.[3]

Aramaic kingdoms in the 9th century BC

Zakkur appears to have been a native of 'Ana' (which may refer to the city of Hana/Terqa) on the Euphrates River, that was within the influence of Assyria.[4]

Zakkur is believed to have founded the Aramean dynasty at the city of Hamath (now known as Hama).[5] Some scholars consider him as an usurper, because, previously, Hamath was ruled by the kings with Luwian or neo-Hittite names.[6]

Luhuti, over which Zakkur came to rule, is known primarily from Assyrian inscriptions.[6] Nevertheless, these inscriptions describe Luhuti as a country with many cities and troops.[7]

The capital of Luhuti was the city of Hazrik (modern Tell Afis; it was known as Hatarikka for the Assyrians),[8][9] located 45 kilometers south of Aleppo.[10] This is where the Zakkur Stele was found.

Luhuti was incorporated into Hamath around 796 BC;[8] it formed the northern province of the kingdom.[11]

Events described in the Stele

Zakkur was besieged in Tell Afis by a coalition of Aramean kings incited by Ben-Hadad III of Aram-Damascus,[12] and led by the king of Bit Agusi.[13] Zakkur survived the siege and commemorated the event by commissioning the Stele of Zakkur.[14]

See also

References
  1. Bryce, Trevor (2012). The world of the Neo-Hittite kingdoms : a political and military history. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0199218721.
  2. Luis Robert Siddall, The Reign of Adad-nīrārī III: An Historical and Ideological Analysis of An Assyrian King and His Times. BRILL, 2013 ISBN 9004256148 p.37
  3. Edward Lipiński, On the Skirts of Canaan in the Iron Age: Historical and Topographical Researches. Volume 153 of Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta, Peeters Publishers, 2006 ISBN 9042917989
  4. Alan R. Millard, The Homeland of Zakkur, Semitica 39 [M. Sznycer Volume] (1990): 47-52.
  5. Scott B. Noegel, The Zakkur Inscription. In: Mark W. Chavalas, ed. The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation. London: Blackwell (2006), 307-311
  6. John David Hawkins (10 May 2012). Corpus of Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions: Volume 1, Inscriptions of the Iron Age: Part 1. pp. 400-401. ISBN 9783110804201.
  7. Trevor Bryce (15 March 2012). The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-19-150502-7.
  8. Trevor Bryce (10 September 2009). The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. p. 296. ISBN 9781134159079.
  9. I. E. S. Edwards; Cyril John Gadd; Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammondpage (1970). The Cambridge Ancient History: Early History of the Middle East. Part 2, Volume 1. p. 282. ISBN 9780521077910.
  10. Holman Concise Bible Dictionary. 2011. p. 282. ISBN 9780805495485.
  11. Trevor Bryce (10 September 2009). The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia. p. 282. ISBN 9781134159086.
  12. John Boardman (1924). The Cambridge Ancient History: The prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C.. Volume 3. Part 1. p. 403. ISBN 9780521224963.
  13. Trevor Bryce (15 March 2012). The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-19-921872-1.
  14. James Maxwell Miller (January 1986). A History of Ancient Israel and Judah. p. 303. ISBN 9780664212629.

Bibliography
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