Sumu-la-El

Sumu-la-El
2nd King of Babylon
Reignc. 1881–1845 BC
PredecessorSumu-abum
SuccessorSabium
Diedc. 1845 BC
IssueSallurtum
Babylon is located in Iraq
Babylon
Location of Babylon

Sumu-la-El (also Sumulael or Sumu-la-ilu) was a King in the First Dynasty of Babylon. He reigned c. 1881–1845 BC (MC). He was a contemporary of Sîn-kāšid of Uruk and with Sūmu-El and Nur-Adad or Larsa.During this period Babylon contested with the city-state of Isin for control of the local region. He subjugated and conquered nearby cities like Kish and built a string of fortresses around his territory. He is known to have conquered the city of Sippar. Economic ties extended as far north as Tilmen Hoyuk. His daughter, Šallurtum, married Sîn-kāšid, the king of Uruk. Because the Old Babylonian period archaeological levels at the city of Babylon were below the water table and not excavated what is known about Sumu-la-el is from other sites like Sippar and Marad which Babylon controlled. In the first half of Sumu-la-el's reign Marad had an independent kingdom which also controlled Dilbat.

About 36 year names of Sumu-la-el are known, notably :

In a text from the time of later Babylon ruler Apil-Sîn, found at Sippar, a case was recorded adjudicated by Apil-Sin " ... the houses which Sumulael had given them, Nur-ilisu laid claim, but they obtained an audience with King Apil-Sin and he returned their houses to them.". One of the witnesses was Ayyalatum, daughter of earlier ruler Sumu-la-el.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hershkovitz, Yehonatan, "The Adaptation Process of Cuneiform in the Old Babylonian Period", Dissertation, Harvard University, 2023
  2. ↑ Goetze, Albrecht, "Sin-Iddinam of Larsa. New Tablets from His Reign", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 83–118, 1950
  3. ↑ Boer, Rients de., "Beginnings of Old Babylonian Babylon: Sumu-abum and Sumu-la-El", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 70.1, pp. 53-86, 2018
  4. ↑ De Boer, Rients, "Two early Old Babylonian 'Mananâ' archives dated to the last years of Sumu-la-El", Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale, vol. 111, pp. 25–64, 2017
  5. ↑ Charpin, Dominique and Ziegler, Nele, "Masters of Time: Old Babylonian Kings and Calendars", Time and History in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 56th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Barcelona, July 26th–30th, 2010, edited by Lluis Feliu, J. Llop, A. Millet Albà and Joaquin Sanmartín, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 57–68, 2013
  6. ↑ Marchesi, G./N. Marchetti, "A Babylonian Official at Tilmen Höyük in the Time of King Sumu-la-el of Babylon", Or. 88, 1–36, 2019
  7. ↑ Michalowski, Piotr, "The Amorites in Ur III Times", The Correspondence of the Kings of Ur: An Epistolary History of an Ancient Mesopotamian Kingdom, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 82-121, 2011
  8. ↑ Al-Hussainy, Abbas Ali, and Rients de Boer. "Epigraphic finds of the 2023 Iraqi-Dutch excavations at Marad". Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 119.1, pp. 41-66, 2025
  9. ↑ Pomponio, Francesco, "The Governors of Irisaĝrig When It Was a Province of the Ur III State", New Perspectives on the History of Early Mesopotamia: The Region of Irisagrig and Malgum, edited by Manuel Molina and Palmiro Notizia, De Gruyter, pp. 141-150, 2026
  10. ↑ S. G. Koshurnikov, and N. Yoffee, "Old Babylonian Tablets from Dilbat in the Ashmolean Museum", Iraq, vol. 48, pp. 117–30, 1986
  11. ↑ Year Names of Sumu-la-el at CDLI
  12. ↑ K. A. Al-’Adami, "King Apil-Sîn Confirms the Judgment of Sumulael", Iraq, vol. 59, pp. 73–75, 1997

Further reading