Shamshiadad I
Šamši-Adad I or Shamshi-Adad I was king of Assyria between 1813 and 1781 BC. C., founder of the Old Kingdom.
The biography of Šamši-Adad can be partially reconstructed thanks to the writings found in Mari, the Assyrian royal list and the chronicle of the eponyms. His father, the Amorite leader Ila-Kabkabi, controlled a territory located between the kingdoms of Mari and Ešnunna, and ended up being expelled by them, taking refuge in Babylon. According to the chronicle of the eponyms we find his elder brother Aminum (the same Aminum who appears in the Assyrian royal list as the dynastic ancestor of Šamši-Adad) fighting with Naram-Sin, king of Ešnunna, probably with the support of Babylon. After the death of Naram-Sin, his sons succeeded him, dividing the kingdom of his father. Assyria for Erishum II and Ešnunna for Dadusha. Meanwhile, Šamši-Adad has taken over the city of Ekallatum, located a little further north of Aššur, which he uses as a base to confront the two brothers. Soon he seizes the throne of Aššur from Erishum II and moves the border with Ešnunna to the south.
Šamši-Adad son of Ila-kabkabi, at the time of Naram-Without leaving for Babylon. In the eponymous of Ibni-Adad Šamši-Adad returned from Babylon, took Ekallatum and remained in Ekallatum for three years. In the eponymous of Atamar-Ishtar Šamši-Adad came from Ekallatum, defeated Erishum son of Naram-Sin, ascended to the throne and kingdom for 33 years. (fragment of the Assyrian real list)
To legitimize the usurpation of the throne of Aššur, he includes his ancestors in the dynastic sequence of the Assyrian royal list. After installing his son Ishme-Dagan as regent of Assyria, he settles in Shubat-Enlil (modern Tell-leilan), in the upper area of the Khabur River from where he can control communications between Assyria and Upper Mesopotamia. He continues his expansion with the conquest of Mari from which he expels Yakhdum-Lim who must flee to the kingdom of Yamkhad. From there he makes a ceremonial march to the Mediterranean to celebrate his victory. Then he leaves his son Yasmakh-Addu as regent.
In the reign of Šamši-Adad, Assyria is a secondary area of his kingdom. Šamši-Adad imitates the Akkadian model of Sargon I and declares himself "king of Akkad" and transfers Babylonian influences to Assyria.
The last years of Šamši-Adad's reign are marked by attacks on his kingdom from both the east and the west. In the west, the marriage of his son Iasmakh-Adad to the daughter of the king of Qatna, Yamkhad's rival, sparked hostilities between the two kingdoms. To the east, the new king of Ešnunna, Ibal-pi-El, attempts to expand at the expense of the kingdom of Šamši-Adad until they finally reach an agreement of peace and alliance. Šamši-Adad turned again against Yamkhad but his efforts ended in disaster. Soon, without us knowing how, he disappeared.
The empire he had built did not survive his disappearance. His son Iasmakh-Adad lost Mari to Zimri-Lim, son of Yahdun-Lim, married to the daughter of the king of Yamkhad. His son, Ishme-Dagan I, was confined to the original territory of Assyria, the triangle formed by the Great Zab and Little Zab rivers. The rest of the empire finally collapsed during the reign of Ishme-Dagan I to another Amorite ruler, Hammurabi of Babylon.
