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Kassites
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern tribe
who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of
the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to
ca. 1155 BC (short chronology). Their language
is classified as an isolate.
Contents
■ 1 History
■ 1.1 Kassite Dynasty of Babylon
■
■
■
■
■
■
2 Social life
3 Language
4 Culture
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
The Babylonian Empire under the Kassites.
Ancient
Mesopotamia
Euphrates · Tigris
History
The original homeland of the Kassites is obscure, but appears to have
been located in the Zagros Mountains in Lorestan in Iran.[1][2] Their first
historical appearance occurred in the 18th century BC when they attacked
Babylonia in the 9th year of the reign of Samsu-iluna (reigned ca. 1686–
1648 BC (short)), the son of Hammurabi. Samsu-iluna repelled them, but
they subsequently gained control of northern Babylonia sometime after
the fall of Babylon to the Hittites in ca. 1531 BC (short), and conquered
the southern part of the kingdom by ca. 1475 BC. The Hittites had carried
off the idol of the god Marduk, but the Kassite rulers regained
possession, returned Marduk to Babylon, and made him the equal of the
Kassite Shuqamuna. The circumstances of their rise to power are
unknown, due to a lack of documentation from this so-called "Dark Age"
period of widespread dislocation. No inscription or document in the
Kassite language has been preserved, an absence that cannot be purely
accidental, suggesting a severe regression of literacy in official circles.
Babylon under Kassite rulers, who renamed the city Karanduniash, reemerged as a political and military power in the ancient Near East. A
newly built capital city Dur-Kurigalzu was named in honour of Kurigalzu
I (ca. early 14th century BC). His successors Kadashman-Enlil I (ca.
1374–1360 BC (short)) and Burnaburiash II (ca. 1359–1333 BC [short
chronology]{short}) were in correspondence with the Egyptian rulers
Amenhotep III and Akhenaton (Amenhotep IV) (see Amarna letters).
Their success was built upon the relative political stability that the
Kassite monarchs achieved. They ruled Babylonia practically without
interruption for almost four hundred years— the longest rule by any
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassites
Sumer
Eridu · Kish · Uruk · Ur
Lagash · Nippur · Ngirsu
Elam
Susa · Anshan
Akkadian Empire
Akkad · Mari
Amorites
Isin · Larsa
Babylonia
Babylon · Chaldea
Assyria
Assur · Nimrud
Dur-Sharrukin · Nineveh
Hittites · Kassites
Ararat / Mitanni
Chronology
Mesopotamia
Sumer (king list)
Kings of Elam
Kings of Assyria
Kings of Babylon
Mythology
Enûma Elish · Gilgamesh
Assyrian religion
Language
Sumerian · Elamite
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dynasty in Babylonian history. Even after a minor revolt ca. 1333 BC and
a seven-year hiatus of Assyrian rule (ca. 1224 - 1217 BC (short)), the
ruling Kassite family regained the throne.
The transformation of southern Mesopotamia into a
territorial state, rather than a network of allied or
combatative temple-cities, made Babylonia an
international power. Kassite kings established trade
and diplomacy with Assyria, Egypt, Elam, and the
Hittites, and the Kassite royal house intermarried
with their royal families. There were foreign
merchants in Babylon and other cities, and
Babylonian merchants were active from Egypt (a
major source of Nubian gold) to Assyria and
Anatolia. Kassite weights and seals, the packetidentifying and measuring tools of commerce, have
been found in as far afield as Thebes in Greece, in
southern Armenia, and even in a shipwreck off the
southern coast of today's Turkey.
The Kassite kings maintained control of their realm
through a network of provinces administered by
governors. Almost equal with the royal cities of
Babylon and Dur-Kurigalzu, the revived city of
Nippur was the most important provincial center.
Nippur, the formerly great city, which had been
virtually abandoned ca. 1730 BC, was rebuilt in the
Kassite period, with temples meticulously re-built
on their old foundations. In fact, under the Kassite
government, the governor of Nippur, who took the
Sumerian-derived title of Guennakku, ruled as a sort
of secondary and lesser king. The prestige of Nippur
was enough for a series of 13th century BC Kassite
kings to reassume the title 'governor of Nippur' for
themselves.
Other important centers during the Kassite period
were Larsa, Sippar and Susa. After the Kassite
dynasty was overthrown in 1155 BC, the system of
provincial administration continued and the country
remained united under the succeeding rule, the
Second Dynasty of Isin.
Documentation of the Kassite period depends
heavily on the scattered and disarticulated tablets
from Nippur, where thousands of tablets and
fragments have been excavated. They include
administrative and legal texts, letters, seal
inscriptions, kudurrus (land grants and
administrative regulations), private votive
inscriptions, and even a literary text (usually
identified as a fragment of a historical epic).
"Kassite rulers in Babylon were also scrupulous to
follow existing forms of expression, and the public
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassites
Akkadian · Aramaic
Hurrian · Hittite
Faravahar background
History of Iran
see also Kings of Persia · Timeline of Iran
BCE
Prehistory
Proto-Elamite period
Elamite dynasty
Kassites
Mannaeans
Median Empire
Achaemenid Empire
Seleucid Empire
Parthian Empire
CE
Sassanid Empire
Islamic conquest
Umayyad Caliphate
Abbasid Caliphate
Tahirid dynasty
Alavid dynasty
Sajid dynasty
Saffarid dynasty
Samanid dynasty
Ziyarid dynasty
Buyid dynasty
Sallarid
Ma'munids
Ghaznavid Empire
Ghori dynasty
Seljuq dynasty
Khwarezmid dynasty
Ilkhanate
Muzaffarid dynasty
Chupanid dynasty
Sarbadars
Jalayerid dynasty
Timurid dynasty
Qara Qoyunlu
Aq Qoyunlu
Safavid dynasty
Hotaki dynasty
Afsharid dynasty
3200–2800
2800–550
16th–12th cent.
10th–7th cent.
728–550
550–330
330–150
248–CE 226
226–651
637–651
661–750
750–1258
821–873
864–928
889/890–929
861–1003
875–999
928–1043
934–1062
942–979
995-1017
963–1187
1149–1212
1037–1194
1077–1231
1256–1353
1314–1393
1337–1357
1337–1376
1339–1432
1370–1506
1407–1468
1378–1508
1501–1722/36
1722–1729
1736–1750
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and private patterns of behavior "and even went
Zand dynasty
1750–1794
beyond that — as zealous neophytes do, or
Qajar dynasty
1781–1925
outsiders, who take up a superior civilization — by
Pahlavi dynasty
1925–1979
favoring an extremely conservative attitude, at least
Interim Government
1979–1980
in palace circles." (Oppenheim 1964, p. 62). Over
Islamic Republic
since 1980
the centuries, however, the Kassites were absorbed
into the Babylonian population. Eight among the
last kings of the Kassite dynasty have Akkadian
names, Kudur-Enlil's name is part Elamite and part Sumerian and Kassite princesses married into the
royal family of Assyria.
The Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible contains a reference to what appears to be a Kassite ruler,
who is named as Cushan-Rishathaim and described as ruler of "Aram Naharaim". "Cushan" is
interpreted by Biblical scholars to mean "Kassite" and "Aram Naharaim" to mean northwest
Mesopotamia. According to Judges, Cushan-Rishathaim conquered Israel shortly after the death of
Joshua and held it for eight years.
The Elamites conquered Babylonia in the 12th century BC, thus ending the Kassite state. The last
Kassite king, Enlil-nadin-ahi, was taken to Susa and imprisoned there, where he also died.
However, Kassites survived as a distinct ethnic group in the mountains of Lorestan long after the
Kassite state collapsed.
Babylonian records describe how Sennacherib on his Iranian campaign of 702 BC subdued some
Kassites in a battle near Hulwan, Iran.
Herodotus and other ancient Greek writers sometimes referred to the region around Susa as "Cissia",
a variant of the Kassite name. However, it is not clear if Kassites were actually living in that region
so late.
Herodotus was almost certainly referring to Kassites when he described "Asiatic Ethiopians" in the
Persian army that invaded Greece in 492 BC. Herodotus was presumably repeating an account that
had originally used the name "Cush", or something similar, to describe the Kassites; "Cush" was also
a name for Ethiopia. A similar confusion of Kassites with Ethiopians is evident in various ancient
Greek accounts of the Trojan war hero Memnon, who was sometimes described as a "Cissian" and
founder of Susa, and other times as Ethiopian. According to Herodotus, the "Asiatic Ethiopians"
lived not in Cissia, but to the north, bordering on "Paricanians" who in turn bordered on the Medes.
During the later Achaemenid period, the Kassites, referred to as "Kossaei", lived in the mountains to
the east of Media and were one of several "predatory" mountain tribes that regularly extracted "gifts"
from the Achaemenid Persians, according to a citation of Nearchus by Strabo (13.3.6).
But Kassites again fought on the Persian side in the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC, in which the
Persian Empire fell to Alexander the Great, according to Diodorus Siculus (17.59) (who called them
"Kossaei") and Curtius Rufus (4.12) (who called them "inhabitants of the Cossaean mountains").
According to Strabo's citation of Nearchus, Alexander later separately attacked the Kassites "in the
winter", after which they stopped their tribute-seeking raids.
Strabo also wrote that the "Kossaei" contributed 13,000 archers to the army of Elymais in a war
against Susa and Babylon. This statement is hard to understand, as Babylon had lost importance
under Seleucid rule by the time Elymais emerged around 160 BC. If "Babylon" is understood to
mean the Seleucids, then this battle would have occurred sometime between the emergence of
Elymais and Strabo's death around 25 AD. If "Elymais" is understood to mean Elam, then the battle
probably occurred in the 6th century BC. Note that Susa was the capital of Elam and later of
Elymais, so Strabo's statement implies that the Kassites intervened to support a particular group
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within Elam or Elymais against their own capital, which at that moment was apparently allied with
or subject to Babylon or the Seleucids.
The latest evidence of Kassite culture is a reference by the 2nd century geographer Ptolemy, who
described "Kossaei" as living in the Susa region, adjacent to the "Elymeans". This could represent
one of many cases where Ptolemy relied on out-of-date sources.
It is believed that the name of the Kassites is preserved in the name of the Kashgan River, in
Lorestan.
Kassite Dynasty of Babylon
(short chronology)
Ruler
Reigned
Comments
Agum II or
Agum-Kakrime
Burnaburiash I
Treaty with Puzur-Ashur III of Assyria
Kashtiliash III
Ulamburiash
Conquers the first Sealand dynasty
Agum III
Karaindash
Contemporary of Amenophis III of Egypt
Kadashman-harbe I
Kurigalzu I
Contemporary of Amenophis III of the Egyptian
Amarna letters
Kadashman-Enlil I
ca. 1374—1360 BC (short)
Burnaburiash II
ca. 1359—1333 BC (short) Contemporary of Akhenaten and Ashur-uballit I
Kara-hardash
ca. 1333 BC (short)
Nazi-Bugash or
Shuzigash
ca. 1333 BC (short)
Kurigalzu II
ca. 1332—1308 BC (short)
Nazi-Maruttash
ca. 1307—1282 BC (short) Contemporary of Adad-nirari I of Assyria
Kadashman-Turgu
ca. 1281—1264 BC (short) Contemporary of Hattusili III of the Hittites
Kadashman-Enlil II
ca. 1263—1255 BC (short) Contemporary of Hattusili III of the Hittites
Kudur-Enlil
ca. 1254—1246 BC (short)
Shagarakti-Shuriash
ca. 1245—1233 BC (short) Son of Kudur-Enlil
Kashtiliashu IV
ca. 1232—1225 BC (short) Contemporary of Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria
Enlil-nadin-shumi
ca. 1224 BC (short)
Assyria installed governor
Kadashman-Harbe II
ca. 1223 BC (short)
Assyria installed governor
Adad-shuma-iddina
ca. 1222—1217 BC (short) Assyria installed governor
Adad-shuma-usur
ca. 1216—1187 BC (short) Contemporary of Ashur-nirari III of Assyria
Meli-Shipak II
ca. 1186—1172 BC (short)
Marduk-apla-iddina I
ca. 1171—1159 BC (short)
Zababa-shuma-iddin
ca. 1158 BC (short)
Enlil-nadin-ahi
ca. 1157—1155 BC (short) Defeated by Shutruk-Nahhunte of Elam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassites
Grandson of Ashur-uballit I of Assyria
Son of Burnaburiash II, Fought Battle of Sugagi with
Enlil-nirari of Assyria
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Social life
In spite of the fact that some of them took Babylonian names, the Kassites retained their traditional
clan and tribal structure, in contrast to the smaller family unit of the Babylonians. They were proud
of their affiliation with their tribal houses, rather than their own fathers, and preserved their customs
of fratriarchal property ownership and inheritance.[3]
Language
Main article: Kassite language
According to Encyclopedia Iranica[4]:
“
There is not a single connected text in the Kassite language. The number of Kassite
appellatives is restricted (slightly more than 60 vocables, mostly referring to colors,
parts of the chariot, irrigation terms, plants, and titles). About 200 additional lexical
elements can be gained by the analysis of the more numerous anthroponyms,
toponyms, theonyms, and horse names used by the Kassites (see Balkan, 1954,
passim; Jaritz, 1957 is to be used with caution). As is clear from this material, the
Kassites spoke a language without a genetic relationship to any other known tongue
”
Culture
The most notable Kassite artifacts are their Kudurru steles. Used for marking boundaries and making
proclamations, they were also carved with a high degree of artistic skill.
See also
■ Short chronology timeline
■ Cities of the ancient Near East
References
1. ^ Lorestan - Facts from the Encyclopedia - Yahoo! Education
(http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Lorestan)
2. ^ History of Iran: Iranologie.com (http://www.iranologie.com/history/history1.html)
3. ^ J. Boardman et al. (eds) Cambridge Ancient History Vol III Pt 1 (2nd Ed) 1982
4. ^ Kassites in Encyclopedia Iranica by Ran Zadok
(http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/ot_grp9/ot_kassites_20051223.html)
■ Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911.
■ A. Leo Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia: portrait of a dead civilization, 1964.
■ K. Balkan, Die Sprache der Kassiten, (The Language of the Kassites, in German), American Oriental
Series, vol. 37, New Haven, Conn., 1954.
External links
■ Daniel A. Nevez, 'Provincial administration at Kassite
Nippur' (http://home.uchicago.edu/~nev2/prospectus.html) abstract of a dissertation gives
details of Kassite Nippur and Babylonia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassites
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■ Christopher Edens, "Structure, Power and Legitimation in Kassite
Babylonia" (http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Kassites.html)
■ Richard Hooker, "The Kassites: 1530-1170 The Kassite
Interregnum" (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/KASSITES.HTM)
■ David W. Koeller, "Kassite rule in
Mesopotamia" (http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/MiddleEast/Kassites.html)
■ Kassites in Encyclopedia Iranica by Ran Zadok
(http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/ot_grp9/ot_kassites_20051223.html)
■ Livius.org: Kassites/Cossaeans (http://www.livius.org/k/kassites/kassites.html)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassites"
Categories: Kassites | Eurasian nomads | History of Iraq
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