A History of Babylon, from the Foundation of the Monarchy to the Persian Conquest

by L. W. King

The pause in expansion gave Babylon the opportunity of husbanding her resources, after the first effort of conquest had been rendered permanent in its effect by Sumu-la-ilum. His two immediate successors, Zabum and Apil-Sin, occupied themselves with the internal administration of their kingdom and confined their military activities to keeping the frontier intact. Zabum indeed records a successful attack on Kazallu, no doubt necessitated by renewed aggression on that city's part; but his other most notable achievements were the fortification of Kâr-Shamash, and the construction of a canal or reservoir.[69] Equally uneventful was the reign of Apil-Sin, for though Dûr-muti, the wall of which he rebuilt, may have been acquired as the result of conquest, he too was mainly occupied with the consolidation and improvement of the territory already won. He strengthened the walls of Barzi and Babylon, cut two canals,[70] and rebuilt some of the great temples.[71] As a result of her peaceful development during this period the country was rendered capable of a still greater struggle, which was to free Sumer and Akkad from a foreign domination, and, by over-coming the invader, was to place Babylon for a time at the head of a more powerful and united empire than had yet been seen on the banks of the Euphrates.

The country's new foe was her old rival Elam, who more than once before had by successful invasion affected the course of Babylonian affairs. But on this occasion she did more than raid, harry, and return: she annexed the city of Larsa, and by using it as a centre of control, attempted to extend her influence over the whole of Sumer and Akkad. It was at the close of Apil-Sin's reign at Babylon that Kudur-Mabuk, the ruler of Western Elam, known at this period as the land of Emutbal, invaded Southern Babylonia and, after deposing Sili-Adad[72] of Larsa, installed his own son Warad-Sin upon the throne. It is a testimony to the greatness of this achievement, that Larsa had for some time enjoyed over Nîsin the position of leading city in Sumer. Nûr-Adad, the successor of Sumu-ilum, had retained control of the neighbouring city of Ur, and, though Enlil-bani of Nîsin had continued to lay claim to be King of Sumer and Akkad, this proud title was wrested from Zambia or his successor by Sin-idinnam, Nur-Adad's son.[73] Sin-idinnam, indeed, on bricks from Muḳayyar in the British Museum makes a reference to the military achievements by which he had won the position for his city. In the text his object is to record the rebuilding of the Moon-god's temple in Ur, but he relates that he carried out this work after he had made the foundation of the throne of Larsa secure and had smitten the whole of his enemies with the sword.[74] It is probable that his three successors on the throne, who reigned for less than ten years between them, failed to maintain his level of achievement, and that Sin-magir recovered the hegemony for Nîsin.[75] But Ur, no doubt, remained under Larsa's administration, and it was no mean nor inferior city that Kudur-Mabuk seized and occupied.

The Elamite had seen his opportunity in the continual conflicts which were taking place between the two rival cities of Sumer. In their contest for the hegemony Larsa had proved herself successful for a time, but she was still the weaker city and doubtless more exposed to attack from across the Tigris. Hence her selection by Kudur-Mabuk as a basis for his attempt on the country as a whole. He himself retained his position in Elam as the Adda of Emutbal; but he installed his two sons, Warad-Sin and Rîm-Sin, successively upon the throne of Larsa, and encouraged them to attack Nîsin and to lay claim to the rule of Sumer and Akkad. But the success which attended their efforts soon brought Babylon upon the scene, and we have the curious spectacle of a three-cornered contest, in which Nîsin is at war with Elam, while Babylon is at war in turn with both. That Sin-muballit, the son of Apil-Sin, did not combine with Nîsin to expel the invader from Babylonian soil, may have played at first into the hands of the Elamites. But it is not to be forgotten that the Western Semites of Babylon were still a conquering aristocracy, and their sympathies were far from being involved in the fate of any part of Sumer. Both Elam and Babylon must have foreseen that the capture of Nîsin would prove a decisive advantage to the victor, and each was content to see her weakened in the hope of ultimate success. When Rîm-Sin actually proved the victor in the long struggle, and Larsa under his regis inherited the traditions as well as the material resources of the Nîsin Dynasty, the three-cornered contest was reduced to a duel between Babylon and a more powerful Larsa. Then for a generation there ensued a fierce struggle between the two invading races, Elam and the Western Semites, for the possession of the country; and the fact that Hammurabi, Sin-muballit's son, should have emerged victorious, was a justification in full of his father's policy of avoiding any alliance with the south. The Western Semites proved themselves in the end strong enough to overcome the conqueror of Nîsin, and thereby they were left in undisputed possession of the whole of Babylonia.

It is possible, with the help of the date-formulæ and votive inscriptions of the period, to follow in outline the main features of this remarkable struggle. At first Kudur-Mabuk's footing in Sumer was confined to the city of Larsa, though even then he laid claim to the title Adda of Amurru, a reference to be explained perhaps by the suggested Amorite origin of the Larsa and Nîsin dynasties, and reflecting a claim to the suzerainty of the land from which his northern foes at any rate boasted their origin.[76] Warad-Sin, on ascending the throne, assumed merely the title King of Larsa, but we soon find him becoming the patron of Ur, and building a great fortification-wall in that city.[77] He then extended his authority to the south and east, Eridu, Lagash, and Girsu all falling before his arms or submitting to his suzerainty.[78] During this period Babylon remained aloof in the north, and Sin-muballit is occupied with cutting canals and fortifying cities, some of which he perhaps occupied for the first time.[79] It was only in his fourteenth year, after Warad-Sin had been succeeded at Larsa by his brother Rîm-Sin, that we have evidence of Babylon taking an active part in opposing Elamite pretensions.

BRONZE CONE AND VOTIVE FIGURE.
Brit. Mus., Nos. 90951 and 91016.

STONE CYLINDER WITH A VOTIVE INSCRIPTION
Brit. Mus., No. 91085.

In that year Sin-muballit records that he slew the army of Ur with the sword, and, since we know that Ur was at this time a vassal-city of Larsa, it is clear that the army referred to was one of those under Rîm-Sin's command. Three years later he transferred his attention from Larsa to Nîsin, then under the control of Damiḳ-ilishu, the son and successor of Sin-magir. On that occasion Sin-muballit commemorates his conquest of Nîsin, but it must have been little more than a victory in the field, for Damiḳ-ilishu lost neither his city nor his independence. In the last year of his reign we find Sin-muballit fighting on the other front, and claiming to have slain the army of Larsa with the sword. It is clear that in these last seven years of his reign Babylon proved herself capable of cheeking any encroachments to the north on the part of Larsa and the Elamites, and, by a continuance of the policy of fortifying her vassal-cities,[80] she paved the way for a more vigorous offensive on the part of Hammurabi, Sin-muballit's son and successor. Meanwhile the unfortunate city of Nîsin was between two fires, though for a few years longer Damiḳ-ilishu succeeded in beating off both his opponents.