Enlil-kudurri-usur
Enlil-kudurrī-uṣur, mdEnlil(be)-ku-dúr-uṣur, (Enlil protect the eldest son), was the 81st king of Assyria.[i 1] Depending on the length of reign one gives to his successor, Ninurta-apal-Ekur, this would have been either from 1187 to 1183 BC or from 1197 to 1193 BC. The former dates are more common in recent studies.
Biography
Enlil-kudurri-usur was the son of Tukulti-Ninurta I. He succeeded his nephew, Ashur-nirari III’s brief reign and ruled for five years. Apart from king lists and chronicles, there are no other extant inscriptions of this king.[1]
The Synchronistic King List[i 2] identifies his Babylonian contemporary with Adad-šuma-uṣur, his eventual nemesis. In the Synchronistic History,[i 3] the battle between him and Adad-šuma-uṣur is given as a pretext for his Assyrian rival, Ninurta-apal-Ekur, a son of Ilī-padâ and descendant of Eriba-Adad I, to “come up from Karduniaš,” i.e. Babylonia, and make a play for the Assyrian throne. Grayson[2] and others[3] have speculated that this was with the tacit assistance of Adad-šuma-uṣur, but there is currently no published evidence to support this theory. Ninurta-apal-Ekur’s purpose for being in Babylonia is also unknown, whether a political refugee or an administrator of the Assyrian held portion. The Walker Chronicle[i 4] describes how following his abject defeat at Adad-šuma-uṣur’s hands, Enlil-kudurrī-uṣur was seized by his own officers and handed over to his opponent.[4] Only after these events did Adad-šuma-uṣur go on to extend his territory to include the city of Babylon itself.
Meanwhile, the Synchronistic History[i 3] continues, Ninurta-apal-Ekur had “mustered his numerous troops and marched to conquer Libbi-ali (the city of Aššur). But [...] arrived unexpectedly, so he turned and went home.” As Grayson points out, this passage is open to various interpretations,[2] only one of which is that the missing name could have been that of Enlil-kudurrī-uṣur, released by his captor to sow confusion amongst his northern foes.
Inscriptions
- ↑ Assyrian King List, iii 14.
- ↑ Synchronistic King List, tablet excavation number Ass. 14616c (KAV 216), ii 6.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Synchronistic History, ii 3–8.
- ↑ Walker Chronicle, ABC 25, BM 27796, obverse lines 3 to 7.
References
| Preceded by | King of Assyria 1187–1182 BC |
Succeeded by Ninurta-apal-Ekur |
