Apil-kin

Apil-kin (𒀀𒉈𒄀 a-pil-gin6),[1] was a ruler of the city of Mari, northern Mesopotamia, after the fall of the Akkadian Empire c. 2126-2091 BCE.[2] He was a son of Ishgum-Addu, and ruled 35 years, according to the Shakkanakku Dynasty List.[3][4] He had two sons, who succeeded him in turn: Ili-Ishar and Tura-Dagan.[5]

Apil-kin 𒀀𒉈𒄀
Military governor of Mari King
Reign	c.2100 BCE
Predecessor	Ishgum-Addu
Successor	Iddi-ilum
Dynasty	Shakkanakku dynasty

Mari

Location of Mari, where Ili-Ishar ruled.

He held the title of Shakkanakku (military governor), which was borne by all the princes of a dynasty who reigned at Mari in the late third millennium and early second millennium BCE. These kings were the descendants of the military governors appointed by the kings of Akkad.[6] He was contemporary of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and probably their vassal.[7]

He was contemporary of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and probably their vassal.[8] He was a contemporary of Ur-Nammu.[9] He had a daughter named Taram-Uram, who became the First Queen of king Shulgi of Ur III.[10][11] In a dedication, she called herself "daughter-in-law of Ur-Nammu", and "daughter of Apil-kin, Lugal ("King") of Mari", suggesting for Apil-kin a position as a supreme ruler, and pointing to a marital alliance between Mari and Ur.[12][13]

On some of his inscriptions, Apil-kin uses the title dannum' ("the Great") in front of his function Shakkanakku ("Military Governor"), a practice for which he is the first to be attested at Mari, and which was initially introduced by Naram-Sin of the Akkadian Empire.[14] Apil-kin and his successors generally used the Akkadian style of royal inscriptions and titulature.[15] It is considered that the Shakkanakkus gained some form of independence and came to be considered as "Kings" from the time of Apil-kin.[16]

One of the inscriptions of Apil-kin, inscribed on a bronze plaque, reads:

Apil-kin inscription (reconstitution, in standard Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform).[17]

𒀀𒉈𒄀 𒁕𒈝 𒄊𒀴 𒈠𒌷𒆠 𒁶 𒊓𒄷𒌷

a-pil-kin, da-num Shakkanakku ma-ri ki, DIM sa-ḫu-ri

"Apil-kin, the Great Shakkanakku of Mari, built the Sahuri"

— Inscription of Apil-kin.[18]

The "Sahuri" built by Apil-kin is thought to be the name of a building or structure at Mari.[19]

References

1. Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 650.
2. Leick, Gwendolyn (2002). Who's Who in the Ancient Near East. Routledge. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-134-78796-8.
3. Leick, Gwendolyn (2002). Who's Who in the Ancient Near East. Routledge. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-134-78795-1.
4. Oliva, Juan (2008). Textos para un historia política de Siria-Palestina I (in Spanish). Ediciones AKAL. p. 86. ISBN 978-84-460-1949-7.
5. Leick, Gwendolyn (2002). Who's Who in the Ancient Near East. Routledge. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-134-78796-8.
6. Louvre. "The Statuette of Iddi-Ilum," Department of Near Eastern Antiquities: Mesopotamia. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/statuette-iddi-ilum
7. Unger, Merrill F. (2014). Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus: A Study in Archaeological Illumination of Bible History. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-62564-606-4.
8. Unger, Merrill F. (2014). Israel and the Aramaeans of Damascus: A Study in Archaeological Illumination of Bible History. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-62564-606-4.
9. Abusch, I. Tzvi; Noyes, Carol (2001). Proceedings of the XLV Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale: historiography in the cuneiform world. CDL Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-883053-67-3.
10. Sharlach, T. M. (2017). An Ox of One's Own: Royal Wives and Religion at the Court of the Third Dynasty of Ur. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 207. ISBN 978-1-5015-0522-5.
11. Eppihimer, Melissa (2019). Exemplars of Kingship: Art, Tradition, and the Legacy of the Akkadians. Oxford University Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-19-090303-9.
12. Lipiński, Edward (1995). Immigration and Emigration Within the Ancient Near East. Peeters Publishers. p. 187. ISBN 9789068317275.
13. CIVIL, Michel (1962). "Un nouveau synchronisme Mari-III e dynastie d'Ur". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale. 56 (4): 213. ISSN 0373-6032. JSTOR 23295098.
14. Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 649.
15. Eppihimer, Melissa (2019). Exemplars of Kingship: Art, Tradition, and the Legacy of the Akkadians. Oxford University Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-19-090303-9.
16. Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 650.
17. Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 650.
18. Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 650.
19. Loisel, Anne-Caroline Rendu. "Ilum-Isar et Apil-Kin, deux nouvelles inscriptions de Mari/Tell Hariri". In L. Feliu / J. Llop / A. Millet Alba / J. Sanmartin (Ed), Time and History in the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 56, Barcelone, Juillet 2010, Pp.633-643: 650.