Ekallatum (Akkadian: 𒌷𒂍𒃲𒈨𒌍, URUE2.GAL.MEŠ, Ekallātum, "the Palaces") was an ancient Amorite city-state and kingdom in upper Mesopotamia. Ekallatum, whose name means "the palaces," became the capital of an Amorite dynasty related to Babylon, which was important in the 19th and 18th centuries BCE period. The history of upper Mesopotamia in this period is documented in the archives of Mari, Syria. It was known to have been on the Tigris river, though which bank is still in some dispute, and in the general vicinity of Assur. It is generally considered to be the same city as the Ekallate of Neo-Assyrian times.
The gods of the city were Addu (Hadad), who resided in Ekallātum, and Istar of Radana, who visited the city from time to time.D. Charpin and J. M. Durand, "Assur avant L'Assyrie", MARI 8 (1997), pp. 367-91, 1997 In a letter between Zimri-Lim, ruler of Mari and his diviner:
History Its first known king was the Amorite Ila-kabkabu, who seems to have entered into a conflict with Iagitlim of Mari. His son Shamshi-Adad I ascended to the throne c. 1800 BC, continuing the conflict and attempting to extend into the valley along the Khabur River. He was a sometime ally, sometime enemy of Dadusha of Eshnunna (whose second year name was "Year in which Dadusza defeated the army of Ekallatum") in regional conflicts. His expansion was halted by Iagitlim's son, Iakhdunlim, and he was soon after defeated by Naram-Sin of Eshnunna, brother and successor of Dadusha, which caused him to flee to Babylon, a city founded and ruled by fellow Amorites.Rollinger, Robert, "Dāduša's stela and the vexed question of identifying the main actors on the relief", Iraq, vol. 79, pp. 203–12, 2017 He returned upon Naram-Sin's death. Soon thereafter, a series of military victories by Shamshi-Adad followed, and he seized all of Upper Mesopotamia, founding what historians now call the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia.Michalowski, Piotr, and Adnan Misir, "Cuneiform Texts from Kazane Höyük", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 50, pp. 53–58, 1998 The campaign included the annexing of nearby Assur. He founded his own capital at Shubat-Enlil, entrusting Ekallatum to his elder son Ishme-Dagan I. (His other son, Yasmah-Adad, was placed on the throne of Mari at the time.) Ishme-Dagan appears to have been a capable military leader, but when his father died in around 1775, he proved unable to maintain the whole kingdom; nonetheless, he kept Ekallatum, while his brother lost Mari and was killed.
The reign of Ishme-Dagan was chaotic, often being involved in military conflict with Nurrugum (location unknown).Beitzel, Barry J., "Išme-Dagan’s Military Actions in the Jezirah: A Geographical Study", Iraq, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 29–42, 1984 Unable to restore power to the city despite his many attempts, he was the target of nearby warlords, in particular, Zimrilim of Mari.Sasson, J. M., "Zimri-Lim’s March to Victory", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 177–78, 1972 When the Elamites took Ekallatum in 1765, he sought refuge with his traditional ally -- Hammurabi of Babylon—who helped him take back the throne. His time at Babylon may have been more in the way of captive than ally given:
Subsequently, Ekallatum became a vassal city subservient to the king of Babylon Hammurabi (a year name was "Year Hammu-rabi the king subjugated the land of the region of Subartu, Ekallatum, Burunda and the land of Zamlasz from the banks of the Tigris to the Sippar canal"), who came to control all of Mesopotamia. With the death of Ishme-Dagan.Reade, Julian, "Assyrian King-Lists, the Royal Tombs of Ur, and Indus Origins", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 60, no. 1, pp. 1–29, 2001 He was the last known king of Ekallatum as well as being king of Assyria. Later Ekallātum was incorporated into Assyria after the Amorite rulers were ousted from Assur in the latter third of the 18th century BC. it was sacked by the Hittites under Šuppiluliuma I (1344–1322 BC) during the Hittite Empire's ultimately unsuccessful campaign against the Middle Assyrian Empire.Bechar, Shlomit, "Chapter 1. Introduction", in Political Change and Material Culture in Middle to Late Bronze Age Canaan, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 1-35, 2022
An inscription claims that the king of Babylon Marduk-nadin-ahhe (c. 1095–1078 BC) captured Ekallātum from Assyria.Hallo, W. W., "Akkadian Apocalypses", Israel Exploration Journal, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 231–42, 1966
The Neo-Assyrian ruler Sennacherib (705–681 BC) reported that he returned the gods (their cult statues) "Adad and Shala" to Ekallātum after 418 years, claiming they had been deported by Babylonian ruler Marduk-nadin-ahhe (c. 1095–1078 BC).Zaia, Shana, "State-Sponsored Sacrilege: “Godnapping” and Omission in Neo-Assyrian Inscriptions", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 19-54, 2015
Location It was speculated by one researcher that the original name of Ekallātum was Hamazi, changed after it was destroyed by Ishbi-Erra of Isin after the fall of the Ur III empire.Steinkeller, Piotr, "The Historical Background of Urkeš and the Hurrian Beginnings in Northern Mesopotamia", Pp.75–98 in Urkesh and The Hurrians: A Volume in Honor of Lloyd Cotsen, ed. Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati. BibMes 26. Malibu: Undena, 1998
An Ekallātum is mentioned in the Old Babylonian period texts of Mari as lying to the West of the Tigris River in the Khābūr Tringle Region.Charpin, D. and Ziegler, N., "Mari et le Proche-Orient à l’époque amorrite: Essai d’histoire politique", FM 5, Paris: Société pour l’étude du Proche-Orient ancien, Sophie Démare-Lafont, 2003 One prominent researcher has suggested that the Mari texts contain two towns named Ekallātum, one on the Tigris and one which was Shamsi-Adad's capital at the headwater of a tributary of the Khabur River at the modern location of "Khoueïltla". Frayne, Douglas, "Towards a Historical Geography of the Khābūr Triangle Region in Old Babylonian Times. Part 1.", Journal of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies 7, pp. 33-45, 2012Frayne, Douglas R., "Towards a Historical Geography of the Khābūr Triangle Region in Old Babylonian Times, Part II", CSMSJ 9/10, pp. 17-65, 2014- 2015
In a long Old Babylonian itinerary from Emar and back (portions on the tablet are lost), Ekallātum is the first stop on the northward route after Assur and the last stop before Assur on the return route.Goetze, Albrecht, "An Old Babylonian Itinerary", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 51–72, 1953Hallo, William W., "The Road to Emar", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 57–88, 1964
A tablet fragment was found at Tel Hazor (Hazor 16803) which listed an expected trade path from Hazor to Mari and then on to Ekallatum. An alternate reading of the text is "Once my hand has taken Mari, I intend to go to the interior of Ekallatum to perform sacrifices and celebrations".Horowitz, Wayne, and Nathan Wasserman, "An Old Babylonian Letter from Hazor with Mention of Mari and Ekallātum", Israel Exploration Journal, vol. 50, no. 3/4, pp. 169–74, 2000
It has been suggested that Ekallatum lies within a days journey of Assur, most likely at Tell Haikal (Tulul el-Haikal) (East: 43.272797 / North: 35.597384), 15 kilometers north of Assur on the East bank of the Tigris.M. Birot, "Nouvelles decouvertes epigraphiques au Palais de Mari (Salle 115)", Syria 50, pp. 1-11, 1973 More recently some researchers have discounted this location and instead suggested Tell Akra twenty kilometers east of Assur, also on the East bank of the Tigris.Dittmann, R., "Ruinenbeschreibungen der Machmur-Ebene aus dem Nachlass von Walter Bachmann", in Finkbeiner, Dittmann, and Hauptmann (eds), pp. 87-102, 1995Eidem, J. and F. Højlund, "Assyria and Dilmun Revisited", in H. Waetzoldt, and H. Hauptmann (eds), Assyrien im Wandel derZeiten, Heidelberger Studien zum Alten Orient 6, pp. 25-31, 1997
Recently, the site of Tell Ḥuwaish (also Tal al-Huwaish), 18 kilometers north of Assur on the west bank of the Tigris, has been proposed as the location of Ekallātum.Nele Ziegler, Adelheid Otto, "Tell Ḥuwaish = Tell Ḥuwaish", Notes Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires, pp. 214, 2022Ziegler, Nele, and Adelheid Otto, "Ekallatum, Samsi-Addu’s capital city, localised", Entre les fleuves–III. On the Way in Upper Mesopotamia: Travels, Routes and Environment as Basis for the Reconstruction of Historical Geography 30, pp. 221-252, 2023
See also Cities of the ancient Near East List of Mesopotamian dynasties
References
Further reading D. Charpin, "Tell Munbaqa, Ekallâtum-sur-l'Euphrate", NABU 32, 1993 Horowitz W., and N. Wasserman, "From Hazor to Mari and Ekallātum: A Recently Discovered Old-Babylonian Letter from Hazor", in Nomades et sédentaires dans le Proche- Orient ancien: Compte rendu de la XLVIe Rencontre assyriologique internationale, Paris, 10–13 juillet 2000, ed. Christophe Nicolle. Amurru 3. Paris: Editions Recherche sur les civilisations, pp. 335–44, 2004 Nele Ziegler, Adelheid Otto, Christoph Fink, "The ”Road to Emar” Reconsidered", Adelheid Otto; Nele Ziegler. Entre les fleuves – III. O, the Way in Upper Mesopotamia: Travels, Routes and Environment as Basis for the Reconstruction of Historical Geography, Berliner Beiträge zum Vorderen Orient (30), PeWe Verlag, pp.135-220, 2023 Ziegler, Nele, "Le royaume d’Ekallâtum et son horizon géopolitique", in Dominique Charpin and Jean-Marie Durand (eds), Recueil d’ études à la mémoire d’ André Parrot, ed. Dominique Charpin and Jean-Marie Durand, FM 6, Paris: SEPOA, pp. 211–274, 2002