Naplanum was the first ruler of the ancient Near Eastern city-state of Larsa c. 2025-2004 BC (MC) — roughly during the reign of Ibbi-Sin of the Third dynasty of Ur and the great famine — according to the later Larsa King List (Larsa Date List). M. Fitzgerald, "The Rulers of Larsa", Yale University Dissertation, 2002 He is mentioned often in Ur III administrative texts of that time.Garfinkle, S., "The Participation of Marginal and Liminal Groups in Secondary State Formation under the Third Dynasty of Ur", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, 9(2), pp. 305-317, 2022 It is known that at time he was residing at Kisig (thought to be Tell al-Lahm) near Ur.Michalowski, Piotr, "Love or death? Observations on the role of the gala in Ur III ceremonial life", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 58.1, pp. 49-61, 2006 No contemporary year names or inscriptions have been found verifying that Naplanum was a king of Larsa, which seems to have remained part of Ibbi-Sin's kingdom. However a prominent and wealthy Amorite merchant named Naplanum does appear in many sales records of the grain industry during these later days of the Third Dynasty, who may well have been the ancestor of the later independent kings of Larsa. Marcel Segrist, "Larsa Year Names", Andrews University Press, 1990 Grice, Ettalene Mears, "Chronology of the Larsa dynasty", Yale University Press, 1919 It has been suggested that Naplanum was actually only a high Amorite leader under Ur III and that later Larsa rulers elevated him to ruler to embellish their history.Wasserman, N., & Bloch, Y., "The Kingdom of Larsa", The Amorites, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, pp. 148–186, 2023 Naplanum is a contemporary of Ishbi-Erra of Isin.Thureau-Dangin, François, "La chronologie de la dynastie de Larsa", Revue d'assyriologie et d'archeologie orientale 15.1, pp. 1-57, 1918
See also List of Mesopotamian dynasties Chronology of the ancient Near East
Notes
Further reading Sallaberger, W., "Schlachtvieh aus Puzris-Dagan. Zur Bedeutung dieses königlichen Archivs", Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-egyptisch Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux 38, pp. 45–62, 2003/2004 Steinkeller, P., "A History Of Mashkan-Shapir and its Role in the Kingdom Of Larsa", The Anatomy of a Mesopotamian City: Survey and Soundings at Mashkan-Shapir, eds. E. Stone, P. E Zimansky, and P. Steinkeller. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, pp. 26–42, 2004 Weisberg, David B., "Zabaya, an Early King of the Larsa Dynasty", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 194–98, 1989