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Lullubi Kingdom 𒇻𒇻𒉈𒆠
3100 BC–675 BC
Territory of the Lullubi in the Mesopotamia area.
Common languages	Unclassified (Lullubian?) Akkadian (inscriptions)
Religion	Mesopotamian religions
Government	Monarchy
Historical era	Antiquity
• Established	3100 BC
• Disestablished	675 BC
Today part of	Iraq Iran

Lullubi, Lulubi (Akkadian: 𒇻𒇻𒉈: Lu-lu-bi, Akkadian: 𒇻𒇻𒉈𒆠: Lu-lu-bi "Country of the Lullubi"), more commonly known as Lullu, were a group of Bronze Age tribes who existed and disappeared during the 3rd millennium BC, from a region known as Lulubum, now the Sharazor plain of the Zagros Mountains of modern-day Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraq. Lullubi was a neighbour and sometimes ally with the Hurrian Simurrum kingdom and came into conflict with the Semitic Akkadian Empire and Assyria. Frayne (1990) identified their city Lulubuna or Luluban with the region's modern town of Halabja. The language of the Lullubi is regarded as an unclassified language because it is unattested in written record. Significantly, the term Lullubi though, appears to be of Hurrian origin rather than Semitic or the yet to arrive in the region Indo-European, and the names of its known rulers have Hurrian or more rarely Semitic influence, with no trace of Indo-European influence such as Iranic or Indo-Aryan.

Historical references

Legends

The early Sumerian legend "Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird", set in the reign of Enmerkar of Uruk, alludes to the "mountains of Lulubi" as being where the character of Lugalbanda encounters the gigantic Anzû bird while searching for the rest of Enmerkar's army en route to siege Aratta.

Akkadian empire and Gutian dynasty

Lullubum appears in historical times as one of the lands Sargon the Great subjugated within his Akkadian Empire, along with the neighboring province of Gutium, which was possibly of the same Hurrian origin as the Lullubi. Sargon's grandson Naram Sin defeated the Lullubi and their king Satuni, and had his famous victory stele made in commemoration:

"Naram-Sin the powerful . . . . Sidur and Sutuni, princes of the Lulubi, gathered together and they made war against me."

— Akkadian inscription on the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin.

After the Akkadian Empire fell to the Gutians, the Lullubians rebelled against the Gutian king Erridupizir, according to Mesopotamian inscriptions:

Ka-Nisba, king of Simurrum, instigated the people of Simurrum and Lullubi to revolt. Amnili, general of ... made the land ... Erridu-pizir, the mighty, king of Gutium and of the four quarters hastened him... In a single day he captured the pass of Urbillum at Mount Mummum. Further, he captured Nirishuha.

— Inscription R2:226-7 of Erridupizir.

Neo-Sumerian Empire

Following the short lived Gutian period, the Neo-Sumerian Empire (Ur-III) ruler Shulgi is said to have raided Lullubi at least 9 times; by the time of Amar-Sin, Lullubians formed a contingent in the military of Ur, suggesting that the region was then under Neo-Sumerian control.

Another famous rock relief depicting the Lullubian king Anubanini with the Assyrian-Babylonian goddess Ishtar, captives in tow, is now thought to date to the Ur-III period; however, a later Assyrian- Babylonian legendary retelling of the exploits of Sargon the Great mentions Anubanini as one of his opponents.

Babylonian and Assyrian interactions

In the following (second) millennium BC, the term "Lullubi" or "Lullu" seems to have become a generic Babylonian/Assyrian term for "highlander" without reference ro any single ethnic group, while the original region of Lullubi became the Hurrian inhabited Zamua. However, the "land of Lullubi" makes a reappearance in the late 12th century BC, when both Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon (in c. 1120 BC) and Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria (in 1113 BC) subdued it. Neo-Assyrian kings of the following centuries also recorded campaigns and conquests in the area of Lullubum / Zamua. Most notably, Ashur-nasir-pal II had to suppress a revolt among the Zamuan chiefs in 881 BC, during which they constructed a wall in the Bazian pass between modern Kirkuk (the Assyrian city of Arrapha) and Sulaymaniyah in a failed attempt to keep the Assyrians out.

They were said to have had 19 walled cities in their land, as well as a large supply of horses, cattle, metals, textiles and wine, which were carried off by Ashur-nasir-pal. Local chiefs or governors of the Zamua region continued to be mentioned down to the end of Esarhaddon's reign (669 BC) after which they disappear from history.

Representations

In depictions of them, the Lullubi are represented as warlike mountain people. The Lullubi are often shown bare-chested and wearing animal skins. They have short beards, their hair is long and worn in a thick braid, as can be seen on the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin.

Rulers

Rulers of the Lullubi kingdom:

1. Immashkush (c. 2400 BC)
2. Anubanini (c. 2350 BC) he ordered to make an inscription on the rock near Sar-e Pol-e Zahab.
3. Satuni (c. 2270 BC contemporary with Naram-Sin king of Akkad and Khita king of Awan)
4. Irib (c. 2037 BC)
5. Darianam (c. 2000 BC)
6. Ikki (precise dates unknown)
7. Tar ... duni (precise dates unknown) son of Ikki. His inscription is found not far from the inscription of Anubanini.
8. Nur-Adad (c. 881 – 880 BC)
9. Zabini (c. 881 BC)
10. Hubaia (c. 830 BC) vassal of Assyrians
11. Dada (c. 715 BC)
12. Larkutla (c. 675 BC)

Lullubi rock reliefs

Various Lullubian reliefs can be seen in the area of Sar-e Pol-e Zohab, the best preserved of which is the Anubanini rock relief. They all show a ruler trampling an enemy, and most also show a deity facing the ruler. Another relief can be found about 200 meters away, in a style similar to the Anubanini relief, but this time with a beardless ruler. The attribution to a specific ruler remains uncertain.

Anubanini rock relief

• The relief is located on the top of a cliff towering over the village of Sarpol-e Zahab. A second relief (Parthian Empire period) appears below.
• Anubanini rock relief at Sarpol-e Zahab, also called Sarpol-e Zahab II.
• King Anubanini.
• Goddess Ishtar.
• Prisoners of the Lullubis (detail).
• Prisoners of the Lullubis and their king (detail).
• Prisoner king (detail). He appears to be wearing a crown.
• Anubanini rock relief Akkadian inscription.

Other Lullubi reliefs

• Sar-e Pol-e Zahab, relief I. Beardless warrior with axe, trampling a foe. Sundisk above. A name "Zaba(zuna), son of ..." can be read. This is possibly the son of Iddin-Sin, a ruler of the Kingdom of Simurrum.
• Sar-e Pol-e Zahab, relief III. Beardless warrior trampling a foe, facing a goddess.
• Sar-e Pol-e Zahab, relief IV. Beardless warrior trampling a foe, facing a goddess.
• Relief of Tardunni, a possible Lullubi ruler, also holding weapons and trampling foes, with an inscription in Akkadian.
• Detail, a dead or dying Lullubian warrior. Darband-i Gawr rock-relief, Mt. Qaradagh, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, 2200-2000 BCE
• Detail, a dead or dying Lullubian warrior, Darband-i Gawr rock-relief, Mt. Qaradagh, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, 2200-2000 BCE

See also

History of Greater Iran
Pre-IslamicBCE / BC Prehistory Kura–Araxes culture c. 3400 – c. 2000 Helmand culture/Jiroft culture 3300-2200 Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800 Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Lullubi/Zamua 3100-675 Marhaši 2550-2020 Bactria–Margiana Complex 2400–1700 Gutian Dynasty 2141-2050 Avestan period c. 1500 BCE – 500 BCE Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th century Neo-Assyrian Empire 911–609 Urartu 860–590 Median Empire 728–550 Scythian Kingdom 652–625 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Ancient kingdom of Armenia 331 BCE – 428 CE Seleucid Empire 330–150 Caucasian Iberia c. 302 BCE – 580 CE Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250–125 Parthian Empire 248 BCE–224 CE Caucasian Albania 2nd century BCE – 8th century CE Roman Empire 27 BCE – 330 CE CE / AD Kushan Empire 30–275 Sasanian Empire 224–651 Afrighid dynasty 305–995 Hephthalite Empire 425–557 Kabul Shahi kingdom 565–879 Dabuyid dynasty 642–760 Bagratid Armenia 880s – 1045 Alania 8th/9th century – 1238 / 9 Kingdom of Georgia 1008–1490
Islamic Rashidun Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Shirvanshah 799–1607 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Dulafid dynasty 840–897 Zaydis of Tabaristan 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid Empire 819–999 Sajid dynasty 889/90–929 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1055 Sallarid dynasty 941–1062 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghurid dynasty pre-879 – 1215 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarazmian dynasty 1077–1231 Sultanate of Rum 1077–1307 Salghurids 1148–1282 Ilkhanate 1256–1353 Kart dynasty 1231–1389 Ottoman Empire 1299–1923 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Jalairid Sultanate 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1507 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722 Mughal Empire 1526–1857 Hotak dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid Iran 1736–1750 Zand dynasty 1750–1794 Durrani Empire 1794–1826 Qajar Iran 1794–1925
v t e

• Anobanini rock relief
• Zamua
• Tell Kunara

References

1. Eidem, Jesper; Læssøe, Jørgen (1992). The Shemshāra Archives 2: The Administrative Texts. Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. pp. 22, 51–54. ISBN 978-87-7304-227-4.
2. Speiser, Ephraim Avigdor (2017-01-30). Mesopotamian Origins: The Basic Population of the Near East. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-5128-1881-9.
3. Campbell, Lyle (2017-10-03). Language Isolates. Routledge. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-317-61091-5.
4. Potts, Daniel T. (2014). Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era. Oxford University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-19-933079-9.
5. Hamblin, William J. (2006). Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. Routledge. pp. 115–116. ISBN 9781134520626.
6. Rubio, Gonzalo. "The Languages of the Ancient Near East (in A Companion to the Ancient Near East, 2nd ed., 2007)".
7. Tischler 1977–2001: vol. 5/6: 70–71. On the Lullubeans in general, see Klengel 1987–1990; Eidem 1992: 50–4.
8. Babylonian & Oriental Record. 1895. p. 27.
9. Hamblin, William J. (2006). Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. Routledge. pp. 115–116. ISBN 9781134520626.
10. "Louvre Museum Official Website". cartelen.louvre.fr.
11. ^ "The hair of the Lullubi is long and worn in a thick braid. They wear animal skins, while the Akkadian soldiers wear the proper attire for battle, helmets and military tunics." in Bahrani, Zainab (2008). Rituals of War: The Body and Violence in Mesopotamia. Zone Books. p. 109. ISBN 9781890951849.
12. Bury, John Bagnell; Cook, Stanley Arthur; Adcock, Frank Ezra (1975). The Cambridge Ancient History: The Egyptian and Hittite empires to c. 1000 B.C. University Press. p. 505. ISBN 9780521086912.
13. Qashqai, 2011.
14. Legrain, 1922; Cameron, 1936; D’yakonov, 1956; The Cambridge History of Iran; Hinz, 1972; The Cambridge Ancient History; Majidzadeh, 1991; Majidzadeh, 1997.
15. Cameron, George G. (1936). History of Early Iran (PDF). The University of Chicago Press. p. 35.
16. ^ Cameron, George G. (1936). History of Early Iran (PDF). The University of Chicago Press. p. 41.
17. ^ Osborne, James F. (2014). Approaching Monumentality in Archaeology. SUNY Press. p. 123. ISBN 9781438453255.
18. Vanden Berghe, Louis. Relief Sculptures de Iran Ancien. pp. 19–21.
19. ^ Osborne, James F. (2014). Approaching Monumentality in Archaeology. SUNY Press. pp. 123–124. ISBN 9781438453255.
20. Osborne, James F. (2014). Approaching Monumentality in Archaeology. SUNY Press. pp. 123–124. ISBN 9781438453255.
21. Frayne, Douglas (1990). Old Babylonian Period (2003-1595 BC). University of Toronto Press. pp. 707 ff. ISBN 9780802058737.

Sources

• Sar-e Pol-e Zahab
• Lullubi
• Qashqai, Hamidreza, Chronicle of early Iran history, Tehran, Avegan press, 2011 (in Persian: گاهنمای سپیده دم تاریخ در ایران )
• Cameron, George, "History of Early Iran", Chicago, 1936 (repr., Chicago, 1969; tr. E.-J. Levin, L’histoire de l’Iran antique, Paris, 1937; tr. H. Anusheh, ایران در سپیده دم تاریخ, Tehran, 1993)
• D’yakonov, I. M., "Istoriya Midii ot drevenĭshikh vremen do kontsa IV beka de e.E" (The history of Media from ancient times to the end of the 4th century BCE), Moscow and Leningrad, 1956; tr. Karim Kešāvarz as Tāriḵ-e Mād, Tehran, 1966.
• The Cambridge History of Iran
• Hinz, W., "The Lost World of Elam", London, 1972 (tr. F. Firuznia, دنیای گمشده ایلام, Tehran, 1992)
• The Cambridge Ancient History
• Majidzadeh, Yusef, "History and civilization of Elam", Tehran, Iran University Press, 1991.
• Majidzadeh, Yusef, "History and civilization of Mesopotamia", Tehran, Iran University Press, 1997, vol.1.
• Legrain, Leon, "Historical Fragments", Philadelphia, The University of Pennsylvania Museum Publications of the Babylonian Section, vol. XIII, 1922.
• Vallat, Francois. Elam: The History of Elam. Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. VIII pp. 301-313. London/New York, 1998.

• Akkadian Empire
• Ancient history of Iran
• History of Lorestan province
• Unclassified languages of Asia
• Ancient languages