| Sumu-la-El | |
|---|---|
| 2nd King of Babylon | |
| Reign | c. 1881–1845 BC |
| Predecessor | Sumu-abum |
| Successor | Sabium |
| Died | c. 1845 BC |
| Issue | Sallurtum |
Sumu-la-El (also Sumulael or Sumu-la-ilu) was a King in the First Dynasty of Babylon. He reigned c. 1881–1845 BC (MC). He was a contemporary of Sîn-kāšid of Uruk and with Sūmu-El and Nur-Adad or Larsa.[1]During this period Babylon contested with the city-state of Isin for control of the local region.[2] He subjugated and conquered nearby cities like Kish and built a string of fortresses around his territory.[3][4] He is known to have conquered the city of Sippar.[5] Economic ties extended as far north as Tilmen Hoyuk.[6] His daughter, Šallurtum, married Sîn-kāšid, the king of Uruk.[7] Because the Old Babylonian period archaeological levels at the city of Babylon were below the water table and not excavated what is known about Sumu-la-el is from other sites like Sippar and Marad which Babylon controlled. In the first half of Sumu-la-el's reign Marad had an independent kingdom which also controlled Dilbat.[8][9][10]
About 36 year names of Sumu-la-el are known, notably :[11]
- Year Sumu-la-el built the city wall of Dilbat
- Year Alumbiumu (Kazallu) was smitten by weapons
- Year the great city wall of Babylon was built
- Year the temple of Adad was built
- Year Kish was destroyed
- Year Iahzir-el was driven out of Kazallu
- Year the city wall of Kazallu was destroyed and his army was smitten by weapons
- Year the city walls of Kutha and Anzagar-urgi were built
- Year in which Sumu-la-el entered Borsippa
- Year Sumu-la-el the king built the city wall of Sippar
- Year the temple of Zababa (the Emeteursag) was built by Sumu-la-el
- Year the great city wall of Habuz was built
In a text from the time of later Babylon ruler Apil-Sîn, found at Sippar, a case was recorded adjudicated by Apil-Sin " ... the houses which Sumulael had given them, Nur-ilisu laid claim, but they obtained an audience with King Apil-Sin and he returned their houses to them.". One of the witnesses was Ayyalatum, daughter of earlier ruler Sumu-la-el.[12]
See also
References
- Hershkovitz, Yehonatan, "The Adaptation Process of Cuneiform in the Old Babylonian Period", Dissertation, Harvard University, 2023
- Goetze, Albrecht, "Sin-Iddinam of Larsa. New Tablets from His Reign", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 83–118, 1950
- Boer, Rients de., "Beginnings of Old Babylonian Babylon: Sumu-abum and Sumu-la-El", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 70.1, pp. 53-86, 2018
- De Boer, Rients, "Two early Old Babylonian 'Mananâ' archives dated to the last years of Sumu-la-El", Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale, vol. 111, pp. 25–64, 2017
- Charpin, Dominique and Ziegler, Nele, "Masters of Time: Old Babylonian Kings and Calendars", Time and History in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 56th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Barcelona, July 26th–30th, 2010, edited by Lluis Feliu, J. Llop, A. Millet Albà and Joaquin Sanmartín, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 57–68, 2013
- Marchesi, G./N. Marchetti, "A Babylonian Official at Tilmen Höyük in the Time of King Sumu-la-el of Babylon", Or. 88, 1–36, 2019
- Michalowski, Piotr, "The Amorites in Ur III Times", The Correspondence of the Kings of Ur: An Epistolary History of an Ancient Mesopotamian Kingdom, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 82-121, 2011
- Al-Hussainy, Abbas Ali, and Rients de Boer. "Epigraphic finds of the 2023 Iraqi-Dutch excavations at Marad". Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 119.1, pp. 41-66, 2025
- Pomponio, Francesco, "The Governors of Irisaĝrig When It Was a Province of the Ur III State", New Perspectives on the History of Early Mesopotamia: The Region of Irisagrig and Malgum, edited by Manuel Molina and Palmiro Notizia, De Gruyter, pp. 141-150, 2026
- S. G. Koshurnikov, and N. Yoffee, "Old Babylonian Tablets from Dilbat in the Ashmolean Museum", Iraq, vol. 48, pp. 117–30, 1986
- Year Names of Sumu-la-el at CDLI
- K. A. Al-’Adami, "King Apil-Sîn Confirms the Judgment of Sumulael", Iraq, vol. 59, pp. 73–75, 1997