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'''Shamash-shum-ukin''' (Assyrian: {{Script/Cuneiform|7|𒁹𒀭𒄑𒉢𒈬𒄀𒈾}} ''Šamaš-šuma-ukin'' "Shamash has established an heir")<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/cbd/qpn/qpn.x004822.html|title=ribo/qpn/Šamaš-šuma-ukin[king of Babylon]|website=oracc.museum.upenn.edu|access-date=2018-03-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Frahm|first=Eckart|date=|title=Observations on the Name and Age of Sargon II and on Some Patterns of Assyrian Royal Onomastics|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/downloads/frahm_nabu2005_44.pdf|journal=NABU|volume=2005.2|pages=46–50|via=}}</ref> was the [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] king of [[Babylon]] from 667–648 BC. He was the second son of the [[Assyria]]n king [[Esarhaddon]].

==History==
[[File:Detail of a stone monument of Shamash-shum-ukin as a basket-bearer. 668-655 BCE. From the temple of Nabu at Borsippa, Iraq and is currently housed in the British Museum.jpg|thumb|Detail of a stone monument of Shamash-shum-ukin as a basket-bearer. 668–655 BC, from the temple of Nabu at Borsippa, Iraq. Currently housed in the British Museum]]
[[File:Confirmation by Shamash-shum-ukim of a grant originally made by Ashur-nadin-shumi. 670-650 BCE, from Babylonia, Iraq. The tablet is currently housed in the British Museum.jpg|thumb|Confirmation by Shamash-shum-ukim of a grant originally made by Ashur-nadin-shumi. 670–650 BC, from Babylonia, Iraq. The tablet is currently housed in the British Museum]]
His elder brother, crown prince Sîn-apla-iddina had died in 672, and in his stead the third son [[Ashurbanipal]] was invested as crown prince and later king of Assyria, while Shamash-shum-ukin remained crown prince of [[Babylonia]]. This arrangement caused some dissension, and at least one civil servant wrote the King warning against it.<ref name=Kuiper>[https://books.google.com/books?id=cb0Oxjvhi7sC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=Shamash-shum-ukin&source=bl&ots=xzC73m7PSH&sig=pSv-x8aMiskqqYR55pfXkN5U_oE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=o2cnVbrxLsnNsAXd-IG4BA&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAjgU#v=onepage&q=Shamash-shum-ukin&f=false Kuiper, Katherine. ''Mesopotamia: The World's Earliest Civilization'', The Rosen Publishing Group, 2010] {{ISBN|9781615301126}}</ref> Provincial governors and vassals had to take an oath to accept this and to help the brothers gain their respective thrones in the event of Esarhaddon's death.<ref name=Porter>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zQOQey4OkAsC&pg=PA266&lpg=PA266&dq=Shamash-shum-ukin&source=bl&ots=846fo6kGsX&sig=-bkEE8TWgnye3cWgSh5JqsVougs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zVYnVfSGJ4mCsAWrioGACw&ved=0CF0Q6AEwDQ#v=onepage&q=Shamash-shum-ukin&f=false Porter, Barbara Nevling. "Problems of Transferring Power", ''Charis: Essays in Honor of Sara A. Immerwahr'', ASCSA, 2004, 9780876615331]</ref>

When Esarhaddon unexpectedly died on a campaign against rebellious Egypt in 669, it was only the decisive action of his grandmother Naqi'a-Zakutu, widow of his grandfather [[Sennacherib]] and mother of his late father, that got Ashurbanipal on the throne,<ref name=Johns>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6AVUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA630&lpg=PA630&dq=Shamash-shum-ukin&source=bl&ots=qRmrTQNkuc&sig=P6YebI46O9lCuBItGItmFZdY3jc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VVsnVe6yIIPRsAWuooTIDQ&ved=0CB0Q6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=Shamash-shum-ukin&f=false Johns, C.H.W. "Recent Assyriology", ''Journal of Theological Studies'', Vol. VI, Clarendon Press, 1905]</ref> in the face of opposition by court officials and parts of the priesthood.  Shamash-shum-ukin, the older brother, became viceroy of Babylonia. The arrangement was evidently intended to flatter the Babylonians by giving them once more the semblance of independence.

In 668 BC Shamash-shum-ukin brought the statue of Marduk back to Babylon. The following year at the New Year's Day ritual, he took the hand of Bēl and became the legitimate king of Babylon.<ref name=CUP>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Cw89AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA124&dq=Shamash-shum-ukin&hl=en&sa=X&ei=L2snVfeLCsTmsAWk0IGgAg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=Shamash-shum-ukin&f=false Johns, C.W.H., ''Ancient Babylonia'', CUP Archive]</ref>

The Babylonian territory consisted of Babylon, Borsippa, [[Kutha]] and [[Sippar]]. As overlord, Ashurbanipal continued to offer royal sacrifices in these cities. While Shamash-shum-ukin was the sovereign ruler of the south in theory, Assyria maintained a garrison in [[Nippur]], and some of the provincial governors tried to get into Assyrian favour. Letters by Sin-balassu-iqbi, governor of [[Ur]] show how he tried to ingratiate himself with Ashurbanipal.

Ashurbanipal retained responsibility for Babylonia's defense and foreign policy; Shamash-shum-ukin handled economic matters and land tenure.<ref name=Saggs>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BPdLxEyHci0C&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=Shamash-shum-ukin&source=bl&ots=sURSdJdeya&sig=4sSbLhupPngMfEjusnzbSbiobfI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-l4nVbvRCIiNsAWntIH4Dw&ved=0CB0Q6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q=Shamash-shum-ukin&f=false Saggs, H.W.F., ''Babylonians'', University of California Press, 2000] {{ISBN|9780520202221}}</ref> Ashurbanipal took an active part in the restoration of sanctuaries in the south. A stela now in [[London]] commemorates his help in restoring the temple [[Esagila]]; another tells of how he restored the [[Nabu]]-temple in [[Borsippa]]. Even the [[Sumerian language]] was revived as the official tongue. For some time this worked well, however Shamash-shum-ukin became infused with Babylonian nationalism, and claimed that it was he rather than his younger brother that was the successor of the [[Mesopotamian]] monarchs whose empire stretched from Iran to the Mediterranean and from the Caucasus to Arabia and north Africa.

In May 652 BC, Shamash-shum-ukin rose in rebellion.<ref name=MacGinnis>[https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/12326/illinoisclassica131988MACGINNIS.pdf?sequence=2 MacGinnis, J.D.A., "Ctesias and the Fall of Nineveh", ''Ideals'', Illinois Classic Studies, XII.I, University of Illinois]</ref> He formed a powerful coalition including Nabu-bel-shumate, king of the Mesopotamian Sealands, the [[Elamites]], the [[Chaldea]]n tribes of the South, the kings of [[Gutian people|Guti]], [[Amurru kingdom|Amurru]] and [[Meluhha]] and the [[Arab people|Arabs]] from Arabia. After two years Babylon and [[Borsippa]] were besieged, and [[Elam]] was defeated and destroyed. Babylon yielded in June 648.

A fragment of the annals of Ashurbanipal excavated at Nimrud says that Shamash-shum-ukin was wounded by an arrow. Another account says that he threw himself into his burning palace as Babylon fell to Assyrian troops, to be remembered by the Greeks in the story of [[Sardanapalus]] (or Sardanapalos, his Greek name) (Ashurbanipal). However, since after his brother's death, Ashurbanipal reviewed Shamash-shum-ukin's property, including vehicles, horses, furniture, and retainers, J.D.A. MacGinnis regards the account of a grand conflagration as "pure fantasy".<ref name=MacGinnis/> His successor on the throne of Babylon was [[Kandalanu]] (647–627 BC). Kandalanu, however, may have been either a throne name taken by Ashurbanipal himself or an Assyrian puppet ruler.<ref name=Saggs/>

MacGinnis believes that details of the siege of Babylon were later incorporated into Ctesias' account of the siege of [[Nineveh]].<ref name=MacGinnis/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/abc15/samas-suma-ukin.html ''ABC'' 15]: Chronicle Concerning the Reign of Šamaš-šuma-ukin

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{{succession box|title=[[Kings of Babylon|King of Babylon]]|before=[[Esarhaddon]]|after=[[Kandalanu]]|years=668&ndash;648 BC}}
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{{Babylonian kings}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:648 BC deaths]]
[[Category:Babylonian kings]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]