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{{Infobox person
| name = Samsu-ditāna
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| title = King of [[Babylon]]
| term = 31 years; c. 1562–1531 BC
| predecessor = [[Ammi-Saduqa]]
| successor = None
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'''Samsu-ditāna''', inscribed phonetically in [[cuneiform]] ''sa-am-su-di-ta-na'' in the seals of his servants,<ref>{{ cite book | title = Old Babylonian Period (2003-1595 B.C.) RIM The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia (Book 4) | author = Douglas Frayne | publisher = University of Toronto Press | year = 1990 | pages = 436–438 }}</ref> the 11th and last king of the [[Amorites|Amorite]] or [[First Dynasty of Babylon]], reigned for 31 years,<ref group=i>BM 33332 Babylonian King List A i 2.</ref><ref group=i>BM 38122 Babylonian King List B II.</ref> 1625 – 1595 BC ([[Middle Chronology]]) or 1562 – 1531 BC ([[Short chronology timeline|Short Chronology]]). His reign is best known for its demise with the sudden fall of [[Babylon]] at the hands of the [[Hittites]].

==History==

He was the great, great grandson of [[Hammurabi|Hammu-rapi]] and, although the Babylonian kingdom had shrunk considerably since its peak under this illustrious ancestor, it still extended north from Babylon and the [[Euphrates]] to [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] and [[Terqa]]. For the most part, he appears to have been non-belligerent and content to stay at home at the seat of his kingdom as none of his year names describe the waging of war or the building of monumental edifices. They are about pious gifts to the gods and the erection of statues dedicated to himself.<ref>{{ cite book | title = Brotherhood of Kings: How International Relations Shaped the Ancient Near East | author = Amanda H. Podany | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = January 20, 2012 | page = 120 }}</ref> None of his inscriptions have survived.<ref>{{ cite book | title = Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles | author = A. K. Grayson | publisher = J. J. Augustin | year = 1975 | page = 234 }}</ref> A royal epic of [[Gulkishar|Gulkišar]], the 6th king of the 2nd Dynasty of Babylon, the Sealand Dynasty, describes his enmity against Samsu-ditāna.<ref>{{ cite journal | title = 15) On the origin of the goddess Ištar-of-the-Sealand, Ayyabītu | author = Odette Boivin | journal = Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires (NABU) | year = 2016 | issue = 1 (Mars) | page = 25 }}</ref>

Samsu-ditāna apparently feared an attack as evidenced in extant ''tamitu'' texts, oracle questions addressed to the gods [[Shamash|Šamaš]] and [[Adad]], which name seven “rebel” enemies.<ref>{{ cite book | title = Babylonian Oracle Questions | author = W G Lambert | publisher = Eisenbrauns | year = 2007 | page = 143 }}</ref> However, he was powerless to prevent it, as the Babylonian state was in decay, with offices becoming hereditary, usurping royal prerogative, and payments accepted in lieu of military service to fund the bloated bureaucracy.<ref>{{ cite book | title = Civilizations of the Ancient Near East | chapter = The History of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Overview | author = [[Dominique Charpin]] | editor = Jack Sasson | publisher = Schribner | year = 1995 | page = 817 }}</ref> The eventual coup-de-grace came from an unexpected quarter and his reign was brought to an abrupt end by a raid by the Hittite king, [[Mursili I|Muršili I]] in 1595 BC (Middle Chronology), 1531 BC (Short Chronology), which resulted in the sacking and complete devastation of Babylon. The Chronicle of Early Kings<ref group=i>Chronicle of early kings (ABC 20) tablet BM 96152, reverse, line 11: ana tar-ṣi mŠamaš-di-ta-na kurḪat-tu-ú ana kurAkkadiki [illlik-ma].</ref> tersely reported: “At the time of Samsu-ditāna, the Hittites marched against Akkad.” Muršili conquered just to seize loot and captives, without attempting any lasting occupation, a strategy he had previously employed in his opportunistic putsch against Halpa (ancient [[Aleppo]]).<ref>{{ cite book | title = Babylonians | author = H W. F. Saggs | publisher = University of California Press | year = 2000 | page = 114 }}</ref> The Hittite account appears in the [[Telepinu Proclamation|Edict of Telepinu]], which relates: “Subsequently he marched to Babylon and he destroyed Babylon, and defeated the [[Hurrians|Hurrian]] troops, and brought captives and possessions of Babylon to [[Hattusa]].”<ref group=i>Edict of Telepinu (CTH19), KBo 3.1, KBo 7.15, KBo 12.4.</ref>

He seized the statues of the Babylonian tutelary deity [[Marduk]] and his consort [[Sarpanit|Sarpatinum]] and transported them to Ḫani where they would not be recovered until the reign of the [[Kassites|Kassite]] king [[Agum-Kakrime]] some 24 years later. Babylon was left in ruins and was not reoccupied until the advent of the Kassite dynasty, where documents from Tell Muḥammad are dated by the number of years after it was resettled for the reign of [[Shipta'ulzi|Šipta'ulzi]].<ref>{{ cite book | title = Languages and Cultures in Contact at the Crossroads of Civilizations in the Syro-Mesopotamia Realm | chapter = The adaptation of the Kassites to the Babylonian Civilization | author = L. Sassmannshausen | editor = K. Van Lerberghe and G. Voet | publisher = Peeters Publishers | year = 2000 | pages = 413–414 }}</ref>

==External links==
*[http://cdli.ucla.edu/tools/yearnames/html/T12K9.htm Samsu-ditāna year-names at CDLI.]

==Inscriptions==

<references group="i"/>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ammi-Saduqa]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Kings of Babylon|King of Babylon]]|years=1562 BC-1531 BC}}
{{s-aft|after=Office abolished}}
{{end}}

{{Babylonian kings}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samsu-ditana}}
[[Category:Babylonian kings]]
[[Category:16th-century BC rulers]]

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Test123: 1 revision imported

Palindromedairy at 06:01, 31 October 2017