Shu-Ninua or ŠÚ- or Kidin-Ninua, inscribed mŠÚ-URU.AB x ḪA,[i 1][i 2] the 54th king to appear on the Assyrian Kinglist, was the ruler of Assyria, c. 1615 to 1602 BC, and was the son of his predecessor-but-one, succeeding Lullaya, a “son of nobody.”[2]

Shu-Ninua
Issi'ak Assur
King of Assur
Reignc. 1615–1602 BC[1]
PredecessorLullaya
SuccessorSharma-Adad II
IssueSharma-Adad II
FatherBazaya

Biography edit

The reading of the first element in his name is uncertain, as Ignace Gelb and Benno Landsberger originally proposed BAR, giving Kidin-Ninua, "[Under] the protection of Nineveh," while Arno Poebel read the name as beginning with [Š]Ú- and Weidner read it as [Š]I- on another fragmentary copy of the kinglist.[i 3] J. A. Brinkman observed that with the exception of this disputed interpretation, all transliterations gave ŠÚ, reinforced by the Synchronistic Kinglist,[i 4] ˹mŠÚ-ni˺-nu-a, which had led to the preponderance for interpreting his name as Shu-Ninua in recent years,[3] “he of Ishtar,”[4] if Nina is correctly identified as a Babylonian name for this deity, although this remains unproven. A recleaning of the fragmentary kinglist,[i 3] however, has revealed a name collated by Heeßel to be [mki-d]in-dNINUA.[5]

There are no contemporary inscriptions of his reign.[6] He is recorded as having been a contemporary of Akurduana of the Sealand Dynasty in southern Babylonia in the Synchronistic Kinglist,[i 4] rather than any supposed ruler from the Kassite dynasty. The Assyrian Kinglist records that he reigned for fourteen years before being succeeded by his sons, Sharma-Adad II and then Erishum III.

Inscriptions edit

  1. ^ Khorsabad Kinglist, tablet IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, DS 32-54). ii 24, 26, 28 and 35,
  2. ^ SDAS Kinglist, tablet IM 60484, ii 20, 21, 22 and 27.
  3. ^ a b Kinglist fragment VAT 9812 (KAV 14), 6.
  4. ^ a b Synchronistic Kinglist, Ass. 14616c, i 8.

References edit

  1. ^ Bertman, Stephen (2003). Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0195183641.
  2. ^ K. Radner (1999). The Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Volume 1, Part II: B–G. The Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project. p. 278.
  3. ^ J. A. Brinkman (1973). "Comments on the Nassouhi Kinglist and the Assyrian Kinglist Tradition". Orientalia. 42: 318–319.
  4. ^ šu, CAD Š 3, p. 160.
  5. ^ Nils P. Heeßel (2003). "Zur Lesung der Königsnamens ŠÚ-URU.NINA". NABU (3): 60–61.
  6. ^ A. K. Grayson (1975). Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles. J. J. Augustin. pp. 31–32.


Preceded by King of Assyria
1615–1602 BC
Succeeded by