Guti (Mesopotamia)
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The Gutians were a people of ancient Mesopotamia who lived in the central Zagros Range.
Nothing is still known about their origins. They may have been an Indo-European speaking people, possibly related linguistically to the Tocharians or to the modern Kurdish people.
The Gutian kings came to power in Mesopotamia circa the 22nd century BC (short chronology), more precisely around 2250 BC, by destabilising Akkad at the end of the reign of King Melem of Unug.
The first Gutian king was Inkishuc. The last Gutian king was Tirigan, who was preceded by 21 kings, reigning roughly a total of one century (estimates vary between 80 and 120 years, with 91 years often quoted as probable). The dynasty was succeeded by the 3rd dynasty of Ur.
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[edit] History
In the time of the Akkadian Empire, one prominent nomad tribe were the Guti, who lived in the Zagros Mountains.
The Gutians practiced hit-and-run tactics, and would be long gone by the time regular troops could arrive to deal with the situation. Their raids crippled the economy of Sumer. Travel nearly ceased, as did work in the fields resulting in famine.
Sumerian king Melem of Unug was defeated by the barbarian Gutians around 2250 BC. The Guti swept down, defeated the demoralized Akkadian army, took Agade and destroyed it about 2215 BC. The Empire became theirs.
Agade was so thoroughly destroyed that, alone of all the Mesopotamian capitals, its site is still not known. The Guti proved to be poor rulers. Under their crude rule, prosperity declined. They were too unused to the complexities of civilization to organize matters properly, particularly in connection with the canal network. This was allowed to sink into disrepair, with famine and death resulting. Thus a short "dark age" swept over Mesopotamia.
Akkad bore the brunt of this, for it was Akkad that had been the center of the Empire and bore the prestige of its tradition, so that it was in Akkad that the Guti established their own center in place of the destroyed Agade. Some of the Sumerian cities in the south took advantage of the safety of distance and purchased a certain amount of self-government by paying tribute to the new rulers.
Uruk got along under its 4th Dynasty and Ur under its 2nd Dynasty. The most remarkable ruler of the Gutian period was the governor of Lagash, Gudea. Under him, about 2150 BC, Lagash had a golden age.
After a few kings, Gutian rulers quickly became more cultivated. They probably even strove to become more Akkadian than the Akkadians, since they had a nomadic ancestry to live down. Thus their rule ended by absorption, as it did for so many nomadic conquerors. Frequently though, such absorption isn't enough, the Guti lasted only about a century. At about 2120 BC, they were expelled from Mesopotamia by the rulers of Uruk and Ur when Utu-hejal of Uruk defeated gutian king Tirigan. From this point on the Guti disappear from history.
Utu-hegal's victory revived the political and economic life of southern Sumer.
[edit] List of the Gutian kings
The Gutian kings were, in order:
- Inkishuc
- Zarl-agab
- Shulme
- Silulumesh
- Inimabakesh
- Igecaush
- Yarl-agab
- Ibate
- Yarl-angab
- Kurum
- Apil-kin
- La-erabum
- Irarum
- Ibranum
- Hablum
- Puzur-Suen
- Yarlaganda
- Tirigan
[edit] Notes and references
- Howorth 1901: "The Early History of Babylonia", Henry H. Howorth, The English Historical Review, Vol. 16, No. 61 (Jan. 1901), p.1-34
- http://www.sarissa.org/sumer/sumer_h.php
