Ulamburiash

Ulam Buriaš was a Kassite king of Sealand, which he conquered during the second half of 16th century BC and may have also become king of Babylon, possibly preceding or succeeding his brother, Kaštiliašu III.

Confirmation of his provenance comes from an onyx weight, in the shape of a frog, with a cuneiform inscription, “1 shekel, Ulam Buriaš, son of Burna Buriaš”, which was found in a large burial, during excavations of the site of the ancient city of Metsamor.[1] The burial for two, was accompanied by fifty sacrificial victims, nineteen horses, bulls, sheep and dogs.[2] Situated in Armenia, in the middle of the Ararat valley, Metsamor was an important Hurrian center for metal forging.

The Chronicle of Early Kings, a neo-Babylonian historiographical text preserved on two tablets,[3] describes how Ea-gamil, the last king of Sealand, fled to Elam ahead of an invasion force led by Ulam-Buriaš, the “brother of Kaštiliašu”, who became “master of the land”, i.e. Sealand, a region of southern Mesopotamia synonymous with Sumer. A serpentine or diorite mace head or possibly door knob found in Babylon, is engraved with the epithet of Ulaburariaš, “King of Sealand”.[4] The object was excavated at Tell Amran ibn-Ali, during the German excavations of Babylon, conducted from 1899 to 1912, and is now housed in the Pergamon Museum.

Kaštiliašu III

Evidence of Kaštiliašu’s kingship is somewhat circumstantial. He may be the person indicated on line 12 of the Synchronistic King List[5] who is preceded by a lacuna and superseded by a poorly preserved name which is unlikely to be Ulam-Buriaš.[6] He is mentioned twice in the Chronicle of Early Kings as the brother of Ulam-Buriaš and the father of Agum III,[7] but without a royal title, a feature of this chronicle that is shared by others, such as Samsu-Ditana, who did prove to be kings.[5]

References

  1. ^ E. V. Khanzadian , G. Kh. Sarkisian , I. M. Diakonoff (Spring 1992). "Babylonian Weight from the Sixteenth Century b.c. with Cuneiform Inscription from the Metsamor Excavations". Anthropology & Archeology of Eurasia 30 (= 4): 75–83. 
  2. ^ Philip L. Kohl (1988). "The Northern Frontier of the Ancient Near East: Transcaucasia and Central Asia Compared". American Journal of Archaeology (American Institute of Archaeology) 92 (4): 595. 
  3. ^ Tablets BM 26472 and BM 96152 in the British Museum.
  4. ^ B. Landsberger (1954). JCS (8): 70–71. 
  5. ^ a b J. A. Brinkman (1976). Materials for the Study of Kassite History, Vol. I (MSKH I). Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. pp. 12, 13. 
  6. ^ Albert Kirk Grayson (1975). Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles. J. J. Augustin. p. 249. 
  7. ^ Jona Lendering. "Chronicle of early kings (ABC)". http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/abc20/kings.html. Retrieved July 30, 2011.