Ishme-Dagan II

Išme-Dagān II, inscribed ^miš-me ^dda-gan and meaning “(the god) Dagan has heard,” was a rather obscure ruler of Assyria, sometime during the first half of the 16^th century BC in the midst of a dark age (Edzard's "dunkles Zeitalter"), succeeding his father, Šamši-Adad II, and in turn succeeded by Šamši-Adad III from whose reign extant contemporary inscriptions resume. According to the Assyrian Kinglist, he reigned sixteen years.

Biography

He belonged to the so-called Adasi dynasty, founded by the last of seven usurpers who succeeded in the turmoil following the demise of Šamši-Adad I’s Amorite dynasty. He is only known from king lists.^[1] The relationship with his successor is uncertain as the copies describe Šamši-Adad III’s father as Išme-Dagān, the brother of Šarma-Adad II (ŠEŠ-šú ša ^mšar-ma-^dIM), who was in turn the son of ^mŠÚ-^dNinua. This Išme-Dagān, however, has his filiation clearly given as son of Šamši-Adad II (DUMU ^dšam-ši-^dIM). This led Yamada to suggest that Šamši-Adad III’s father was a different homonymous individual from a collateral line of descent from ^mŠÚ-^dNinua.^[2]

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