Lullubi

History of Greater Iran Until the rise of modern nation-states
Pre-modern
Pre-Islamic Prehistory Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800 BC Elamite dynasties 2800–550 BC Jiroft culture Mannaeans Lullubi Gutians Cyrtian Corduene Bactria-Margiana Complex 2200–1700 BC Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th century BC Median Empire 728–550 BC Scythian Kingdom 652–625 BC Achaemenid Empire 550–330 BC Seleucid Empire 330–150 BC Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250–125 BC Parthian Empire 248–BC 224 CE Kushan Empire 30–275 Sasanian Empire 224–651 Afrighid dynasty 305–995 Hephthalite Empire 425–557 Kabul Shahi kingdom 565–879 Dabuyid dynasty 642–760 Alania 8th–9th century–1238/1239
Islamic Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Zaydis of Tabaristan 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid Empire 819–999 Sajid dynasty 889/890–929 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1055 Sallarid dynasty 941–1062 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghurid dynasty before 879–1215 Seljuq Empire 1037–1194 Khwarazmian dynasty 1077–1231 Salghurids 1148–1282 Ilkhanate 1256–1353 Kartids dynasty 1231–1389 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Jalairid Sultanate 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722 Mughal Empire 1526–1857 Hotaki Empire 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750 Zand dynasty 1750–1794 Durrani Empire 1794–1826 Qajar dynasty 1794–1925

The Lullubi or Lulubi were a group of Pre-Iranian tribes during the 3rd millennium BC, from a region known as Lulubum, now the Sharazor plain of the Zagros Mountains of modern Iraq. Frayne (1990) identified their city Lulubuna or Luluban with the region modern Kurdish town, Halabja. According to Thomas Bois, and some scholars,^[1] Lulubi were probably ancestors of Kurds.^[2]

The early Sumerian legend "Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird", set in the reign of Enmerkar of Uruk, alludes to the "mountains of Lulubi" as being where the character of Lugalbanda encounters the gigantic Anzud bird while searching for the rest of Enmerkar's army en route to siege Aratta.

Photo of the Naram-Sin stele, commemorating his victory over Lullubum (Musée du Louvre).

Lullubum appears in historical times as one of the lands Sargon the Great subjugated within his Akkadian Empire, along with the neighboring province of Gutium, which was probably of the same origin as the Lullubi. Sargon's grandson Naram Sin defeated the Lullubi and their king Satuni, and had his famous victory stele made in commemoration. After the Akkadian Empire fell to the Gutians, the Lullubians rebelled against the Gutian king Erridupizir, according to the latter's inscriptions.

Following the Gutian period, the Neo-Sumerian (Ur-III) ruler Shulgi is said to have raided Lullubi at least 9 times; by the time of Amar-Sin, Lullubians formed a contingent in the military of Ur, suggesting that the region was then under Neo-Sumerian control.

Drawing by Pascal Coste, ca. 1840, of a rock bas-relief of Victory of King Annubanini and the goddess Ishtar, Sar-I Pul, Iran

Another famous rock carving depicting the Lullubian king Anubanini with the Assyrian-Babylonian goddess Ishtar, captives in tow, is now thought to date to the Ur-III period; however, a later Babylonian legendary retelling of the exploits of Sargon the Great mentions Anubanini as one of his opponents.

In the following (second) millennium BC, the term "Lullubi" or "Lullu" seems to have become a generic Babylonian / Assyrian term for "highlander", while the original region of Lullubi was also known as Zamua. However, the "land of Lullubi" makes a reappearance in the late 12th century BC, when both Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon (in c. 1120 BC) and Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria (in 1113 BC) claim to have subdued it. Neo-Assyrian kings of the following centuries also recorded campaigns and conquests in the area of Lullubum / Zamua. Most notably, Ashur-nasir-pal II had to suppress a revolt among the Lullubian / Zamuan chiefs in 881 BC, during which they constructed a wall in the Bazian pass (between modern Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah) in a failed attempt to keep the Assyrians out. They were said to have had 19 walled cities in their land, as well as a large supply of horses, cattle, metals, textiles and wine, which were carried off by Ashur-nasir-pal. Local chiefs or governors of the Zamua region continued to be mentioned down to the end of Esarhaddon's reign (669 BC).

References

• Cambridge Ancient History
• Sar-e Pol-e Zahab
• Lullubi