Puzur-Ashur I

Puzur Aššur I was an Assyrian king who ruled c. 2025 BC. He was the first ruler of the city of Assur to bear an Akkadian name (although the earlier pastoralist kings did also) and he is thought to have been the founder of a local dynasty, as his three immediate predecessors bore names of Hurrian or, in the case of the first twelve of the “kings who lived in tents,” being shared with the genealogy of Ḫammu-rapī[1] and the “kings whose fathers are known,” the ancestors of Šamši-Adad I,[2] an Amorite origin.

Biography

He is only known from his place in the Assyrian Kinglist and references in the inscriptions of his descendants as there are none that are contemporary.[3] His immediate predecessors bore distinctly Hurrian names and the dynasty he may have founded was to endure until Erišum II was overthrown by Šamši-Adad I. The title išši’ak aššur, vice regent of Assur, was borne by his successors, in conjunction with the rank usually written in Sumerian as PA.TE.SI, meaning ÉNSI, "governor."[4]

References

  1. ↑ Finkelstein, J. J. (1966). "The Genealogy of the Hammurabi Dynasty". Journal of Cuneiform Studies 20 (3): 95–118. doi:10.2307/1359643.
  2. ↑ Meissner, Bruno (1990). Reallexikon der Assyriologie 6. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 101–102. ISBN 3-11-010051-7.
  3. ↑ A. K. Grayson (1972). Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, Volume 1. Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 6, 8, 12, 15.
  4. ↑ Barbara Cifola (1995). Analysis of variants in the Assyrian royal titulary from the origins to Tiglath-Pileser III. Istituto universitario orientale. p. 8.
Preceded by
Akiya		 King of Assyria
ca. 1950 BC 		Succeeded by
Šalim-ahum