Abba-El I
| Abba-El I | |
|---|---|
 | |
| King of Yamhad | |
| Reign | c. 1750 - c. 1720 BC |
| Predecessor | Hammurabi I |
| Successor | Yarim-Lim II |
| Died | c. 1720 BC |
| Father | Hammurabi I |
Abba-El I (Abba-ili I, Abban I; died c. 1720 BC) was the fourth great king of Yamhad (Halab), succeeding his father Hammurabi I.[1]
Reign
Hammurabi I left Yamhad a prosperous country, and Abba-El's reign was relatively peaceful. He maintained good commercial relations with Babylon.[2] The main event of his reign was the rebellion of Zitraddu, governor of the city Irridu which belonged along with its district to Abba-El's brother Yarim-Lim.
A tablet discovered at Alalakh explains the circumstances which led to the forming of the kingdom of Alalakh; it revealed that Abba-El I destroyed Irridu and compensated his brother by giving him Alalakh as a hereditary kingdom for his dynasty under the suzerainty of Aleppo but that it should be forfeited if Yarim-Lim or his descendants committed treason against Yamhad.
Abba-El I took an oath upon himself not to confiscate his brother's new kingdom and that he might be cursed if he ever did.[3] In return, Yarim-Lim took an oath of loyalty to his brother, specifying that if he or his descendants ever committed treason or spilled Abba-El I's secrets to another king, their lands would be forfeited.[4]
The Hurrians's influence seems clear during Abba-El's reign, as he recalls the help given to him by the Hurrian Goddess Hebat.[5]
Abba-El died around 1720 BC and was succeeded by Yarim-Lim II, who was probably his son; however, Moshe Weinfeld believes that Yarim-Lim II was the same as Yarim-Lim of Alalakh. This theory has not found wide support in scholarship.[6]
Ancestry
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References
Citations
- ↑ Beatrice Teissier. Egyptian Iconography on Syro-Palestinian Cylinder Seals of the Middle Bronze Age. p. 27.
- ↑ William J. Hamblin. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. p. 259.
- ↑ Nadav Naʼaman. Canaan in the Second Millennium B.C.E. p. 285.
- ↑ William J. Hamblin. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. p. 264.
- ↑ Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards. The Cambridge Ancient History. p. 41.
- ↑ Jimmy Jack McBee Roberts. The Bible and the Ancient Near East: Collected Essays. p. 150.