How can the appropriateness of chronologies be checked, even in distant history? We can take a closer look at the reign of the Akkadian king Shar-khali-sharri.
This is closely influenced by the reigns of the Gutium kings. Sticking to the scholars' assumption that the period of the Gutium kings would have lasted about 86 years, it would have started roughly in 2125-2105 BCE.
For the sake of recap, let's review here the observations that have been made using a ultra low chronology.
1. The solar eclipse of Old Assyria in 1746 BCE. Shamsi-Adad I's reign ended about a year before Zimri-Lim's reign began.
2. The double eclipse of Shulgi in 1979 BCE.
3. Lunar eclipses of the Ur III dynasty are found.
4. The lunar eclipse of Gutium and Uruk in 2020-2027 BCE.
5. The reign of Tirigan, the last king of the Gutium dynasty, ended in the same year that the Uruk V dynasty ended.
6. The double eclipses of Akkad (Babylonia) are dated to the time of the Akkadian kingdom in 2035 BCE. and 2049 BCE.
Here, that point five clarifies a little the timing of the chronology in the time before the Ur III dynasty. That point six removes the difficulties previously experienced in trying to force this double eclipse to the end of the Babylonian 1st dynasty.
How do the aforementioned Akkadian double eclipses date to the Akkadian Empire? Earlier, a small hint was given that they date to ‘the end of the reign of certain Akkadian kings.’ However, an interesting piece of historical information can be observed. The date of the Akkadian chronology is determined quite precisely by the Gutium chronology. The reign of the Akkadian king Shar-khali-sharri is very significant, because it is the archeological data related to that period that connect the Akkadian chronology with the Gutium chronology.
Do those double eclipses fit where the Gutium chronology dates the reigns of the Akkadian kings?
King Sarlagab of Gutium
At this point the attention is taken by the fourth king of Gutium, Sarlagab, who ruled for only six years. He became king about 12 years after the Gutium kingdom
was founded. He reigned at the same time as the Akkadian king Shar-khali-sharri, who captured him in battle.
Since even at that early stage short records were used in which one line was reserved for each year, it is probable that Sarlagab's reign ended in the 11th year of Shar-khali-sharri. Another similarity would seem to be related to this. Six lines later, the cuneiform text of Shar-khali-sharri reads:
“Year in which the yoke was imposed on Gutium.”28-1
This may be related to the fact that Sarlagab's successor, Shulme, ruled for six years. With this, it might be possible to get a good enough picture of the time of the Akkadian kingdom. Shar-kali-sharri ruled for a total of 24 years.
Based on this information, it is possible to check whether the double eclipses are timed at a suitable point in the Akkadian dynasty. Assuming the Gutium dynastyd ended in 2020 BCE., then Sarlagab's reign ended in 2088 BCE. This means that Shar-khali-sharri's reign would have started in 2099 BCE.
Using the most common estimates of the length of reigns of Akkadian kings, then the Akkadian dynasty would have ended in 2036 BCE., and the reign of its penultimate king, Dudu, would have ended in 2050 BCE.
There is only one year difference in this data from the time of the double eclipses mentioned above. That difference is so small that such an error of a year may very very be in the current estimates of the estimated reign time of Shu-Durul, the last king of Gutium or Akkad.
In this treatise, such a year shift has been made to the Akkadian chronology, although it may be possible that the Gutium chronology should be a year shorter.
King Puzur-Inshuhinak of Elam
This shifting of the Akkadian chronology from the general estimate is also supported by the archaeological information about the Elamite king Kutik-Inshuhinak. He was also called Puzur-Inshuhinak. He fought against the Akkadian king Shar-khali-sharri and freed Elam from Akkadian hands.28-2 This seems to have happened in the 16th year of Shar-khali-sharri's reign. The line about this says:
“In the year in which Szarkaliszarri brought the battle against Elam and Zahara in front of Akszak and … and was victorious”28-1
Shar-khali-sharri claims to have won the battle. This kind of propaganda was common, not a word was said about the losses. That “victory” he mentions may have been only partial, for it did not prevent Puzur-Inshuhinak from attaining the kingship of Elam. This could also date the beginning of Puzur-Inshuhinak's reign close to this year. Shar-khali-sharri also fought against Elam two yeats earlier, so perhaps Puzur-Inshuhinak became king of Elam just then. Based on this, in this study, Puzur-Inshuhinak's reign is estimated to have started around 2085 BCE. applying a ultra low chronology.
In addition, he ruled partly at the same time as Ur-Nammu, the founder of the Ur III dynasty.28-3 Ur-Nammu's reign would have started in 2020 BCE. Since Puzur-Inshuhinak was for some time in the service of Shar-khali-sharri, this requires that Puzur-Inshuhinak would have ruled for a very long time, up to 70 years.
Moreover, when Puzur-Inshuhinak came to power, he was no longer a boy, but an experienced man, because
Shar-khali-sharri had previously appointed him as his governor.
This fact may seem very strange to many researchers, although it has been known for a long time. There are no grounds for shortening Gutium's chronology by several decades. Its overlap with Akkadian chronology and the reign of Uruk king Utu-hengal precisely determines the length of Puzur-Inshuhinak's reign. As if a little 'off topic', this information can provide scientific confirmation that people in that time could live significantly longer than today.
Fourth Dynasty of Uruk
The date of the Fourth Dynasty of Uruk can be fairly accurately dated. Although five kings are recorded in it, the length of this dynasty is estimated to have been only about 48 years in total. Its first king was called Ur-nigin.
It seems that he became king around the same time that Shar-khali-sharri's reign ended.
Indeed, it can be observed, when looking at the history of Uruk, that until then Uruk had been a part of the
Akkadian Empire since the beginning of Sargon's reign.
It is quite possible that Ur-nigin had a hand in the decline of the Akkadian Empire after the reign of Shar-khali-sharri.
The prominent role of Uruk's king Ur-nigin is also emphasized by the ancient Sumerian king list. His name is mentioned in it directly after the Akkadian kings, as if he was about to destroy the Akkadian dynasty.28-4
This action by Ur-nigin supports the earlier estimate that the lunar eclipse of Gutium occurred in 2020 BCE. and not 2026 BCE. If we were to apply that estimate, which is six years earlier, the Akkadian chronology would also shift back five or six years. The effect would be that Utu-Hengal's attack on Akkad would fall at a different time. The dates of Akkad's double eclipses, which had been mentioned earlier, would also becomer irrelevant.
In this treatise, this fourth dynasty of Uruk is dated to 2075-2027 BCE. (ultra low chronology) preceding the reign of Uruk king Utu-hengal.
Kingdom of Ebla
Let's take a short statement about Ebla at this point.
There is very little information about the kings of Ebla.
However, the destruction of Ebla is mentioned to have taken place during the reign of the Akkadian king Naram-Suen, while Dubu-hu-Ada was the king of Ebla. In this treatise, this is dated to 2120 BCE. around the corner.
This already somewhat gives a guideline for the period of the kingdom of Ebla, it seems to have ended a little before the beginning of the reign of Shar-khali-sharri.
This thesis also takes into account the fact that, according to the estimates of some researchers, it may be possible that the king of Ebla, Ibrium, could be the same person as the Eber or Ebrium mentioned in the Bible (the latter sounds like the Hebrew plural 'Eberium' from the word 'Eber').28-5 According to the Bible's chronology he was born around 2300 BCE.
This can be thought of as just a hypothesis. The similarity of the names of Ibrium and Eber may be a mere coincidence. (On the other hand, the well-known
'Assyrians' and 'Elamites' in history were probably descendants of Shem's sons Assur and Elam.)28-6
Somewhat surprisingly, this more likely date of the Ebla kingdom can provide more precise guidelines for Egyptian chronology. Objects bearing the names of the Egyptian kings Khafre and Pepi I have been found in Ebla.28-7 Instead of dating the kingdom of Ebla to the 25th century BCE., this information can rather move the reign of the Egyptian king Khafre up to 400 years later.
References
28-1 cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=sharkalisharri_ year-names
28-2 Hansen, Donald P. (2002). Leaving No Stones Unturned: Essays on the Ancient Near East and Egypt in Honor of Donald P.Hansen. Eisenbrauns. p. 233.
28-3 Wilcke; See Encyclopedia Iranica articles AWAN, ELAM
28-4 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumerian_King_List
28-5 The Bible, Genesis 11: 14-17
28-6 The Bible, Genesis 10:1, 22
28-7 Aruz, Joan (2003). "Art and interconnections in the third
millennium b.c.", p. 241
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