"Zimri-Lim"

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Zimri-Lim was ruler of Marie from about 1774 to 1759 BC. Zimri-Lim himself called himself the son of Yahdun-Lim, but he may have been his nephew, who proclaimed himself a “son,” that is, a legitimate successor, after he ascended the throne. Zimri-Lim came from the Amorite Bin-Sim'ala tribe.

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Return of the throne of Marie
After the capture of Marie Shamshi-Adad I, Zimri-Lim fled to the kingdom of Yamhad, hostile to Shamshi-Adad. King Yamhad Yarim-Lim I warmly received him and even gave his daughter Shibtu for him. The youngest son of Shamshi-Adad Yasmah-Adad ruled in Mari. The death of Shamshi-Adad in 1775 BC marked the beginning of a period of great turmoil. Already in the last years of Shamshi-Adad’s life, rebellions broke out in various areas of the kingdom, but Shamshi-Adad and his sons always managed to suppress them. This time, the situation turned out to be extremely difficult: all the kingdoms once captured by this Upper Mesopotamian king saw the right moment to regain independence. Claimants to the throne, mostly in exile, began to return to their capitals. The first was Zimri-Lim, who, with the support of his father-in-law Yarim-Lim, first descended the Euphrates Valley and took possession of Tuttul. A few months later he entered Mari, hastily abandoned by Yasmah-Adad.

State size

The chronology of the government (as well as the circumstances of the coming to power) of Zimri-Lima are poorly known to us. In the texts there are more than three dozen dating formulas of Zimri-lim, but the order of their follow-up is not reliably established. Official correspondence allows us to reconstruct the course of some events, but the constant instability of the political situation in Mesopotamia at that time makes us treat attempts to organize the content of letters with great caution.

The main territory of the state of Zimri-Lima was the valleys of the Middle Euphrates and Khabur. In the south, the border of the kingdom passed near the city of Heath. In the north, the state undoubtedly included the area of the estuary of Belikh. The status of the lands upstream of the Euphrates is poorly known; they were either part of Mari and ruled by governors, or were more or less autonomous states. The expansionary policy of Zimri-Lima was aimed mainly at the conquest of the "Upper Country", that is, northern Mesopotamia, which during this period was divided into many small kingdoms. At least the upper Habur region, at that time called Ida-Maratz, passed under Mari control. But Zimri-Lim’s policy was more about guardianship of the kings of the Upper Country, or even allied relations with them, than annexation of their possessions: Mari probably would not have had the resources to do more. This approach to international relations was widespread at the time. Alliances were formed and disintegrated depending on the circumstances and interests of the moment. For example, the ruler of Karkemish Aplakhand was the “vassal” of King Shamshi-Adad I, and his son Yatar-ammi, who, unlike his father, had a Semitic, “Canaan” name, was an ally of Zi