- Hamazi
Hamazi (or Khamazi) was an ancient kingdom or city-state of some importance that reached its peak ca. 2500-2400 BC. Its exact location is unknown, but is thought to have been located in the western
Zagros mountains roughly betweenElam andAssyria , possibly nearNuzi or modernHamadan .Hamazi first came to the attention of archaeologists with the discovery of a vase with an inscription in very archaic cuneiform commemorating the victory of Utug (or Uhub), an early king of Kish, over this place, causing fringe theorist
L. A. Waddell in 1929 to speculate that it was to be identified withCarchemish inSyria . It is now generally considered to have been somewhere in the vicinity of theDiyala .One of the earliest references to Hamazi is found in the epic "
Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta ", where it is mentioned in an incantation about the confusion of languages in the various lands at the time of the building of theziggurat s inEridu andUruk .According to the "
Sumerian king list ", kingHadanish of Hamazi held hegemony overSumer after defeating Kish, but was in turn defeated byEnshakushanna ofUruk .A clay tablet found in the archives at
Ebla in Syria bears a copy of a diplomatic message sent from kingIrkab-Damu of Ebla to king Zizi of Hamazi, along with a large quantity of wood, hailing him as a brother, and requesting him to send mercenaries in exchange.Hamazi was one of the provinces of Ur under the reign of
Amar-Sin during the "Sumerian renaissance" [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/ot_grp9/ot_lulubi_20051223.html] ; two governors or "ensi"s during this reign were named Lu-nanna son of Namhani, and Ur-Ishkur. In ca. 2010 BC, the province was occupied and plundered by Ishbi-Erra ofIsin as the Ur-III empire was collapsing.Notes
ee also
*
Cities of the ancient Near East
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