Abdi-Milkutti

Abdi-Milkutti (=Abdi-milki) was a Sidonian king (reigned c.680-677 BC) who rose up against Assyrian rule. In response to the rebellion, the Assyrian king Esarhaddon laid siege to the city, which after three years of siege, in 677 BC, was finally captured, destroyed and rebuilt as Kar-Ashur-aha-iddina, the Harbor of Esarhaddon. The Sidonian king was decapitated. Part of the loot went to the loyal king of rival Tyre.

In his annals the Assyrian king tels us that he conquered Sidon and “tore up and cast into the sea its walls and its foundations.” This city was situated on a promontory jutting into the sea. The Sidonian king Abdi-Milkutti tried to escape on the sea by boat, but was “pulled out of the sea like a fish by the Assyrian king who cut off his head. Esarhaddon sent off to Assyria a rich booty, to wit: “gold, silver, precious stones, elephant hides, ivory, maple and boxwood, garments of brightly colored wool and linen.” He also took away the king’s wife, his children, and his courtiers: “His people from far and near, which were countless.”

The defeated and executed king of Sidon was depicted on the Sam'al stele of Esarhaddon from Zenjirli. The stele shows Abdi-Milkutti, dressed in his native costume and held with a coiled leash. Although he is shown standing with his hands raised, he reaches only to about Esarhaddon's knee. Next to him is shown a kneeling Egyptian prince. [Porter, Barbara Nevling, "Language, Audience and Impact in Imperial Assyria" in "Language and Culture in the Near East (Israel Oriental Studies)", Shlomo Izre'El (Editor); Rina Drorp (Editor), Brill Academic Publishers, 1997, ISBN 978-9004104570, [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=majtzzdiaEEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA51&dq=abdi-milkutti&ots=dAVpGvxXEP&sig=VcOhkOlLA8WdJAxTzJsEthYSpl4#PPA60,M1] ]

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