The Sumerian World (Routledge Worlds)

It is not always easy to identify the remains of the earliest palace. We cannot show
the overall plan or how it functioned, but we know that the new building of Hanun-
Dagan – a Shakkanakkuprince known from a list of shakkanakkuand from the
foundation inscriptions of the palace – covered the same area as the palace of City II.
This sole fact allows us to demonstrate the scale of the plan. Finally, we have to ask why
the Great Royal Palace replaced the palace of the Shakkanakkuso quickly; was it wear
and tear, a violent destruction or a different concept of what a palace should be? We
do not know. The floors of the new palace were found below the level of those of the
old one so that, once again, the occupation levels have been dug out.

Indications of the wealth and power of the city at the time of the Shakkanakku

From the archaeological evidence, the scale and size of the buildings we have discussed
demonstrate the power of the city, supported by its economic life. To these buildings
we have to add the Small Eastern Palace, domestic housing and the constant rein-
forcing of the defensive system.
The tombs found below some of these houses provide excellent evidence for the lives
of the people. The funerary goods are very rich at this period; jewellery is frequent and
varied and the large quantities of bronze items which accompanied the dead are
exceptional. We find weapons, tools and objects from everyday life.

MARI IN THE AMORITE PERIOD

There is no kinglist from the time of City III to show us the order in which the

Shakkanakku reigned and this remains unclear especially for the nineteenth century.

Things are clearer for the Amorite dynasty which covers about fifty years from c. 1810

to 1760.

The kings and their history

The relationship of the Shakkanakkuto the Amorite kings is still unknown. The dynastic

sequence begins at the end of the nineteenth century with Yaggid-Lim, followed by

Jahdun-Lim who is the first known king of the dynasty and who, in turn, was succeeded

by Sumu-Yamam; then about 1800 BCShamsi-Adad, king of upper Mesopotamia, siezed

Mari and installed his son Yasmah-addu as viceroy. He was unable to hold it after the

death of his father. Zimri-Lim then succeeded (c. 1775 ) in snatching back the throne until

Hammurabi of Babylon destroyed the kingdom of Mari in 1760 / 1759.

Thanks to the palace archives the reign of Zimri-Lim is quite well documented,

much better than the reigns of Iasmah-Addu and Iahdun-Lim. The reigns of the latter

and of Zimri-Lim were marked by attempts to control the region of the Khabur. On

the administrative side there seems, from time to time, to have been a desire to imitate

Babylon. The period was not one of major building, but of meticulous refurbishment.

The glacis and the outer wall

The Shakkanakku had, by stages, greatly reinforced the outer defences by means of a

wall about 10 m thick; another innovation allows us to say that these changes were

–– J.-C. Margueron, trans H. Crawford ––