Yarim-Lim I
King of Yamhad
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Yarim-Lim I, also given as Yarimlim, (died c. 1764 BC) was the second king of the ancient Amorite kingdom of Yamhad in modern-day Aleppo, Syria.
| Yarim-Lim I | |
|---|---|
| King of Yamhad | |
| Reign | c. 1780 - c. 1764 BC |
| Predecessor | Sumu-Epuh |
| Successor | Hammurabi I |
| Died | c. 1764 BC |
| Spouse | Gashera |
| Issue | Hammurabi I Shibtu |
| Father | Sumu-Epuh |
| Mother | Sumunna-Abi |
Family
Parentage
Yarim-Lim was the son and successor of the first king Sumu-Epuh and his queen consort Sumunna-Abi.
Wife and Children
His wife was Gashera, of unknown parents. She outlived her husband and became a strong-willed widow who was part of politics during the reign of Hammurabi.
Reign
Early Reign and Conflicts
The kingdom of Yamhad was being threatened by the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad I who had surrounded Yamhad through his alliance with Carchemish and Urshu to the north, Qatna to the south, and conquering Mari to the east, appointing his son Yasmah-Adad on its throne.[1] Yarim-Lim ascended the throne after his father was killed during his campaigns against Shamshi-Adad.[2] He was able to stand up to Shamshi-Adad. Hammurabi and Ibal-pi-el II were his allies.[3]
Around 1777 BC, Yarim-Lim conquered the city of Tuttul. He appointed his ally, Zimri-Lim, the heir to the throne of Mari, as king. When Shamshi-Adad I died around 1776 BC, he helped Zimrilim regain his throne in Mari and oust Yasmah-Adad.[3] Two days after the marriage ceremony, queen Sumunna-Abi died.[4]
Ibal-pi-el II of Eshnuna exploited the death of Shamshi-Adad I to pursuit an expansionist policy, advancing on the account of Assyria and causing stress to the alliance.[5] He later allied himself with Elam, the enemy of Hammurabi who was Yarim-Lim's ally.[6]
Relations with Mari
Zimri-Lim's ascension to the throne with the help of Yarim-Lim I affected the status of Mari, Zimri-Lim referred to Yarim-Lim as his father and acted under the guidance of the Yamhadite main deity Hadad, of which Yarim-Lim was the mediator.[7]
The tablets of Mari recorded many events that revealed Zimri-Lim's subordination. On two occasions, Zimri-Lim demanded the extradition of his subordinates from Yarim-Lim I. The first case was related to a vassal king of Zimri-Lim who addressed him as a brother instead of a father and the demand was refused,[8] while the second was through the Mariote ambassador in Aleppo Daris-Libur in which Zimri-Lim asked for some fugitives to which Yarim-Lim answered with decline twice before agreeing on the Mariote ambassador's third attempt.[9]
At one instance, Nur-Sin the Mariote ambassador in Aleppo wrote to his master for the handing of an estate called Alahtum to Hadad (meaning Aleppo),[10] and in another instance, Ibal-pi-el offered peace and fixing the borders to Zimri-Lim who sent envoys to Yarim-Lim asking for authorization which was not given, leading Zimri-Lim to refuse the treaty on three occasions.[11]
Later Reign and Succession
There is no king who is mighty by himself. Ten or fifteen kings follow Hammurabi the ruler of Babylon, a like number of Rim-Sin of Larsa, a like number of Ibal-pi-el of Eshnunna, a like number of Amud-pi-el of Qatanum, but twenty follow Yarim-Lim of Yamhad.
Yarim-Lim extended his influence to Ugarit.[3] The armies of Aleppo campaigned as far as Elam near the modern southern Iraqi-Iranian borders: a tablet discovered at Mari revealed the extent of those military interventions in Mesopotamia; the tablet includes a declaration of war against Dēr and Diniktum in retaliation for their evil deeds, a reminder to the king of Dēr about the military help given to him for 15 years by Yarim-Lim and the stationing of 500 Aleppan warships for 12 years in Diniktum.[13] According to Historian William Hamblin, he was at the time "the mightiest ruler in the Near East outside of Egypt."[3] He died c. 1764 BC and was succeeded by his son Hammurabi I.