Amorite

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Definition

The Amorites were a Semitic people who seem to have emerged from western Mesopotamia (modern-day Syria) at some point prior to the 3rd millennium BCE. In Sumerian they were known as the Martu or the Tidnum (in the Ur III Period), in Akkadian by the name of Amurru, and in Egypt as Amar, all of which mean 'westerners' or 'those of the west', as does the Hebrew name Amorite. They worshipped their own pantheon of gods with a chief deity named Amurru (also known as Belu Sadi - 'Lord of the Mountains' whose wife, Belit-Seri was 'Lady of the Desert'), which also became a designation for the people as the Akkadians also referred to them as 'the people of Amurru' and to the region of Syria as 'Amurru'. There is no record of what the Amorites called themselves.

More about: Amorite

Timeline

  • c. 2400 BCE
    Earliest Sumerian sources to mention migrating Amorites in Mesopotamia.
  • c. 2240 BCE
    Naram-Sin of Akkad campaigns against the Amorites in northern Syria.
  • c. 2000 BCE - 1600 BCE
    Amorite period in Mesopotamia.
  • 1894 BCE
    Amorite dynasty established in Babylon.
  • c. 1830 BCE - c. 1760 BCE
    The Amorite period of Mari.
  • c. 1830 BCE
    The Shakkanakku Dynasty of Mari falls and is replaced by the Amorite Lim Dynasty under Yaggid-Lim.
  • 1812 BCE - 1793 BCE
    Reign of Sin-Muballit, Amorite king of Babylon, father of Hammurabi.
  • c. 1800 BCE
    Amorites in control of the city of Ebla.
  • 1792 BCE - 1750 BCE
    The Amorite king Hammurabi's reign.
  • c. 1776 BCE - c. 1761 BCE
    The reign of Zimri-Lim of Mari, the last king of Mari. Zimri-Lim, an Amorite, reclaims the throne of Mari for the Lim Dynasty in 1776 BCE.
  • c. 1760 BCE - c. 1757 BCE
    Hammurabi of Babylon destroys the city of Mari. The people of Mari are spared according to Hammurabi.
  • 1749 BCE
    Hammurabi's empire begins to break apart under the rule of his son Samsu-Iluna.
  • c. 1745 BCE - c. 1740 BCE
    Amorites migrate from Mesopotamia to Canaan.
  • 1600 BCE
    Hittites under Mursilli I sack the city of Ebla.
  • c. 1600 BCE
    Amorite dynasty of Aleppo is overthrown.
  • 1595 BCE
    Hittites under Mursilli I sack Babylon, ending Amorite rule.
  • c. 600 BCE
    Amorites no longer mentioned by name in historical record.
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