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Gulkišar
Gulkišar (Sumerian: gul-ki-šár; also romanized as Gulkishar) was the sixth king from the First Sealand dynasty. He reigned over a part of Lower Mesopotamia around 1595 BCE, contemporarily with the end of the reign of Samsu-Ditana, the final ruler from the First Dynasty of Babylon. The full territorial extent of his kingdom remains uncertain, though it is assumed that it encompassed the shore of the Persian Gulf, the lower Tigris and Euphrates, as well as part of central Babylonia. It remains a subject of debate among researchers whether he ever controlled Babylon itself. In contrast with many other members of his dynasty, who are only known from king lists, he continued to be referenced in various genres of texts up to the first millennium BCE. The best-known example is an epic portraying his conflict with Samsu-Ditana, in which he is aided by the goddess Ishtar.
The name Gulkišar was written gul-ki-šár in cuneiform. A shortened form, Gulki (gul-ki), is known from the Babylonian King List A, though it might only be a result of the last sign being lost. The full form of name can be translated as "raider of the totality", "destroyer of the universe" or "conqueror of the world".
Gulkišar was the first king from the First Sealand dynasty to bear a Sumerian name, which might have reflected a conscious appeal to the past of Lower Mesopotamia, though like the names of his successors it is unusual and finds no parallel in earlier onomastics. Odette Boivin argues that Gulkišar might have been a regnal name. She suggests that the king might have assumed it after his victory over Samsu-Ditana of Babylon.
Family relations of the Sealand kings, including Gulkišar, are poorly known. It has been suggested that his wife might have been Tešmit-māti (dte-eš-mi-it-ma-ti; "reconciliation of the land" or "obedience of the land"), though this proposal rests on the assumption that she was posthumously deified, as the name occurs in a list of deities alongside the figure Šamaš-ana-Gulkišar-kurrub ("Shamash, bless Gulkišar!").
Based on the Babylonian King List B (tablet BM 38122), a Neo-Babylonian text which records the reigns of kings from the First Dynasty of Babylon and First Sealand Dynasty, it has been suggested that Pešgaldarameš and Ayadaragalama were Gulkišar's sons, and that the element dara ("ibex" or "stag") in their names refers to their father. However, it is also possible that Ayadaragalama was the son of Pešgaldarameš, and thus a grandson of Gulkišar.
Gulkišar was the sixth ruler from the First Sealand Dynasty. He succeeded Šušši. A kudurru inscription dated to the reign of Enlil-nadin-apli (late twelfth or early eleventh century BCE) refers to him with the title "king of the Sealand" (LUGAL KUR A.AB.BA), though it is not certain when it originally came to be applied to rulers from his dynasty. Their kingdom was most likely originally known under the name Eurukug. This term might refer to the original seat of power of the dynasty. Identification with Ur or with Tell Dehaila (located some 30 kilometers further down the Euphrates) has been proposed.
Samsu-Ditana from the First Dynasty of Babylon and Gulkišar were contemporaries. However, he most likely only ascended to the throne in the final years of the Babylonian king's reign. On this basis it can be established that he must have already been in power c. 1595 BCE. According to the Babylonian King List A his reign lasted 55 years. However, it is possible that this source slightly exaggerates the lengths of reigns of the individual kings of the Sealand. It has been suggested that its compilers rounded them up to numbers ending in 0 or 5 when no detailed records were available to them, though this remains speculative.
According to the Neo-Assyrian Synchronistic King List, which lists Assyrian rulers with their Babylonian contemporaries, though without specifying the lengths of their reigns, Sharma-Adad I, who might have reigned in Assur as a governor on behalf of a ruler of Ekallatum, was a further contemporary of Gulkišar, but the synchronism between their reigns has not yet been confirmed by any other sources. It is also possible that either Gandaš or Agum-kakrime of the Kassite dynasty was a further contemporary of Gulkišar, though in both cases only late indirect evidence is available, and a precise chronology cannot be established.
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Gulkišar
Gulkišar (Sumerian: gul-ki-šár; also romanized as Gulkishar) was the sixth king from the First Sealand dynasty. He reigned over a part of Lower Mesopotamia around 1595 BCE, contemporarily with the end of the reign of Samsu-Ditana, the final ruler from the First Dynasty of Babylon. The full territorial extent of his kingdom remains uncertain, though it is assumed that it encompassed the shore of the Persian Gulf, the lower Tigris and Euphrates, as well as part of central Babylonia. It remains a subject of debate among researchers whether he ever controlled Babylon itself. In contrast with many other members of his dynasty, who are only known from king lists, he continued to be referenced in various genres of texts up to the first millennium BCE. The best-known example is an epic portraying his conflict with Samsu-Ditana, in which he is aided by the goddess Ishtar.
The name Gulkišar was written gul-ki-šár in cuneiform. A shortened form, Gulki (gul-ki), is known from the Babylonian King List A, though it might only be a result of the last sign being lost. The full form of name can be translated as "raider of the totality", "destroyer of the universe" or "conqueror of the world".
Gulkišar was the first king from the First Sealand dynasty to bear a Sumerian name, which might have reflected a conscious appeal to the past of Lower Mesopotamia, though like the names of his successors it is unusual and finds no parallel in earlier onomastics. Odette Boivin argues that Gulkišar might have been a regnal name. She suggests that the king might have assumed it after his victory over Samsu-Ditana of Babylon.
Family relations of the Sealand kings, including Gulkišar, are poorly known. It has been suggested that his wife might have been Tešmit-māti (dte-eš-mi-it-ma-ti; "reconciliation of the land" or "obedience of the land"), though this proposal rests on the assumption that she was posthumously deified, as the name occurs in a list of deities alongside the figure Šamaš-ana-Gulkišar-kurrub ("Shamash, bless Gulkišar!").
Based on the Babylonian King List B (tablet BM 38122), a Neo-Babylonian text which records the reigns of kings from the First Dynasty of Babylon and First Sealand Dynasty, it has been suggested that Pešgaldarameš and Ayadaragalama were Gulkišar's sons, and that the element dara ("ibex" or "stag") in their names refers to their father. However, it is also possible that Ayadaragalama was the son of Pešgaldarameš, and thus a grandson of Gulkišar.
Gulkišar was the sixth ruler from the First Sealand Dynasty. He succeeded Šušši. A kudurru inscription dated to the reign of Enlil-nadin-apli (late twelfth or early eleventh century BCE) refers to him with the title "king of the Sealand" (LUGAL KUR A.AB.BA), though it is not certain when it originally came to be applied to rulers from his dynasty. Their kingdom was most likely originally known under the name Eurukug. This term might refer to the original seat of power of the dynasty. Identification with Ur or with Tell Dehaila (located some 30 kilometers further down the Euphrates) has been proposed.
Samsu-Ditana from the First Dynasty of Babylon and Gulkišar were contemporaries. However, he most likely only ascended to the throne in the final years of the Babylonian king's reign. On this basis it can be established that he must have already been in power c. 1595 BCE. According to the Babylonian King List A his reign lasted 55 years. However, it is possible that this source slightly exaggerates the lengths of reigns of the individual kings of the Sealand. It has been suggested that its compilers rounded them up to numbers ending in 0 or 5 when no detailed records were available to them, though this remains speculative.
According to the Neo-Assyrian Synchronistic King List, which lists Assyrian rulers with their Babylonian contemporaries, though without specifying the lengths of their reigns, Sharma-Adad I, who might have reigned in Assur as a governor on behalf of a ruler of Ekallatum, was a further contemporary of Gulkišar, but the synchronism between their reigns has not yet been confirmed by any other sources. It is also possible that either Gandaš or Agum-kakrime of the Kassite dynasty was a further contemporary of Gulkišar, though in both cases only late indirect evidence is available, and a precise chronology cannot be established.