Irkab-Damu

File:First Eblaite Empire.png

Irkab-Damu succeeded king Igrish-Halam,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5hILAQAAMAAJ|language= fr|title= Mythologie et religion des sémites occidentaux, Nummer 1|author= Gregorio del Olmo Lete|page= 118|year=2008|isbn= 9789042918979}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3LdtAAAAMAAJ|title= Ideologies as Intercultural Phenomena: Proceedings of the Third Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project, Held in Chicago, USA, October 27-31, 2000|author1=Antonio Panaino |author2=Giovanni Pettinato |page= 200|year= 2002|isbn= 9788884831071}} whose reign was characterized by an Eblaite weakness, and tribute paying to the kingdom of Mari with whom Ebla fought a long war. Irkab-Damu started his reign by concluding a peace and trading treaty with Abarsal (probably located along the Euphrates river east of Ebla),{{cite journal |title= In Search of Armi|journal= Journal of Cuneiform Studies|volume= 63|pages= 5–34|date=2011|jstor= 10.5615/jcunestud.63.0005|doi= 10.5615/jcunestud.63.0005|last1 = Archi|first1 = Alfonso|issue= 1|s2cid= 163552750}} one of the first recorded treaties in history.{{cite book |author=Stephen C. Neff |title=Justice Among Nations |title-link=Justice Among Nations |year=2014 |isbn=9780674726543 |page=14}} Ebla paid tribute to Mari during Irkab-Damu's first years on the throne. A letter from king Enna-Dagan of Mari was discovered at Ebla,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=klZX8B_RzzYC&pg=PT200|title= Ancient Iraq|author= Georges Roux|page=200|year= 1992|isbn= 9780141938257}} and was used by the Mariote monarch as a tool to assert Mari's authority, as it contained a historic telling of the victories won by Enna-Dagans's predecessors over Ebla.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0d1JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA119|title= The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy|author= Mario Liverani|page= 119|year=2013|isbn= 9781134750849}}

Irkab-Damu launched a successful counteroffensive against Mari, and ended the tribute. He expanded the borders of Ebla to its greatest extent, and controlled an area roughly half the size of modern Syria,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=biyDDd0uKGMC&pg=PT240|title= Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC|author= William J. Hamblin|page= 240|isbn= 9781134520626|date= 2006-09-27}} half of which was under the direct control of the king and administered by governors, while the rest consisted of vassal kingdoms paying tribute and supplying military assistance to Ebla. A tablet from Ebla mention an Eblaite victory over Nagar, most probably during Irakb-Damu's reign.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbRtAAAAMAAJ|title= Excavations at Tell Brak: vol 2. Nagar in the third millennium BC|author= David Oates, Joan Oates, Helen McDonald| page=100|year= 2001|isbn= 9780951942093}} The same tablet mention the concluding of a treaty with Enna-Dagan. Irkab-Damu appointed Arrukum as the first vizier of Ebla,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JSftAAAAMAAJ|title= Archiv für Orientforschung, Volume 44,Deel 1 -Volume 45,Deel 1|author= Alfonso Archi| page=108|year= 1998}} who kept his office for five years,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8PNAnIome3AC&pg=PT148|title= Pre-Sargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC)|author= Douglas Frayne|page= 148|year= 2008|isbn= 9781442690479}} and had his son Ruzi-Malik marrying princess Iti-Mut, the daughter of the king.

Diplomacy was an important part of Irkab-Damu's policy, a clay tablet found in the archives at Ebla, bears a copy of a diplomatic message sent from Ebla to king Zizi of Hamazi, along with a large quantity of wood, hailing him as a brother,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yKcHHU2DaPoC&pg=PA52|title= Language and Diplomacy|author1=Jovan Kurbalija |author2=Hannah Slavik |page= 52|year= 2001|isbn= 9789990955156}} and requesting him to send mercenaries in exchange.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/archivesofeblaan00pett|url-access=registration|title= The archives of Ebla: an empire inscribed in clay|publisher=Doubleday|author=Giovanni Pettinato|page= [https://archive.org/details/archivesofeblaan00pett/page/98 98]|year= 1981|isbn= 9780385131520}} Gifts from Ancient Egypt were discovered in the royal palace, indicating the far reaching relations of Ebla,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ez3ih5JgzUC&pg=PA52|title= Brotherhood of Kings: How International Relations Shaped the Ancient Near East|author=Amanda H. Podany|page= 52|year= 2010|isbn= 9780199798759}} which is described by Karl Moore as the history first world power.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LXWTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA34|title= The Origins of Globalization|author1=Karl Moore |author2=David Charles Lewis |page= 43|year= 2009|isbn= 9781135970086}}

Irkab-Damu was the son of Igrish-Halam and his queen Kesdut.{{cite journal|title= Jewels for the Ladies of Ebla |journal= Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie|volume= 92|page= 174|date= 2002|doi=10.1515/zava.2002.92.2.161|last1 = Archi|first1 = Alfonso|issue= 2|s2cid= 161759399}} He ruled for eleven years, and married Dusigu in his fifth year on the throne.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LKQ0fZFTeHkC&pg=PA230|title= Mobile Pastoralism and the Formation of Near Eastern Civilizations: Weaving Together Society|author= Anne Porter|page= 230|year= 2012|isbn= 9780521764438}} Irkab-Damu's last two years saw the rise of vizier Ibrium, who campaigned against Abarsal during Arrukum's term, and became Ebla's strongest official during the reign of Irkab-Damu's son and successor Isar-Damu.

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{{s-hou||||2340 BC||name=King Irkab-Damu of Ebla}}

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{{s-bef

| before = Igrish-Halam

}}

{{s-ttl

| title = King of Ebla

| years = c. 2351 - c. 2340 BC

}}

{{s-aft

| after = Isar-Damu

}}

{{s-end}}

{{Portal|Asia}}

• Ebla tablets
• Cities of the ancient Near East
• Eblaite-Mariote war

{{reflist|2}}

• {{cite book | last1 = Frayne | first1 = Douglas | title = Pre-Sargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC) | publisher = University of Toronto Press | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-1-442-69047-9}}
• {{cite book | last1 = Hamblin |first1= William | title = Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC: Holy Warriors at the Dawn of History | publisher = Routledge | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-1-134-52062-6}}
• {{cite book | last1 = Liverani |first1= Mario | title = The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy | publisher = Routledge | year = 2013 | isbn = 978-1-134-75091-7}}
• {{cite book | last1 = Podany | first1 = Amanda | title = Brotherhood of Kings: How International Relations Shaped the Ancient Near East | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-0-199-79875-9}}

Category:Kings of Ebla

Category:24th-century BC monarchs

Category:24th-century BC births

Category:24th-century BC deaths