Urtak (king of Elam)

Urtak or Urtaku was a king of the ancient kingdom of Elam,{{cite book|author=John Boederman|title=The Cambridge Ancient History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGBGauNBK8kC&pg=PA147|year=1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-22717-9|page=147}} which was to the southeast of ancient Babylonia. He ruled from 675 to 664 BCE, his reign overlapping those of the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon (681-669) and Ashurbanipal (668-627).{{cite book|author=D. T. Potts|title=The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WE62CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA269|date=12 November 2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-09469-7|page=269}}

Urtak was preceded by his brother, Khumban-Khaldash II.{{cite book|author=Sir Percy Sykes|title=A History Of Persia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=th_q4A6LXGwC&pg=PT154|date=15 April 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-64895-4|page=154}} Khumban-Khaldash made a successful raid against Assyria, and died a short time thereafter. He was succeeded by Urtak, who returned to Assyria the idols his elder brother had taken in the raid, and who thereby repaired relations between Elam and Assyria.

He made an alliance with Assyria's Esarhaddon in 674,{{cite book|author=John Boederman|title=The Cambridge Ancient History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGBGauNBK8kC&pg=PA52|year=1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-22717-9|page=52}} and for a time Elam and Assyria enjoyed friendly relations,{{cite book|author=Claude Hermann Walter Johns|title=Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vCcYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA360|year=1904|publisher=C. Scribner's sons|page=360}} which lasted throughout the remainder of Esarhaddon's reign, and deteriorated after Esarhaddon was succeeded by Ashurbanipal.{{cite book|title=Journal of the American Oriental Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e2opAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA145|year=1897|publisher=American Oriental Society.|page=145}}

During a famine in Elam, Ashurbanipal welcomed temporary refugees from Elam into his empire, and sent food aid to Elam itself.{{cite book|author=Claude Hermann Walter Johns|title=Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vCcYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA360|year=1904|publisher=C. Scribner's sons|page=360-1}} However, after a time Urtak, joining his forces with the Gambulu tribe of Arameans, attacked Babylonia around 665 BCE, and died shortly afterward.{{cite book|author1=Elizabeth Carter|author2=Matthew W. Stolper|title=Elam: Surveys of Political History and Archaeology|url=https://archive.org/details/elamsurveysofpol0000cart|url-access=registration|year=1984|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-09950-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/elamsurveysofpol0000cart/page/50 50]}} Urtak was succeeded by his brother Teumman, who was killed by Ashurbanipal shortly afterward.{{cite book|author=Claude Hermann Walter Johns|title=Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vCcYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA360|year=1904|publisher=C. Scribner's sons|page=361}}