Mut-bisir or Mutu-bisir (in Akkadian Cuneiform: mu-ut-bi-si-ir, in transliterated Amorite: mut-biśir, "man of Biśri";[1] fl. 19th century BC) was a senior military official to the Amorite king Shamshi-Adad I.[2] His name appears repeatedly in the Mari letters, and means "man of Bishri", referring to the desert region around the Jebel Bishri.[3] In these letters, Anson Rainey describes him as "frequently mentioned in connection with troops located near the Euphrates."[4]

In one such letter, from Mut-bisir to Shamshi-Adad, he was the first recorded individual to refer to Canaanites by name (in Akkadian, ki-na-aḫ-nu(m)).[5][6] In this letter, Mut-bisir describes his own soldiers and opposing Canaanite forces as tensely watching one another.[4]

His residence in Mari seems to have eventually been given to Shibti, the daughter of Shamshi-Adad, and this household became a major supplier of foods to the royal palace.[2]

References

  1. ^ Buck, Mary E. (2020). "Appendix A: Western Amorite Corpus". The Amorite Dynasty of Ugarit. Brill. p. 308. ISBN 978-90-04-41511-9.
  2. ^ a b Nele Ziegler (12 September 2016). "Economic Activities of Women According to Mari Texts (18th century BC)". In Brigitte Lion; Cécile Michel (eds.). The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ancient Near East. De Gruyter. p. 302. ISBN 978-1-61451-908-9.
  3. ^ Cinzia Pappi (2006). "The Jebel Bishri in the Physical and Cultural Landscape of the Ancient Near East". Kaskal, Volume 3. p. 248.
  4. ^ a b Anson F. Rainey (1979). "Toponymic Problems (cont.)", Tel Aviv, 6:3-4, 158-162, DOI: 10.1179/033443579788441172. p. 158.
  5. ^ Nadav Na'aman; Nadav Naʼaman (2005). Canaan in the Second Millennium B.C.E. Eisenbrauns. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-57506-113-9.
  6. ^ Dossin, Georges (1973). "Une mention de Cananéens dans une lettre de Mari". Syria. Archéologie, Art et histoire. 50 (3): 277–282. doi:10.3406/syria.1973.6403.
Categories