Aššur-dān I

Aššur-dān I (1178-1133 BC) was the eighty-third ruler of Ashur according to the Assyrian King List [/riao/KingLists/AssyrianKingList/index.html] (AKL). That chronographic text states that he ruled for forty-six years (Var: Nassouhi Kist [/riao/KingLists/AssyrianKingList/NassouhiList/index.html] "twenty-six years") and that he succeeded his father Ninurta-apil-Ekur and was followed on the throne by his son Ninurta-tukultī-Aššur; Ninurta-tukultī-Aššur may have acted as co-regent during the later years of Aššur-dān's reign (see the introduction to that monarch). In his inscriptions, Tiglath-pileser I [/riao/ria3/Tiglath-pileserI/index.html] reports that his great-grandfather Aššur-dān "lived to a ripe old age" (text no. 1 [/riao/ria3/Q005926/] vii 54).

The Synchronistic History reports that during the reign of the Babylonian king Zababa-šuma-iddina, Aššur-dān "went down to Karduniaš," captured the cities Zaban, Irriya, and Ugarsallu and took "their vast booty to Assyria" (Grayson 1975, 162: ii 10-12).

Four inscriptions have been ascribed to him. In addition, Aššur-dān's great-grandson Tiglath-pileser I records that he tore down the Anu-Adad temple at Aššur, but did not rebuild it (text no. 1 [/riao/ria3/Q005926/] vii 66-70).

[Poppy Tushingham]

Bibliography

Grayson, A. K. Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles , TCS 5 (1975).

Grayson, A. K. 'Ninurta-tukultī-Aššur', Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie 9 (1998-2001), pp. 527.

Weidner, E. F. 'Aššurdân I', Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie 1 (1932), pp. 208-209.

Browse the RIA 2 Corpus [/riao/ria2/pager/]

1 1001 1002 2001

1

A fragment of a brick from Aššur preserves part of an inscription of Aššur-dān I. The object is in Istanbul (Eski Șark Eserleri Müzesi of the Arkeoloji Müzeleri).

Access the composite text [/riao/ria2/Q005895/] of Aššur-dān I 1.

Source: Ist EȘEM 09315 (Ass 04777)

Bibliography

Text no. 1

1905 Andrae, MDOG 26 p. 62 (provenance)

1929 Weidner, RLA 1/3 p. 209a (study)

1959 Weidner, Tn. p. XIV after no. 53 and pl. IX (edition, copy)

1972 Grayson, ARI 1 LXXXIII 1 (translation)

1001

See Tukulti-Ninurta I text no. 1012

Access the composite text [/riao/ria2/Q005896/] of Aššur-dān I 1001.

Source: K 02667

Bibliography

1959 Weidner, Tn. p. 51 note to line 11 (study)

1968-69 Weidner, AfO 22 pp. 76-77 (copy, study)

1972 Grayson, ARI 1 LXXXIII 3 (study)

1002

A flake off a clay tablet from Nineveh preserves a small portion of a Middle Asssyrian inscription describing the defeat of Ari-Tešub, a king of the land Subartu. On the suggestion of A.R. Millard, this text has been tentatively assigned to around the time of Aššur-dān I. The piece is now in the British Museum (London).

Access the composite text [/riao/ria2/Q005897/] of Aššur-dān I 1002.

Source: BM 121057 (1929-10-12, 0053)

Bibliography

1968 Lambert and Millard, Cat. p. 7 (study)

1970 Millard, Iraq 32 pp. 171-72 and pl. XXXVI (copy, study)

1972 Grayson, ARI 1 p. 155 (study)

2001

A small bronze statue found at Lake Urmia, originally from Arbela, has a private dedicatory inscription written on it. The temple scribe Šamšī-bēl dedicated it to the goddess Ištar, Arbela's tutelary deity, on behalf of Aššur-dān, presumably the first Assyrian king with that name. The statue -- whose name is "O Ištar, my ear (is directed) towards you!" -- is now in Paris (Louvre).

Access the composite text [/riao/ria2/Q005898/] of Aššur-dān I 2001.

Source: AO 02489

Bibliography

1891 Ledrain, RA 2 pp. 91-92 (study)

1891 Winckler, ZA 6 pp. 183 and 326-27 (study)

1907 Meissner, AO 15 p. 110 (study)

1915 L. Heuzey, Les Origines Orientales de l'Art (Paris) pl. VIII (photo, study)

1915 Thureau-Dangin, RA 6 pp. 133-34 (photo, study)

1924 Pottier, Antiquités assyriennes no. 148 (photo, study)

1929 Unger, RLA 1/2 pl. 18 and pp. 141-42 (photo, study)

1929 Weidner, RLA 1/3 p. 209 (study)

1961 Borger, EAK 1 p. 100 (study)

1961 Parrot, Assur p. 119 (photo, study)

1972 Grayson, ARI 1 LXXXIII 2* (translation)

1973 Schramm, EAK 2 p. 2 c6 (study)

1981 Menzel, Tempel 2 p. 177 nn. 2883-86 and T 170-71 (edition)

1983 Deller, Oriens Antiquus 22 pp. 17-20 (edition)

Jamie Novotny & Poppy Tushingham

Jamie Novotny & Poppy Tushingham, 'Aššur-dān I', RIA 2: Inscriptions of Adad-nārārī I to Aššur-rēša-iši I, Th RIA Project, 2024 [http://oracc.org/Ashur-danI/]